VividLex

Home / Thesaurus / whistle past the graveyard

Thesaurus: whistle past the graveyard

whistle past the graveyard (idiomatic, US) To attempt to stay cheerful in a dire situation; to proceed with a task, ignoring an upcoming hazard, hoping for a good outcome. (idiomatic, US) To enter a situation with little…

Full dictionary entry Search Lens associations

Related headwords

idiomaticdefinitionsituationdefinitionwhistledefinitionattemptdefinitioncheerfuldefinitionconsequencesdefinitiondiredefinitionenterdefinitiongooddefinitiongraveyarddefinitionhazarddefinitionhopingdefinitionignoringdefinitionlittledefinitionoutcomedefinitionpastdefinitionpossibledefinitionproceeddefinitionstaydefinitiontaskdefinitionunderstandingdefinitionupcomingdefinitionwhistfamilywhist drivefamilywhistle beeffamilywhistle blowerfamilywhistle britchesfamilywhistle buoyfamily

Definitions

  1. whistle past the graveyard (idiomatic, US) To attempt to stay cheerful in a dire situation; to proceed with a task, ignoring an upcoming hazard, hoping for a good outcome. (idiomatic, US) To enter a situation with little or no understanding of the possible consequences.