lose face
/ˌluːz ˈfeɪs/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.93 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To lose the respect of others; to be humiliated or experience public disgrace.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- ""The Chengtu revolutionaries were fantastically colourful in the Szechwanese manner—they costumed themselves as heroes of the stage and their energies were chiefly occupied in tying ropes across the main streets so that when Imperial officials rode by in their litters they would have to get down and crawl under, losing face."
- "Ahithophel, Absalom's chief counsel, hanged himself when he lost face after his advice was rejected."
- "The intelligence sources said the Chinese would not want to lose face. One source said, however: "The show of military muscle has provoked an international reaction and that may be enough face saved.""
- "A schoolboy obsessed with losing face after a classroom quarrel stabbed a younger boy through the heart before walking away "looking as though he had been told off for chewing gum", a court heard yesterday."
- "When you start to feel unmotivated, you will look for ways to weasel out of your commitments. We all do it. If there's a stealth way to back out, without ever losing face, you will do it without hesitation."
- "He had arranged for one of his managers to be present in the office with us, so I should have realised immediately that there was little chance of him backing down since that would have meant losing face in front of a subordinate."