save face
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Avoid humiliation.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Perhaps, as officials contend, faces will be saved by a last - minute rush to meet the new deadline.
In an effort to save face, he adopted a casual attitude hoping that his staff would think that he actually meant to keep his hat on all day long just for the heck of it, like gangsters do in the films.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “save face” mean?
Avoid humiliation.
Is “save face” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.