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I am trying to incorporate the "wtf face" as a reaction to some dialogue but other than stating this as is, I am not sure how to describe this expression without getting unnecessarily convoluted and ruining the pace of the dialogue. This "term" is well defined in slang as visible here and here, but it doesn't appear to yet have a clear non-slang synonym.

To keep this clear, there are two main variations of the wtf face I am focusing on here:

  1. The first one is the frown wtf face: https://youtu.be/9n46CtDmKOg?t=3
  2. The second is the smile wtf face: https://youtu.be/s3hKrpKRjsY?t=15

Of course as any expression, every person will have a slight variation of this, but just as when saying "smile" or "cringe" gives a fairly concrete idea of the expression, I am looking for something similar, since in most cases it is the reaction that matters not whether the character is smiling or just frowning since their personality should suggest this to the reader anyway eg. are they a smug smiler or a genuine smiler? Has anyone previously used this expression before or have suggestions how to use it?

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    This will probably get VTCed as POB. That said, at least in the first one (Vince Vaughn's) I would call it stunned, gobsmacked, or maybe non-plussed – Cascabel Apr 5 at 15:42
  • 1
    I might say respectively quizzical and contemptuous. – Jim Apr 5 at 16:42
  • Quizzical seems to be the closest from these since the definition covers both the puzzlement of example 1 but also the bemused part of 2: dictionary.com/browse/quizzical – FrontEnd Apr 6 at 10:31

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