Refers to the overall appearance of a person's face, including expression and features. Slightly formal or literary compared to 顔 (かお).
Weariness was evident in his countenance.
Do you remember the suspect's features?
frightful face; scary face
making many different faces; comic face-changing act
fine-point brush; detail brush
Standard kanji form; commonly used in news and everyday contexts.
Compound of 面 (めん, 'face') and 相 (そう, 'appearance, aspect'). The reading is on'yomi, and the word has been used in Japanese for centuries to describe facial features.