to one's face



to one's face

Openly, directly, as in I do not have the nerve to tell him to his face that he wasn't invited and shouldn't have come . This idiom alludes to a direct confrontation. [Mid-1500s]
See also: face

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Hidekihee-de-keeJapanese
BogumiŁbaw-GUW-meewPolish
Cato (2)-Dutch
Halcyon-Various
Aurobindo-Bengali, Indian, Odia
Bracha-Hebrew