in-your-face

in your face

1. interjection An aggressive exclamation of triumph said after one has defeated someone or proven someone wrong. Although rude, the phrase is often used jocularly, without actual hostility. You said I wouldn't make the team, and guess who's the newest member of the pitching staff? Yeah, that's right, in your face! I beat you, just as I predicted—in your face!

2. adjective Overtly aggressive, especially in an attempt to garner attention, interest, etc. Typically hyphenated. I don't think an in-your-face advertising campaign will work in this case. We need something more subtle. People hate buying cars because the salespeople are way too in-your-face. Nancy's in-your-face attitude will serve her well in the business world.

in-your-face

in-yer-face

INFORMAL

COMMON If someone or something is in-your-face or in-yer-face, they are direct and forceful, in a way that might shock or offend some people. She was a lively, in-your-face woman who was sometimes too honest for her own good. This is one of the most in-yer-face movies of the year.

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

in-your-face

mod. confrontational. Fred is just an in-your-face kind of guy. He means no harm.

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References in periodicals archive ?

"So many of the other contestants have been brash, in-your-face sexy, but the girls have something different.

Model tenants to rake it twin; TV CHIEFS VOW BIG BROTHER IS HERE TO STAY BB8 WEEK 13 DAY 88

The in-your-face title says it all, and as Boyd points out: "The '70s would be the decade that set the tone for all the decades to follow ...

The Notorious Ph.D.'s Guide to the Super Fly '70s: A Connoisseur's Journey Through the Fabulous Flix, Hip Sounds, and Cool Vibes That Defined a Decade

After taking time to address some personal issues, Anderson is back in stride and ready to entertain and enlighten fans with her in-your-face vocal style.

Sunshine Anderson

Indeed, that in-your-face joy that no human oppression has been able to obliterate is a hallmark of a church that owes its very soul to the need to believe and testify that the evil of slavery was not and could never be God's final word.

Even hindsight isn't 20/20; Reflections on Jonestown: the Life and Death of Peoples Temple

Considering how damaging target marketing has been for our democracy, it's great that today's protest singers span all genres: from the anti-cool subtlety of indic-rockers like Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes, to in-your-face hip-hop artists like the Coup, Mr.

Why Neil Young is wrong

And even this footage, essential to the story, was handled very briefly and absolutely not "in-your-face."

Missed connection

You know those in-your-face "this is what happens if you smoke" TV ads?

Fear factor

His in-your-face shooting style creates a bridge to understanding this sad, schizophrenic man's attempts to find his daughter.

Keane

Dodge says the idea is to combine traditional American approach to in-your-face looks with European engines that are small and economical by Yankee standards.

MOTORING: Hornet SUV makes buzz

Their brand of intelligently rebellious, in-your-face charm is music--fused with expressionistic politics--at its best.

Debra Singer

But the Viper has a different character: it is a back-to-basics, make-no-excuses, in-your-face, gut-wrenching torque, all-American sports car and you won't find cupholders and you won't find fancy interiors, you will find basic performance."

The new members of the SRT team

It's been A long time since New York City, home of the Bronx Cheer, the one-finger salute, and at least one headless body in a topless bar, was the world capital of feisty, in-your-face attitude.

Pansies of New York: bend over for feel-good policing

So it is not a surprise that this cultural approach to the subject matter--applied more commonly to unregarded corners of the city, in deliberate contrast with mainstream architectural discourse--produces equally interesting results when applied to this most in-your-face of all building types.

Reaching for the sky

It's an in-your-face rebuttal of the traditional view of the facts that have shaped U.S.

The other side of the coin

"As dancers, we love space, and it's a powerful thing to stand facing the rest of the country from this corner," says Gina Angelique, whose Eveoke Dance Theatre has reached new audiences with its in-your-face, hip hop-flavored work.