From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfly in the face of somethingfly in the face of somethingOPPOSITE/REVERSEto be the opposite of what most people think is reasonable, sensible, or normal He likes to fly in the face of convention. → fly
Examples from the Corpus
fly in the face of something• Whatever the riddle is called, it flies in the face of 3,000 years of logical philosophy.• Neill triumphantly flies in the face of a long line of buffoon kings on film.• Eysenck's claim flies in the face of all the evidence.• I find this hard to believe since it flies in the face of all the principles of wrestling.• Anita Roddick has made a virtue of flying in the face of business convention.• It flies in the face of commitments made at the Earth Summit to reduce consumption.• But strong biological determinism flies in the face of experience.• Award-winning entertainment that flies in the face of gravity lands in Tucson for two nights only.• This flies in the face of the cautious nature of the Bush administration. 