saving grace
7
4.4
- noun
- /ˈseɪvɪŋ ɡreɪs/
- Informal
:
cualidad salvadora
- Her humor was the only saving grace in a difficult situation, making everyone feel a little better.
And that's a saving grace for our field.
- And that's a saving grace for our field.
- I think that's been maybe the saving grace for this tree.
- Yeah, organically, because, you know, that's been my saving grace.
- The truth is our saving grace.
- And I think that was the saving grace for the film because the crew had issues with production and like the production team was was very new.
- I'm saying that's the one saving grace he could have if he's not mentally capable of recognizing how wrong this is.
- Last week we went four and one and the one team that let us down was our saving grace all year, Notre Dame.
- And that I think is the is the saving grace in, in in some spheres because I think it's the creative sphere.
- Thank God though, the only saving, my only saving grace is that had had they have not done that.
- And and it really was such a saving grace by having it.
- That is like our saving grace to the potential pain of a wage price spiral.
Examples
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For Pringle, adequately funded public science would be a saving grace, but Nestlé is skeptical.
Academic text (2003) -
Despite his shortcomings, honesty remained his saving grace, allowing others to trust him.
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I always say that because this place right here, it is my saving grace and I love it.
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The only saving grace for me, I probably would have probably got fired.
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You never know what form your saving grace will come in.
Blog text (27) -
As for the dance, that is the only saving grace, and even it has its weak points.
Blog text (24) -
His only saving grace is that he wears a cool suit once in a while.
Blog text (7) -
The only saving grace, I suppose, is she's better off than she was.
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Sure enough, this was a saving grace when one was lost in the crowd at an amusement park.
Blog text (21) -
CrossFit has been my saving grace and will continue to be.
Blog text (1)
Antonyms
How Redeeming
Surface Forms
Morphology
The parts 'saving' (rescuing/redeeming) and 'grace' (favor/forgiveness) transparently suggest something that 'saves' or redeems, so a learner can get a general idea. However, the phrase's specific idiomatic nuance — a single redeeming quality that compensates for faults — is metaphorical and not fully predictable without exposure, so it is best classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
The phrase saving grace was later used as an image. The word saving suggests 'saving' and grace suggests a good gift, so it came to mean 'a quality that makes someone acceptable despite faults'.