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Glite Dictionary
to bury one's head in the sand

to bury one's head in the sand

5 7.7
To ignore a problem instead of dealing with it
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : hacerse el avestruz
  • So let's just bury our heads in the sand, right?
  • bury your head in the sand," said

Examples

  • We cannot bury our heads in the sand and hope for the best.

    Blog text (10)

  • If you would rather not know about news corruption, then bury your head in the sand.

    Blog text (23)

  • So why bury your head in the sand and hope it goes away?

    Academic text (2011)

  • But we cannot bury our heads in the sand...

    The Iron Lady (2011)

  • Often, people in debt bury their heads in the sand.

    Blog text (31)

  • Go ahead, bury your head in the sand and think everything is rosy.

    Blog text (29)

  • We can either bury our head in the sand and pretend that climate change is a hoax.

    Blog text (32)

  • Often, states seem to try to bury their heads in the sand when faced with dissent.

    Academic text (1993)

  • A quarter of Britons regularly bury their heads in the sand about health issues, according to a poll by an insurance comparison website.

    Academic text (2015)

  • It's unwise to bury one's head in the sand when issues need to be addressed.

Synonyms

to run away from
vsto bury one's head in the sand
  • Informal
92 2.9

To avoid dealing with a problem or responsibility

deliberately refuse to face responsibilities instead of staying to solve them
to look the other way
vsto bury one's head in the sand
69 4.7

To ignore something wrong on purpose instead of reporting it

deliberately refuse to face issues instead of intervening or acting on them
to shrug off
vsto bury one's head in the sand
27 3.9

Treat something as unimportant and ignore it

deliberately avoid facing serious problems rather than simply downplaying them
to turn a deaf ear
vsto bury one's head in the sand
4 6.1

Refuse to listen to someone who gives advice or warnings

deliberately refuse to face the problem rather than only refuse to listen
to sidestep the issue
vsto bury one's head in the sand
1 6.0

To avoid answering a difficult question by changing the subject

deliberately refuse to face problems instead of only avoiding direct discussion
to be an ostrich
vsto bury one's head in the sand
9.7

To ignore an obvious problem and pretend it is not there

deliberately avoid facing difficult situations instead of denying their reality
to push under the carpet
vsto bury one's head in the sand
  • UK
7.3

To ignore or hide problems instead of dealing with them

deliberately refuse to face problems rather than only concealing them

Antonyms

to face an issue
3.3

To deal directly and openly with a problem

How Avoidant

to bury one's head in the sand
  • Informal
5 7.7
to avoid
∞ 1.0
to ignore
∞ 1.0
to postpone
234 3.4

Surface Forms

bury one's head in the sand infinitive
buried one's head in the sand past
buried one's head in the sand past participle
burying one's head in the sand present participle
buries one's head in the sand third person singular

Morphology

bury + one + head + in + the + sand

The literal image formed by 'bury' + 'head' + 'in the sand' readily suggests someone hiding from a situation, so a learner who knows the constituent words can plausibly infer the sense of avoiding or ignoring a problem. However, the meaning rests on a metaphorical mapping from a physical action to an abstract behavior and some cultural inference (ostrich image), so comprehension is not fully guaranteed without prior exposure.

Etymology

Bury one's head in the sand comes from a popular story about ostriches: people imagined an ostrich hiding by pushing its head into the sand when it was scared. That image of hiding is why the phrase means 'to ignore a problem' or 'avoid facing something difficult'.