baby face

plural baby faces · alternative babyface · alternative baby-face

1. A face, often chubby, resembling that of a baby; a youthful face.

   [T]he jolly, broad, fooliſh, humorous, half-laughing, half-crying, baby-face of the Major extorted peals of laughter from all who were preſent.

   1769, [Henry] Brooke, “XVII [The Three Estates in Parliament.]”, in The Fool of Quality; or, The History of Henry Earl of Moreland, volume IV, London: […] W. Johnston, […], →OCLC, page 237

   5 more examples

   I now also saw that famous beauty, but in my opinion of a childish, simple, and baby face, Mademoiselle Querouaille [Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth], lately Maide of Honʳ to Madame, and now to be so to yᵉ Queen.

   1670 November 13 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 4 November 1670]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 432

   My Stomach ſvvells vvith ſecret Spight, / To ſee my fickle, faithleſs Knight, / […] / On a meer Girl his Thoughts to place, / VVith dimpl'd Cheeks and baby Face, / A Child! a Chit! that vvas not born, / VVhen I did Tovvn and Court adorn.

   1707, [Joseph Addison], Rosamond. An Opera. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 16

   A Baby Face, no Life, no Airs, / But what ſhe learnt at Country Fairs; / Scarce knows what difference is between / Rich Flanders Lace, and Colberteen; […]

   1726, [Jonathan Swift], Cadenus and Vanessa. A Poem, London: […] J. Roberts […], →OCLC, page 249

   Say that the Cherubs carved in stone, / […] / Used to sing in heavenly tone, / Above and round the sacred places / They guard, with wingèd baby-faces.

   1834, William Wordsworth, “The Redbreast. (Suggested in a Westmoreland Cottage.)”, in Yarrow Revisited, and Other Poems, London: […] Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman, […]; and Edward Moxon, […], published 1835, →OCLC, page 286

   A little boy, who early discovered propensities to cruelty, was so thoroughly weaned from them, by his mother, that when attending to infantine lessons in Natural History, long before he was able to read, and hearing of a bird that was fond of catching flies, he lisped, with a kind of horror upon his baby[-]face, "Oh! kill flies! will God forgive it?"

   1838, L[ydia] H[untley] Sigourney, “Letter IV. First Lessons.”, in Letters to Mothers, Hartford, Conn.: Hudson and Skinner, […], →OCLC, page 38

2. derogatoryoftenA person having such a face, especially a young man having a beardless appearance.

   ‘Cheers, baby face!’ she sang. ‘Cheers!’ I giggled. I had never, ever been called ‘baby face’ before.

   2014, Jonathan Harvey, The Girl Who Just Appeared, London: Pan Books, →ISBN, page 101

   2 more examples

   God alone knows what has happened to our Indian Princes. Why are there so many of them running after baby faces? Why have they become so recklessly careless of their name and reputation?

   2006, Lucy Moore, “Appendix. The Status of an Indian Princess. A Tale of Woe. (By One of Them.)”, in Maharanis: A Family Saga of Four Queens, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, →ISBN

   The astronauts, played here by an ensemble of square jaws and baby faces (including Jason Clarke, Patrick Fugit, Christopher Abbott, Ethan Embry, and Corey Stoll as a hilariously tactless Buzz Aldrin), had to be scientists and athletes, subjecting themselves to spinning, nausea-provoking simulators one day, basic rocket physics the next.

   2018 October 9, A. A. Dowd, “The Star and Director of La La Land Reunite for First Man’s Spectacular Trip to the Moon”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2020

3. broadlyslanggovernmentA headlining wrestler with a persona embodying heroic or virtuous traits and who is regarded as a good guy, especially one who is handsome and well-conditioned.

   A babyface’s success depends a great deal on the heels he’s facing. It’s all in how you make them look. A good heel will make your babyface look like Superman.

   2007 October, Dave Batista [i.e., Dave Bautista]; with Jeremy Roberts, “Evolution”, in Batista Unleashed, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 127

   2 more examples

   [Jim] Freedman began his analysis by noting two important facts about professional wrestling: First, that heels triumph considerably more often than do babyfaces and, second, that they triumph by different means, relying on secret holds, sly managers, secret weapons, and illegal maneuvers, whereas babyfaces trust to their physical abilities and athletic training alone.

   1989, Bruce Lincoln, “The Dialectics of Symbolic Inversion”, in Discourse and the Construction of Society: Comparative Studies of Myth, Ritual, and Classification, Oxford, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, part III (Classification), page 158

   And they [wrestling fans] identified with the local farmer Kasaboski, the French-Canadian boys from Montreal, the clean-cut American lads and the handsome, muscular baby faces. At the same time, they jeered the heels, the masked men, the arrogant, bearded Russians and Germans, and the treacherous Japanese. Promoters always played on stereotypes and post-war biases.

   2007, Gary Howard, “Linking the East and the North”, in The Rassler from Renfrew: The History of Northland Wrestling Enterprises (1946–1980) Promoter – Larry Kasaboski, Renfrew, Ont.: General Store Publishing House, →ISBN, page 41

   Synonyms: blue-eyes, face · Antonyms: heel