phrasal verb · neutral
keep one's distance
UK/kiːp wʌn z ˈdɪstəns/US/kiːp wʌnz ˈdɪstəns/keep·ONE'S·dis·TANCE
to avoid getting too physically or emotionally close to someone
Examples
“After the argument, she decided to keep her distance from him for a while.”
“As a judge, he tries to keep his distance from political groups.”
“When meeting new people, some prefer to keep their distance until trust is built.”
Band 8 sentence
“After the scandal, the politician kept his distance from former colleagues to avoid further controversy.”
Collocations
- keep one's distance from someone
- keep social distance
Word family
Common mistakes
keep distance→keep one's distance / keep a distance
keep the distance→keep one's distance
Say it for a higher band
5stay away→6avoid→7+keep one's distance
Synonyms
stay away
Easily confused
stay away from
“She decided to stay away from social media for a month.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In keep …
Learn it with its set