keeping one's head down
Staying beneath notice
Keeping one's head down means avoiding attention or trouble by staying quiet and unobtrusive.
The image is of someone ducking to avoid being seen or hit.
It often implies doing one's work without drawing notice: Just keep your head down and get through the probation period.
The phrase can suggest either prudent caution or passive avoidance of conflict.
- evasionAct of escaping detection
- flying under the radarRemaining undetected deliberately
- self-preservationInstinct to survive danger
- survival modeEmergency coping state
- concealmentAct of hiding something
laying low · caution · conflict zones · discretion · prudence · don't rock the boat · humility · vigilance · silence · hierarchical structures · authoritarian regimes · invisibility · public scrutiny · fear · passivity · compliance · low profile · anxiety
keeping one's head downgrandstanding
Performing to impress onlookers
showing off · making waves · standing out · attention-seeking · playing to the gallery
keeping one's head downself-promotion
Publicizing one's own merits
bragging · boasting · self-aggrandizement · chest-thumping · name-dropping
keeping one's head downrocking the boat
Causing unwanted disruption
standing up · speaking up · making waves · speaking out · bucking the system
keeping, keeps, keeper, keepers, oneness, headed, heading, header, headers