give face

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

to show respect or save someone's dignity

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Thể hiện sự tôn trọng hoặc cứu vãn lòng tự trọng của ai đó

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: give face
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The manager gave face to the employee by praising him in public.

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “give face” mean?

to show respect or save someone's dignity Literally: give face

Is “give face” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.