HomeServicesBlogDictionariesContactSpanish Course
← Back to search

Meaning of too close for comfort | Babel Free

Adjective CEFR C2

Definitions

  1. Near enough to cause discomfort.
    not-comparable
  2. Near enough to be dangerous.
    not-comparable
  3. So similar or applicable to one's situation that it causes distress.
    not-comparable
  4. Frightening because of almost resulting in injury or disaster.
    not-comparable

Examples

“Even the neighbouring country was too close for comfort. The episode was acutely embarrassing for Victor, who returned to England boiling with silent rage.”
“He repeated the action with her other foot, and when he stood, he was much too close for comfort.”
“The lipstick pressed down on my mouth like an unwanted kiss. I froze, willing it to be over. She smiled at her handiwork, our faces far too close for comfort.”
“Our house at Cavenagh Road had been boarded up and abandoned when the Japanese artillery shells started falling too close for comfort.”
“In this morning's water conditions, Yuan class submarines would become detectable on the spherical array at eight thousand yards. Sierra five-seven was approaching too close for comfort.”
“From the viewpoint of our bomb shelter, we observed the Battle of Britain and all that was going on above us at the time, diving for the protection of the dugout when things happened too quickly or were too close for comfort.”
“When the truth gets too close for comfort, the ego needs to distract us and root us in our bodies”
“The parallel with Oman is not exact, but it is far too close for comfort – and the Sultan's shoulders are much less broad than the Shah's.”
“I moved the conversation away. It was coming too close for comfort.”
“In an effort to lessen the grief of having lost two of his darling daughters, papa Potts decided it best to relocate what was then left of the tattered, torn remnants his family, in turn leaving behind North Carolina, the too close for comfort, all consuming, greatly depressing memories of two losses they could never regain, nor ever recover from, no matter how many other beautiful daughters God may have blessed them to brin into this earthly realm.”
“Thank god for schools and stranger danger, Rebecca thought with a sigh, but still, it'd been too close for comfort. Maybe it had just been someone looking for directions, but if that were the case, why take off when an adult came along?”
“That had been much too close for comfort, and it had served me right.”
“He'd suddenly felt hot under the collar, having thought back to when Larry had so nearly been closer than anyone in finding out their secret; for it really had been far too close for comfort back there at the office, when he and Larry had met Anne outside the women's toilets, and she having been confronted by us, had suddenly become a quickly blushing, red-faced lady, almost as if she'd been seen in a state of undress, particularly when Larry had asked her what she'd been up to, meaning work that day!”

CEFR level

C2
Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.

See also

Learn this word in context

See too close for comfort used in real conversations inside our free language course.

Start Free Course