body language

body language (usually uncountable, plural body languages)

1. Nonverbal communication by means of facial expressions, eye behavior, gestures, posture, and the like; often thought to be involuntary.
   • 2017 May 21, Jamie Jackson, “Josh Harrop sets Manchester United on way to win over Crystal Palace”, in the Guardian‎:

     The one question is whether Paul Pogba was taken off just before half-time to rest him or because of a problem. The midfielder’s body language suggested it was the former and he appeared on the pitch after the final whistle.

2. Deliberate, usually culturally influenced, nonverbal communication using the body through facial expressions, gestures, dance, mime, etc.
   • 2000, Julius Fast, Body Language,

     There are, however, body languages that can transcend cultural lines.

   • 2004, Drid Williams, Body Language(s) in Anthropology and the Dance: Ten Lectures, page 163,

     As with spoken languages, body languages are used by everyone to live out their lives, to communicate, and to accomplish things in the world — all of which can be done with more or less success with no awareness of the rule-structures that govern the use of body language or its connection with the culture, far less the metaphysics of self that is involved.

   • 2008, P. Brunelli - Uptodate Fashion Academy, 2.03: Body language & imagination, in Emotional Trend: Psyche > Creativity > Beauty to Fashion,

     In artistic terms, the synthesis between body languages and dressing languages is expressed in dances, since the rhythmic and creative movement of the body reveals emotions and culture.