expression
- 01 B1 Intermediate
the act of showing your thoughts or feelings through words, art, or music.
the action of manifesting thoughts, ideas, or emotions through a medium such as language or art.
Simple“The protest was a powerful expression of the people's anger.”
In context“The artist viewed her latest sculpture as the ultimate expression of her frustration with modern urban isolation.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 A2 Elementary
the look on your face that shows what you are thinking or feeling.
a facial appearance that conveys a specific emotion or state of mind.
Simple“He had a confused expression on his face when I told him the news.”
In context“She maintained a neutral expression throughout the cross-examination, refusing to let the jury see her growing anxiety.”
Synonyms - 03 A2 Elementary
a word or group of words with a particular meaning.
a particular word, phrase, or form of words, often idiomatic or colloquial.
Simple“Break a leg is a common expression used to wish someone good luck.”
In context“The professor explained that the expression was a regionalism rarely heard outside of the rural southwest.”
- 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
a group of numbers and symbols that show a value.
a finite combination of symbols that is well-formed according to rules that depend on the context.
Simple“The teacher asked us to simplify the algebraic expression in the brackets.”
In context“The software struggled to parse the complex mathematical expression due to a missing closing parenthesis in the third line of code.”
- 05 C1 Advanced
a piece of code that gives a specific result or value.
a syntactic unit in a programming language that can be evaluated to determine its value.
Simple“This regular expression helps the computer find email addresses in a long text.”
In context“The compiler evaluates the boolean expression before deciding which branch of the conditional logic to execute.”
- 06 C1 Advanced
the way a gene starts working to produce a physical effect.
the process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product.
Simple“Scientists are studying the gene expression that causes certain flowers to change colour.”
In context“Abnormal gene expression in the early stages of development can lead to significant structural defects in the organism.”
- 07 B2 Upper Intermediate
the way a musician plays to show emotion and style.
the quality of playing or singing with sensitive and appropriate emotion.
Simple“She played the piano piece with great expression and moved the audience to tears.”
In context“The conductor urged the violinists to play with more expression during the melancholic second movement.”
Synonyms
Usage emotional expression · following expression
Borrowed from Middle French expression, from Late Latin expressiō, expressiōnem (“a pressing out”). Morphologically express + -ion.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.