too close for comfort

English

Adjective

too close for comfort (not comparable)

1. Near enough to cause discomfort.
   • 2015, Anita Anand, Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary, →ISBN, page 130:

     Even the neighbouring country was too close for comfort. The episode was acutely embarrassing for Victor, who returned to England boiling with silent rage.

   • 2015, Shannyn Schroeder, Hot & Nerdy, →ISBN, page 243:

     He repeated the action with her other foot, and when he stood, he was much too close for comfort.

   • 2016, Eleanor Moran, Too Close For Comfort, →ISBN:

     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.

2. Near enough to be dangerous.
   • 2014, Walter Woon, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, →ISBN:

     Our house at Cavenagh Road had been boarded up and abandoned when the Japanese artillery shells started falling too close for comfort.

   • 2015, Rick Campbell, Empire Rising: A Novel, →ISBN, page 178:

     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.

   • 2016, Doreen Galvin, Arts to Intelligence, →ISBN:

     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.

3. So similar or applicable to one's situation that it causes distress.
   • 2014, Ian Patrick, Of Course!: How Many Light Bulbs Does It Take to Change?, →ISBN:

     When the truth gets too close for comfort, the ego needs to distract us and root us in our bodies

   • 2015, Tore Petersen, Anglo-American Policy toward the Persian Gulf, 1978–1985, →ISBN:

     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.

   • 2015, Christopher Hedgethorne, Mosquito Mansion and my Misadventures in Mudland, →ISBN, page 66:

     I moved the conversation away. It was coming too close for comfort.

   • 2015, V Leigh, Precocious, →ISBN, page 174:

     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.

4. Frightening because of almost resulting in injury or disaster.
   • 2015, Karly Lane, Burnt, →ISBN:

     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?

   • 2015, Gemma Halliday, Deadly in High Heels: High Heels Mysteries, →ISBN:

     That had been much too close for comfort, and it had served me right.

   • 2015, Robert H Fellows, Health Shop Murders, →ISBN:

     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!