phrasal verb · neutral
look someone in the face
UK/lʊk ˈsʌmwʌn ɪn ðə feɪs/US/lʊk ˈsʌmwən ɪn ðə feɪs/look SOME·one in the FACE
to look directly at someone's face, often to show honesty, shame or remorse
Examples
“After I lied to her, I couldn't look her in the face.”
“He apologised but still refused to look me in the face.”
“If you want to rebuild trust, learn to look people in the face when you speak to them.”
Band 8 sentence
“After deceiving my colleague, I couldn't even look him in the face the next day.”
Collocations
- couldn't look someone in the face
- refuse to look someone in the face
- learn to look someone in the face
Word family
Common mistakes
look at his face→look him in the face
look into his face→look him in the face
look him at the face→look him in the face
Say it for a higher band
5stare at→6look at→7+look someone in the face
Synonyms
avoid eye contact
look someone in the eye
Easily confused
look someone in the eye
“I couldn't look him in the eye after I lied to him.”
Related words
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In look …
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