to fly blind
- phrasal verb
- /flaɪ blaɪnd/
- Informal
- Before making a big decision, it's important to gather information; otherwise, you might just fly blind.
You're not going to fly blind into another relationship and that's what happens in a narcissistic relationship.
- You're not going to fly blind into another relationship and that's what happens in a narcissistic relationship.
- They're all part of this global movement to not fly blind without health.
Examples
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You're not going to fly blind into another relationship and that's what happens in a narcissistic relationship.
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"So I guess we're going to fly blind."
Fiction book (2000) -
They're all part of this global movement to not fly blind without health.
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I don't think it's a good idea because if we don't have, like a plan then we're just, sort of, flying blind.
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We decided to fly blind during the project, which led to many unexpected challenges.
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If you go into this meeting without preparation, you'll be forced to fly blind.
Synonyms
Being without enough information or clear instructions in a difficult situation
Antonyms
How Informed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is a metaphorical extension of the literal parts: 'blind' (lacking perception/information) applied to 'fly' suggests proceeding without necessary information or guidance, so the core idea can be inferred from the constituents. However, this is a figurative extension rather than a purely compositional, routine pattern, so a B1 learner may not fully predict the exact pragmatic sense without exposure.
Etymology
The idiom fly blind uses the same picture: if you fly while blind, you move forward without seeing the way, so it means 'to act or proceed without enough information or preparation'.