Cutting people off has become common language. There are options besides cutting.
When a relationship is difficult, the options feel binary: keep it or end it. In reality there is a wide range between. Reducing how often you contact them, limiting the settings where you meet, or narrowing the topics you discuss lightens the load considerably. Ending is hard to reverse, so it belongs last.
There is a practical limit to how many close relationships a person can hold, because time and attention are finite. Trying to maintain every relationship at the same warmth leaves nothing for the ones that matter most. Pruning relationships is less about discarding people than about deciding where your capacity goes.
Judging on a single incident usually leads to regret. Looking at repeating patterns works better.
Announcing that you are stepping back is usually unnecessary. Replying more slowly, not accepting every invitation, and sharing less personal detail lowers the temperature naturally. It often resolves without conflict, and it leaves room to grow closer again later.
Reducing relationships means more time alone. Being alone is not itself a problem, but a large gap between the connection you want and the connection you have becomes loneliness. That is a question of depth more than of numbers. Even when pruning several relationships, keeping one or two where you can speak openly is worthwhile, and feeling that you have none is itself something to address.
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