Austrian Lip
Preserved but no longer current.
No one who has seen portraits of the Spanish royal family of Hapsburgs can have failed to notice the curiously protruded lower jaw and lip that marked them all. This is one of the most famous cases of inherited physical deformities.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Austrian Lip” mean?
No one who has seen portraits of the Spanish royal family of Hapsburgs can have failed to notice the curiously protruded lower jaw and lip that marked them all. This is one of the most famous cases of inherited physical deformities.
Is “Austrian Lip” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.