Darwin Called Blushing the Most Human Expression
To blush is to redden with embarrassment. Darwin studied it closely and concluded that no other animal does it.
To blush is to become red in the face from embarrassment or shame. Darwin devoted a chapter of his 1872 book on the expression of emotions to it, calling blushing the most peculiar and the most human of all expressions — no other animal appears to do it, and it cannot be produced deliberately. The involuntariness is the point: a blush reports a feeling the person would usually rather hide.
- To redden with embarrassment. *She blushed deeply.*
- A reddening. *A faint blush.*
- Cosmetic colour. *A touch of blush.*
- At first blush — at first glance. *At first blush it seems simple.*
- Blushing — the adjective. *A blushing bride.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | blush | I blush easily. |
| Past | blushed | He blushed. |
| Noun | blush | A slight blush. |
| Adjective | blushing | A blushing face. |
| Idiom | at first blush | At first blush. |
- She blushed at the compliment.Embarrassment.
- At first blush the offer looks generous.Idiom: at first sight.
- Darwin studied blushing in 1872.Science.
What happens when you blush
- Blood vessels in the face widen, driven by the sympathetic nervous system
- Facial vessels respond differently from those elsewhere in the body
- It cannot be produced on demand, unlike a smile or a frown
- Trying to suppress it typically makes it stronger
- Darwin's conclusion — it is uniquely human, and tied to awareness of being observed
Old English *blyscan*, to glow red, from a Germanic root meaning to shine. The sense of embarrassment is recorded from the 1300s.
Do animals blush?
Not in the human sense. Darwin argued that blushing from social self-consciousness is unique to humans.
What does at first blush mean?
At first sight or on first impression. Blush here keeps an old sense of glance.