lose face

Calque from Chinese 丟臉／丢脸 (diūliǎn) or 丟面子／丢面子 (diū miànzi), both literally “lose face”.

• ""The Chengtu revolutionaries were fantastically colourful in the Szechwanese manner—they costumed themselves as heroes of the stage and their energies were chiefly occupied in tying ropes across the main streets so that when Imperial officials rode by in their litters they would have to get down and crawl under, losing face."
• "Ahithophel, Absalom's chief counsel, hanged himself when he lost face after his advice was rejected."
• "The intelligence sources said the Chinese would not want to lose face. One source said, however: "The show of military muscle has provoked an international reaction and that may be enough face saved.""
• "A schoolboy obsessed with losing face after a classroom quarrel stabbed a younger boy through the heart before walking away "looking as though he had been told off for chewing gum", a court heard yesterday."
• "When you start to feel unmotivated, you will look for ways to weasel out of your commitments. We all do it. If there's a stealth way to back out, without ever losing face, you will do it without hesitation."
• "He had arranged for one of his managers to be present in the office with us, so I should have realised immediately that there was little chance of him backing down since that would have meant losing face in front of a subordinate."

• loss of face
• egg on one's face
• give face
• save face