look the other way

1. Deliberately overlook something, especially something of an illicit nature. For example, They're not really entitled to a discount but the sales manager decided to look the other way. This expression uses the other way in the sense of “away from what is normal or expected.”

Example Sentences

“Devil in Disguise” also unpacks the details of the twice-married Gacy before his killing spree, and all the troubling signs were there, even if everyone around him chose to look the other way.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“They’re paying me enough money to look the other way. Do you understand? Look the other way,” he said on his podcast.

Read more on Salon

“Every day I see our communities struggling to make ends meet, working two and three jobs like my mother did, and like I did to support myself through college, while establishment Democrats look the other way to please their corporate donors,” she said.

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“These songs arrived, and I couldn’t look the other way. It was an instinct that was stronger than me, a now-or-never moment,” says Del Real.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"It sends a signal that there's going to be a free pass from the United States government, that it will look the other way if a government is willing to cut deals or do the bidding of this administration," she told the BBC.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• avoid 
• discount 
• fail 
• forget 
• neglect 
• overlook 
• reject 
• scorn