Synonyms and antonyms of To not act, or to not do something in British Thesaurus

bother (verb)

if you do not bother to do something, you do not do it, either because there seems to be no good reason or because it involves too much effort

abstain (verb)

formal to not do something that is likely to cause serious problems

neglect (verb)

to fail to do something that you should do

refrain (verb)

formal to stop yourself from doing something. This word is often used in official announcements or signs

let nature take its course ()

to allow something to develop without trying to influence it

make no move ()

to do nothing

can’t bring yourself to do something ()

to be unable to do something because it is too unpleasant or embarrassing, or makes you too upset

omit to do something ()

to fail to do something that would have been helpful or honest

stand by ()

to not take action when you should

leave (verb)

to not do something, especially because you prefer to do it later or so that someone else can do it

blow off (American)

Americaninformal to not do something you had agreed or arranged to do

bottle it ()

to not do something because you do not feel brave enough

bottle out ()

to not do something because you do not feel brave enough

chicken out ()

to not do something you were going to do because you are too frightened

come close to (doing) something ()

to nearly do something

come within an inch of doing something ()

to almost do something

demur (verb)

formal to refuse to do something

dig your heels in ()

to refuse to do something even though other people are trying to persuade you

do something by proxy ()

if you do something by proxy, someone else does it for you

drop the ball ()

to fail to do something that you are responsible for doing

give something a miss ()

to decide not to do something that you usually do

it’s more than my job’s worth ()

used for saying that you will not do something because you would lose your job if you did it

I wouldn’t think of doing something/I would never think of doing something ()

used for saying that you would not consider doing something, for any reason or in any situation

keep off ()

to not go onto a particular area of land

leave it at that ()

to not do anything more about something

leave/let something alone ()

to stop trying to deal with something

leave someone/something hanging ()

to fail to solve a difficult situation, or to let someone remain in a difficult situation without solving it

leave something to chance/fate ()

to not try to change the way that something is developing or happening

let it/things lie ()

to not do or say anything because you might make a difficult situation worse

let sleeping dogs lie ()

to leave a person or situation alone if they might cause you trouble

miss (verb)

to fail to be present for something, or to not be in a place when someone else is there

not do a stroke of work ()

to do no work at all

not soil your hands (formal)

formal to refuse to do something that you do not approve of

resist (verb)

to stop yourself from doing something that you would very much like to do

sit by ()

to take no action when something bad is happening

sit tight ()

to stay where you are, or to not take action until the right time

skip (verb)

to not do something, but to do the next thing instead

stand around ()

to stand somewhere and do nothing, often when you should be doing something

stand aside (British)

British to not involve yourself in a situation, especially one that you should be trying to prevent

stand/sit idly by ()

to see something bad happening without trying to prevent it

stand there ()

to stand in a place for no particular purpose, without doing anything useful

stop short of (doing) something ()

to not do something, although you almost do it