masklike
Frozen in expression
Masklike describes a face or expression that is rigid, immobile, and unreadable—as if made of a fixed material rather than living flesh.
The word suggests an unsettling absence of the usual micro-movements that animate human faces: Her features went masklike when she heard the accusation.
Medical contexts use it for conditions that limit facial mobility, as in Parkinson's disease.
Without marks or content
- impassiveWithout visible emotion
- deadpanExpressionless, especially for humor
- woodenMade from timber
- vacantWithout an occupant
stony · fixed · frozen · rigid · unreadable · inscrutable · poker-faced · sphinxlike
Emotionally withdrawn, uninviting
- coldLow temperature state
- distantFar away or aloof
- numbLacking physical sensation
- unemotionalLacking outward feeling
unresponsive · indifferent · withdrawn · reserved · stoic · impassive · unmoved · dispassionate
Concealed or obscured
- hiddenKept out of sight
- disguisedConcealed true identity
- secretiveInclined to conceal
- guardedWary and restrained
cryptic · opaque · impenetrable · enigmatic · mysterious · unrevealing · cloaked · shrouded
Strikingly expressive or sudden
- stylizedGiven artistic treatment
- exaggeratedMade larger than reality
- kabukiRitualistic performance for show
- nohClassical Japanese dramatic form
commedia · mime · pantomime · costumed · performative · ceremonial · ritualistic · painted
blank
Without marks or content
vacant · stony · fixed · frozen · rigid · unreadable · inscrutable · poker-faced · sphinxlike · glazed
aloof
Emotionally withdrawn, uninviting
unemotional · unresponsive · indifferent · withdrawn · reserved · stoic · impassive · unmoved · dispassionate · impersonal
veiled
Concealed or obscured
guarded · cryptic · opaque · impenetrable · enigmatic · mysterious · unrevealing · cloaked · shrouded · inscrutable
dramatic
Strikingly expressive or sudden
- stylizedGiven artistic treatment
- exaggeratedMade larger than reality
- kabukiRitualistic performance for show
noh · commedia · mime · pantomime · costumed · performative · ceremonial · ritualistic · painted · grotesque
- Poker Facepoker face, deadpan, expressionless, unreadable, inscrutable
- detachmentemotional numbness, detached, dispassion, disengaged, indifference
like, mask, likely, masked, masquerade, masking, unmasked, masquerader, masquerades