turn a blind eye to

Idioms

Deliberately overlook, ignore, as in She decided to turn a blind eye to her roommate's goings-on. This expression is believed to come from the siege of Copenhagen (1801), in which Lord Horatio Nelson, second in command of the English fleet, was ordered to withdraw but pretended not to see the flagship's signals to do so by putting his glass to the eye that had been blinded in an earlier battle. His attack led to a major victory. Also see turn a deaf ear.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"As a responsible government, we cannot turn a blind eye to these heartbreaking statistics. These are not just numbers, they represent human lives, the hope of many Ghanaian families and our nation."

From Barron's

Ablakwa described the figures as "depressing and frightening," saying Ghana "cannot turn a blind eye to these heartbreaking statistics".

From BBC

Bea Kim said the US is "very divided" but "diversity is what makes us a very strong country", while fellow snowboarder Maddie Mastro said she is "saddened with what's happening at home. I feel like we can't turn a blind eye to that."

From BBC

He might choose to turn a blind eye to gold’s signal but that doesn’t mean investors should.

From Barron's

“We didn’t turn a blind eye to this, we invested in it. We didn’t talk about it, we leaned in.”

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023