fly in the face of

verb

To act in a manner highly contrary to; to counteract or contradict.

“The new design is very edgy and certainly flies in the face of tradition.”

Similar
fly in the teeth of
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Meanings

verbfly in the face of (third-person singular simple present flies in the face of, present participle flying in the face of, simple past flew in the face of, past participle flown in the face of)

present singular third person flies in the face of · participle present flying in the face of · past flew in the face of · participle past flown in the face of

  1. idiomaticTo act in a manner highly contrary to; to counteract or contradict.

    The new design is very edgy and certainly flies in the face of tradition.

    1 more example

    DB Cargo is clearly upset by the Royal Mail decision. Not only will it lose a valuable customer, but this flies in the face of its own high-profile campaign, called Freight Belongs on Rail.

    2024 October 30, Andy Comfort, “Can the Royal Mail trains keep on running?”, in RAIL, number 1021, page 60

Synonyms & antonyms

verbgo against

Similar
fly in the teeth of
Broader
violatego againstbreak
Also see
oppose

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Cite this entry
APA

fly in the face of. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fly%20in%20the%20face%20of

MLA

“fly in the face of.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fly%20in%20the%20face%20of. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fly in the face of,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fly%20in%20the%20face%20of.

Source: fly in the face of on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.