Synophrys: The societal implications of the bad ol’ unibrow

Abstract

The complete or partial meeting of medial eyebrows at midline above the bridge of nose, forming a single band of hair, is known as synophrys or unibrow. With a few rare exceptions, when it may serve as a cutaneous marker lesion of several genetic disorders, with Cornelia De Lange syndrome being the commonest, synophrys is usually a normal variation. Although various cultures have prized synophrys as an attractive physical trait throughout history, in modern Western culture, the unibrow is frequently regarded as an undesirable and unappealing feature with negative connotations.Synophrys, derived from the Ancient Greek σύν (together, with) and ὀφρύς (eyebrow), meaning “with meeting eyebrows,” refers to the complete or partial fusion of medial eyebrows at midline. The hair above the nasal bridge is often of the same color and thickness as the eyebrows, thus giving the appearance that they converge to form one uninterrupted line of hair, a single eyebrow.