A jawline is the outline or edge where your lower jaw meets the rest of your face, running from your chin up toward your ears on both sides. You can feel your own jawline by placing your fingers under your chin and tracing along the bone that curves up toward your earlobes.

The jawline is one of the features that makes each person's face unique. Some people have a strong, angular jawline that creates sharp corners where the jaw meets the neck. Others have a softer, rounder jawline that curves more gently. As children grow into teenagers and adults, their jawlines often become more defined.

Artists and portrait photographers pay close attention to jawlines because they help define the structure and character of a face. When someone tilts their head up slightly, their jawline becomes more visible and prominent. The word shows up often in descriptions of faces in books: a character might have “a stubborn jawline” or “a delicate jawline,” giving readers a quick sense of what that person looks like.