Verb
keep up appearances (third-person singular simple present keeps up appearances, present participle keeping up appearances, simple past and past participle kept up appearances)
(idiomatic) To pretend to be all right or that everything is going well; to maintain an appearance of wealth, comfort, or propriety.
For my father's sake, I thought I must keep up appearances, but the food stuck in my throat, and I could not swallow another mouthful.
With tact and management it would be possible to partially satisfy creditors, and keep up appearances for six months more.
Keep up appearances whatever you do. Charles Dickens
The fact that both the US and China are willing to maintain the facade and keep up appearances is seemingly what is proving to be enough for the market at this stage i.e. the fact that there is no significant escalation in tensions for the most part. Source: Internet
To keep up appearances, Hunt uttered this quote in order to simultaneously let Kittridge know that he was in Paris, which was all part of his plan. Source: Internet