pasty-faced

[ pey-stee-feyst ]

adjective

1. having a pale, unhealthy, sallow complexion:

   an awkward, pasty-faced youth.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pasty-faced¹

First recorded in 1600–10

Example Sentences

He’s the tall pasty-faced, middle-aged glammy Goth with the loud clothing and a habit of bothering bakers at crucial moments.

From Los Angeles Times

Two pasty-faced girls walked out of Velia and Delia’s room.

From Literature

Slant Magazine described Pattinson in “Twilight” as a “blank, pasty-faced, fire-haired Gap model”; The Austin Chronicle opined that his “cheekbones keep getting in the way of the story”; Slate semi-praised his performance at the expense of Catherine Hardwicke’s filmmaking, writing that Pattinson “doesn’t seem to have been given much direction beyond ‘melt the camera with your eyes.’”

From New York Times

A poet who lived among sharp implements would have choked to death on a title as aspiring and pasty-faced as “Continuous Creation.”

From New York Times

“We’re waiting. We don’t know why,” said Arsen Mosherghyan, a pasty-faced 18-year-old recruit.

From Los Angeles Times