to face facts
30
4.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
aceptar la realidad
- She finally had to face facts about her dwindling finances after checking her bank statements.
He wanted people to face the facts of American life.
- He wanted people to face the facts of American life.
- He's he's facing up to the fact that they actually are.
- Upton said it's time for his party to face facts.
- I think I didn't want to face up to the fact that my argument might not sound quite as convincing about how women can do anything.
- So, and also I had to face up to the fact that, you know, from that first guy, I knocked on the door and he said take care, don't get arrested.
- But but when you really face the fact that you're going to die and then when you, when I start to look at it from this point of view that, well, this thing was an interface to begin with.
- I think that by not facing up to the fact that we don't understand quantum mechanics, we have been held back in our attempts to do other questions in physics.
Examples
-
You gotta face the facts.
-
But the time has come to face the facts.
Blog text (30) -
But... we have to face the fact that...
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You must face the fact.
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So I decided it was time to face the facts.
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In a different economy, the employee would do well to face the facts and seek another position.
Blog text (2) -
"I think I'm just going to have to face the fact that it's not going to happen right now.
Blog text (30) -
It's time to face the fact that he's gone.
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We might as well face up to the fact that we're still just learning the ABCs.
Fiction book (2002) -
I love you, Tracy, but it's time you faced facts.
Synonyms
∞
2.0
Say that something is true without wanting to
16
3.7
Accept real facts even when they are painful
Antonyms
How Accepting
35
4.3
- Informal
30
4.1
∞
2.0
∞
2.0
- Informal
5
7.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to accept or acknowledge the truth' is directly derivable from combining 'face' (to confront/deal with) and 'facts' (verifiable truths); the phrase literally means to confront the facts. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows normal English verb + noun semantics, so a B1 learner who knows both words can reliably infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Face facts gives a clear picture: you turn to look at the truth. The word face means to turn toward and facts are real things. That's why it means 'to accept' or 'to admit' an unpleasant situation.