Word.ws English Dictionary

throw something in someone's face

throw something in someone's face verb: to reject some act in a spiteful manner.

Verb

throw something in someone's face (third-person singular simple present throws something in someone's face, present participle throwing something in someone's face, simple past threw something in someone's face, past participle thrown something in someone's face)

  1. To reject some act in a spiteful manner.
    • I tried to make up after the argument, but he just threw it in my face and stormed off.
  2. To repay an act of kindness with disappointment or betrayal.
    • I supported you for months, and you've just thrown all that in my face by losing your job.
  3. To lord over someone by exerting dominance, following a successful confrontation; sometimes in a subtle or snide manner.
    • Bringing the kids along was clearly just an excuse to throw it in my face after the divorce.
    • M: In the long run is your annoyance at critics for dismissing these movies because they are gay outweighed by your glee in proving them wrong later on?
      G: I don't know. It is sort of nice to be able to throw it in their face. But whatever personal pleasure I get in doing that doesn't make up for...1990 August 11, Michael Bronski, George Mansour, “The Happy Booker”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 5, page 8
    Synonyms:
    rub something in someone's face
  4. To raise a past transgression in order to admonish someone.
    • She always throws that time I cheated in my face when we argue. It was ten years ago!
  5. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see throw, something, in, someone, face.

Synonyms of throw something in someone's face

  • rub something in someone's face

Forms of throw something in someone's face

third-person singular presentthrows something in someone's face
present participlethrowing something in someone's face
pastthrew something in someone's face
past participlethrown something in someone's face

Origin of throw something in someone's face

The figurative act of throwing a gift (senses 1 and 2), prize (sense 3) or merely an object (sense 4) in someone's face.

Questions about throw something in someone's face

What does throw something in someone's face mean?
Throw something in someone's face means to reject some act in a spiteful manner.
What part of speech is throw something in someone's face?
Throw something in someone's face is a verb.
What is the past tense of throw something in someone's face?
The past tense of throw something in someone's face is threw something in someone's face.

Words near throw something in someone's face in the dictionary

  1. throw someone a bone
  2. throw someone a curve
  3. throw someone a curveball
  4. throw someone a rope
  5. throw someone out of bed
  6. throw something in someone's face
  7. throw something in someone's teeth
  8. throw spaghetti against the wall
  9. throw spaghetti at the wall
  10. throw stones
  11. throw stones in a glass house

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: throw something in someone's face (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “throw something in someone's face.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/throw_something_in_someone%27s_face. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.