Facepalm — What Is A Facepalm?

The official logo for the 2014 World Cup, held this year in Brazil.

Facepalm — What Is A Facepalm?

A facepalm is a very specific 'hand-to-face' act that involves a person placing his/her own palm against his/her own face so as to demonstrate a feeling of embarrassment (at having messing-up) and/or frustration (at someone else having screwed-up).

The following are a examples of facepalms — during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff:

Photo: Andre Dusek/AP Images

A Brazilian soccer fan demonstrating a forehead facepalm technique during a recent blow-out game
against Germany: 

Photo: Frank Augstein/AP Images

Frustration reached maximum levels as this Brazilian soccer fan goes for an over-the-shirt double-palm. A very high degree of difficulty:

Photo: Frank Augstein/Getty Images

The rare Ney-Palm — wherein one uses a mask of Brazilian soccer star Neymar in place of one's own hand:

Photo: Andre Penner/AP Images

Street Fighter character Blanka — facepalming:

Photo: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters