breathing down someone's neck
Monitoring too closely
Breathing down someone's neck is monitoring them so closely it feels intrusive or oppressive—like standing close enough that they can feel your breath.
A boss breathing down your neck watches your every move: I can't work with him breathing down my neck like that.
The phrase can also mean pursuing closely, as in a race or competition.
- closenessState of proximity
- personal spaceComfort distance around oneself
- too close for comfortProximity causing anxiety
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- monitoringOngoing observation of something
supervision · encroachment · intimidation · hovering · tension · micromanagement · shadowing · scrutiny · stalking · oversight · vigilance · crowding · in your face · discomfort · invasion · nearness · helicopter parenting · backseat driving
breathing down someone's neckgiving space
Allowing personal distance
backing off · standing back · hands-off · leaving alone · looking the other way
breathing down someone's necktrusting
Inclined to believe others
delegating · empowering · laissez-faire · non-interference · benign neglect
breathe, breath, breathed, breaths, breather, breathless, breathlessly, breathing, downer