making a clean break
Ending ties decisively
Making a clean break is ending a relationship, situation, or phase of life decisively and completely rather than letting it linger or drag out.
The cleanness suggests no messy entanglements left behind—no unfinished business, no gradual fading: After the divorce, she moved across the country to make a clean break.
The phrase often implies emotional finality as much as practical separation.
- relocationPermanent change of residence
- closureSense of emotional resolution
- quittingCeasing an activity
- detachmentSeparation or emotional uninvolvement
- departureAct of going away
transformation · blank slate · liberation · empowerment · boundaries · rebirth · forgiveness · reinvention · fresh start · new chapter · turning the page · severance · burning bridges · redemption · clarity · abstinence · independence · escape
making a clean breakslow fade
Imperceptible decrease over time
fading away · phasing out · tapering off · winding down · death by a thousand cuts
making a clean breakholding on
Maintaining one's grip
clinging · on-again-off-again · hanging on · going back · stringing along
making a clean breakunfinished business
Incomplete matters requiring attention
mixed signals · ambiguous ending · drama · back-and-forth · festering wounds
maker, makers, making, remake, unmake, clean, cleans, cleaned, cleaner