shut down — stop talking or reacting emotionally
phrasal verbB2IELTS 6+informaloccasional
To stop communicating or showing emotions, often because of stress or discomfort.
Say it like a native
Textbook He became emotionally unresponsive during the conversation.
Native He just shut down.
'Shut down' is how people describe going quiet and withdrawn under stress; the formal version sounds clinical.
Pattern: shut down (no object) / shut [oneself] down
In use
- Whenever the topic gets personal, he tends to shut down and avoid eye contact.relationships
- Some people shut down during arguments because they find it hard to express their emotions.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ She shut down herself when she got upset.
✓ She shut down when she got upset.
In this sense it's intransitive — you don't 'shut down' yourself.
Common collocations
shut down + trigger— under pressure, when stressed, completely, emotionally
Don't confuse it
Different from 'calm down', which means to relax; 'shut down' means to withdraw or stop responding.
Related
- shut down (close a business or system) — Another meaning of 'shut down' is 'close a business or system'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.