Learn English – Describing a person’s position who is sitting next to another one on the bench not in a parallel form

phrase-request

I want to describe a person's position who is sitting next to another one on the bench, but her body is not in a parallel form with him and she has turned her upper body to somewhere opposite in a way that her back is visible to that person, not her face.

As you can find in above, it is very long to describe; I want a word or a short phrase to describe this position.

Best Answer

There's no one word or short phrase that will capture all that. If the posture is deliberate, that intent may be expressed by the verb snub or cold-shoulder—but neither expresses a physical posture, only a pointed refusal to engage.

Here are some possible ways of expressing the posture—the first group are neutral with respect to intent, the second express a deliberate snub:

Jane sat next to John with her back him.
Jane sat next to John, leaning toward her neighbor on the other side.
With John to her left, Jane stared right, at the lively argument by the buffet.
John had a discouraging view of Jane's back on his right.

Jane sat next to John, pointedly turning her back to him.
As she sat between them, Jane turned pointedly to George, leaving John baffled and fuming. Speaking animatedly to George on her right, Jane gave the cold shoulder to John on her left.
Jane squared around to gaze at the buffet, presenting John with her back.

But this is all 'way over in writers.se territory.

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