Meanings
plural moues
- A pout, especially as expressing mock-annoyance or flirtatiousness.First known use 19th c.
She glanced aside to the rim of the looking-glass where his photograph was wedged, shuddered, and made a moue of distaste.
1913 October, Jack London, chapter VI, in The Valley of the Moon, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC3 more examples
[S]he looked at her face and made a moue in the glass; and never stopped for Laura’s answer to the questions which she had put.
1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 23, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume I, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849, →OCLC, page 221She made what I believe, though I wouldn't swear to it, is called a moue. Putting the lips together and shoving them out, if you know what I mean. The impression I got was that she was disappointed in Bertram, having expected better things […].
1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter VIII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLCWhy do you wear European clothes?" fumed Oscar de la Renta with a moue of disapproval and stamp of his bejewelled foot (probably).
2011 February 2, Hadley Freeman, “Should Michelle Obama and Kate Middleton be patriotic about designers?”, in The Guardian
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frankish*mauwa“pout, protruding lip”
- Old Frenchmoe“grimace”
- Frenchmoue
- Englishmoue
Borrowed from French moue, from Old French moe (“grimace”), from Frankish *mauwa (“pout, protruding lip”). Doublet of mow ("grimace").
More words from French, Old French, Frankish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian мусене, цупене
- мусене (musene)pout — see also pout
- цупене (cupene)pout — see also pout
Finnish mutristaminen, mutristus
- mutristaminenpout — see also pout
- mutristuspout — see also pout
- muikistus (in flirtatiousness)pout — see also pout
French moue
- mouepout — see also pout
German Schmollmund
- Schmollmundpout — see also pout
Russian недовольная грима́са
- недовольная грима́са (grimása)pout — see also pout
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with moue
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Cite this entry
moue. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moue
“moue.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moue. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “moue,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moue.
Source: moue on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.