turn a blind eye
UK/ˈtɜːn ə ˌblaɪ̯nd ˈaɪ̯/US/ˈtɜɹn ə ˌblaɪ̯nd ˈaɪ̯/
turn a blind eye verb: to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something, especially when improper or unpleasant; to look the other way.
Verb
turn a blind eye (third-person singular simple present turns a blind eye, present participle turning a blind eye, simple past and past participle turned a blind eye)
- To deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something, especially when improper or unpleasant; to look the other way.
- The mother turned a blind eye to her son’s mischief as she expected him not to repeat it.
- The great Advantage of thus vvalking by Faith is, that it vvill help us […] to turn the deaf Ear, and the blind Eye to all thoſe Pomps and Vanities of the VVorld vvhich vve renounc'd at our Baptiſm, and to have it no longer in our Hearts, but under our Feet.1698, John Norris, “A Discourse of Walking by Faith. In Two Parts.”, in Practical Discourses upon Several Divine Subjects, […], volume IV, London: […] S[amuel] Manship […], and J. Jones […], →OCLC...
- Synonyms:
- close one's eyes, shut one's eyes, wink, connive
turn a blind eye meaning in Tamil, Kannada, Arabic and Thai
turn a blind eye in Tamil
- பாராமுகம், கண்டு கொள்ளாமல் இருத்தல்
turn a blind eye in Kannada
- ಗಮನಿಸದಂತೆ ನಟಿಸುವ, ಸೋಗು ಹಾಕುವ, ಕುರುಡನಂತಿರು, ಕಾಣದಂತೆ ನಟಿಸು, ಕಂಡೂ ಕಾಣದಂತಿರು
turn a blind eye in Arabic
- to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
- أَغْمَضَ العَيْنَيَنِ عَنْ ʔaḡmaḍa l-ʕaynayani ʕan
turn a blind eye in Thai
- to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
- เอาหูไปนา เอาตาไปไร่ ao-hǔu-bpai-naa ao-dtaa-bpai-râi
Examples of turn a blind eye in a sentence
- […] I must say that for some reasons we wanted such a person very much, and find her very useful, so I turn a blind eye and a deaf ear every now and then, and we get on marvellously well.1823 October 1 (date written), Martha Wilmot, More Letters from Martha Wilmot: Impressions of Vienna, 1819–1829, […], London: Macmillan and...
- She [Emmeline Taylor] said, facing a cost of living crisis, many consumers were more willing to "turn a blind eye" to stolen food.2023 December 22, Robyn Vinter, “Britons increasingly turning to food black market, experts say”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian...
Synonyms of turn a blind eye
Forms of turn a blind eye
| third-person singular present | turns a blind eye |
|---|---|
| present participle | turning a blind eye |
| past participle | turned a blind eye |
| past | turned a blind eye |
| alternative form (archaic) | turn the blind eye |
Origin of turn a blind eye
Probably from the idea of a person turning to look at something but not seeing it, as if their eyes are blind. The term is frequently claimed to originate from an incident during the First Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801, when Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) was ordered by Admiral Hyde Parker (1739–1807) through signal flags to discontinue naval action against a force of the Dano-Norwegian Navy. Nelson, who had been blinded in one eye early in his career, said to his flag captain Thomas Foley (1757–1833), “You know, Foley, I have only one eye—I have a right to be blind sometimes.” He then put his telescope to his blind eye and, remarking “I really do not see the signal,” continued the assault which ended in a British victory. However, this is not the source of the term as the Oxford English Dictionary records uses dating to the 17th and 18th centuries.
Questions about turn a blind eye
- What does turn a blind eye mean?
- Turn a blind eye means to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something, especially when improper or unpleasant; to look the other way.
- What is turn a blind eye in Tamil?
- Turn a blind eye in Tamil is பாராமுகம், கண்டு கொள்ளாமல் இருத்தல். See Turn a blind eye meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use turn a blind eye in a sentence?
- […] I must say that for some reasons we wanted such a person very much, and find her very useful, so I turn a blind eye and a deaf ear every now and then, and we get on marvellously well.
- What part of speech is turn a blind eye?
- Turn a blind eye is a verb.
- How do you pronounce turn a blind eye?
- Turn a blind eye is pronounced /ˈtɜːn ə ˌblaɪ̯nd ˈaɪ̯/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of turn a blind eye?
- The past tense of turn a blind eye is turned a blind eye.
Words near turn a blind eye in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: turn a blind eye (page history and authors); turn a blind eye (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); turn a blind eye (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-turn a blind eye.ogg.
Cite this entry: “turn a blind eye.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/turn_a_blind_eye. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.