lose face

Idioms  

1. Be embarrassed or humiliated, especially publicly. For example, Terry lost face when his assistant was promoted and became his boss. Both this expression and the underlying concept come from Asia; the term itself is a translation of the Chinese tiu lien and has been used in English since the late 1800s. Also see save face.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lose face

If he does too little, he will lose face; if he does too much, he could lose everything.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2025

"What advantage is there to making someone lose face, unless that is your objective."

From Reuters ● Jul. 24, 2023

Oxfordians propose that an aristocrat would lose face by publicly writing for a theater company — tradesmen, after all.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2023

“Where does he find a way out? Where does he find himself where he does not only lose face but significant power?”

From New York Times ● Oct. 7, 2022

Still, we always used the butter, for if my mother sent it back to the kitchen, Yang Sze-Fu would lose face and quit.

From "Homesick" by Jean Fritz