zit-face, n.

zit-face
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zit-face_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2021

# zit-facenoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zit-face mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zit-face. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

zit-face is considered derogatory.

### Where does the noun zit-face come from?

Earliest known use

1970s

The earliest known use of the noun zit-face is in the 1970s.

OED's earliest evidence for zit-face is from 1974, in Parnassus.

### Nearby entries

1. zirconium, n. 1808–
2. zircon-like, adj. 1857–
3. zircono-, comb. form
4. zirconolite, n. 1957–
5. zircon-syenite, n. 1813–
6. zirconyl, n. 1887–
7. zirkelite, n. 1895–
8. zit, n. 1912–
9. zit cream, n. 1968–
10. zitella, n. a1660–
11. zit-face, n.1974–
12. zit-faced, adj. 1971–
13. zither, n. 1831–
14. zither, v. 1889–
15. zither banjo, n. 1888–
16. zithering, adj. 1889–
17. zitherist, n. 1866–
18. zither-like, adj. 1881–
19. ziti, n. 1845–
20. zitty, adj. 1971–
21. Ziv, n. a1382–

## Meaning & use

derogatory. slang (originally U.S.).

1. 1974–
   (An abusive name for) a person with pimples or facial acne.
   1. 1974

      > ‘Yaaa-hooo! Friday night and I'm gonna get laid!’ ‘Not unless you put a bag over your head, zit-face.’

      Parnassus (Northern Essex Community Coll., Massachusetts) Fall 17/1
   2. 1984

      > Forgot to send you an invite, zit face, but come anyway, dress as a warlock or you won't get in.

      S. Townsend, Growing Pains of Adrian Mole 105
   3. 2008

      > Why are you talking to me, zitface?

      S. Toltz, Fraction of Whole iv. 380
   U.S. English colloquial and slang derogatory
   1. swine face?1567–
      (An abusive or insulting name for) a person having a face likened to that of a pig; also used as a more general term of abuse or contempt; cf. swine-…
   2. good face 1591
      A person who has an open and honest face; in quot. as a form of address.
   3. chitty-face 1601–1725
      A term of reproach: thin-face, pinched-face; in later usage, baby-face.
   4. half-faced groat 1601–16
      (A contemptuous term for) a person with a thin, narrow face.
   5. dogface a1627–
      A face like that of a dog, or a person having this. Also as a term of abuse. Cf. dog's face, n.
   6. Lenten chaps a1640
      A contemptuous term for a gaunt or hungry-looking person.
   7. pretty face 1675–
      A person with a pretty face. Also as a term of endearment. Now rare, except in sense 1b.
   8. baby face 1726–
      A person with such a face. Frequently as a nickname.
   9. slape-face 1847–
      attributive and in other combinations, as slape-faced, slape-fingered, slape-haired, etc.; slape-face n. (see quot. 1847); also, a smooth-faced man.
   10. pinch-face 1911–
       A pinched face; a pinch-faced person; a grumbler, a complainer.
   11. pizza face 1964–
       slang and derogatory (originally U.S. College slang). A person with facial acne.
   12. zit-face 1974–
       derogatory. slang (originally U.S.). (An abusive name for) a person with pimples or facial acne.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

Originally published as part of the entry for zit, n.

zit-face, n. was first published in 2021.