Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

what's-his-face

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.99 in modern English

Syllables: what's-his--face
IPA

26

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

pron

A man whose identity is unknown or forgotten (especially when better-known to the listener).

Informal

Example Sentences

"Near-synonyms: what's-his-name (what's-her-name, what's-their-name); whatchamacallhim (whatchamacallher); you-know-who; so-and-so; see also Thesaurus:what's-their-name"

Etymology

Univerbation of what's + his + face (“self”, metonymic).

Usage

Informal

Inflected Forms

what's-their-faces (plural) what'shisface (alternative) whatshisface (alternative) what's-'is-face (alternative) what's'isface (alternative) what'sisface (alternative) whats'isface (alternative) whatsisface (alternative) whatseface (alternative) whasisface (alternative) who's-his-face (alternative) who'shisface (alternative)

Synonyms

what's-his-name whatchamacallhim you-know-who so-and-so

Questions

What does what's-his-face mean?: A man whose identity is unknown or forgotten (especially when better-known to the listener).
Where does what's-his-face come from?: Univerbation of what's + his + face (“self”, metonymic).

How to pronounce what's-his-face

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “what's-his-face”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “what's-his-face”.
Repeat and practice — Say “what's-his-face” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.