Etymology

po-faced

Today it means: Wearing a particularly stern and disapproving expression; humourless; priggish. Full definition →

First used 1930sFrench pot de chambre
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The story

  1. French · derived frompot de chambre“chamber pot”
  2. English todaypo-faced

Uncertain, probably from po, abbreviated slang based on French pot de chambre (“chamber pot”), after the distasteful expression anyone would adopt upon being presented with a full one. Perhaps similarly from pooh; perhaps influenced by poker-faced. Also possibly “poor-faced”.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 1930s Wearing a particularly stern and disapproving expression; humourless; priggish.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.