you half-faced groat
Preserved but no longer current.
A 16th-century collo- quialism for "You worthless fellow." The debased groats issued in the reign of Henry VIII had the king's head in profile, but those in the reign of Henry VII had the king's head with the full face. See King John, i, 1.
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 “you half-faced groat” mean?
A 16th-century collo- quialism for "You worthless fellow." The debased groats issued in the reign of Henry VIII had the king's head in profile, but those in the reign of Henry VII had the king's head with the full face. See King John, i, 1.
Is “you half-faced groat” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.