phrasal verb · neutral
look away
/lʊk əˈweɪ/LOOK·aWAY
to turn your eyes (or attention) away from something; to avoid watching or acknowledging something
Examples
“He looked away when the scene on TV became too violent.”
“You can't just look away from the problem and hope it disappears.”
“Many shoppers looked away when they saw the homeless man.”
Band 8 sentence
“We cannot simply look away from climate change; collective action is necessary.”
Collocations
- look away from
- can't look away
Word family
Common mistakes
I looked the scene away.→I looked away from the scene.
They looked away when asked to help, so people thought they didn't care.→They looked away when asked to help, so people thought they didn't care.
Say it for a higher band
5turn away→6avert one's eyes→7+look away
Synonyms
turn away
avert one's eyes
Easily confused
turn away
“She turned away from the window when she heard the news.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In look …
Learn it with its set