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

It’s because the public didn’t turn a blind eye to Warner Bros. decision to scrap “Coyote vs. Acme” that the film made its way into the right hands.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 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 therefore cannot afford to turn a blind eye to global overcapacity reaching critical levels.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026

"As a responsible government, we cannot turn a blind eye to these heartbreaking statistics. These are not just numbers, they represent human lives, the hope of many Ghanaian families and our nation."

From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 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