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Oxford Online English, Describing People's Appearance in English - Visual Vocabulary Lesson

Describing People's Appearance in English - Visual Vocabulary Lesson

Hi, I'm Stephanie.

Welcome to Oxford Online English!

To see more free English lessons, visit our website: Oxford Online English dot com.

You can also book English classes with our fully-qualified teachers who can help you

with your English speaking, writing, IELTS preparation or whatever else you need.

One more thing before we start.

Do you want to watch this lesson with subtitles?

You can!

Don't forget to turn them on now.

Click on the 'CC' button in the bottom right of your video player.

He's well-built, with broad shoulders.

He's very muscular.

‘Well-built' means big, but big because of muscle, not fat.

The opposite of well-built is ‘skinny'.

You can say ‘He's very muscular' or ‘He's very muscly'.

They have the same meaning.

There are other ways to say the same thing; for example, ‘He looks strong.'

She's in good shape.

She has an athletic physique.

‘She's in good shape' has the same meaning as ‘She's fit.'

‘Fit' describes someone who exercises regularly and is very strong.

Conversationally, in British English, ‘fit' means ‘attractive'.

It can be used for men and women.

The word ‘physique' means the shape and condition of your body.

‘Physique' is most often used with positive adjectives to describe someone who is strong,

or who has an attractive body.

For example, the collocations ‘muscular physique' and ‘strong physique' are

common.

He's skinny.

He has a slight build.

What's the opposite of ‘fat'?

Actually, there are several words.

‘Thin' is the basic word.

‘Slim' is similar; it means ‘thin and attractive'.

‘Skinny' is a more negative word.

It suggests that someone is *too* thin.

If you say that someone is skinny, it means you think they should eat more.

Your ‘build' is the shape of your body: whether you're broad or thin, whether you're

muscular or not, and so on.

You can use many different adjectives with ‘build'.

Common ones are ‘medium build', ‘slim build', ‘proportionate build' and ‘stocky

build'.

‘Stocky' means big or wide, usually with muscle rather than fat.

He's overweight.

He has a gut.

‘Overweight' is a more indirect word than ‘fat', although neither is polite if you

are talking directly to someone.

A gut means a big stomach.

You might use it to describe someone who has a lot of extra weight on their stomach.

You could also say ‘He has a big belly', which has the same meaning.

He has chiselled features, with high cheekbones.

He has very well-defined facial features.

This is a chisel.

It's a tool which is used to carve stone, for example to make a sculpture or statue.

‘Chiselled features' means that someone's facial features are very attractive and clearly-defined,

like a statue.

It's generally used for men's faces.

‘Well-defined' is similar, but can be used for men or women.

If your facial features are well-defined, then your cheekbones, jaw, chin and so on

have a clear shape.

This has a positive meaning, although it doesn't necessarily mean ‘attractive'.

He has crow's feet.

He has faint wrinkles in his forehead.

As you get older, you'll get lines or wrinkles in your face.

Crow's feet are the patterns of wrinkles you get in the corner of your eyes.

Wrinkles can be ‘faint' – light and difficult to see – or ‘deep'.

She has dimples when she smiles.

She has freckles on her nose and cheeks.

‘Dimples' here means small holes in your cheeks which appear when you smile.

Not everyone has them.

Although it's not common, you can use the word ‘dimple' to refer to similar holes

in other places.

For example, some people have a dimple on their chin.

Freckles are common among people with very light skin.

Going out into the sun can make your skin more freckled.

She has a round face, with a high forehead.

She has a double chin.

You can use many adjectives to describe the shape of someone's face, such as: round,

thin, symmetrical, long, or square.

If someone is overweight, they might have a double chin.

He has a goatee.

He's going grey.

‘Goatee' is a common word; it's a beard which covers your chin and upper lip only.

You can also have a full beard, which covers your whole face and neck.

There are many words for different styles of beard, but most of them are not commonly

used, except by beard experts.

If you say ‘he's going grey', ‘going' means ‘becoming'.

You can use ‘go' in this way for changes in someone's hair; for example ‘go grey'

or ‘go bald'.

You can also use it if someone's face changes colour.

For example ‘She went bright red' or ‘He went pale when he heard the news'.

He has curly black hair.

She has thick shoulder-length curly hair.

‘Curly' describes hair with tight curls.

What's the opposite?

The opposite is ‘straight hair'.

In the middle, you can have ‘wavy hair.'

For length, you can say hair is long, short, medium length, or shoulder length.

For very long hair, you might say something like ‘Her hair reached down to her waist'.

He's bald, with a thick beard.

She has long blonde hair.

‘Bald' only refers to people who have lost their hair, usually because of aging.

If someone shaves their hair off, you can say ‘He has a shaved head'.

Hair can be thick or thin; you can use these adjectives for hair on your head, or for facial

hair: beards and moustaches.

When talking about hair, be careful with adjective order.

Adjectives like ‘long', ‘short', ‘thick' or ‘thin' go before the colour.

So, you can have ‘long brown hair', ‘thick dark hair', ‘short fair hair', and so

on.

He has fair hair.

His hair is shaved short at the back and sides, and swept to one side on top.

‘Fair hair' is similar to ‘blond hair', but is has a wider meaning.

‘Fair' just means ‘light', so it could include light brown hair or dark blond hair.

‘Sweep' generally means to clean your floor with a broom.

However, you can also use it for hair, especially when you push your hair in one direction.

You can sweep your hair to one side, sweep your hair into a ponytail, or sweep your hair

back.

That's all for this lesson.

Thanks for watching!

See you next time!

Learn languages from TV shows, movies, news, articles and more! Try LingQ for FREE

Describing People's Appearance in English - Visual Vocabulary Lesson Das Aussehen von Personen auf Englisch beschreiben - Lektion zum visuellen Wortschatz Describir el aspecto de las personas en inglés - Lección de vocabulario visual Décrire l'apparence des gens en anglais - Leçon de vocabulaire visuel Mendeskripsikan Penampilan Orang dalam Bahasa Inggris - Pelajaran Kosakata Visual Descrivere l'aspetto delle persone in inglese - Lezione di vocabolario visivo 영어로 사람의 외모 묘사하기 - 시각 어휘 수업 Opisywanie wyglądu osób w języku angielskim - lekcja słownictwa wizualnego Descrever a aparência das pessoas em inglês - Lição de vocabulário visual Описание внешности людей на английском языке - Visual Vocabulary Lesson İngilizce'de İnsanların Görünüşlerini Tanımlama - Görsel Kelime Bilgisi Dersi 用英语描述人的外貌 - 视觉词汇课 用英語描述人的外表 - 視覺詞彙課

Hi, I'm Stephanie.

Welcome to Oxford Online English!

To see more free English lessons, visit our website: Oxford Online English dot com.

You can also book English classes with our fully-qualified teachers who can help you

with your English speaking, writing, IELTS preparation or whatever else you need.

One more thing before we start.

Do you want to watch this lesson with subtitles?

You can!

Don't forget to turn them on now.

Click on the 'CC' button in the bottom right of your video player.

He's well-built, with broad shoulders.

He's very muscular.

‘Well-built' means big, but big because of muscle, not fat.

The opposite of well-built is ‘skinny'.

You can say ‘He's very muscular' or ‘He's very muscly'.

They have the same meaning.

There are other ways to say the same thing; for example, ‘He looks strong.'

She's in good shape.

She has an athletic physique. ||||body type

‘She's in good shape' has the same meaning as ‘She's fit.'

‘Fit' describes someone who exercises regularly and is very strong.

Conversationally, in British English, ‘fit' means ‘attractive'. De manière conversationnelle||||||

It can be used for men and women.

The word ‘physique' means the shape and condition of your body.

‘Physique' is most often used with positive adjectives to describe someone who is strong,

or who has an attractive body.

For example, the collocations ‘muscular physique' and ‘strong physique' are

common. common

He's skinny.

He has a slight build.

What's the opposite of ‘fat'?

Actually, there are several words. |||several|

‘Thin' is the basic word.

‘Slim' is similar; it means ‘thin and attractive'.

‘Skinny' is a more negative word.

It suggests that someone is *too* thin.

If you say that someone is skinny, it means you think they should eat more.

Your ‘build' is the shape of your body: whether you're broad or thin, whether you're

muscular or not, and so on.

You can use many different adjectives with ‘build'.

Common ones are ‘medium build', ‘slim build', ‘proportionate build' and ‘stocky |||||||well-proportioned|||solidly built

build'.

‘Stocky' means big or wide, usually with muscle rather than fat. robuste||||||||||

He's overweight.

He has a gut. |||ventre |||stomach or belly

‘Overweight' is a more indirect word than ‘fat', although neither is polite if you

are talking directly to someone.

A gut means a big stomach.

You might use it to describe someone who has a lot of extra weight on their stomach.

You could also say ‘He has a big belly', which has the same meaning.

He has chiselled features, with high cheekbones. ||bien dessinés||||pommettes ||well-defined||||prominent cheekbones

He has very well-defined facial features.

This is a chisel. |||ciseau |||tool for carving

It's a tool which is used to carve stone, for example to make a sculpture or statue. |||||||sculpter|||||||||

‘Chiselled features' means that someone's facial features are very attractive and clearly-defined,

like a statue.

It's generally used for men's faces.

‘Well-defined' is similar, but can be used for men or women.

If your facial features are well-defined, then your cheekbones, jaw, chin and so on

have a clear shape.

This has a positive meaning, although it doesn't necessarily mean ‘attractive'.

He has crow's feet. ||pattes d'oie| ||of a crow|

He has faint wrinkles in his forehead. ||légères|rides||| ||slight|fine lines|||

As you get older, you'll get lines or wrinkles in your face.

Crow's feet are the patterns of wrinkles you get in the corner of your eyes.

Wrinkles can be ‘faint' – light and difficult to see – or ‘deep'.

She has dimples when she smiles. ||joues creuses||| ||small indentations|||

She has freckles on her nose and cheeks. ||small brown spots|||||

‘Dimples' here means small holes in your cheeks which appear when you smile.

Not everyone has them.

Although it's not common, you can use the word ‘dimple' to refer to similar holes |||||||||fossette|||||

in other places.

For example, some people have a dimple on their chin.

Freckles are common among people with very light skin.

Going out into the sun can make your skin more freckled. ||||||||||tacheté

She has a round face, with a high forehead.

She has a double chin.

You can use many adjectives to describe the shape of someone's face, such as: round,

thin, symmetrical, long, or square.

If someone is overweight, they might have a double chin.

He has a goatee. |||barbe de trois jours |||facial hair style

He's going grey.

‘Goatee' is a common word; it's a beard which covers your chin and upper lip only.

You can also have a full beard, which covers your whole face and neck.

There are many words for different styles of beard, but most of them are not commonly

used, except by beard experts.

If you say ‘he's going grey', ‘going' means ‘becoming'.

You can use ‘go' in this way for changes in someone's hair; for example ‘go grey'

or ‘go bald'.

You can also use it if someone's face changes colour.

For example ‘She went bright red' or ‘He went pale when he heard the news'.

He has curly black hair.

She has thick shoulder-length curly hair.

‘Curly' describes hair with tight curls.

What's the opposite?

The opposite is ‘straight hair'.

In the middle, you can have ‘wavy hair.' ||||||ondulé|

For length, you can say hair is long, short, medium length, or shoulder length.

For very long hair, you might say something like ‘Her hair reached down to her waist'.

He's bald, with a thick beard.

She has long blonde hair.

‘Bald' only refers to people who have lost their hair, usually because of aging. |||||||||||||vieillissement

If someone shaves their hair off, you can say ‘He has a shaved head'.

Hair can be thick or thin; you can use these adjectives for hair on your head, or for facial

hair: beards and moustaches. |||facial hair

When talking about hair, be careful with adjective order.

Adjectives like ‘long', ‘short', ‘thick' or ‘thin' go before the colour.

So, you can have ‘long brown hair', ‘thick dark hair', ‘short fair hair', and so |||||||||||light-colored|||

on.

He has fair hair.

His hair is shaved short at the back and sides, and swept to one side on top. |||||||||||coiffé|||||

‘Fair hair' is similar to ‘blond hair', but is has a wider meaning.

‘Fair' just means ‘light', so it could include light brown hair or dark blond hair.

‘Sweep' generally means to clean your floor with a broom. |||||||||cleaning tool

However, you can also use it for hair, especially when you push your hair in one direction.

You can sweep your hair to one side, sweep your hair into a ponytail, or sweep your hair |||||||||||||queue de cheval||||

back.

That's all for this lesson.

Thanks for watching!

See you next time!