tacit approval
Unspoken green light
Tacit approval is acceptance or agreement communicated through silence or inaction rather than explicit statement.
When someone witnesses something and raises no objection, their silence may constitute tacit approval: By not speaking up, management gave tacit approval to the practice.
The phrase often implies complicity—you didn't say yes, but you didn't say no either.
- acquiescenceUnresisting acceptance
- silent consentAgreement without speaking
- implicationIndirect suggestion or consequence
- suggestionIdea proposed for consideration
- complicityShared criminal involvement
unspoken agreement · social norms · enabling · assent · turning a blind eye · look the other way · passivity · conformity · unwritten rules · nonverbal cues · silence · insinuation · subtext · rubber stamp · societal acceptance · deference · consent · moral ambiguity
- submissivenesssubmissiveness, docility, meekness, obedience, tractability
- turn a blind eyeignore, overlook, disregard, look away, willful blindness