look someone in the face—confront a person with a steady gaze that implies courage, confidence, or defiance:
- How can you look me in the face, and tell such a huge lie!
stare someone in the face—
1. look into a person’s face fixedly or intently:
- She stared me in the face for the longest time before she spoke.
2. said of smth. threatening a person with misfortune or disaster:
- Only when starvation stares him in the face will he relinquish his “glad clothes.”
3. said of smth. which is obvious and easy to see but is not noticed by a person:
- Are you looking for your pencil? It’s on your desk, staring you in the face.