ostracise
ostracize
shirk
keep at arm's length
nonconfrontation
gag
muzzle
hedge
don't get someone started
bite one's tongue
antisocial
hold one's tongue
bite one's lip
silence
get off of someone's cloud
keep mum
give the go-by
antipolitics
unmentionable
drop
anticonfrontational
send away
send packing
stonewall
dismiss
leave alone
anticontact
put someone on ice
end run
evasive
skate over
draw a veil over
discretion is the better part of valour
hold one's peace
antiverbal
at arm's length
chat
bat away
zip one's lip
iggy
avoid
fight shy
argue round and round
cede the field
hold
unprompted
umlessness
deflect
keep one's distance
cone of silence