social distance

American  

[soh-shuhl dis-tuhns] / ˈsoʊ ʃəl ˈdɪs təns /

noun

1. Sociology. the extent to which individuals or groups are removed from or excluded from participating in one another's lives.

2. a safe or appropriate distance or amount of space between two people or between people in a group: Stay at a social distance of a few feet from anyone who is coughing or sneezing.

   Security concerns demand that officers maintain a social distance from inmates.

   Stay at a social distance of a few feet from anyone who is coughing or sneezing.

---

verb (used without object)

social distanced, social distancing

1. to maintain a safe or appropriate distance from other people, especially to slow the spread of a contagious illness or disease.

   Mom’s trying hard to social distance, though she misses her weekly Bingo game.

verb (used with object)

social distanced, social distancing

1. to place or keep at a safe or appropriate distance from other people.

   We’ve been exposed to the flu, so we’re social distancing ourselves from friends and extended family.

Etymology

Origin of social distance

First recorded in 1825–30

Example Sentences

The pandemic, with its need for social distance, coincided with a written communications tool - WhatsApp - becoming a mainstream platform for communication.

From BBC • Oct. 30, 2023

As birds of a feather, they enjoy foraging at a social distance as well as cuddling together under the sun.

From Salon • May 10, 2023

“Rather than social distance temporarily to help protect me, she lashed out, telling me to ‘stay home’ and ‘don’t travel’ if I’m at risk,” Leslie wrote.

From Washington Post • Jan. 12, 2023

The program was originally designed so that people could social distance and avoid standing in a line, Cooper said, but is now a permanent system and has been expanded to other airports.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 11, 2022

Strict separation of the races would have threatened slaveholders’ immediate interests and was, in any event, wholly unnecessary as a means of creating social distance or establishing the inferior status of slaves.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander