From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
facade
n 1: the face or front of a building [syn: frontage, frontal]
2: a showy misrepresentation intended to conceal something
unpleasant [syn: window dressing]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Facade \Fa`[,c]ade"\ (f[.a]`s[.a]d" or f[.a]`s[=a]d"), n. [F.,
fr. It. facciata, fr. faccia face, L. facies. See Face.]
(Arch.)
The front of a building; esp., the principal front, having
some architectural pretensions. Thus a church is said to have
its fa[,c]ade unfinished, though the interior may be in use.
[1913 Webster]