40 Popular Idioms And Their Meanings
40 Popular Idioms And Their Meanings
What Is an Idiom?
Idiom Meaning: An idiom is a group of words that are used as a common expression whose meaning is not deducible from that of the literal words.
Idioms are used frequently in both written and spoken English. So let’s take a look at the most popular idioms and common idioms in the English language and what they mean.
40 Commonly Used and Popular English Idioms
A blessing in disguise
Meaning: A good thing that initially seemed bad
A dime a dozen
Meaning: Something that is very common, not unique
Adding insult to injury
Meaning: To make a bad situation even worse
Beat around the bush
Meaning: Avoid sharing your true viewpoint or feelings because it is uncomfortable
Beating a dead horse
Meaning: Giving time or energy to something that is ended or over
Bite the bullet
Meaning: To get an unfavorable situation or chore over with now because it will need to get finished eventually
Best of both worlds
Meaning: The choice or solution has all of the advantages of two contrasting things at the same time
Biting off more than you can chew
Meaning: Not having the capacity to take on a new assignment or task that is just too taxing
By the skin of your teeth
Meaning: Just barely making it
Don’t judge a book by its cover
Meaning: Not judging something by its initial appearance
Doing something at the drop of a hat
Meaning: Doing something at the moment of being asked
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch
Meaning: Not to count on something happening until after it’s already happened
Caught between a rock and a hard place
Meaning: Making a choice between two unpleasant choices
Costs an arm and a leg
Meaning: Something that is overpriced or very expensive
Cutting corners
Meaning: Not performing a task or duty correctly in order to save time or money
Devil’s advocate
Meaning: To take the side of the counter-argument, or offer an alternative point of view
Feeling under the weather
Meaning: Not feeling well, or feeling sick
Fit as a fiddle
Meaning: Being in good health
Getting a taste of your own medicine
Meaning: Being treated the way that you have been treating others
Getting a second wind
Meaning: Having energy again after being tired
Giving the benefit of the doubt
Meaning: Believing someone’s story without proof even though it may seem unbelievable
Giving someone the cold shoulder
Meaning: Ignoring someone
Going on a wild goose chase
Meaning: Doing something that is pointless
Heard it on the grapevine
Meaning: Hearing rumors about someone or something
Hitting the nail on the head
Meaning: Performing a task with exactness
Killing two birds with one stone
Meaning: Accomplishing two different tasks in the same undertaking
Letting someone off the hook
Meaning: Not holding someone responsible for something
Letting the cat out of the bag
Meaning: Sharing information that was intended to be a secret
No pain, no gain
Meaning: You have to work hard in order to see results
On the ball
Meaning: Doing a good job, being prompt, or being responsible
Once in a blue moon
Meaning: Something that doesn’t happen very often
Piece of cake
Meaning: A task or job that is easy to complete
Pulling someone’s leg
Meaning: Joking with someone
Speak of the devil
Meaning: When the person you have just been talking about arrives
Stealing someone’s thunder
Meaning: Taking credit for someone else’s achievements
Straight from the horse’s mouth
Meaning: Reading or hearing something from the source
The last straw
Meaning: The last difficulty or annoyance that makes the entire situation unbearable
The elephant in the room
Meaning: An issue, person, or problem that someone is trying to avoid
Throwing caution to the wind
Meaning: Being reckless or taking a risk
Your guess is as good as mine
Meaning: To not know something
20 Familiar English Idioms
A snowball effect
Meaning: Something has momentum and builds on each other, much like rolling a snowball down a hill to make it bigger
An apple a day keeps the doctor away
Meaning: Apples are healthy and good for you
Burning bridges
Meaning: Damaging a relationship beyond repair
Every dog has his day
Meaning: Everyone gets their chance to do something big
Fit as a fiddle
Meaning: Excellent health
Go down in flames
Meaning: To fail in a spectacular manner
Getting a second wind
Meaning: Having energy again after being tired or worn out
Having your head in the clouds
Meaning: Day dreaming, not paying attention
He/She is off their rocker
Meaning: Someone who is acting crazy or not thinking rationally
It’s always darkest before the dawn
Meaning: Things always get worse before they get better
It takes two to tango
Meaning: One person usually isn’t the only responsible party
Like riding a bike
Meaning: Something that you never forget how to do
Like two peas in a pod
Meaning: Two people who are always together
Run like the wind
Meaning: To run really fast
Through thick and thin
Meaning: Everyone experiences hard and good times
Time is money
Meaning: Work faster or more efficiently
Weather the storm
Meaning: Enduring a trial or hardship
Can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs
Meaning: You can’t make everyone happy
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink
Meaning: You can’t force someone to make what is seemingly the right decision
Clouds on the horizon
Meaning: Trouble is coming or is on its way
Greg Secrist has worked in the SEO and content creation industry since 2009. He is the CEO and co-founder of BKA Content, an industry leading content creation services company. Greg is also a passionate tech geek, web designer, marketing pro and SEO expert.
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Whoa! What a great list! I’m definitely going to share this on my network.
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Hey, can you suggest me an idiom that expresses the meaning – adding something on something for the best outcome or that makes the best situation?
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Wow! Very interesting and useful.
wonderful!
Thank you this is so helpful for my research on idioms!
Thanks for sending the idoms
some of them are new to me . thanks a lot
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Thanks for reading!
Thank You
So interesting and useful as I belong to a Writers Circle and our subject next Friday is Idioms!
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Thank you so much for these incredible idioms.
Whoa this is definitely going to help me improve my idiom
Thanks for sharing
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Thank You too
This was a wealth of information for my students! Thanks for sharing!
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Yeah thank you.
Interesting and very informative!!!Thanks.
nice
VERY HELPFUL FOR A GRADE 5
THANK YOU
you dont have to type in capitals
Thank you! This is very helpful information!
Great list! This is really helping me understand idioms better! It also helped me do my project.
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thank for the wonderful idiom May God bless u
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Am so grateful of the idoms they are really good 💕💞 💞 . May God bless u🖐️
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It’s really awesome
Definitely very helpful in day to day English usage. Asante sana!
I never knew that beating a dead horse was an idiom, maybe I should explain my hobby in a different way.
thanks for helping me know my idioms
It really helped me in learning idiomatic expressions
Thank you
very helpful thank you!
Hi,
I don’t know now if there is two different idioms for this or it is the same.
Heard it on the grapevine
Heard through the grapevine
Or it has another meaning like I knew something from a secret source or from the right source.
Hi, Felipe:
Both phrases are interchangeable.
Thanks!
You are all that and a bag of chips!
Thank you!
This information was really helpful for a last-minute homework.
wow……… very useful
This’s wonderful
‘Through thick and thin’ reminds me of ‘Fair weather friends.'(friends who are only there through the good times) is that another idiom that is specific to English speakers?
Hi, Jackie:
Friends who stay with you “through thick and thin” don’t leave during the bad times. They stay by your side when things are easy and when they are hard. This is an expression that originated from “through thicket and thin wood,” talking about traversing the wooded English countryside. This idiom has been used in the English language for at least 350 years, but the literal phrase is much older.
Thanks!
Amber
Thanks for giving this great opportunity. God bless!
Hi,
I have a bit confusion in two idioms which are “Devil’s Advocate” and “Heard it on the grapevine” .Can you give one example for each idiom so that I understand better.
Thanks, Regarding Harshita
Playing devil’s advocate is when you present a different point of view for the sake of argument. You don’t have to actually believe in that position. For example, if there is a popular legal case where someone is presumed guilty, you could play devil’s advocate and explain why the person may not be guilty.
“Heard it on the grapevine” just means that you heard gossip.
Thanks for reading!
Okay
Good knowledge
It’s a useful list, but needs some changes. For example ‘flogging a dead horse’ is more usual (British English), and ‘Devil’s advocate’ needs the verb ‘play’ to make sense – ‘to play Devil’s advocate’. Amber mentions the verb, so that’s helpful.
Hi, Dan:
You can be “the Devil’s advocate,” so “play” is not a required part of the idiom. Also, “beating a dead horse” is an extremely common phrase in the United States.
Thanks for reading!
thank you
good and usefull for more