to blow up in someone's face
1
7.9
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
salir mal
- She ignored the warnings and went ahead with her plan, which ultimately blew up in her face.
Examples
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Man, I did everything you told me to do - and it blew up in my face.
-
Your lies and schemes, they'll blow up in your face.
-
And, you know, it could blow up in our face.
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It's all gonna blow up in his face.
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I told him the whole thing was gonna blow up in his face, and it did.
-
Your hard line approach is gonna blow up in our faces.
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You rush these things, and they blow up in your face.
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So, the whole thing kind of blew up in my face.
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I mean, I try, for once, to be honest with you... and it blows up in my face.
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Don't say I didn't warn you this whole thing would blow up in our faces.
Synonyms
1
7.7
To fail in a way that makes things much worse
Antonyms
How Successful
846
2.0
∞
1.0
898
1.0
95
5.4
- Informal
1
7.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
blow + up + in + someone's + face
The literal parts (blow + up = explode; in someone's face = directly at a person) give a clear image of an explosive event affecting someone, so learners can infer a negative, direct impact; however the specific sense 'a plan/backfired failure that harms the planner's interests' is a figurative extension that is not fully predictable from the parts. Because the meaning relies on a metaphorical mapping (explosion = dramatic failure) rather than straightforward composition, it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The phrase blow up in someone's face comes from the image of something that suddenly blows up and hits a person's face, like a small device or machine that explodes right in front of them. So the phrase means 'to fail suddenly and badly' and causes big trouble for the person who made the plan.