Presence of abundant hair between the eyebrows
Close up of a unibrow.
A unibrow (or jacco brow or monobrow ; called synophrys in medicine) is a single eyebrow created when the two eyebrows meet in the middle above the bridge of the nose .[ 1] The hair above the bridge of the nose is of the same color and thickness as the eyebrows, such that they converge to form one uninterrupted line of hair.
The word monobrow first appeared in print in 1968,[ 2] and the adjectival form monobrowed followed in 1973, in Martin Amis ' novel The Rachel Papers .[ 3] The first known use of the word unibrow was in 1981.[ 4]
Kyrgyz Cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov
Some nations prize the unibrow. It is a sign of beauty among Baluchi Omanis , whose women sometimes draw a black line joining the brows as a part of their routine makeup to fake a unibrow. A study found the prevalence of synophrys to be at 11.87% in the Omani population.[ 5] In Tajikistan , where the unibrow is similarly viewed as attractive, some women dry and extract an herb known locally as usma and daub it onto their brows to mimic one.[ 6] Urban women may do the same with a kohl liner or a kajal pen.[ 7]
Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster
New Zealand politician Brian MacDonell
The unibrow has largely been seen as undesirable in the Americas and Europe, with the hairs often plucked , shaved , or waxed away.[ 8] [ 9]
Exceptions include the artist Frida Kahlo , famous for her unibrow, which she often depicted in self-portraits,[ 10] [ 11] and the Greek-Cypriot model Sophia Hadjipanteli .[ 12]
The unibrow is also the trademark of the NBA player Anthony Davis ,[ 13] the football player Marouane Fellaini , and the YouTuber ElectroBOOM . The boxer Roberto Elizondo famously sported a unibrow during his professional career.[ 14]
Fictional characters with unibrows include Bert , Herry Monster , and Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street , Muppets Sam Eagle, Statler and Animal, Tim Lockwood from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs , Spanky Ham from Drawn Together , Squilliam Fancyson from SpongeBob SquarePants , Count Olaf from A Series Of Unfortunate Events , Helga Pataki and Harold Berman from Hey Arnold! , Babyball and Leto Otel from Ballmastrz: 9009 , Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba! , Duncan from Total Drama , The Twins from Superjail! , Ed and Rolf from Ed, Edd n Eddy , and Baby Gerald from The Simpsons .
The unibrow is a genetic trait.[ 15] It is associated with the PAX3 gene.[ 16]
A unibrow is part of normal human variation, but can also stem from developmental disorders. A unibrow is a recognized feature of Cornelia De Lange syndrome , a genetic disorder whose main features include moderate to severe learning difficulties, limb abnormalities such as oligodactyly (fewer than normal fingers or toes), and phocomelia (malformed limbs), and facial abnormalities including a long philtrum (the slight depression/line between the nose and mouth).
Other medical conditions associated with a unibrow include:[ 17]
Unibrow in Cornelia de Lange syndrome
Cornelia de Lange syndrome 1-5
Corpus callosum agenesis-abnormal genitalia syndrome
Cortical dysplasia , complex, with other brain malformations 11
Deafness , cataract , impaired intellectual development , and polyneuropathy
Deficiency of transaldolase
DeSanto-Shinawi syndrome due to WAC point mutation
Developmental and epileptic encephalopathy 23, 66, 83, 84, 85 (with or without midline brain defects), 100, and 105 (with hypopituitarism )
Developmental delay with variable intellectual disability and dysmorphic facies
Developmental delay, impaired speech , and behavioral abnormalities
Diamond-Blackfan anemia 21
Early-onset progressive diffuse brain atrophy -microcephaly -muscle weakness -optic atrophy syndrome
Epilepsy , X-linked 2, with or without impaired intellectual development and dysmorphic features
Epilepsy-telangiectasia syndrome
Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and neurodevelopmental syndrome
Fontaine progeroid syndrome
Goldberg-Shprintzen megacolon syndrome
Growth delay due to insulin-like growth factor I resistance
Hajdu-Cheney syndrome
Hennekam lymphangiectasia-lymphedema syndrome 3
Holoprosencephaly 5, 7, and 11
Hydrocephalic man with a unibrow
Hypotonia , ataxia , and delayed development syndrome
Intellectual developmental disorder 61
Intellectual developmental disorder with or without peripheral neuropathy
Intellectual developmental disorder, autosomal dominant 64 and 65
Intellectual developmental disorder, autosomal recessive 68
Intellectual developmental disorder, X-linked , syndromic, with pigmentary mosaicism and coarse facies
Intellectual disability, autosomal dominant 29, 30, 34, 43, 48, and 52
Intellectual disability, autosomal recessive 5, 13, 16, 45, 46, and 61
Intellectual disability, X-linked 21, 73, 97, and 106
Intellectual disability, X-linked, syndromic 33
Intellectual disability-brachydactyly -Pierre Robin syndrome
Intellectual disability-facial dysmorphism syndrome due to SETD5 haploinsufficiency
Joubert syndrome 35
KBG syndrome
Kleefstra syndrome 1
Lissencephaly 6 with microcephaly
Macrothrombocytopenia -lymphedema -developmental delay-facial dysmorphism-camptodactyly syndrome
Mandibulofacial dysostosis -macroblepharon-macrostomia syndrome
Marshall-Smith syndrome
Microcephaly 4, primary, autosomal recessive
Midface hypoplasia, hearing impairment , elliptocytosis , and nephrocalcinosis
Mitochondrial complex 4 deficiency, nuclear type 20
Mitochondrial complex III deficiency nuclear type 7
Unibrow in MPS-III
Mucopolysaccharidosis, MPS-III -A to -D
Neurodevelopmental disorder with dysmorphic facies and variable seizures
Neurodevelopmental disorder with facial dysmorphism, absent language , and pseudo-pelger-huet anomaly
Neurodevelopmental disorder with growth retardation , dysmorphic facies, and corpus callosum abnormalities
Neurodevelopmental disorder with microcephaly, short stature, and speech delay
Neurodevelopmental disorder with severe motor impairment and absent language
Neurodevelopmental disorder with spasticity and poor growth
Neurodevelopmental disorder with spasticity, cataracts , and cerebellar hypoplasia
Periventricular nodular heterotopia 9
Pontocerebellar hypoplasia type 7, 8, and 10
Primrose syndrome
Severe feeding difficulties -failure to thrive -microcephaly due to ASXL3 deficiency syndrome
Sialuria
Skin creases , congenital symmetric circumferential, 2
Smith-Magenis syndrome
Spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia , Genevieve type
Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia , sensorineural hearing loss , impaired intellectual development , and leber congenital amaurosis
Syndromic X-linked intellectual disability Chudley-Schwartz type
Syndromic X-linked intellectual disability Nascimento type
Syndromic X-linked intellectual disability Siderius type
Syndromic X-linked intellectual disability Snyder type
Trigonocephaly 1
Uruguay Faciocardiomusculoskeletal syndrome
Waardenburg syndrome types 1, 2A, and 3
Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome
Zimmermann-Laband syndrome 1, 2, and 3
^ "confluent eyebrow" . TheFreeDictionary.com . Retrieved 2016-02-02 .
^ "mono-brow, n." www.oed.com . Retrieved 2020-08-14 .
^ "mono-browed, adj" . www.oed.com . Retrieved 2020-08-14 .
^ Chisholm, Elise T. (24 Nov 1981). "How Brooke Shields is raising eyebrows again" . Evening Sun . Baltimore, MD. p. 9. Retrieved 12 Mar 2021 .
^ Synophrys: Epidemiological Study.P.Kumar. Int J Trichology.2017;9(3):105-107.doi: 10.4103/ijt.ijt_14_17 PMC 5596643 .
^ Elder, Miriam (November 27, 2010). "Where the unibrow reigns" . Global Post . Retrieved November 13, 2011 .
^ Mannaerts, Pascal (28 February 2022). "Life on the "Roof of the World" " . BBC .
^ Adame, Amanda (2017-05-25). "People Are Embracing The Unibrow – Here's Why It's A Good Thing" . Konbini United States . Archived from the original on 2018-11-03. Retrieved 2018-08-27 .
^ Usborne, Simon (2017-05-03). "Why it's finally cool to have a monobrow" . the Guardian . Retrieved 2018-08-27 .
^ "An Open Letter to the AGO About Frida Kahlo's Unibrow – Shameless Magazine" . shamelessmag.com .
^ "Why Frida Kahlo's unibrow is important" . NET-A-PORTER .
^ "Meet the model 'owning' her unibrow" . Stuff . 4 April 2018.
^ "Anthony Davis Trademarked His Unibrow" . Business Insider Australia . 26 June 2012.
^ "Roberto Elizondo Boxer - Wiki, Profile, Boxrec" . 7 December 2017.
^ "Human Traits" . faculty.southwest.tn.edu . Archived from the original on 2016-01-23. Retrieved 2016-02-02 .
^ Adhikari, Kaustubh. "How we discovered the genetic origin of the 'monobrow' and other hair traits" . The Conversation . Retrieved 2018-08-27 .
^ "Synophrys (Concept Id: C0431447)" . www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov . Retrieved 2023-12-01 .
Media related to Unibrows at Wikimedia Commons