English Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions
Lists of well-known English idioms with their meaning.
What are idioms?
Idioms are words, phrases or expressions which are commonly used in everyday conversation by
native speakers of English. Learning the most well-known idioms will help make your English sound more fluent.
Idioms are often metaphorical and make the language more colourful. People use them to express
something more vividly and often more briefly. They serve as an image or mental picture.
Example: Let the cat out of the bag: If you
let the cat out of the bag, you reveal a secret.
N.B. It is important to remember that idiomatic expressions are used when speaking informally.
They are not used in formal exchanges.
The idioms below are categorised by theme.
They are grouped together in categories that relate to the same
subject matter. For example, in the category ‘actions-behaviour’
you will find idioms that refer to the way people act or behave,
what they do or how they react to something.
Alphabetical lists will be found on the next page.
Lists of idioms categorised by theme :
- actions and behaviour
- age
- agreementsand arrangements
- ambition and determination
- anger - annoyance - irritation
- animals - fish - birds - insects
- anxiety - fear
- arguments - disagreements- disputes
- authority - power
- beauty - appearance
- body
- books
- business - work
- choices - options - alternatives
- clothes
- colours
- communication - contact - information
- comparison - similarity
- consequences - effects
- countries - cities - nationalities
- descriptions of people (personality, character and appearance)
- descriptions of places, things and events
- efficiency - competence
- employment - jobs
- enthusiasm - eagerness - motivation
- feelings - emotions - reactions
- food and drink
- frankness - openness - sincerity
- fun and enjoyment
- habits
- happiness - sadness
- happiness - sadness
- health - fitness
- hesitation - indecision - doubt
- honesty - dishonesty
- house,furniture and household fittings
- intelligence - understanding - comprehension
- knowledge and wisdom
- law and order
- lifestyle - way of life
- luck- opportunity
- madness- insanity
- memory - remembering
- mind expressions
- mistakes - errors
- money - finance - wealth
- music
- negotiations
- numbers - quantities - amounts
- plants - flowers - trees
- politeness - manners
- problems - difficulties
- relationships (social, working and personal relationships)
- safety - danger
- secrets - discretion
- shopping
- sleep - tiredness
- speed - rapidity
- sports - games - athletics
- success - failure
- surprise - astonishment - disbelief
- thoughts - ideas - imagination
- time
- travel - transport
- violence- aggressiveness
- weather
next page: → alphabetical lists