What it means
Someone with a face like thunder looks absolutely furious, dark and stormy, as if a thundercloud had rolled across their features. You can read the rage before a single word is spoken, the brow low, the jaw set, the whole room bracing for the storm. It is the look that makes everyone suddenly very busy with something else.
Usage examples
"She stormed in with a face like thunder and slammed the report on the desk."
"Dad came home with a face like thunder, so we all crept off to our rooms."
"She walked in from the parents evening with a face like thunder, sat at the kitchen table without taking her coat off, and started naming teachers in alphabetical order of who annoyed her most."
"Boss arrived this morning with a face like thunder after the network outage, the whole office went quiet at the desks, even the printer learned to whisper just for the hour."
"I asked if he’d eaten my chips and he turned round with a face like thunder, so I just backed out of the kitchen."
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Where it comes from
A proper old British saying. It’s been in use since the 19th century, especially in the UK and Ireland. The image is dead simple and very English: thunder means dark skies, pressure, and a mood that’s about to break. So a face like thunder is a face that looks ready to kick off before a word’s even landed.
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