Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR)

A high fWHR can give the central face a broader or more compact appearance; a low ratio can make it look narrower or longer. The ratio does not describe physical size. A small face can have the same ratio as a much larger one, even though the difference in size would be clear when the two are seen side by side.

Two people can share the same fWHR while having quite different proportions around the eyes, nose and mouth. A person with broad cheekbones and an average central height may have more space beside these features, giving the face a wider appearance without making the features seem closely arranged. In someone with narrower cheekbones and a correspondingly shorter centre, the same ratio may instead give an impression of vertical compactness.

That difference matters when considering how a change in fWHR would look. Widening the cheeks leaves the spacing between the central features unchanged, whereas shortening the centre reduces the distance between the nasal root and upper lip.

A higher fWHR can make a face appear more dominant or threatening, although that impression says little about how the person behaves. The 2015 meta-analysis, "Evidence from meta-analyses of facial width-to-height ratio as an evolved cue of threat," linked higher fWHR with stronger dominance and threat impressions, but when this ratio became too high it would lower their overall attractiveness.

The relationship with attraction also depends on the setting and the kind of preference being measured. In the 2014 speed-dating study, "Judging a man by the width of his face," higher male fWHR was associated with short-term attraction and second-date selection, without the same relationship for long-term attractiveness. These studies did not isolate overall face size or the surrounding features.

A high fWHR can occur in a long face because the measurement excludes the forehead and lower face. Extra height in either region can make the overall face look elongated despite a compact centre.

fWHR does not tell you whether the jaw is broad or narrow. Broad cheeks above a similarly broad jaw can give the face a square appearance, while the same cheeks above a narrow jaw create a taper.

Eye size and spacing also affect how broad cheeks look. Smaller or closely spaced eyes leave more space at the sides, which can make the central features appear concentrated within a wide face. Larger or more widely spaced eyes occupy more of that width.

A low fWHR and a low midface ratio do not necessarily mean the centre is long. Because midface ratio compares pupil spacing with eye-to-lip height, narrow cheeks and close-set eyes can lower both ratios without either vertical distance being particularly long.

Facial proportions change during growth because width and height develop at different rates. As the lower face grows towards adulthood, the face can become proportionally longer even while its width increases. A change in the ratio can therefore reflect growth in both dimensions.

Size can also be associated with differences in shape, a relationship known as allometry. Velemínská and colleagues associated larger faces with greater elongation. Although fWHR has no units, it can still be related to overall size. That relationship complicates comparisons between sexes, particularly when the studies also use different landmarks to measure central height.

During adulthood, changes in soft-tissue fullness can alter visible width, while age-related lengthening of the philtrum can lower the upper lip. If the upper-lip landmark moves down relative to the nasal root and width stays the same, central height increases and fWHR decreases. The extent of this change depends on the person's pattern of ageing and the landmarks used in the measurement.

Low fWHR may accompany a longer facial pattern in which the lower jaw rotates downwards and backwards. This jaw position can reduce the space behind the tongue and increase susceptibility to airway obstruction during sleep.

A 2017 meta-analysis associated obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) with greater lower facial height and reduced pharyngeal airway dimensions. A 2025 review also reported narrower upper dental arches and differences in mandibular development and rotation.

Jaw position affects the tongue through its muscular attachments: the genioglossus, a muscle that helps move the tongue forwards, attaches to the inside of the lower jaw near the chin. A retruded jaw can leave less space behind the tongue, narrowing part of the pharyngeal airway. This helps explain the association between mandibular retrusion and OSA.

The upper jaw influences the space available within the mouth. A narrow upper dental arch, sometimes accompanied by a high-arched palate, may provide less room for the tongue and affect its resting position. Dental-arch width is measured inside the mouth, so broad or narrow cheekbones alone do not establish how much tongue space a person has.

The pharynx has soft walls that depend partly on muscle activity to remain open. During sleep, reduced activity in the muscles supporting the airway can make an already crowded passage more vulnerable to collapse. The pressure drop during inhalation can draw the walls inward when that support is insufficient. Obstruction may involve the soft palate or the side walls of the throat as well as the tongue base.

Repeated obstruction can interrupt sleep and lower blood oxygen levels. Airway imaging helps describe the anatomy, while sleep testing measures whether breathing is disrupted and how often. A single airway-width measurement does not capture how the passage behaves during sleep.

Mandibular advancement devices hold the lower jaw forwards during sleep to help keep the airway open. For selected patients, maxillomandibular advancement surgery moves the upper and lower jaws forwards to enlarge the airway. Treatment selection also depends on OSA severity and the person's suitability; CPAP remains a standard treatment and uses air pressure to hold the airway open.

Comparisons with published fWHR values depend on how central height was measured. Using the brow as the upper landmark gives a different distance from using the nasal root, so the same face can receive different ratios under different methods. A published average or preferred range is only useful for comparison when those methods match.

Even then, an average and an attractiveness rating tell you different things. The average describes proportions within a particular sample, while a preference study records which of the tested faces its participants found more attractive. A common proportion is not necessarily a preferred one, and a preference found within one study does not establish a universal ideal.

With a high fWHR, consider how cheek width and central height relate to the overall outline, including whether the jaw retains that width or narrows below the cheeks. With a low result, check whether the centre is relatively tall or the cheeks are relatively narrow. The proportion of total face height occupied by the middle third can add context, though it covers a different interval from the central height used in fWHR.

Photographs taken at a consistent distance and head angle make these comparisons more useful, since perspective and head tilt can alter the apparent proportions. A frontal image still leaves some questions unresolved: it cannot show how far the cheekbones project forwards or distinguish the contributions of bone and soft tissue to the outline.