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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

too close for comfort en · ADJ

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) Near enough to cause discomfort.
    • Even the neighbouring country was too close for comfort. The episode was acutely embarrassing for Victor, who returned to England boiling with silent rage. 2015, Anita Anand, Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary, →ISBN, page 130:
    • The lipstick pressed down on my mouth like an unwanted kiss. I froze, willing it to be over. She smiled at her handiwork, our faces far too close for comfort. 2016, Eleanor Moran, Too Close For Comfort, →ISBN:
    • He repeated the action with her other foot, and when he stood, he was much too close for comfort. 2015, Shannyn Schroeder, Hot & Nerdy, →ISBN, page 243:
  2. (not-comparable) Near enough to be dangerous.
    • In this morning's water conditions, Yuan class submarines would become detectable on the spherical array at eight thousand yards. Sierra five-seven was approaching too close for comfort. 2015, Rick Campbell, Empire Rising: A Novel, →ISBN, page 178:
    • Our house at Cavenagh Road had been boarded up and abandoned when the Japanese artillery shells started falling too close for comfort. 2014, Walter Woon, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, →ISBN:
    • From the viewpoint of our bomb shelter, we observed the Battle of Britain and all that was going on above us at the time, diving for the protection of the dugout when things happened too quickly or were too close for comfort. 2016, Doreen Galvin, Arts to Intelligence, →ISBN:
  3. (not-comparable) So similar or applicable to one's situation that it causes distress.
    • The parallel with Oman is not exact, but it is far too close for comfort – and the Sultan's shoulders are much less broad than the Shah's. 2015, Tore Petersen, Anglo-American Policy toward the Persian Gulf, 1978–1985, →ISBN:
    • I moved the conversation away. It was coming too close for comfort. 2015, Christopher Hedgethorne, Mosquito Mansion and my Misadventures in Mudland, →ISBN, page 66:
    • When the truth gets too close for comfort, the ego needs to distract us and root us in our bodies 2014, Ian Patrick, Of Course!: How Many Light Bulbs Does It Take to Change?, →ISBN:
    • In an effort to lessen the grief of having lost two of his darling daughters, papa Potts decided it best to relocate what was then left of the tattered, torn remnants his family, in turn leaving behind North Carolina, the too close for comfort, all consuming, greatly depressing memories of two losses they could never regain, nor ever recover from, no matter how many other beautiful daughters God may have blessed them to brin into this earthly realm. 2015, V Leigh, Precocious, →ISBN, page 174:
  4. (not-comparable) Frightening because of almost resulting in injury or disaster.
    • He'd suddenly felt hot under the collar, having thought back to when Larry had so nearly been closer than anyone in finding out their secret; for it really had been far too close for comfort back there at the office, when he and Larry had met Anne outside the women's toilets, and she having been confronted by us, had suddenly become a quickly blushing, red-faced lady, almost as if she'd been seen in a state of undress, particularly when Larry had asked her what she'd been up to, meaning work that day! 2015, Robert H Fellows, Health Shop Murders, →ISBN:
    • Thank god for schools and stranger danger, Rebecca thought with a sigh, but still, it'd been too close for comfort. Maybe it had just been someone looking for directions, but if that were the case, why take off when an adult came along? 2015, Karly Lane, Burnt, →ISBN:
    • That had been much too close for comfort, and it had served me right. 2015, Gemma Halliday, Deadly in High Heels: High Heels Mysteries, →ISBN: