in the face of

preposition

When confronted with.

“Laugh in the face of adversity.”

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Meanings

preposition
  1. When confronted with.

    Laugh in the face of adversity.

    3 more examples

    in the face of growing pressure, the company changed its logo

    Significant rail projects have been mothballed before in the face of changed circumstances - in particular, the LNER Woodhead project which was postponed due to wartime conditions and not revived until 1948, as money became available after nationalisation.

    2020 December 2, Industry Insider, “The costs on cutting carbon”, in Rail, page 76

    Responsible for public affairs, business strategy, corporate development and finance, he [Donald Tang] now faces the task of getting an initial public offering over the line in London after ditching earlier plans to list in New York in the face of US political opposition.

    2024 July 13, Laura Onita, Eleanor Olcott, “Shein’s master of reinvention treads tricky path to IPO”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 11
  2. Despite; against; contrary to.

    2018, Vassilis Vassilikos, ... And Dreams Are Dreams His daughters were serious. In fact the elder one had joined the Communist Youth, where the kids were almost puritanical, growing up with principles in the face of the triple enemy: capitalism-imperialism-Americanocracy.

    1 more example

    They declare ringing confirmation for their theories even in the face of feeble data.

    1999 March 20, Natalie Angiers, The Guardian
  3. archaiclawOn the face of.

Translations

Czech tváří v tvář, s ohledem na
  • tváří v tvářTranslations
  • s ohledem naTranslations
German angesichts
  • angesichtsTranslations
Italian di fronte, nonostante
  • di fronteTranslations
  • nonostanteTranslations
Polish w obliczu
  • w obliczuTranslations
Spanish ante
  • anteTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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