loss of face

Meaning

1. 1noununcountable

   The damage to someone's dignity or reputation when they are embarrassed or shown to be wrong in public.

   Grammar: Uncountable, often after a verb such as avoid or fear: he feared loss of face.

   Patterns

   • avoid loss of face
   • fear loss of face
   • cause loss of face

   He would not apologize because he feared loss of face in front of his team.

   The negotiators found a compromise that spared both sides any loss of face.

   For many leaders, loss of face is worse than losing money.

Common combinations

avoid loss of face

She changed the subject to avoid loss of face.

cause loss of face

Correcting him in the meeting would cause loss of face.

fear loss of face

Many managers fear loss of face more than failure.

suffer loss of face

The company suffered loss of face after the public recall.

without loss of face

They backed down without loss of face.

Synonyms and how they differ

humiliation

Humiliation is a stronger feeling of being made to feel small, while loss of face focuses on the damage to reputation.

embarrassment

Embarrassment can be mild and private, but loss of face involves public standing.

disgrace

Disgrace implies serious shame and moral failure, which goes beyond loss of face.

loss of dignity

Loss of dignity is a plain description and lacks the cultural echo of face as social standing.

Opposites

Word family

lose face phrase

to be embarrassed in public

save face phrase

to avoid public embarrassment

face-saving adjective

done to protect your reputation

loss noun

the state of no longer having something

Commonly confused: loss of face or loss of facial feeling?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “loss of face”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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