rock-faced

[ rok-feyst ]

adjective

1. (of a person) having a stiff, expressionless face.
2. having a rocky surface.
3. Masonry. noting a stone or stonework the visible face of which is dressed with a hammer, with or without a chiseled draft at the edges; quarry-faced.

Word History and Origins

Origin of rock-faced¹

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

The four abutments with their retaining walls are of first-class rock-faced masonry.

From Project Gutenberg

A lady did put her head out; not Jehane, but a rock-faced matron of vast proportions with grey hair plastered to her cheeks.

From Project Gutenberg

They passed along the street, turned, made their way down the rock-faced bluff to the water front; but still they were alone.

From Project Gutenberg

She has a devil of shrewdness for a father; a rock-faced man, of few words, with eyes on everything.

From Project Gutenberg

Again, as at Grand Rapids, where the banks were rock-faced and sheer, the canoes would run merrily in swift-flowing waters.

From Project Gutenberg