Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Having a face that is completely free of facial hair due to recent, close shaving: Describes a person, typically a man, whose skin, especially on the face, is very clean and without stubble because it has been shaved very closely and recently.

Usage

• This adjective is used to describe a person's appearance. It emphasizes the result of a very close shave, implying a clean, neat, and often polished look.
• It is typically used attributively (before a noun) or predicatively (after a linking verb like 'be' or 'look').

Examples

• Attributive use:
  • The actor had a smooth-shaven look for his role as a corporate executive.
  • He prefers a smooth-shaven chin to a beard.
• Predicative use:
  • After his morning routine, his face was completely smooth-shaven.
  • For the interview, make sure you are clean and smooth-shaven.

Advanced Usage

• The term can imply more than just the absence of hair; it often suggests a deliberate grooming choice associated with professionalism, formality, or a specific aesthetic.
  • In many military traditions, being smooth-shaven is a requirement of the dress code.

Variants and Related Words

• Clean-shaven (adj): Very similar in meaning, often used interchangeably with 'smooth-shaven'. It emphasizes the absence of a beard or mustache.
  • He looked younger when he was clean-shaven.
• Shaven (adj): The past participle of 'shave', used to indicate that hair has been removed by shaving. 'Smooth-shaven' is a more specific and emphatic form.
  • His head was shaven.

Synonyms

• Clean-shaven: Having no beard or mustache; closely shaved.
• Beardless: Lacking a beard, which can be due to nature or shaving.
• Hairless: Lacking hair, though this is a more general term not specific to shaving.

Antonyms

• Bearded: Having a beard.
• Unshaven: Not shaved; having short hairs growing on the face.
• Stubbly: Covered with short, stiff hairs, especially after not shaving for a day or two.

Adjective

1. closely shaved recently