Face it, You Need to Know these English Idioms with Face

Idioms are common expressions in a language with meanings that you can’t always guess from the literal meanings of the individual words. A classic example of an English idiom is the expression to kick the bucket. If you take these words literally, you imagine a person using their foot to hit a bucket. But that’s not at all what the idiom means! Instead, it means to die. That mean old man from the apartment upstairs finally kicked the bucket. So, he won’t be complaining about noise any more. In this post we’ll look at several common English idioms with face. That is, idiomatic expressions that use the word face as a noun or a verb.

Can’t face something, Have to face something

If you can’t face something, you’re unwilling to confront or deal with something. If you have to face something, it’s a truth that you have to accept whether you like it or not.

• I can’t face going back to work after that terrible meeting yesterday.
• Bill can’t face his girlfriend after she caught him lying to her.
• You have to face the truth of the situation, even if it’s unpleasant.

Face the music

To face the music is another common English idiom with face. It means to confront or accept the consequences of something that you did.

• You made a mistake, so now it’s time to face the music.
• If you stay up late tonight, you’re going to have to face the music tomorrow morning!
• Sam lied about his experience on his job application. When his boss finds out, he’ll have to face the music.

Put on a brave face

If you put on a brave face, you pretend that everything is fine when it’s not.

• Laura always puts on a brave face, even when she’s really having a hard time.
• Even though Linda was upset, she put on a brave face.
• We have to put on a brave face for the kids. We don’t want them to know how serious the problem is.

Face to face

A very common English idiom with face is face to face. This means physically with someone.

• You can’t break up with someone over text! You have to do it face to face.
• They had a face to face meeting to resolve their differences.
• Can we meet and talk about this face to face? It’s very important.

A long face

If you have a long face, you look sad or disappointed.

• Why the long face? Is something wrong?
• What’s the matter? You’ve had a long face all morning.
• If Mark doesn’t get his way he mopes around with a long face.

In your face

If something is in your face, it’s aggressive and direct, especially meant to challenge or provoke a reaction. The related idioms to be (or get) (all up) in someone’s face means to directly challenge or try to provoke someone.

• Politics are so in your face today! No body can discuss without arguing.
• The candidate’s victory dance was so in your face that it was childish.
• I was talking to a woman at the party, but her boyfriend got all up in my face because he thought I was hitting on her.

Lose face/Save face

There are two similar English idioms with face: lose face and save face. If you lose face, you lose respect or are humiliated. If you save face, it’s the opposite. You preserve your dignity or avoid humiliation.

• He didn’t want to apologize in public because he was afraid of losing face.
• The boss hates when you disagree with her in meetings because she never wants to lose face.
• The candidate ignored the difficult questions in order to save face.

To show your face (somewhere)

If you show your face somewhere, you appear in a place, especially after being absent, or especially after an embarassing situation.

• After the argument, he didn’t dare show his face at the party.
• Bob got really drunk at the restaurant and made such a scene that he can’t show his face there any more.
• Joe finally showed his face at work after being out sick for days.

To keep a straight face

To keep a straight face is another common idiom with face. It means to avoid showing laughter or amusement, to make a strong effort not to laugh.

• The reporter struggled to keep a straight face during the ridiculous interview.
• You can’t possible tell that story that with a straight face. It’s absurd!
• I couldn’t keep a straight face when I saw Alex’s new haircut.

To make/pull a face

If you make (or pull) a face, you make a facial expression that shows dislike, disgust, or annoyance.

• Whenever I ask my daughter to help me around the house she makes a face.
• Kids always make faces when they taste something they don’t like.
• Don’t pull that face when I speak to you!

Two-faced

If someone is two-faced, they are deceitful or hypocritical. They show different behavior to different people.

• I thought she was my friend, but she turned out to be really two-faced!
• Don’t be so two-faced. Don’t pretend to like someone you don’t really like.
• Paul pretends to like my ideas, and then mocks them when I’m not around. He’s so two-faced!

At face value

If you take something at face value, you accept its value or meaning without looking more deeply into it.

• You can’t take Donald’s words at face value. He lies all the time.
• He took her words at face value, but she was being sarcastic.
• Don’t just accept his explanation at face value. Make sure he’s being honest.

To fly in the face of

To fly in the face of something means to challenge or contradict it directly.

• They pretend to be good people, but their actions fly in the face of human decency.
• Margaret was an outstanding scientist whose ideas flew in the face of conventional wisdom.
• Robert’s behavior flies in the face of everything his family believes in.

Until you’re blue in the face

If you do something until you’re blue in the face, you do it for a long time, without success.

• You can give me that excuse until you’re blue in the face, I won’t believe it!
• The teacher talks until she’s blue in the face, but the students won’t pay attention.
• I’m not going to argue with you until I’m blue in the face. Just accept that we disagree.

Poker face

Poker face is an idiom with face that comes from the card game. When you’re playing poker, you don’t want to show how good or bad your cards are with your facial expression. Instead, you keep a poker face – an expressionless face that doesn’t reveal anything.

• He has a great poker face, so it’s hard to tell what he’s thinking.
• You’ve got to keep a poker face when you’re negotiating to buy a car!
• Gary has no poker face at all. You can always tell exactly what he’s thinking from his facial expression!

Wipe the smile off someone’s face

If you wipe the smile off someone’s face you humble them because they are overly confident or arrogant.

• The loss really wiped the smile off his face.
• I’m going to wipe the smile off his face when I tell him what everyone really thinks.
• Wipe that smile off your face! This is not a joking matter!

A slap in the face

If something is a slap in the face, it’s a strong insult or a harsh rejection.

• You’re questioning my honesty? That’s a real slap in the face!
• You can’t criticize him or he’ll take it as a slap in the face.
• I just found out that everyone secretly hates my singing. That’s a slap in my face!

In the face of something

The idiom in the face of something means despite challenges or opposition.

• In the face of criticism, Diane works harder to prove herself.
• Artists have to learn to keep working even in the face of harsh criticism.
• We kept working hard in the face of adversity, and we have finally succeeded.

On the face of it

The expression on the face of it means at first glance, after a first inspection.

• On the face of it, their offer seems good, but we have to analyze the numbers.
• The deal seemed good on the face of it, but I figured out that there were hidden costs.
• If something seems too good to be true on the face of it, don’t believe it!

Face off

The expression face off can be a verb or a noun. To face off means to engage in direct confrontation or competition. A face off is the confrontation or competition itself.

• The two best teams will face off for the championship.
• The chess rivals faced off in a great game.
• We can’t wait to see the face off between the two greatest boxers.

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We hope you’ve enjoyed learning some common English idioms with face. If you’re interested in ESL/EFL lessons, please check out our English courses. We have private lessons, lessons for you and a friend or colleague, or small groups. Or see our other posts on English grammar, vocabulary, and more.

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