English · Idiom Candidate

turn the other cheek

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To respond to aggression or insult non-violently and peacefully

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

phản ứng một cách hòa bình với sự hung hăng

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: to turn the other side of one's face

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

Anyway, all I can remember is something about turning the other cheek which I don't believe in.

Later Christian tradition has emphasised the image of a meek, lamb - like saviour, who eschews violence and bids one turn the other cheek.

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “turn the other cheek” mean?

To respond to aggression or insult non-violently and peacefully Literally: to turn the other side of one's face

Is “turn the other cheek” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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