looking the other way
Pretending not noticing
Looking the other way means deliberately ignoring wrongdoing or pretending not to notice something improper.
The phrase suggests a conscious choice to avoid confrontation or responsibility: The cops were looking the other way while the gang operated.
It implies complicity through inaction—you could intervene but choose not to.
Parents sometimes look the other way when their kids bend the rules.
- turning a blind eyeIntentionally disregarding something obvious
- willful ignorancePurposely remaining uninformed
- willful blindnessConscious avoidance of knowledge
- ignoringDeliberately not noticing
- disregardingDeliberately not considering
see no evil · sweeping under the rug · connivance · omitting · tacit approval · plausible deniability · neglecting · unheeding · indifference · none of my business · bypassing · complicity · selective attention · avoidance · negligence · denial · rationalization · apathy
looking the other wayaddressing
Speaking to or handling
tackling · dealing with · taking on · engaging · staring down
looking the other wayintervening
Coming between to affect
stepping in · blowing the whistle · confronting · speaking up · calling out
looking the other waycracking down
Enforcing more strictly
enforcing · policing · monitoring · holding to account · auditing
looked, looker, lookers, looking, overlook, overlooked, overlooking, other, others