turn a blind eye to

Idioms  

1. Deliberately overlook, ignore, as in She decided to turn a blind eye to her roommate's goings-on. This expression is believed to come from the siege of Copenhagen (1801), in which Lord Horatio Nelson, second in command of the English fleet, was ordered to withdraw but pretended not to see the flagship's signals to do so by putting his glass to the eye that had been blinded in an earlier battle. His attack led to a major victory. Also see turn a deaf ear.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

turn a blind eye to

"We cannot ignore or turn a blind eye to the issue of security," she said.

From Barron's ● May 18, 2026

Did they turn a blind eye to a potentially embarrassing presence to avoid the unwelcome attention an arrest would have caused?

From BBC ● May 15, 2026

“We can’t turn a blind eye to the fact that stablecoins are a new asset class,” board member Christine Botosan said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

But at the same time, the law can’t allow them to turn a blind eye to their children’s problems.

From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2026

There were plenty of directors who would turn a blind eye to her, actors who knew better than to throw rocks in glass houses, who had affairs and passions of their own they kept discreet.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny