face time
Americannoun
-
time spent speaking or meeting with one or more people face to face, in contrast to phone conversations or other means of communication.
Is he available for a couple of hours of face time?
-
time spent appearing on television, in movies, or in other visual media.
The candidates had some good face time with a national audience.
-
the amount of time an employee spends in the office or other workplace.
If you work from home, make sure you put in face time once in a while.
noun
Etymology
Origin of face time
First recorded in 1975–80
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.
And these treks often end up being about more than just face time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
For more complicated returns, you might have dropped off your paperwork and come back later to sign, but you still would have had some face time with the preparer.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 1, 2026
But the PM was prepared to overlook the protocol when he was being treated to an unusual and valuable amount of face time with the US president.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2025
They were there in my darkest hours — when my parents died, they let me win my next show so I could use the 30-second face time to memorialize them.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2025
It was not the kind of news you broke to your parents over the phone; this called for face time when they got back from up north.
From "Lawn Boy Returns" by Gary Paulsen
![]()
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.