face-saving
Britishadjective
Explanation
Anything face-saving protects you from humiliation. Slip and fall in the school cafeteria, and you might use the face-saving tactic of pretending you did it on purpose. You know, for a joke. The concept of something being face-saving varies between cultures; what's undignified or dishonorable in one might be no big deal in another. It's all about the idea of face, or dignity in front of a social group, and the potential loss of it. In a negotiation between two countries, the winning side sometimes grants some face-saving concessions to the loser, to make their loss less humiliating or embarrassing.
Vocabulary lists containing face-saving
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Daleep Singh, chief global economist at PGIM, said a face-saving cease-fire would allow oil to retreat toward $80 to $100 a barrel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
Eventually, it’s likely that the Justice Department finds a face-saving way to drop the inquiry and allow Warsh’s nomination to move forward, said Stifel chief Washington policy strategist Brian Gardner.
From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026
They accepted face-saving assurances from then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2025
For instance, in the film, Prince Andrew is told Covid is to be used as a face-saving excuse for him not to be at the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2024
Instead, behind closed doors, a face-saving deal had quickly been struck.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
