turn away
Britishverb
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to move or cause to move in a different direction so as not to face something
one of the child turned away while the others hid
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(tr) to refuse admittance or assistance to
dozens of people were turned away from the hostel
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Send away, dismiss, as in They ran short and had to turn away many customers . [Late 1500s]
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Repel, as in The high prices turned away prospective buyers .
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Avert, deflect, as in She managed to turn away all criticism . [Late 1300s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“We turn away from such evil at our own peril,” Kennedy maintained.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Wearing a tan jumpsuit, he read a prepared statement in Spanish in which he extraordinarily urged young people to turn away from violence.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Profits are falling at flagship names such as General Mills GIS -1.89%decrease; down pointing triangle and Kraft Heinz KHC -1.33%decrease; down pointing triangle as consumers turn away from their legacy products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
And yet Hannah continued listening and watching: "Once you've seen that world, it's hard to turn away."
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
When the tears start to sting my eyes, I don’t turn away, embarrassed that my dad sees.
From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
