Phrase guide

face to face

adv · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adv

Meaning 1

In person; directly; in the physical presence of somebody.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • He sounds intimidating over the phone, but if you meet him face to face you will find he is a friendly enough fellow.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: eyeball to eyeball, vis-à-vis

Antonyms: none provided

2

adv

Meaning 2

Closely encountering (a thing or situation).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, not-comparable

Examples

  • Finally, there I was, face to face with death.
  • We came face to face with the situation.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: head-on

Antonyms: none provided

3

adverb

Meaning 3

involving close contact; confronting each other

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the boy and the policeman suddenly came face-to-face at the corner
  • they spoke face to face

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

81 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Amharic: ትይዩ ነው (təyyu näw) — in person
  • Arabic: وَجْهًا لِوَجْه (wajhan li-wajh) — in person
  • Armenian: դեմառդեմ (demaṙdem) — in person
  • Armenian: երես առ երես (eres aṙ eres) — in person
  • Belarusian: тва́рам да тва́ру (tváram da tváru) — in person
  • Belarusian: во́ка на во́ка (vóka na vóka) — in person
  • Bengali: মুখোমুখি (mukhōmukhi) — in person
  • Bulgarian: лице́ в лице́ (licé v licé) — in person
  • Chinese Cantonese: 當面 /当面 (dong1 min6) — in person
  • Chinese Mandarin: 當面 /当面 (dāngmiàn) — in person
  • Chinese Mandarin: 面對面 /面对面 (miànduìmiàn) — in person
  • Czech: tváří v tvář — in person
  • Danish: ansigt til ansigt — in person
  • Dutch: in het echt — in person
  • Dutch: oog in oog — in person
  • Finnish: kasvokkain — in person
  • Finnish: kasvotusten — in person
  • Finnish: henkilökohtaisesti — in person
  • French: vis-à-vis — in person
  • French: tête-à-tête — in person
  • French: face à face — in person
  • Georgian: პირისპირ (ṗirisṗir) — in person
  • German: von Angesicht zu Angesicht — in person
  • German: in echt — in person
  • Greek: πρόσωπο με πρόσωπο (prósopo me prósopo) — in person
  • Greek: διά ζώσης (diá zósis) — in person
  • Ancient Greek: ἐνώπιος ἐνωπίῳ (enṓpios enōpíōi) — in person
  • Ancient Greek: ἀντικρύ (antikrú) — in person
  • Gujarati: રૂબરૂ (rūbrū) — in person
  • Gujarati: મોઢામોઢ (moḍhāmoḍh) — in person
  • Hebrew: פנים אל פנים (paním el paním) — in person
  • Hindi: आमने-सामने (āmne-sāmne) — in person
  • Hindi: सम्मुख (sammukh) — in person
  • Hindi: रूबरू (rūbrū) — in person
  • Hungarian: személyesen — in person
  • Ido: nazo kontre nazo — in person
  • Indonesian: tatap muka — in person
  • Indonesian: wawanmuka — in person
  • Indonesian: semuka — in person
  • Interlingua: facie a facie — in person
  • Irish: aghaidh ar aghaidh — in person
  • Central Kurdish: ڕوو بە ڕوو (rû be rû) — in person
  • Macedonian: ли́це в ли́це (líce v líce) — in person
  • Macedonian: о́чи в о́чи (óči v óči) — in person
  • Malay: bersemuka — in person
  • Māori: rae ki te rae — in person
  • Māori: kanohi ki te kanohi — in person
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ansikt til ansikt — in person
  • Norwegian Bokmål: under fire øyne — in person
  • Persian: رو به رو (ru be ru) — in person
  • Polish: twarzą w twarz — in person
  • Portuguese: face a face — in person
  • Portuguese: cara a cara — in person
  • Portuguese: pessoalmente — in person
  • Punjabi: ਰੂਬਰੂ (rūbrū) — in person
  • Romanian: față în față — in person
  • Romanian: între patru ochi — in person
  • Russian: лицо́м к лицу́ (licóm k licú) — in person
  • Russian: с гла́зу на́ глаз (s glázu ná glaz) — in person
  • Russian: тет-а-те́т (tɛt-a-tɛ́t) — in person
  • Scottish Gaelic: aghaidh ri aghaidh — in person
  • Serbo-Croatian: очи у очи — in person
  • Serbo-Croatian: oči u oči — in person
  • Slovak: tvárou v tvár — in person
  • Slovak: zoči-voči — in person
  • Slovene: iz oči v oči — in person
  • Spanish: frente a frente — in person
  • Spanish: cara a cara — in person
  • Spanish: vis a vis — in person
  • Swedish: ansikte mot ansikte — in person
  • Swedish: öga mot öga — in person
  • Tagalog: harapan — in person
  • Tamil: நேருக்கு நேர் (nērukku nēr) — in person
  • Tamil: முகத்திற்கு முகம் (mukattiṟku mukam) — in person
  • Telugu: ముఖాముఖి (mukhāmukhi) — in person
  • Turkish: yüz yüze — in person
  • Ukrainian: обли́ччям до обли́ччя (oblýččjam do oblýččja) — in person
  • Ukrainian: віч-на́-віч (vič-ná-vič) — in person
  • Vietnamese: trực diện — in person
  • Vietnamese: trực tiếp — in person
  • Welsh: wyneb ar wyneb — in person