tiptoe around

phrasal verb

tiptoed around; tiptoeing around; tiptoes around

: to avoid talking about (something) : to talk about (something) only in an indirect way

They tiptoed around the subject of her poor health.

Examples of tiptoe around in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

At the same time, try not to be overly cautious or tiptoe around the facts of people’s lives. —R. Eric Thomas, Mercury News, 26 Nov. 2025

Her insistence that Larry will return keeps her husband and surviving son in a constant limbo, tiptoeing around her feelings. —Demetrios Matheou, HollywoodReporter, 22 Nov. 2025

In an August 2025 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Hines and Kennedy refused to comment on the sexting scandal directly, but presented a united front as Hines tiptoed around the subject. —Meredith Kile, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025

In their heart-to-heart about Hal’s pluses and minuses, Kate doesn’t obscure any facts about Hal or even tiptoe around his most infuriating qualities. —Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2025

Rhymes for tiptoe around

• abound
• aground
• astound
• background
• campground
• clothbound
• confound
• earthbound
• eastbound
• expound
• fairground
• foreground