breaking the ice
Easing initial awkwardness
Breaking the ice is doing something to ease the initial awkwardness when strangers meet or conversation stalls.
The image is of clearing a path through frozen water—making further progress possible.
Icebreakers are activities or remarks designed for this purpose: We went around the room saying our names to break the ice.
- conversation starterInitiates social exchange
- opening lineInitial sentence of text
- socializeInteract with others
- helloCommon spoken greeting
- nice to meet youPolite introduction phrase
hey · greetings · warm welcome · rapport · awkwardness · howdy · nervousness · put at ease · hi · small talk · communicate · common ground · bonding · shyness · friendliness · introduce · party games · social butterfly
- Getting to Know Youintroductions, small talk, first date, icebreakers, meeting
- relaxation techniquesdeep relaxation, relaxing, muscle relaxation, body scan, body warmth
- metaphorsdead metaphor, mixed metaphor, time is money, extended metaphor, life journey
breaking the icekeeping to oneself
Staying socially isolated
stonewalling · cold shoulder · holding back · cold-shouldering · rebuffing
breaking the iceclamming up
Becoming deliberately silent
putting one's foot in one's mouth · freezing up · tongue-tied
break, breaking, breaks, broken, breaker, breakers, breakage, unbroken, outbreak