give a wide berth

Idioms  

1. Avoid, as in After Jane told on them, they gave her a wide berth. This expression alludes to giving a vessel enough room to swing at anchor so as to avoid a collision. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

Andolfi says that if possible, give a wide berth to those family members who create or trigger conflict.

From Washington Post

You should probably give a wide berth to the Twitter mentions of critics sceptical about Avengers: Endgame.

From The Guardian

When it comes to this newfound fear of serial killers, you can keep reminding him that he’s safe with you, that there are very few of them, and that your neighbor was trying to scare him—which may lead to its own conversation about how to give a wide berth to someone who clearly doesn’t want company.

From Slate

Palmer and I nodded in recognition about many things, like the way we try to give a wide berth to women on the street at night because it’s so obvious that they fear us like Frankenstein himself has appeared.

From The Guardian

Some may choose to give a wide berth to personal enrichment and self-improvement in retirement because they had their share of both at work.

From New York Times

Related Words

• despise
• disdain
• eschew
• neglect
• pass up
• refuse
• reject
• scorn
• snub