Facesaving

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act or process of saving face. uncountable
Adjective
  1. 1
    That prevents loss of face and maintains one's dignity or prestige.

    "And it tends toward the conclusion that the best outcome is one in which Putin finds some face-saving exit: additional Ukrainian territory, a Ukrainian pledge of neutrality, a lifting of some of the sanctions."

Example

More examples

"And it tends toward the conclusion that the best outcome is one in which Putin finds some face-saving exit: additional Ukrainian territory, a Ukrainian pledge of neutrality, a lifting of some of the sanctions."

Etymology

From face + saving.

Related phrases

loss of face

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.