Key takeaways
English language, like any language, is abundant in idioms, expressions, and proverbs. And if you want to understand and have conversations with native speakers, you must know them. That’s no workaround, really, because translating them word by word doesn’t work. So, here are the 100 most popular English idioms and their meaning. Keep this list close and get back to it whenever you need a little hint.
English idioms, aka idiomatic expressions, are groups of words with a different meaning than the cumulative meaning of the words they encompass. They come from spoken language and are rooted in culture. Often, idioms have a long history behind them, rooted in tradition, a specific event, or an established way of life.
English is a popular language, spoken in many countries and used as an international way of communicating. Learning idioms in English will help you speak and write like a native speaker, understand locals in English-speaking countries, enjoy English literature and movies, and become fluent in English. These expressions add flavor to a language and can completely change the tone and message of a communication.
English idioms are avoided in formal writing, such as business, academic, and technical writing. They leave room for interpretation, and that’s not something you want in a formal environment. So, use English idioms only in informal situations and conversation.
Nevertheless, some of the most popular idioms may find their way into formal communication. For instance, “to break the ice”, an idiom meaning to overcome the nervousness that comes with speaking to someone for the first time, is an expression you may hear during the onboarding process in a business environment. You may also hear “call it a day” at the end of a meeting, meaning the speaker invites you to conclude it.
The following examples are in alphabetical order to simplify the search process. However, some may be more commonly used than others, so browse the entire list at least once.
No. | English Idiom | Meaning | Usage | Example |
1 | A blessing in disguise | Something good that seemed bad at first | Common; included in a sentence | Getting fired was a blessing in disguise. I now have my dream job. |
2 | A big gun / shot | Someone important | Common; included in a sentence | He’s a big shot, you can tell by his car. |
3 | A bird’s eye view | A view from a high point that allows you to see a very large area, a wide perspective | Common; included in a sentence | The castle has a bird eye’s view over the entire valley. |
4 | A bolt from the blue | Something unexpected | Not common; included in a sentence | Getting promoted was a bolt from the blue. I really didn’t expect it. |
5 | A dime a dozen | Something common | Not common; included in a sentence | That dress is a dime a dozen. |
6 | A house of cards | Something poorly constructed (e.g., a plan) | Common; included in a sentence | Your project plan won’t work, it’s a house of cards. |
7 | A pain in the neck / back / rear | Something or someone annoying, unpleasant | Common; included in a sentence | This expresso machine has been a pain in the neck from the day we bought it. |
8 | A snap | Something very easy | Not common; included in a sentence | Hiking this trail is a snap. |
9 | A wee bit | A little | Not common; included in a sentence | Oh, I want a wee bit of icecream. |
10 | Afraid of one’s own shadow | Easily frightened | Common; included in a sentence | We can’t go to that thematic escape room because our friend is afraid of his own shadow. |
11 | All ears | Paying full attention | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | I’m all ears. Tell me everything. |
12 | All in the same boat | Working together | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | Let’s focus on this task; we are all in the same boat here. |
13 | An axe to grind | A personal interest in the matter | Not common; included in a sentence | I think she has an axe to grind in this matter. |
14 | Apple of one’s eye | Someone cherrished | Common; included in a sentence | My son is the apple of my eye. |
15 | Around the clock | All day and night | Common; included in a sentence | We’ve been working around the clock to finish before the deadline. |
16 | At arm’s length | To keep a distance | Common; included in a sentence | My boss always held me at arm’s length. I don’t think he likes me. |
17 | At sea | Lost, confused | Common; included in a sentence | Forget about her, she’s at sea right now. |
18 | At the eleventh hour | Last minute, at the last possible moment | Common; included in a sentence | The parcel arrived at the eleventh hour. |
19 | Back out | Redraw from a contract or promise | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | I have to back out before it’s too late. |
20 | Back up | Support something or someone | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | Don’t worry, I’m backing you up all the way. |
21 | Barking up the wrong tree | Blaming the wrong person | Common; included in a sentence | Don’t yell at the cashiere. You’re barking at the wrong tree. |
22 | Beat around the bush | Avoiding the topic, being indirect | Common; included in a sentence | You’ve been beating around the bush the entire day, Just tell me what you need. |
23 | Better late than never | Better to arrive late than not at all | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | Like I always say, better late than never. |
24 | Bite off more than one can chew | Trying to do more than one can manage | Common; full sentence | I usualy bite more than I can chew. |
25 | Bite the bullet | Get over/done something inevitable | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | I have to bite the bullet with this task. It takes forever. |
26 | Break a leg | Good luck | Common; full sentence | The show is about to start. Break a leg! |
27 | Break down | Failing | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | I didn’t pass the driver test. I broke down. |
28 | Break the ice | Break an awkward silence, start a conversation, make people feel comfortable when not knowing each other | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | A fun fact is a good way to break the ice. |
29 | Break the bank | Overspend, very expensive | Common; included in a sentence | That ring breaks the bank, look for something cheaper. |
30 | Break up | To disperse, dissolve (e.g., a relationship) | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | Ron and Emily broke up last summer. |
31 | Bring up | To rear children | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | I bring up my children in Austria. |
32 | By the skin of your teeth | Just barely succeded | Not common; included in a sentence | I got the promotion by the skin of my teeth. |
33 | Call it a day | Agree to end something (e.g., meeting, course) | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | Let’s call it a day and start fresh tomorrow. |
34 | Caught red-handed | Caught in the middle of doing something wrong | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | I caught my dog red-handed when he stole the steak. |
35 | Clean slate | Fresh start | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | We need to start this project on a clean slate. |
36 | Cold feet | To get scared | Common; included in a sentence | Most people get cold feet before their wedding. |
37 | Cold turkey | Give up a bad habit immedialy | Not common; included in a sentence | I plan to give up smoking cold turkey. |
38 | Cost an arm and a leg | Very expensive | Not common; included in a sentence | My wedding dress costs an arm and a leg. |
39 | Cry over spilled milk | Being upset about something in the past that can’t be changed | Not common; included in a sentence | The dead is done, don’t cry over spilled milk. |
40 | Cut corners | Take shortcuts with a less than good result | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | Cutting corners won’t get you there faster. |
41 | Days are numbered | Limited amount of time | Common; full sentence | This project’s days are numbered. |
42 | Drive someone up the wall | To annoy or iritate someone | Common; full sentence | This supplier drives me up the wall. They are so slow! |
43 | Drop in | Casually passing by, visiting | Not common; included in a sentence | I just dropped in to see how you’re doing. |
44 | Drop out | To give up, to fall | Not common; included in a sentence | I will drop out of college next year. |
45 | Every cloud has a silver lining | Something good comes from any bad situation | Not common, full sentence | Don’t worry, every cloud has a silver lining. |
46 | Fall back | To stay behind, to retreate, to recieve | Common; included in a sentence | If you fall back on your work, you will miss the deadline. |
47 | Fall down | To go from a higher position to a lower one | Common; included in a sentence | He fell down the ladder in the company. |
48 | Fall off | To withdraw | Common; included in a sentence | She fell off from the contract. |
49 | Fall under | To come under | Not common; included in a sentence | She got the 9th place. She fell under the qualification line. |
50 | Get cracking | Start immediately | Not common, full sentence | Get cracking with that task! |
51 | Get out of hand | Lose control | Common; included in a sentence | The situation got out of my hands pretty fast. |
52 | Go back to the drawing board | Start over | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | We are stuck. Let’s go back to the drawing board. |
53 | Go the extra mile | Do more than expected | Common; included in a sentence | If you want the promotion, you should go the extra mile. |
54 | Hang in there | Don’t give up | Common; full sentence | You are almost done. Hang in there! |
55 | Hold your horses | Wait | Common; full sentence | It’s still early. Hold your horses! |
56 | It’s a piece of cake | It’s easy | Common; included in a sentence | Learning that new app was a piece of cake. |
57 | Jump on the bandwagon | Join a popular acivity | Not common; included in a sentence | When something becomes popular, all my friends jump the bandwagon. |
58 | Jump the gun | To do something too soon or hasty | Common; included in a sentence | Wait to see what they have to say, don’t jump the gun. |
59 | Kill two birds with one stone | Accomplish two things at the same time | Common; included in a sentence | If you take the job you kill two birds with one stone: more money and move to a bigger city. |
60 | Know by heart | Know something very well, by memory | Common; included in a sentence | I know that poem by heart. |
61 | Let the cat out of the bag | Reveal a secret | Not common, full sentence | Don’t let the cat out of the bag. I told you in confidence. |
62 | Like two peas in a pod | Very similar | Common; included in a sentence | My children look like two peas in a pod although there is a 5 years age gap. |
63 | Make ends meet | Earn just the money one needs to survive | Common; included in a sentence | Gary has a new job, but he just makes the ends meet. |
64 | Make a long story short | In summary | Common; included in a sentence | To make a long story short, we need more resources for this project. |
65 | Miss the boat | It’s too late | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | He missed the boat, and now he’s sorry. |
66 | Not my cup of tea | Not to my liking | Common; full sentence | Learning new languages is not my cup of tea. |
67 | No pain, no gain | Nothing is accomplished without work | Common; full sentence | Train harder. No pain, no gain. |
68 | Off the top of my head | To think of or do something spontaneously | Common; included in a sentence | Off the top of my head, jogging may be a good idea. |
69 | On cloud nine | Extremely happy | Common; full sentence | He’s on cloud nine. He’s going to that conference. |
70 | Once in a blue moon | Very rarely | Not common; included in a sentence | Only once in a blue moon I get to go to the spa center. |
71 | Open the floodgates | Lose control of something | Not common; included in a sentence | I was too much for her. She opened the floodgates and started to tell me everything. |
72 | Out of the blue | Unexpectedly | Common; included in a sentence | Out of the blue, it started to rain. |
73 | Out on a limb | Do something risky | Not common; included in a sentence | Don’t go out on a limb if you aren’t sure about it. |
74 | Over the top | Excessive | Not common; included in a sentence | He went over the top yesterday at the gym, and now his back is hurting. |
75 | Pretty penny | Good money | Not common, full sentence | It’s pretty penny. You should take the night shift. |
76 | Pull someone’s leg | To joke around | Not common, full sentence | Don’t pull my leg. It’s not funny. |
77 | Pull yourself together | To calm down | Common; full sentence | Pull yourself together. We can get over this. |
78 | Put the cart before the horse | To do things in the wrong order | Not common, full sentence | You put the cart before the horse. Let’s make a plan first, |
79 | Rain check | Reschedule, make the same offer at another time | Common; full sentence | Let’s have a rain check in a week. |
80 | Raining cats and dogs | Extreme rain | Not common, full sentence | It’s raining cats and dogs. I don’t want to go outside. |
81 | Ring a bell | Sounds familiar | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | Does it ring a bell? Do you remember talking about it? |
82 | Rocket science | Something difficult or complicated | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | It’s not rocket science. You should be able to do this. |
83 | Scare the living daylights out of | To frighten | Not common, full sentence | You scared the living daylights out of me dissapearing like that. |
84 | Sleeping like a log | Sleeping deeply | Not common, full sentence | My partner sleeps like a log. Nothing wakes him up. |
85 | Speak of the devil | When the person we were talking about shows up | Common; full sentence | Speak of the devil, here you are! |
86 | Stab in the back | To deceive, to betray | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | It was a stab in the back. I didn’t expect it of him. |
87 | State of the art | The latest, newest discovery, technology, etc. | Common; included in a sentence | We develop state of the art AI algorithms for face recognition. |
88 | Stick one’s neck out | To do something risky | Not common; included in a sentence | My colleague stuck his neck out for me, and I won’t forget it. |
89 | Sweet tooth | To like sweets | Common; full sentence | Do you have a sweet tooth, too? |
90 | That’s the last straw | Running out of patience | Common; full sentence | That’s the last straw. I won’t allow it anymore. |
91 | The best of both worlds | An ideal situation | Common; included in a sentence | For me, the best of both world would be to move to Paris and work in fashion. |
92 | Throw in the towel | Give up | Common; full sentence or included in a sentence | Don’t throw the towel just yet. Give it another try. |
93 | Time flies when you're having fun | When you don’t notice time passing by because you’re enjoying yourself | Common; full sentence | Wow, it’s night already. Time flies when you're having fun! |
94 | Under the weather | Sick | Common; included in a sentence | He is under the weather today and won’t be comming to work. |
95 | Up in the air | Uncertain | Not common; included in a sentence | The meeting is still up in the air. We need to make up ourr minds. |
96 | Wave a dead chicken | Doing something useless | Not common, full sentence | He’s waving a dead chicken by going there himself. I already went and nothing changed. |
97 | Whale of a time | Enjoying something | Not common; included in a sentence | I had a whale of a time last night at the party. |
98 | When it rains, it pours. | Bad things happen in a row | Not common, full sentence | When it rains, it pours! First, I spilled my coffee and now I broke my glasses. |
99 | Wrap your head around something | Understand something difficult | Not common, full sentence | I can’t wrap my head around it. This problem is very hard. |
100 | Zero in on something | Focus entirely on one thing | Not common; included in a sentence | I’m zero in on my Math course today. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which idioms are easiest for beginners to learn?
There are many easy idioms in the list above, yet start with these:
What are some example sentences for each idiom?
There are many popular idioms with clear example sentences to show how people use them in daily conversation:
Key takeaway
Idioms may seem confusing at first, but they are one of the most enjoyable parts of learning English. They reveal how native speakers think, joke, exaggerate, and express emotions in everyday conversation. You don’t need to memorize all 100 idioms at once—start with the most common ones, notice them in movies, books, and conversations, and try using them naturally when the moment feels right. Little by little, these expressions will become a piece of cake.
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