perish the thought
Idioms-
Don't even think of it. This expression is used as a wish that what was just mentioned will never happen. For example, He's going to give another speech? Perish the thought! This phrase appeared in Handel's oratorio Joshua (1748; text by Thomas Morell): “It never shall be said that our allies in vain implor'd our aid. Perish the thought!” Also see god forbid.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Is it about her dead mother, perish the thought?
From Washington Post • Feb. 3, 2019
I changed shafts three more times in quick succession simply to perish the thought.
From Golf Digest • Feb. 6, 2017
She said there's nothing improper — or, perish the thought, unethical — about paying membership dues to an entity that also decides which self-nominated companies are the most ethical in the world.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 27, 2014
Or — perish the thought — engaging in personal time.
From Salon • Jun. 24, 2012
It gives your salon its political character at once; you would have had a hard time getting them to begin on bimetallism and the census— perish the thought!
From Senator North by Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.