Ignorance: English Vocabulary List

to intentionally ignore unpleasant facts about a situation and hope that the situation improves by doing so

"Don't bury your head in sand."

"The company's management has buried its head in the sand for too long and refused to acknowledge the declining sales figures."

in a state in which one is not informed about important things

"They kept me in the dark."

"The company kept its employees in the dark about the upcoming changes until the last minute."

not being aware of recent information about something

"I have been out of the loop all week."

"I have been out of the loop lately because I missed several important meetings at work."

to pretend as if one cannot hear someone complaining or asking one something

"She turned a deaf ear to my advice."

"The selfish manager turned a deaf ear to the employees complaints about low salaries."

(of statements, warnings, requests, etc.) to be completely ignored

"My advice fell on deaf ears."

"My warnings about the storm fell on deaf ears and nobody prepared for the bad weather."

(of information, advice, etc.) to not be taken seriously and hence immediately forgotten

"Advice went in one ear."

"He never listens to my advice; it just goes in one ear and out the other."

used to describe a situation in which an incompetent or inexperienced person is advising others who have no knowledge or experience at all

"This is like the blind leading the blind."

"Having inexperienced students teach the new ones is like the blind leading the blind and nobody learns anything useful."

(of a person) to be completely ignored, usually in a system or process

"He fell through the cracks."

"Without proper follow-up, vulnerable individuals can easily fall through the cracks of the social services system."

to pretend that something is not happening or is not the case

"They swept it under rug."

"The company tried to sweep the environmental concerns under the rug, but the public outcry was too loud."

to pretend as if one cannot see or notice something

"The teacher turned a blind eye to the cheating."

"The security guard turned a blind eye when his friend entered the building without showing identification."

a strategy in which a person chooses to ignore or evades the truth or potential problems about a particular situation

"Using an ostrich plan will not help."

"The company ostrich strategy of ignoring the competition led to its eventual bankruptcy."

(of a person) to be neglected or go unnoticed, particularly by a social or political system that should have been more responsible

"He slipped through the net again."

"Many vulnerable families slipped through the net because the government failed to provide adequate support during the crisis."

(of a person) to be completely ignored, usually in a system or process

"He fell through the cracks."

"Unfortunately, the desperate plea for help seemed to fall through the cracks of the bureaucracy."

(of something, particularly issues) to be completely overlooked

"The issue fell through the cracks."

"Due to poor communication, the critical safety concern unfortunately fell through the cracks."

(of a person) to be neglected or go unnoticed, particularly by a social or political system that should have been more responsible

"He slipped through the net."

"The suspect managed to slip through the net of law enforcement and evade capture."

(of something particularly an issue) to go unnoticed or to be overlooked within a system, plan, or organization, etc.

"The problem slipped through the net."

"Despite numerous checks, the faulty component managed to slip through the net of quality control."