rictus

plural rictuses

1. A bird’s gaping mouth.
2. The throat of a calyx.
3. Any open-mouthed expression.

   His face was a rictus of sheer delight.

   5 more examples

   Amid a thick, bristling beard, a nose like an owl's beak and a mouth whose corners were drawn by a wild-beast-like rictus were just discernible.

   1899, Victor Hugo, translated by Paul Maurice, The Memoirs of Victor Hugo

   A rictus of cruel malignity lit up greyly their old bony faces.

   1916, James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

   Sword and shield, bone and steel / Rictus grin / Deaf forever to the battle's din

   1986, “Deaf Forever”, performed by Motörhead

   Valves plugs pumps to erase/ rictus from my face.

   1990, “Nothingface”, performed by Voivod

   The absolute incarnation of evil, Adolf Hitler, lies at your feet in a pool of his own blood. His wrinkled, crimson-splattered visage still strains, a jagged-toothed rictus trying to cry out. Insane even in death. Your lips pinched in bitter victory, you kick his head off his remains and spit on his corpse.

   1993, Wolfenstein 3D, scene: after defeating Hitler (episode 3), level/area: 9