Definition

1. Verb:
   • To meet face to face; to come face to face with: To encounter or confront someone directly, with nothing and no one between you. It implies a direct, personal, and often significant encounter.
   • To be in the immediate presence of; to stand before: To be positioned directly in front of someone or something, often in a context of confrontation, judgment, or a crucial moment.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Sau nhiều năm, cuối cùng họ cũng giáp mặt nhau. (After many years, they finally met face to face.)
  • Người lính can đảm giáp mặt kẻ thù. (The brave soldier came face to face with the enemy.)
  • Anh ấy lo lắng khi phải giáp mặt sếp để giải thích sự việc. (He was anxious about having to stand before his boss to explain the incident.)

Advanced Usage

• The term often carries a connotation of a serious, tense, or pivotal encounter, not just a casual meeting. It is used in contexts of conflict, important personal meetings, or decisive moments.

Variants and Related Words

• Đối mặt (v): To face, to confront. This is a very close synonym, though can feel slightly more literary or intense.
  • Phải đối mặt với sự thật. (Must face the truth.)
• Gặp mặt (v): To meet. This is a more general and neutral term for meeting someone.
  • Chúng tôi gặp mặt vào ngày mai. (We are meeting tomorrow.)

Synonyms

• To confront: To face, especially in challenge or hostility.
• To encounter: To meet, especially unexpectedly or in a confrontation.
• To come face to face with: To meet directly and personally.

Related Idioms

• Giáp lá cà: Literally "close enough for bayonets/to touch leaves," meaning to fight at very close range, in hand-to-hand combat. This idiom shares the root "giáp" (to be adjacent/to border) and emphasizes direct, unmediated contact, much like .
  • Hai đội quân đánh nhau giáp lá cà. (The two armies fought in hand-to-hand combat.)

1. face to face