spare someone's feelings

idiom

: to avoid doing or saying something that will hurt someone emotionally : to avoid upsetting someone
He admitted that he hadn't told me the whole story because he wanted to spare my feelings.
We pretended to like his artwork in order to spare his feelings.

Dictionary Entries Near spare someone's feelings

Cite this Entry

“Spare someone's feelings.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spare%20someone%27s%20feelings. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!