hangdog look
Preserved but no longer current.
A guilty, shame-faced look. Hanging Gardens of Babylon. A square garden (according to Diodorus Siculus), 400 ft. each way, rising in a series of terraces from the river in the northern part of Babylon, and pro- vided with earth to a sufficient ^ depth to accommodate trees of a great size.
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 “hangdog look” mean?
A guilty, shame-faced look. Hanging Gardens of Babylon. A square garden (according to Diodorus Siculus), 400 ft. each way, rising in a series of terraces from the river in the northern part of Babylon, and pro- vided with earth to a sufficient ^ depth to accommodate trees of a great size.
Is “hangdog look” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.