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面目 (めんぼく) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
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彼かれ
は
失しっ
敗ぱい
し
て
面めん
目ぼく
を
失うしな
っ
た
。
He lost face because of his failure.
Usage patterns 〈 人ひと 〉 の 面めん 目ぼく が 立た たない to be unable to save one's face / to lose face
With this failure, the company can't save face.
面めん 目ぼく を 一いっ 新しん する to completely change one's appearance or image
The renovation gave the shop a completely new look.
面めん 目ぼく にかかわる to be a matter of honor / to affect one's reputation
This is a matter that affects our family's honor.
Related words· 7 体面 is a more formal word for public dignity or appearances, while 面目 focuses on one's personal honor or reputation among others.
名誉 covers honor or prestige in a broad sense, including achievements and awards, whereas 面目 is specifically about social face and reputation.
顔 is a casual, everyday way to talk about someone's reputation or standing (as in 顔を立てる), while 面目 is more formal and literary.
面目 appears in set phrases like 面目ない (ashamed) and centers on one's honor before others, whereas メンツ is more casual and focused on standing among peers.
Show 3 more 面目 focuses on one's reputation or 'face' being lost, while 恥 is the broader feeling or state of shame itself.
面目 is a more everyday term for one's face or reputation in social situations, while 威信 is a more formal, weighty term for institutional prestige.
面目 refers to one's honor or reputation, while 体裁 refers more specifically to how a situation or thing looks on the surface.
Don't confuse with 眼目 looks and sounds similar to 面目 but means 'main point' or 'crux' of a matter, not honor or reputation.
面目 (honor, face) shares the kanji 目 and a formal register with 名目, but means one's reputation or dignity, not a nominal title or pretext.
面目 (reputation, honor) shares the kanji 面 with 面々 but has a completely different meaning and reading.
Etymology From Chinese 面目 (miànmù), originally meaning 'face' or 'appearance'. The Japanese readings めんぼく and めんもく are both on'yomi, with めんぼく being a phonetic shift from めんもく. The reading めいぼく is an older, now obsolete variant.
めいぼく
Obsolete reading; not used in modern Japanese.
