The meaning of "po-faced"?

Posted by Shae on January 19, 2004

In Reply to: The meaning of "po-faced"? posted by pdianek on January 19, 2004

: The Guardian: "...remembering his darling mummy, po-faced in her monster knickers, unable to laugh, cough or sneeze." I run across this expression again and again, but haven't been able to precisely understand it from context. Synonyms, anyone?

It means wearing a disapproving, stern expression. It is often applied to a person who remains stern-faced when everyone else is enjoying themselves. The Collins Concise dictionary says it's derived from 'poor-faced.'

• The meaning of "po-faced"? James Briggs 19/January/04
  • The meaning of "po-faced"? Shae 19/January/04
    • So what's "Dipsy-faced", then? Brian from Shawnee 20/January/04