whistle in the dark
The phrase "whistle in the dark" is often used to describe pretending to be brave or confident in the face of fear or uncertainty.
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Definition
C1General
(colloquial)To pretend to be brave or confident when feeling scared or uncertain.
Example
- Despite the looming deadline, he tried to whistle in the dark and assure his team that everything was under control.
C1General
(colloquial, US)To speak on a topic despite having little or no knowledge about it.
Example
- He was whistling in the dark during the meeting, making comments on the project he knew nothing about.
C1General
(colloquial)To guess or speculate aimlessly without sufficient information.
Example
- Without any data, they were just whistling in the dark about the project's success.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "whistle in the dark":
whistle down the windwhistle forwhistle past the graveyardin the darkwolf whistlein the winddown the windwill o' the wispdog whistle