let (one) down easy

To deliver bad news to one in the kindest or least upsetting way possible. When you tell Ed that somebody already asked you to the dance, please let him down easy. I tried to let Susan down easy, but she burst into tears nonetheless.

let down easy

see under let someone down.

See also: down, easy, let

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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References in classic literature

You know I'm not the chap to be let down easy. We'll go through with it, then, and take all chances!

View in context

It was almost as if they expected to be let down easy. So I guess you can't win either way.

Rejection is spelled P-A-S-S-A-D-E-N-A

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