save face

Idioms and Phrases

Avoid humiliation or embarrassment, preserve dignity, as in Rather than fire him outright, they let him save face by accepting his resignation . The phrase, which uses face in the sense of “outward appearances,” is modeled on the antonym lose face . [Late 1800s]

Example Sentences

So let's not try to save face for public opinion because I don't need to play victim so people can take my side.

From The Daily Beast

So how could he save face and broadcast to the world that he is indeed “serious?”

From The Daily Beast

“Yet there comes a point when where the suicidalist must shut it down if only in order to save face,” he writes.

From The Daily Beast

Panetta said McConnell was just trying to save face and that a fight over undoing the sequester cuts for the military was coming.

From The Daily Beast

And certainly Rand Paul is correct when he says we “should not fight a war to save face.”

From The Daily Beast

Her skipper offered me a tow, but I was anxious to save face as much as possible by returning on my own, and so declined.

From Project Gutenberg

But once the matter is brought to their “official attention,” they have to take action in order to “save face.”

From Project Gutenberg

Just as the Chinese will do anything to "save face" so the Briton will do anything not to "lose face."

From Project Gutenberg