spare (one's) feelings

To restrain from doing something that might cause someone embarrassment, discomfort, or anxiety. The teacher decided to spare my feelings and didn't tell the class who scored the lowest mark on the test. Instead of saying I didn't like her personality, I tried to spare her feelings and said that I wasn't really ready to start dating again yet.

spare somebody’s ˈfeelings

be careful to avoid offending or upsetting somebody: Eric got no votes at all, but we didn’t tell him because we wanted to spare his feelings. ♢ She didn’t spare my feelings at all — she told me exactly why she didn’t like me.