1. Flying high
Meaning: very happy.
She’s flying high after the successful product launch.
2. Pumped up
Meaning: very excited about something.
He’s pumped up for his first half-marathon race this weekend.
3. Fool’s paradise
Meaning: a situation when someone is happy because they’re ignoring a problem or fail to realize its existence.
He’s been living in fool’s paradise since he started trading stocks, expecting to make millions even though he doesn’t have investing experience.
4. Be down in the dumps
Meaning: to feel unhappy or without hope.
I always feel down in the dumps when I go back to work after a long weekend.
5. Be at the end of your rope (American); Be at the end of your tether (British)
Meaning: to feel very upset because you’re no longer able to deal with a difficult situation.
Helen is at the end of her rope after looking for a job for months without any luck.
6. Grief-stricken
Meaning: extremely sad.
After his partner died in a car accident, he was left grief-stricken.
7. Bite someone’s head off
Meaning: to respond with anger to someone.
I just asked one question to confirm his request, and my boss bit my head off.
8. Black mood
Meaning: to be irritable, angry or depressed.
She’s scared to ask for a day off as her boss is in a black mood today.
9. Drive up the wall
Meaning: to annoy or irritate someone.
His constant whining drove me up the wall, so I left.
10. Have/get/feel butterflies in your stomach
Meaning: to feel very nervous or excited about something that you have to do, especially something important.
I’m going to have the first meeting with a big client tomorrow, and I’m feeling butterflies in my stomach.
11. Afraid of your own shadow
Meaning: very easily frightened.
After reading “Dracula,” she became afraid of her own shadow.
12. Petrified of
Meaning: extremely frightened, especially so that you cannot move or decide what to do.
In the “Harry Potter” series, Ron Weasley is petrified of spiders.
13. Feel out of it
Meaning: to not feel in a state of one’s normal mind.
He just woke up from a night of heavy drinking and felt so out of it.
14. Puzzle over
Meaning: to think carefully about someone or something for a long time and try to understand them.
I puzzled over the assignment for a few days before I decided to ask my professor for clarification.
15. Ambivalent about
Meaning: feeling two different things about someone or something at the same time, for example, that you like them and dislike them.
He’s ambivalent about quitting his job to start his own business; he wants his freedom, but there are risks.
Choose 5 idioms to your liking and make up sentences with them.
