dévisager

From dé- +‎ visage +‎ -er.

• IPA^(key): /de.vi.za.ʒe/

• Audio:

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dévisager

1. (transitive) to peer at (someone's face), stare at (the face of)
   • 1924, Emmanuel Bove, Mes Amis‎:

     Lorsqu’une personne lui parle, il la dévisage, parce qu’il s’imagine qu’elle veut se moquer de lui. Au moindre sourire, il dit : — Vous savez… quatre ans de guerre… moi.

     When a person talks to him, he stares intently at them because he imagines that they want to make fun of him. At the smallest smile, he says, "Me, four years of war... you know..."

   • 1990, “Tandem”, in Serge Gainsbourg (lyrics), Variations sur le même t’aime, performed by Vanessa Paradis:

     On dévisage / On m’envisage / Comme une fille que je ne suis pas

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

This is a regular -er verb, but the stem is written dévisage- before endings that begin with -a- or -o- (to indicate that the -g- is a "soft" /ʒ/ and not a "hard" /ɡ/). This spelling change occurs in all verbs in -ger, such as neiger and manger.

• “dévisager”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.