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A unibrow (or jacco brow or monobrow; called synophrys in medicine) is a single eyebrow created when the two eyebrows meet in the middle above the bridge of the nose.^[1] The hair above the bridge of the nose is of the same color and thickness as the eyebrows, such that they converge to form one uninterrupted line of hair.

History

The word monobrow first appeared in print in 1968,^[2] and the adjectival form monobrowed followed in 1973, in Martin Amis' novel The Rachel Papers.^[3] The first known use of the word unibrow was in 1981.^[4]

Culture and beauty

Some nations prize the unibrow. It is a sign of beauty among Baluchi Omanis, whose women sometimes draw a black line joining the brows as a part of their routine makeup to fake a unibrow. A study found the prevalence of synophrys to be at 11.87% in the Omani population.^[5] In Tajikistan, where the unibrow is similarly viewed as attractive, some women dry and extract an herb known locally as usma and daub it onto their brows to mimic one.^[6] Urban women may do the same with a kohl liner or a kajal pen.^[7]

The unibrow has largely been seen as undesirable in the Americas and Europe, with the hairs often plucked, shaved, or waxed away.^[8]^[9] Exceptions include the artist Frida Kahlo, famous for her unibrow, which she often depicted in self-portraits,^[10]^[11] and the Greek-Cypriot model Sophia Hadjipanteli.^[12]

The unibrow is also the trademark of the NBA player Anthony Davis,^[13] the football player Marouane Fellaini, and the YouTuber ElectroBOOM. The boxer Roberto Elizondo famously sported a unibrow during his professional career.^[14]

Fictional characters with unibrows include Bert, Herry Monster, and Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street, Muppets Sam Eagle, Statler and Animal, Tim Lockwood from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Spanky Ham from Drawn Together, Squilliam Fancyson from SpongeBob SquarePants, Count Olaf from A Series Of Unfortunate Events, Helga Pataki and Harold Berman from Hey Arnold!, Babyball and Leto Otel from Ballmastrz: 9009, Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba!, Duncan from Total Drama, The Twins from Superjail!, Ed and Rolf from Ed, Edd n Eddy, and Baby Gerald from The Simpsons.

Medicine

Genetics

The unibrow is a genetic trait.^[15] It is associated with the PAX3 gene.^[16]

Medical conditions

A unibrow is part of normal human variation, but can also stem from developmental disorders. A unibrow is a recognized feature of Cornelia De Lange syndrome, a genetic disorder whose main features include moderate to severe learning difficulties, limb abnormalities such as oligodactyly (fewer than normal fingers or toes), and phocomelia (malformed limbs), and facial abnormalities including a long philtrum (the slight depression/line between the nose and mouth).

Other medical conditions associated with a unibrow include:^[17]

3MC syndrome 1
Acromegaloid facial appearance syndrome
Acromesomelic dysplasia 4
Amaurosis-hypertrichosis syndrome
Arrhinia with choanal atresia and microphthalmia syndrome
Autosomal recessive spinocerebellar ataxia 17
Blepharophimosis-impaired intellectual development syndrome
Blepharophimosis-ptosis-esotropia-syndactyly-short stature syndrome
Brachycephaly, trichomegaly, and developmental delay
Chromosome 1p36 deletion syndrome
Coffin-Siris syndrome 12
Cognitive impairment - coarse facies - heart defects - obesity - pulmonary involvement - short stature - skeletal dysplasia syndrome
Congenital muscular hypertrophy-cerebral syndrome

Cornelia de Lange syndrome 1-5
Corpus callosum agenesis-abnormal genitalia syndrome
Cortical dysplasia, complex, with other brain malformations 11
Deafness, cataract, impaired intellectual development, and polyneuropathy
Deficiency of transaldolase
DeSanto-Shinawi syndrome due to WAC point mutation
Developmental and epileptic encephalopathy 23, 66, 83, 84, 85 (with or without midline brain defects), 100, and 105 (with hypopituitarism)
Developmental delay with variable intellectual disability and dysmorphic facies
Developmental delay, impaired speech, and behavioral abnormalities
Diamond-Blackfan anemia 21
Early-onset progressive diffuse brain atrophy-microcephaly-muscle weakness-optic atrophy syndrome
Epilepsy, X-linked 2, with or without impaired intellectual development and dysmorphic features
Epilepsy-telangiectasia syndrome
Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and neurodevelopmental syndrome
Fontaine progeroid syndrome
Goldberg-Shprintzen megacolon syndrome
Growth delay due to insulin-like growth factor I resistance
Hajdu-Cheney syndrome
Hennekam lymphangiectasia-lymphedema syndrome 3
Holoprosencephaly 5, 7, and 11

Hypotonia, ataxia, and delayed development syndrome
Intellectual developmental disorder 61
Intellectual developmental disorder with or without peripheral neuropathy
Intellectual developmental disorder, autosomal dominant 64 and 65
Intellectual developmental disorder, autosomal recessive 68
Intellectual developmental disorder, X-linked, syndromic, with pigmentary mosaicism and coarse facies
Intellectual disability, autosomal dominant 29, 30, 34, 43, 48, and 52
Intellectual disability, autosomal recessive 5, 13, 16, 45, 46, and 61
Intellectual disability, X-linked 21, 73, 97, and 106
Intellectual disability, X-linked, syndromic 33
Intellectual disability-brachydactyly-Pierre Robin syndrome
Intellectual disability-facial dysmorphism syndrome due to SETD5 haploinsufficiency
Joubert syndrome 35
KBG syndrome
Kleefstra syndrome 1
Lissencephaly 6 with microcephaly
Macrothrombocytopenia-lymphedema-developmental delay-facial dysmorphism-camptodactyly syndrome
Mandibulofacial dysostosis-macroblepharon-macrostomia syndrome
Marshall-Smith syndrome
Microcephaly 4, primary, autosomal recessive
Midface hypoplasia, hearing impairment, elliptocytosis, and nephrocalcinosis
Mitochondrial complex 4 deficiency, nuclear type 20
Mitochondrial complex III deficiency nuclear type 7