What Does "Dodge a Bullet" Mean?

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: August 15, 2022

You’re not a soldier, spy, or criminal, so why do people keep saying you “dodged a bullet”? Is it good or bad to “dodge a bullet”? It can be hard to figure out what this tricky English expression means, but we’ve got you covered! Keep reading for an explanation of the phrase, ways to use “dodge a bullet”, and related phrases!

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What does it mean to “dodge a bullet”?

To “dodge a bullet” means to avoid an undesirable event.^{[1]
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Research source} This is an informal idiom that you might use after you’ve narrowly avoided an injury or accident to express relief. It’s a positive thing if someone says you’ve “dodged a bullet”!
- This expression was first used literally in the early 20th century to describe someone who had avoided being shot in combat. The phrase took on a non-literal meaning in the second half of the 20th century.^{[2]
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Ways to Use “Dodge a Bullet”

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Use “dodge a bullet” after you’ve avoided an unwanted event. If you’ve snuck out of the house and came back just in time so your mom wouldn’t know, you could say you “dodged a bullet”. The unwanted event you escaped was your mom finding out and being upset with you.
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Use “dodge a bullet” after you’ve avoided an injury or accident. Say while doing a new skateboard trick, you fall on your arm and have to be taken to the hospital. The doctor might tell you you’ve “dodged a bullet” if the x-ray shows you didn’t break your arm.
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Use “dodge a bullet” after avoiding a bad romantic situation. If the new person you’ve been seeing recently suddenly breaks up with you, but your friend later tells you they’re a serial cheater, you might say you “dodged a bullet”. The unwelcome situation you avoided is continuing a relationship with a cheater.

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Related Phrases

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A “close call” is also a lucky avoidance of an undesirable event. If something is a “close call” it means the unwelcome situation almost happened, but didn’t. The expressions “close call” and “dodge a bullet” will often be used interchangeably, or together because they mean the same thing. If your friend says you’ve “dodged a bullet,” you might reply “Oh yeah, that was a close call.”^{[3]
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- Your friend: “On the way to work, a car ran a red light and almost hit me! They braked just in time.”
- You: “Oh my gosh, what a close call!”
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A “narrow escape” also means to have averted danger. To “narrowly escape” is to have barely avoided a dangerous situation. This expression is very similar to “close call” and is another phrase you might hear said with, or in place of, “dodge a bullet”.^{[4]
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- You: “I almost tripped down the stairs, but I caught myself on the railing.”
- Your friend: “You narrowly escaped falling down a whole flight of stairs then!”