fly in the face of
To act in a manner highly contrary to; to counteract or contradict.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Your new plan flies in the face of our company rules.”
“The scientist published data that flies in the face of what everyone previously believed about the disease.”
“His decision to ignore the safety warnings flies in the face of all established protocols, putting the entire project at unnecessary risk.”
- 01
bash someone's face in
To beat someone violently.
- 02
blow up in one's face
To fail disastrously.
- 03
boat
[Cockney slang]face
- 04
break someone's face
To beat up someone violently.
- 05
butter face
Alternative form of butterface.
- 06
close the face
To turn the face of the bat inwards, in order to hit the ball to the leg side.
- 07
cut off one's nose to spite one's face
To harm oneself as a result of attempting to harm an adversary.
- 08
face down
To confront; to abash by stern looks.
Last updated August 10, 2026