show one's face

show (one's) face

To go somewhere despite feeling embarrassed or being scorned. With the way my kids behaved there last time, I can never show my face in that restaurant again. How can you show your face around here, after what you did?See also: face, show

show one's face

Appear, as in She was so upset that we were sure she'd never show her face at the theater again. This idiom has appeared in slightly different forms, such as show one's neck or visage or nose, since about 1225. See also: face, show

show one's face, to

To appear, to be present. This expression generally implies that one is appearing, despite being embarrassed about something, or that one is afraid to appear for some reason. Thus Samuel Richardson used it in the early novel Clarissa (1748), “I should be ashamed to show my face in public.” It continues to be used in just this way.See also: show