keep at arm's length
Deliberately stay apart
To keep someone or something at arm's length is to maintain distance—avoiding closeness, intimacy, or deep involvement.
The image is of extending your arm to prevent someone from getting nearer.
She kept her coworkers at arm's length, never socializing outside the office.
The phrase suggests deliberate emotional or professional detachment, often as self-protection.
Emotional unavailability, standoffishness
- detachmentSeparation or emotional uninvolvement
- reserveSupply kept back
- coolnessCalm self-possession
- remotenessQuality of being faraway
formality · guardedness · reticence · withdrawn · aloof · impersonal · uninvolved · standoffish
Safeguarding one's own wellbeing
- privacyFreedom from observation
- discretionCareful judgment in speech
- warinessCautious distrust
- cautionCareful attention to risk
separation · space · barrier · limits · restraint · selectivity · prudence · independence
aloofness
Emotional unavailability, standoffishness
- detachmentSeparation or emotional uninvolvement
- reserveSupply kept back
- coolnessCalm self-possession
remoteness · formality · guardedness · reticence · withdrawn · aloof · impersonal · uninvolved · standoffish · dispassionate
self-protection
Safeguarding one's own wellbeing
- privacyFreedom from observation
- discretionCareful judgment in speech
- warinessCautious distrust
caution · separation · space · barrier · limits · restraint · selectivity · prudence · independence · self-reliance
evasive
Avoiding direct response
circumspect · distrust · skeptical · sidestep · deflect · rebuff · fend off · dodge · elude · shun
- expressions about containmentboxed in, bottled up, hemmed in, penned in, locked in