ENGLISH
REFERENCE

give face

idiom
Meaning

To honor; to pay respect.

Origin

disputed origin

First used in the late 19th century (most likely in the colonial Hong Kong), a calque of dialectal Cantonese 畀面 (bei2 min2).

Examples
SIMPLE

I attended the party to give face to my host.

CONTEXTUAL

Even though he was tired, he showed up to the dinner to give face to his business partner.

COMPLEX

By attending the ceremony despite his personal reservations, the diplomat sought to give face to the visiting delegation and maintain international goodwill.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    bash someone's face in

    To beat someone violently.

  2. 02

    blow up in one's face

    To fail disastrously.

  3. 03

    boat

    [Cockney slang]face

  4. 04

    break someone's face

    To beat up someone violently.

  5. 05

    butter face

    Alternative form of butterface.

  6. 06

    close the face

    To turn the face of the bat inwards, in order to hit the ball to the leg side.

  7. 07

    cut off one's nose to spite one's face

    To harm oneself as a result of attempting to harm an adversary.

  8. 08

    don't give up your day job

    Somewhat sarcastic but usually good-natured advice used to criticise a person's degree of talent (especially in music or other performing arts), implying that they are unlikely to be successful.

Last updated April 17, 2026