idiom · neutral

beat around the bush

/biːt əˈraʊnd ðə ˈbʊʃ/BEAT a·ROUND the BUSH

speakingtask2

to avoid talking about what is important or what you really mean

Examples

“Stop beating around the bush and tell me what happened.”

“Interviewers dislike candidates who beat around the bush.”

“When giving feedback, don't beat around the bush—be direct but polite.”

Band 8 sentence

“In business meetings it's counterproductive to beat around the bush; clear, concise points save everyone's time.”

Collocations

  • stop beating around the bush
  • not beat around the bush

Word family

beat around the bush idiomstop beating around the bush idiom

Common mistakes

beat the bush→beat around the bush

beating around bush→beating around the bush

Say it for a higher band

5avoid the issue→6beating about the bush→7+beat around the bush

Synonyms

avoid the issue

Easily confused

beating about the bush

“He was beating about the bush instead of answering directly.”

Related words

break the icesmall talkspeak one's mindhold one's tongueread the roomget straight to the pointget the message acrossspill the beans

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