Send someone to Coventry

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Meaning

Deliberately ostracise someone by refusing to speak to or acknowledge them. Describes organised or collective silent treatment, not merely sending someone away. Regional use: British English.

Origin

The idiom is recorded in 1765 and described as an established military social punishment by Francis Grose in 1811. Events involving prisoners in strongly Parliamentarian Coventry during the English Civil Wars may lie behind it, but several rival explanations exist and none is conclusive. The Second World War air-raid story is impossible because the phrase is much older.

Variants

  • Send to Coventry
  • Be sent to Coventry

Usage Examples

  • After he exposed the committee's private deal, several members tried to send him to Coventry.
  • For a week the other pupils sent Mara to Coventry and answered none of her questions.

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