turn away

1. 1.

   move so as not face somebody or something

   Broaderturn
2. 2.

   turn from a straight course, fixed direction, or line of interest

   Synonymsdeflectbend

   Broaderturn
3. 3.

   refuse entrance or membership

   “They turned away hundreds of fans”

   “Black people were often rejected by country clubs”

   Synonymsrejectturn downrefuse
4. 4.

   turn away or aside

   “They averted their eyes when the King entered”

   Synonymsavert

   Broaderturn

Questions about turn away

What does turn away mean?

turn away means "move so as not face somebody or something". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for turn away?

Close synonyms include deflect, bend, reject, turn down, refuse. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is turn away a common word?

turn away is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.