save face

phrase

: to avoid having other people lose respect for oneself

He tried to save face by working overtime.

Examples of save face in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The acquisition had been arranged, according to a person familiar with the deal, largely to help Altman save face. — Ronan Farrow, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026

Groups like his have accused the government for years of trying to disappear the disappeared to save face on an international stage. — ABC News, 27 Mar. 2026

Advertisement On social media, Noem did her best to save face. — Philip Elliott, Time, 5 Mar. 2026

Mostly to save face, Iran’s new leaders will likely continue to hit at American and Israeli targets in the region for a little while. — Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 1 Mar. 2026

Rhymes for save face

• aerospace
• anatase
• anyplace
• commonplace
• cyberspace
• database
• diabase
• diastase
• dnase
• elastase
• fireplace
• hyperspace