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Glite Dictionary
to face brickbats

to face brickbats

8.9
To receive harsh criticism in public
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : recibir críticas
  • After leaking the report, the manager had to face brickbats from both staff and media.

Examples

  • Even talented artists sometimes face brickbats for their controversial work.

  • The new policy announcement made the CEO face brickbats at the press conference.

  • Don't face brickbats!

  • The politician had to face brickbats after the controversial speech.

  • After leaking the report, the manager had to face brickbats from both staff and media.

  • Even talented artists sometimes face brickbats for their controversial work.

  • The new policy announcement made the CEO face brickbats at the press conference.

Synonyms

to take a lot of flak
vsto face brickbats
1 7.4

Get a lot of criticism or blame from other people

is public harsh remarks that may not accuse responsibility directly
to face backlash
vsto face brickbats
  • Literature
1 6.1

To receive strong public criticism for something you do or say

is public harsh remarks directed at someone rather than broad collective reaction
to face vitriol
vsto face brickbats
9.5

To get very harsh public criticism

is public criticism that is harsh but less personally abusive

Antonyms

compliment
342 1.6

A polite remark that praises someone or something

praise
161 1.0

Words or actions that show admiration for someone

How Severe

vilification
  • Formal
6 8.4
to face brickbats
8.9
criticism
512 3.0

Surface Forms

face brickbats infinitive
faced brickbats past
faced brickbats past participle
facing brickbats present participle
faces brickbats third person singular

Morphology

face + brickbat

The meaning 'to receive criticism' is directly compositional from 'face' (to confront or deal with) plus 'brickbats' (harsh verbal criticism). This follows the transparent verb + object pattern (e.g. 'face criticism') and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents, though 'brickbat' is a relatively rare lexical item.

Etymology

Face brickbats may come from the image of a crowd throwing brickbats (small pieces of brick) at someone's face to show anger. That strong picture explains why the phrase means 'to receive criticism', especially in public.