The most common English idioms
These English idioms are extremely
common in everyday conversation. You will hear them in
movies and TV shows and can use them to make your English sound more like that
of a native speaker.
|
Idiom |
Meaning |
Usage |
|
A blessing
in disguise |
a good
thing that seemed bad at first |
as part of
a sentence |
|
A dime a
dozen |
Something
common |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Beat
around the bush |
Avoid
saying what you mean, usually because it is uncomfortable |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Better
late than never |
Better to
arrive late than not to come at all |
by itself |
|
Bite the
bullet |
To get
something over with because it is inevitable |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Break a
leg |
Good luck |
by itself |
|
Call it a
day |
Stop
working on something |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Cut
somebody some slack |
Don't be
so critical |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Cutting
corners |
Doing
something poorly in order to save time or money |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Easy does
it |
Slow down |
by itself |
|
Get out of
hand |
Get out of
control |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Get
something out of your system |
Do the
thing you've been wanting to do so you can move on |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Get your
act together |
Work
better or leave |
by itself |
|
Give
someone the benefit of the doubt |
Trust what
someone says |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Go back to
the drawing board |
Start over |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Hang in
there |
Don't give
up |
by itself |
|
Hit the
sack |
Go to
sleep |
as part of
a sentence |
|
It's not
rocket science |
It's not
complicated |
by itself |
|
Let
someone off the hook |
To not
hold someone responsible for something |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Make a
long story short |
Tell
something briefly |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Miss the
boat |
It's too
late |
as part of
a sentence |
|
No pain,
no gain |
You have
to work for what you want |
by itself |
|
On the
ball |
Doing a
good job |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Pull
someone's leg |
To joke
with someone |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Pull
yourself together |
Calm down |
by itself |
|
So far so
good |
Things are
going well so far |
by itself |
|
Speak of
the devil |
The person
we were just talking about showed up! |
by itself |
|
That's the
last straw |
My
patience has run out |
by itself |
|
The best
of both worlds |
An ideal
situation |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Time flies
when you're having fun |
You don't
notice how long something lasts when it's fun |
by itself |
|
To get
bent out of shape |
To get
upset |
as part of
a sentence |
|
To make
matters worse |
Make a
problem worse |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Under the
weather |
Sick |
as part of
a sentence |
|
We'll
cross that bridge when we come to it |
Let's not
talk about that problem right now |
by itself |
|
Wrap your
head around something |
Understand
something complicated |
as part of
a sentence |
|
You can
say that again |
That's
true, I agree |
by itself |
|
Your guess
is as good as mine |
I have no
idea |
by itself |
Common English idioms & expressions
|
Idiom |
Meaning |
Usage |
|
A bird in
the hand is worth two in the bush |
What you
have is worth more than what you might have later |
by itself |
|
A penny
for your thoughts |
Tell me
what you're thinking |
by itself |
|
A penny
saved is a penny earned |
Money you
save today you can spend later |
by itself |
|
A perfect
storm |
the worst
possible situation |
as part of
a sentence |
|
A picture
is worth 1000 words |
Better to
show than tell |
by itself |
|
Actions
speak louder than words |
Believe
what people do and not what they say |
by itself |
|
Add insult
to injury |
To make a
bad situation worse |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Barking up
the wrong tree |
To be
mistaken, to be looking for solutions in the wrong place |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Birds of a
feather flock together |
People who
are alike are often friends (usually used negatively) |
by itself |
|
Bite off
more than you can chew |
Take on a
project that you cannot finish |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Break the
ice |
Make
people feel more comfortable |
as part of
a sentence |
|
By the
skin of your teeth |
Just
barely |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Comparing
apples to oranges |
Comparing
two things that cannot be compared |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Costs an
arm and a leg |
Very
expensive |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Do
something at the drop of a hat |
Do
something without having planned beforehand |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Do unto
others as you would have them do unto you |
Treat
people fairly. Also known as "The Golden Rule" |
by itself |
|
Don't
count your chickens before they hatch |
Don't
count on something good happening until it's happened. |
by itself |
|
Don't cry
over spilt milk |
There's no
reason to complain about something that can't be fixed |
by itself |
|
Don't give
up your day job |
You're not
very good at this |
by itself |
|
Don't put
all your eggs in one basket |
What
you're doing is too risky |
by itself |
|
Every cloud
has a silver lining |
Good
things come after bad things |
by itself |
|
Get a
taste of your own medicine |
Get
treated the way you've been treating others (negative) |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Give
someone the cold shoulder |
Ignore
someone |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Go on a
wild goose chase |
To do
something pointless |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Good
things come to those who wait |
Be patient |
by itself |
|
He has
bigger fish to fry |
He has
bigger things to take care of than what we are talking about now |
by itself |
|
He's a
chip off the old block |
The son is
like the father |
by itself |
|
Hit the
nail on the head |
Get
something exactly right |
by itself |
|
Ignorance
is bliss |
You're
better off not knowing |
by itself |
|
It ain't
over till the fat lady sings |
This isn't
over yet |
by itself |
|
It takes
one to know one |
You're
just as bad as I am |
by itself |
|
It's a
piece of cake |
It's easy |
by itself |
|
It's
raining cats and dogs |
It's
raining hard |
by itself |
|
Kill two
birds with one stone |
Get two
things done with a single action |
by itself |
|
Let the
cat out of the bag |
Give away
a secret |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Live and
learn |
I made a
mistake |
by itself |
|
Look
before you leap |
Take only
calculated risks |
by itself |
|
On thin
ice |
On
probation. If you make another mistake, there will be trouble. |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Once in a
blue moon |
Rarely |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Play
devil's advocate |
To argue
the opposite, just for the sake of argument |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Put
something on ice |
Put a
projet on hold |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Rain on
someone's parade |
To spoil
something |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Saving for
a rainy day |
Saving
money for later |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Slow and
steady wins the race |
Reliability
is more important than speed |
by itself |
|
Spill the
beans |
Give away
a secret |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Take a
rain check |
Postpone a
plan |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Take it
with a grain of salt |
Don’t take
it too seriously |
as part of
a sentence |
|
The ball
is in your court |
It's your
decision |
by itself |
|
The best
thing since sliced bread |
A really
good invention |
as part of
a sentence |
|
The devil
is in the details |
It looks
good from a distance, but when you look closer, there are problems |
by itself |
|
The early
bird gets the worm |
The first
people who arrive will get the best stuff |
by itself |
|
The
elephant in the room |
The big
issue, the problem people are avoiding |
as part of
a sentence |
|
The whole
nine yards |
Everything,
all the way. |
as part of
a sentence |
|
There are
other fish in the sea |
It's ok to
miss this opportunity. Others will arise. |
by itself |
|
There's a
method to his madness |
He seems
crazy but actually he's clever |
by itself |
|
There's no
such thing as a free lunch |
Nothing is
entirely free |
by itself |
|
Throw
caution to the wind |
Take a
risk |
as part of
a sentence |
|
You can't
have your cake and eat it too |
You can't
have everything |
by itself |
|
You can't
judge a book by its cover |
This
person or thing may look bad, but it's good inside |
by itself |
Familiar English idioms & proverbs
|
Idiom |
Meaning |
Usage |
|
A little
learning is a dangerous thing |
People who
don't understand something fully are dangerous |
by itself |
|
A snowball
effect |
Events
have momentum and build upon each other |
as part of
a sentence |
|
A
snowball's chance in hell |
No chance
at all |
as part of
a sentence |
|
A stitch
in time saves nine |
Fix the
problem now because it will get worse later |
by itself |
|
A storm in
a teacup |
A big fuss
about a small problem |
as part of
a sentence |
|
An apple a
day keeps the doctor away |
Apples are
good for you |
by itself |
|
An ounce
of prevention is worth a pound of cure |
You can
prevent a problem with little effort. Fixing it later is harder. |
by itself |
|
As right
as rain |
Perfect |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Bolt from
the blue |
Something
that happened without warning |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Burn
bridges |
Destroy
relationships |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Calm
before the storm |
Something
bad is coming, but right now it's calm |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Come rain
or shine |
No matter
what |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Curiosity
killed the cat |
Stop
asking questions |
by itself |
|
Cut the
mustard |
Do a good
job |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Don't beat
a dead horse |
Move on,
this subject is over |
by itself |
|
Every dog
has his day |
Everyone
gets a chance at least once |
by itself |
|
Familiarity
breeds contempt |
The better
you know someone the less you like him |
by itself |
|
Fit as a
fiddle |
In good
health |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Fortune
favours the bold |
Take risks |
by itself |
|
Get a
second wind |
Have more
energy after having been tired |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Get wind
of something |
Hear news
of something secret |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Go down in
flames |
Fail
spectacularly |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Haste
makes waste |
You'll
make mistakes if you rush through something |
by itself |
|
Have your
head in the clouds |
Not be
concentrating |
as part of
a sentence |
|
He who
laughs last laughs loudest |
I'll get
you back for what you did |
by itself |
|
Hear
something straight from the horse's mouth |
Hear
something from the person involved |
as part of
a sentence |
|
He's not
playing with a full deck |
He's dumb |
by itself |
|
He's off
his rocker |
He's crazy |
by itself |
|
He's
sitting on the fence |
He can't
make up his mind |
by itself |
|
It is a
poor workman who blames his tools |
If you
can't do the job, don't blame it on others |
by itself |
|
It is
always darkest before the dawn |
Things are
going to get better |
by itself |
|
It takes
two to tango |
One person
alone isn't responsible. Both people are involved. |
by itself |
|
Jump on
the bandwagon |
Follow a
trend, do what everyone else is doing |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Know which
way the wind is blowing |
Understand
the situation (usually negative) |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Leave no
stone unturned |
Look
everywhere |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Let
sleeping dogs lie |
Stop
discussing an issue |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Like
riding a bicycle |
Something
you never forget how to do |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Like two
peas in a pod |
They're
always together |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Make hay
while the sun shines |
Take
advantage of a good situation |
as part of
a sentence |
|
On cloud
nine |
Very happy |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Once
bitten, twice shy |
You're
more cautious when you've been hurt before |
by itself |
|
Out of the
frying pan and into the fire |
Things are
going from bad to worse |
by itself |
|
Run like
the wind |
Run fast |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Shape up
or ship out |
Work
better or leave |
by itself |
|
Snowed
under |
Busy |
as part of
a sentence |
|
That ship
has sailed |
It's too
late |
by itself |
|
The pot
calling the kettle black |
Someone
criticizing someone else he is just as bad |
as part of
a sentence |
|
There are
clouds on the horizon |
Trouble is
coming |
by itself |
|
Those who
live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones |
People who
are morally questionable shouldn't criticize others |
by itself |
|
Through
thick and thin |
In good
times and in bad times |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Time is
money |
Work
quickly |
by itself |
|
Waste not,
want not |
Don't
waste things and you'll always have enough |
by itself |
|
We see eye
to eye |
We agree |
by itself |
|
Weather
the storm |
Go through
something difficult |
as part of
a sentence |
|
Well begun
is half done |
Getting a
good start is important |
by itself |
|
When it
rains it pours |
Everything
is going wrong at once |
by itself |
|
You can
catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar |
You'll get
what you want by being nice |
by itself |
|
You can
lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink |
You can't
force someone to make the right decision |
by itself |
|
You can't
make an omelet without breaking some eggs |
There's
always a cost to doing something |
by itself |