openmouthed

Openmouthed is an adjective describing a mouth that is open, usually as a reaction to surprise, shock, awe, fear, or disgust. It is commonly used to describe facial expressions in narrative writing, film criticism, journalism, and psychology. The form appears as open-mouthed or open-mouthed with a hyphen; some older or informal texts also use open mouthed without a hyphen.

Etymology: a straightforward compound of open and mouthed, with mouthed derived from mouth.

Usage: in literature and media, openmouthed or open-mouthed is used to convey immediacy of reaction, for example, "She stood openmouthed as the magician revealed his trick." The term also appears in medical or clinical contexts to describe a mouth that remains open, such as during sleep or certain conditions, but such usage is rare in general writing.

Synonyms and related terms include agape, gape, gaping, astonished, dumbfounded, and surprised. The expression describes visible posture rather than internal state, and it should be used when the image of a mouth being open is central to the description.

See also: agape, gape, facial expression, astonishment.