Dictionary

turn a blind eye en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈtɜɹn ˌeɪ̯-/ (Canada, General-American)
• /ˈtɜːn ə ˌblaɪ̯nd ˈaɪ̯/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈtɜɹn ə ˌblaɪ̯nd ˈaɪ̯/ (Canada, General-American)
• /ˈtɜɹn ə ˌblʌɪ̯nd ˈʌɪ̯/ (Canada)
• /ˈtʌɹn ə ˌblaɪ̯nd ˈaɪ̯/ (Scotland)
• /ˈʈəːʳn a ˌblajnɖ ˈaj/ (India)
• /ˈtʌɹn ˌe-/ (Scotland)
• /ˈtʌɹn ə ˌbləi̯nd ˈəi̯/ (Scotland)
• (Australia) audio
• tûrn′ ə blīnd′ ī′
• /ˈtɜːn ˌæɪ̯-/ (Australia)
• /ˈtɜːn ˌeɪ̯-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈtøːn ə ˌblaɪ̯nd ˈaɪ̯/ (New-Zealand)
• /ˈtʌɹn ə ˌblʌi̯nd ˈʌi̯/ (Scotland)
• /ˈtɜːn ə ˌblɑe̯nd ˈɑe̯/ (Australia)
• /ˈʈəːʳn ˌeː-/ (India)
• tûrn′ ā′-
• /ˈtøːn ˌæɪ̯-/ (New-Zealand)

Etymology

Probably from the idea of a person turning to look at something but not seeing it, as if their eyes are blind. The term is frequently claimed to originate from an incident during the First Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801, when Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) was ordered by Admiral Hyde Parker (1739–1807) through signal flags to discontinue naval action against a force of the Dano-Norwegian Navy. Nelson, who had been blinded in one eye early in his career, said to his flag captain Thomas Foley (1757–1833), “You know, Foley, I have only one eye—I have a right to be blind sometimes.” He then put his telescope to his blind eye and, remarking “I really do not see the signal,” continued the assault which ended in a British victory. However, this is not the source of the term as the Oxford English Dictionary records uses dating to the 17th and 18th centuries.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something, especially when improper or unpleasant; to look the other way.
   • The mother turned a blind eye to her son’s mischief as she expected him not to repeat it.
   • A blacker thing than blood's own dye / Weighed down great Hawkins on the sea; / And Nelson turned his blindest eye / On Naples and on liberty. [1915, Gilbert K[eith] Chesterton, “[War Poems.] Blessed are the Peacemakers.”, in Poems, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company, published 1916, →OCLC, stanza 3, page 32:
   • The party's top official in Northern Ireland, Michelle O'Neill, tweeted at the time that the police force was "turning a blind eye" to loyalist paramilitaries—those engaging in violence as part of a decades-long fight to maintain the region’s status as part of the United Kingdom—"while targeting those laying flowers on the anniversary of loved ones." 2023 September 5, Megan Specia, “Northern Ireland police chief resigns amid mounting scandals”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Nov 2023:
   • […] I must say that for some reasons we wanted such a person very much, and find her very useful, so I turn a blind eye and a deaf ear every now and then, and we get on marvellously well. 1823 October 1 (date written), Martha Wilmot, More Letters from Martha Wilmot: Impressions of Vienna, 1819–1829, […], London: Macmillan and Co., published 1935, →OCLC, page 197:
   • The great Advantage of thus vvalking by Faith is, that it vvill help us […] to turn the deaf Ear, and the blind Eye to all thoſe Pomps and Vanities of the VVorld vvhich vve renounc'd at our Baptiſm, and to have it no longer in our Hearts, but under our Feet. 1698, John Norris, “A Discourse of Walking by Faith. In Two Parts.”, in Practical Discourses upon Several Divine Subjects, […], volume IV, London: […] S[amuel] Manship […], and J. Jones […], →OCLC, part I, pages 222–223:
   • I do not speak of portraiture in marble. In this my countrymen, without having produced any really very great work, by the old standards, make a respectable show, as compared with the average portrait sculpture of the day of other nations. In saying this, however, we must turn a blind eye to a considerable number of statues of our distinguished citizens which even more lamentably exhibit the defects arising from ignorance of modeling and design, impatience of study and self-conceit, than the ideal compositions by the same hands, because the contrasts between the ill-constructed effigy and the familiar living man, to the spectator, is too palpably unpleasant to be long overlooked. 1880 October 11, James Jackson Jarves, “Future American art: The growth of truer feeling and sounder methods”, in The New York Times, volume XXX, number 9076, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 4:
   • She [Emmeline Taylor] said, facing a cost of living crisis, many consumers were more willing to "turn a blind eye" to stolen food. 2023 December 22, Robyn Vinter, “Britons increasingly turning to food black market, experts say”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Jan 2024:

Forms

Relateds

🙊🙉🙈 · close one's eyes · wilful blindness · shut one's eyes · wilful ignorance · there are none so blind as those who will not see

Synonyms

wink · shut one's eyes · connive · close one's eyes

Translations (45)

fi seurata katseella (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · ro închide ochii (la ceva) (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · ro se face că plouă (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · uk диви́тись крізь па́льці (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · th เอาหูไปนา เอาตาไปไร่ (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · de wegschauen (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · pl patrzeć przez palce (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · uk закри́ти о́чі (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · ru закрыва́ть глаза́ (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · pl przymykać oko (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · cmn 睜一隻眼閉一隻眼 /睁一只眼闭一只眼 (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · pl przymknąć oko (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · nl door de vingers zien (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · sv se mellan fingrarna (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · de ein Auge zudrücken (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · pt fazer vista grossa (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · fr fermer les yeux (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · de die Augen verschließen vor (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · cs přimhouřit oko (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · ca fer els ulls grossos (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · es hacerse de la vista gorda (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · it chiudere un occhio (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · ko 눈감다 (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · es hacer la vista gorda (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · fi katsoa vierestä (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · sv blunda för (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · hu szemet huny (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · sh progledati kroz prste (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · ko 모르는 척하다 (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · is sjá í gegnum fingur við (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · de wegsehen (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · ar أَغْمَضَ العَيْنَيَنِ عَنْ (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · ko 눈감아 주다 (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · cmn 漠然置之 (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · he הֶעֱלִים עַיִן (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · uk заплю́щити о́чі (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · sh zažmiriti (na nešto) (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · sv se genom fingrarna (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · yue 隻眼開隻眼閉 /只眼开只眼闭 (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · cmn 視而不見 /视而不见 (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · ko 무시하다 (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · fi katsoa läpi sormien (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · el κάνω τα στραβά μάτια (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · ja 見て見ぬふりをする (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something) · ro se face că nu vede (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something)

wikipedia: Thames & Hudson · wikipedia: Tom Pocock · wikipedia: Oxford English Dictionary