moue

M3O1U1E1
UK, US/muː/

noun

A pout, especially as expressing mock-annoyance or flirtatiousness.

Similar
poutwry face
First used 19th c.Scrabble 6

Meanings

nounmoue (plural moues)

plural moues

  1. 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, →OCLC
    3 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 221

    She 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, →OCLC

    Why 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

nouna disdainful grimace

Similar
poutwry face
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Frankish*mauwa“pout, protruding lip”
  2. Old Frenchmoe“grimace”
  3. Frenchmoue
  4. Englishmoue

Borrowed from French moue, from Old French moe (“grimace”), from Frankish *mauwa (“pout, protruding lip”). Doublet of mow ("grimace").

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
APA

moue. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moue

MLA

“moue.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moue. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “moue,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/moue.

Source: moue on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.