save face
idiom
: 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
Some analysts interpreted that as meaning that Iran wanted to put on a show of force to save face after the killing of its officers but did not want a full-fledged war with Israel or the United States.
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Peter Baker, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2024
The unusual bout of legislative maneuvering late in session provided a way for both DeSantis and Renner to save face on one of the speaker’s top priorities.
—Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 1 Mar. 2024
Milan would only likely contemplate selling Leao for north of $129m, with the Rossoneri knowing PSG need to make a statement in order to save face following Mbappe’s departure.
—Emmet Gates, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
By forcing users into arbitration, 23andMe would also seemingly spare substantial litigation costs and save face by avoiding public hearings.
—Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 4 Jan. 2024
And instead of pretending that things would get better with time — instead of trying to save face after making a bad hire — Kyle Shanahan made the right decision on Wednesday to fire Wilks.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 14 Feb. 2024
In their quest to cover up the truth to save face, the brothers are forced to confront their own troubled relationship and deal with their dead father’s secret love life.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 10 Dec. 2023
But on Friday, Mr. Musk agreed with a post on X that suggested advertisers like IBM were pulling back from the platform to save face.
—Tiffany Hsu, New York Times, 17 Nov. 2023
Chess grandmasters have, in various epochs, played all the way through to the checkmate, rather than ending the game when an opponent resigns early to save face.
—WIRED, 26 Sep. 2023
Peter Baker, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2024
The unusual bout of legislative maneuvering late in session provided a way for both DeSantis and Renner to save face on one of the speaker’s top priorities.
—Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 1 Mar. 2024
Milan would only likely contemplate selling Leao for north of $129m, with the Rossoneri knowing PSG need to make a statement in order to save face following Mbappe’s departure.
—Emmet Gates, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
By forcing users into arbitration, 23andMe would also seemingly spare substantial litigation costs and save face by avoiding public hearings.
—Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 4 Jan. 2024
And instead of pretending that things would get better with time — instead of trying to save face after making a bad hire — Kyle Shanahan made the right decision on Wednesday to fire Wilks.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 14 Feb. 2024
In their quest to cover up the truth to save face, the brothers are forced to confront their own troubled relationship and deal with their dead father’s secret love life.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 10 Dec. 2023
But on Friday, Mr. Musk agreed with a post on X that suggested advertisers like IBM were pulling back from the platform to save face.
—Tiffany Hsu, New York Times, 17 Nov. 2023
Chess grandmasters have, in various epochs, played all the way through to the checkmate, rather than ending the game when an opponent resigns early to save face.
—WIRED, 26 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'save face.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Save face.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/save%20face. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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