Translation guide
How to express the action of looking away or turning one's gaze aside in Japanese, including physical and figurative uses.
To turn one's eyes or face away from something, often to avoid eye contact or to look in a different direction.
The most common and natural way to say 'look away' or 'avert one's gaze'. Used when someone deliberately turns their eyes away from something.
He looked away from me.
The child looked away shyly.
Literally 'remove one's gaze'. Slightly more formal or written than 目をそらす. Often used when someone intentionally breaks eye contact.
She looked away out the window.
To turn one's face to the side. Implies a physical turning of the head rather than just the eyes.
He turned aside without saying anything.
Looking aside or glancing away, often used in the context of driving or when one should be paying attention. Can imply a momentary distraction.
Don't look aside while driving.
To deliberately not pay attention to something, to turn a blind eye, or to pretend not to notice.
To pretend not to see; to turn a blind eye. Very common for ignoring something intentionally.
He turned a blind eye to the misconduct.
Literally 'close one's eyes', but figuratively means to overlook or tolerate something, often with a nuance of forgiveness.
To turn away (one's face) in a huff or to ignore someone. More about snubbing or cold-shouldering.
Both mean 'to look away', but 目をそらす is more common in everyday speech and often implies avoiding eye contact due to discomfort or guilt. 視線を外す is slightly more formal and neutral, simply describing the action of breaking eye contact.
He always looks away when he lies.
It's rude to look away during a conversation.
The English phrase 'looking aside' does not have a single direct equivalent in Japanese. Avoid literal translations like '脇を見る' (わきをみる) unless you specifically mean looking to the side physically. For the common meaning of averting one's gaze, use 目をそらす.
I'll overlook his mistake this time.
She got angry and looked away (ignoring me).