What does corrugator mean?
The corrugator is a small but expressive muscle of the human face, known in full anatomy as the corrugator supercilii. It runs from the bone of the brow toward the middle of the eyebrow, and when it contracts it draws the eyebrows together and downward, producing the vertical furrows between the brows that we recognize as a frown or a look of intense concentration. Because frowning is one of the most universally recognized facial expressions, the corrugator is a frequent subject in psychology and neuroscience: researchers often measure its electrical activity to gauge effort, discomfort, or negative emotion, even when a person shows no visible scowl. Outside anatomy, the term also names the industrial machine — a corrugator — that presses sheets into ridged corrugated cardboard. The word derives from the Latin corrugare, 'to wrinkle', and its vivid literal sense of 'a wrinkler' makes it a memorable piece of technical vocabulary.
A muscle that draws the eyebrows together and downward so as to produce a frown; especially the corrugator supercilii.
"Tension showed itself in the tightening of his corrugator long before he said a word."
Almost always encountered in anatomical, medical, or psychological contexts rather than everyday speech.
A machine or agent that forms corrugations — ridges or grooves — in material such as paper or metal.
"The plant's new corrugator can produce cardboard sheet at twice the old line's speed."
Common in the packaging and paper industries for the machine that manufactures corrugated board.
The standard plural applies both to the paired facial muscles (humans have one corrugator above each eye) and to multiple industrial corrugating machines.
"Activity in both corrugators increased sharply when participants viewed the distressing images."
Every frown you've ever frowned owes itself to a muscle whose Latin name literally means 'a wrinkler' — anatomists named it after what it does to your brow.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of corrugator
Corrugator comes from the Late Latin corrugator, meaning 'one who wrinkles', formed from the verb corrugare ('to wrinkle up'), which combines com- ('together') with rugare ('to wrinkle'), from ruga, 'a wrinkle or fold'. English borrowed the term in the early modern period, first in the general sense of something that wrinkles and later as the specific anatomical name for the brow-furrowing muscle. It shares this Latin root with corrugate, corrugated, and corrugation, and more distantly with rugose, 'wrinkled'.
Related word forms
How corrugator is actually used
In everyday language the word is rare and technical, appearing chiefly in anatomy, medicine (especially studies of facial expression and pain), and psychology research on emotion. In industry, 'corrugator' names the large machine that produces corrugated cardboard. The plural is 'corrugators'.
Easily confused with corrugator
Corrigenda are lists of errors to be corrected in a printed text, whereas the corrugator is the facial muscle that knits the brows in a frown.