Idiom:  blow up in your face

Definition

Idiom:  blow up in your face

  • your plans fail completely, suddenly and cause more problems
  • have a plan unexpectedly go wrong

Example sentences

—  My plan to surprise my wife for our anniversary blew up in my face when she found the gift and thought I'd bought it for another woman.

— Borrowing an office computer without asking the IT manager really blew up in my face when I was accused of stealing it.

— Raising prices without warning really blew up in our face when 45% of our clients cancelled their service with us.

— Saying I was in sick rather than using a day of holiday leave blew up in my face when I ran into the director at the airport.

— Sneaking out of the house to visit my friend blew up in my face when my dad came to my room to talk to me about getting my own car. Now I'm grounded and won't be getting a car either.

— Putting all his retirement money in stocks really blew up in my father's face during the Asian financial crisis.

— My college roommate tried to log onto the registrar's computer to change a grade but the plan blew up in her face when she got caught and was expelled from school.

— I decided to color my hair myself and that really blew up in my face. I was allergic to the dye and ended up in the emergency room.

— I won't be surprised if your plan blows up in your face and you get arrested.

—  We decided we could remodel our bathroom ourselves and naturally the plan blew up in our faces. We had a pipe leak and it looks awful so we have to hire someone to redo it again.


Get our free idioms in pictures ebook


You might like these idioms

More idioms will be added in the future so check back frequently or sign-up for my free newsletter to learn about new updates to my website.


  1. Home Page
  2.  ›
  3. Idioms List
  4.  ›
  5. Idiom: blow up in your face