53 Idioms for Describing Feelings and Moods
How are you feeling right now?
If things aren’t going well, you might feel down in the dumps, shaken up, bummed out, or out of sorts.
Or, if things are going great, you might be in high spirits, or feel on top of the world.
We use a ton of these idioms to talk about our moods and feelings. Here are 53 of them you should know, along with some conversation questions to practice using the idioms.
Also try this practice exercise, which requires you to use the idiomatic expressions from this article.
Interested in learning idioms? If so, check out the idioms and phrasal verb section of the site.
Idioms about feeling angry
If you are bent out of shape, you are upset, angry, insulted, or annoyed.
“I accidentally spilled coffee on Tim’s carpet, and he got bent out of shape about it.”
“Our coach is bent out of shape because we lost by so many points.”
If you are up in arms about something, you are outraged and very angry about something.
“The company’s database was hacked, and customers are up in arms about the security breach.”
“He made an insensitive remark on his radio show, and now his listeners are up in arms.”
If you are beside yourself, you are overcome with a particular emotion (rage, anger, grief, sorrow, worry, etc.).
“Lanie was beside herself when she found out about her husband’s affair.”
“One time in high school I stayed out all night and didn’t tell my parents. They were beside themselves with anger.”
If you lose your cool, you become visibly angry or lose your composure.
“As a parent, it’s important to never lose your cool in front of your kids.”
“The suspect lost his cool during the interrogation.”
If you blow a fuse/gasket, you suddenly become furious.
“I blew a gasket when I found out my cable company overcharged me.”
“Did your parents blow a fuse when you told them about your report card?”
If you are seeing red, you are furious.
“These tax increases have taxpayers seeing red.”
“The dress I ordered online looked nothing like the picture. I was seeing red after I opened the package.”
If something makes your blood boil, it causes you to feel anger.
“Noisy, inconsiderate neighbors really make my blood boil.”
“Seeing people litter in this beautiful park makes my blood boil.”
If you go off the deep end, you become very angry. We can also use this expression to communicate that someone has taken something to the extreme and has started to act irrationally.
“I went off the deep end and started yelling every four letter word I could think of. I don’t think I’ve ever been so mad.”
“Someone on the highway went off the deep end and pulled out a gun.”
If you fly off the handle, you suddenly become furious, often for no reason.
“My boss completely flew off the handle when I interrupted him during his presentation.”
“My father would often fly off the handle at telemarketers.”
If you are foaming at the mouth, you are visibly angry or annoyed. We often use this idiom in the progressive tenses.
“I was foaming at the mouth when I saw my son’s report card.”
“Our coach was foaming at the mouth after we lost 40-0. We ran a lot at practice the next day.”
Idioms about feeling annoyed or frustrated
If you are fed up with something, it means you are annoyed, frustrated, or tired of something that you have been experiencing too much of.
“I’m fed up with these grad school applications. I must have written twenty essays already.”
“Donna finally broke up with Paul. She was fed up with his fear of commitment.”
If you have had enough, it means you don’t want more of something because you are annoyed, angry, or tired of it.
“I’ve had enough of your lies. Just tell me the truth.”
“We’ve had enough of these stupid superhero movies. Why can’t Hollywood give us an original movie?”
If you can’t take it anymore, you can no longer deal with something because you are frustrated or out of patience.
“Jeanine was telling me about all the paperwork she had to do to get a visa.”
“She says there were times when she felt that she simple couldn’t take it anymore.”
“Ben said he couldn’t take it anymore, so he filed for divorce.”
If you’ve had it up to here with something, you are extremely frustrated with something and can no longer deal with it. When we use this expression, we often hold up a hand to eye level to indicate where “here” is.
“I’ve had it up to here with our department’s unnecessary meetings.”
“I’ve had it up to here with protesters blocking traffic and causing me to be late for work.”
If you are at your wit’s end, you are upset about something and no longer have patience to deal with it.
“Our flight was delayed three different times and then canceled. After fifteen hours at the airport, we were at our wit’s end.”
“Karen’s son will eat nothing but hot dogs and chicken nuggets. She says she’s at her wit’s end and doesn’t know what to do.”
Idioms about feeling happy
If you are walking on air or on cloud nine, you feel euphoric and elated.
“Winning an Oscar must be such a great feeling. The winners must feel like they are walking on air.”
“I was on cloud nine when I heard I’d gotten the promotion. I couldn’t believe it.”
If you feel on top of the world, you are elated and euphoric, often because of a great accomplishment.
“Cindy and Matt had just purchased their dream home in a Chicago suburb. They felt on top of the world.”
“After I got engaged, I felt on top of the world.”
If you are over the moon, you are extremely happy, delighted, or pleased.
“My wife and I were over the moon when we found out we were going to be grandparents.”
“Scott was over the moon about his vacation to Prague. He said it was the best trip he’s ever taken.”
If you are in high spirits, it means you are in a happy, jolly mood.
“The holidays always put me in high spirits.”
“Happy hour was a lot of fun. Everyone was laughing and in high spirits.”
If you are tickled pink, it means you are extremely delighted.
“Jane was tickled pink about meeting her favorite author.”
“I was tickled pink when I got on the scale and saw how much weight I’d lost.”
If something makes your day, it means that something has made you happy or put you in a good mood.
“I received a really nice compliment and it made my day.”
“It makes my day when a coworker brings in donuts for everyone in the office.”
If you are a happy camper, you are satisfied or pleased with something. We often use this expression in the negative form (not a happy camper).
“I don’t have anything negative to say about this company. I’m a happy camper.”
“We do everything we can to ensure our customers are happy campers.”
Idioms about feeling sad, depressed, or dejected
If you are bummed out, you are sad, discouraged, or moderately depressed. We use bummed out to talk about how someone feels after an unfortunate (but not catastrophic) event.
“The concert sold out before we could get tickets. We’re all pretty bummed out about it.”
“John’s a little bummed out. His favorite restaurant just went out of business.”
If you feel blue or have the blues, you are depressed or sad.
“Karen watches cat videos on YouTube when she’s feeling blue.”
“Reading a book is a great way to make yourself feel better when you have the blues.”
If you are down in the dumps, you feel depressed or sad about something that has happened.
“You look a little down in the dumps. Is everything okay?”
“My kid has been a little down in the dumps since her best friend moved away.”
If you are not a happy camper, it means you are dissatisfied with something.
“Our employees have not been happy campers since we took away their overtime.”
“The service was slow and our server got both of our orders wrong. We were not happy campers.”
If you are hanging your head, you look ashamed.
“Don’t hang your head. You did the best you could.”
“The whole basketball team was hanging their heads after they lost by 50 points.”
If you feel out of sorts, you feel unhappy, irritable, slightly unwell, or in low spirits.
“This cold has me feeling out of sorts.”
“When I travel across time zones, I normally feel out of sorts for a few days.”
Idioms about feeling scared
If you are shaken up, you are greatly frightened, upset, or shocked by something.
“Todd was shaken up after the car accident.”
“The bank employees were shaken up after the robbery.”
If you jump out of your skin, you are extremely frightened or startled.
“I almost jumped out of my skin when the lights came on and everyone screamed ‘Happy Birthday.'”
“I can’t imagine what it’s like to find a snake in your toilet. I’d jump out of my skin.”
If you are shaking like a leaf, you are shaking a lot because you are scared, nervous, or cold.
“Kevin was shaking like a leaf when he gave his speech in front of the entire school.”
“Are you okay? You’re shaking like a leaf?”
If you are scared out of your wits, scared to death, or scared stiff, you are extremely frightened.
“Mel saw a four-foot alligator while he was walking his dog. He was scared out of his wits.”
“Our kids were scared to death during the hurricane.”
“I was scared stiff when I heard the fire alarm go off at 3 a.m.”
If your blood runs cold, you are extremely frightened.
“Walking through the cemetery at midnight made my blood run cold.”
“Seeing the man who robbed her in court made Melinda’s blood run cold.”
If you have a sinking feeling about something, you have a feeling that something bad is going to happen.
“I always have a sinking feeling when my doctor goes over my lab tests with me.”
“We all had a sinking feeling that more layoffs were coming.”
Idioms about feeling nervous, anxious, or excited
If you get/have butterflies in your stomach, you are have a nervous, anxious feeling in your stomach.
“I always have butterflies in my stomach before I give a presentation.”
“Do you ever get butterflies in your stomach before job interviews?”
If you are on pins and needles, you are nervously waiting to find out what is going to happen. (Cambridge Dictionary)
“Everyone on the police force was on pins and needles during the hostage situation.”
“I was on pins and needles for two weeks while I waited to hear if I had gotten the job.”
If you are on edge, you are nervous and irritable.
“Dave always gets on edge when he watches his football team play.”
“Our neighbors were all on edge after the break in.”
Idioms about feeling bored
If you are bored to death or bored to tears, you are extremely bored.
“High school bored me to death.”
“We lost power during the hurricane and didn’t know how to entertain ourselves. We were bored to tears.”
Idioms about feeling miserable
If you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, you wake up in a bad mood.
“My boss woke up on the wrong side of the bed. It’s not a good day to try to leave early.”
“I’m sorry for how I acted earlier. I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.”
Idioms about feeling focused
If you are locked in, dialed in, or in the zone, you are in a state of total focus and concentration and doing something at a very high level.
“The whole team is locked in right now. I’ve never seen them play so well.”
“The deadline for the proposal is tomorrow. If we’re going to finish on time, we need everyone to be 100% dialed in today.”
“It’s hard for me to get in the zone if I’m listening to loud music.”
Idioms about feeling unfocused, distracted
If you are spaced out, you are not aware of or paying attention to what is happening around you. (Oxford Dictionaries)
“I’ve been staring at a computer screen for nine hours. I’m starting to feel a little spaced out.”
“Are you listening to me? You seem a little spaced out.”
If you are zoned out, you are not thinking clearly or paying attention to what is happening because you are drugged, tired, etc. (Merriam-Webster)
“My newborn woke me up five times last night. I’ve been zoned out all morning.”
“After surgery, I felt zoned out from the medication I was given.”
If you are out of it, you are not aware of what is happening around you or are in a confused state.
“If I don’t drink coffee in the morning, I feel out of it all day.”
“Are you sure you want to take English classes at night? Won’t you feel out of it after working all day?”
Idioms about feeling different
If you don’t feel like yourself, you don’t feel as happy, healthy, positive, energetic, motivated, etc. as you normally do.
“Mike hasn’t felt like himself since his best friend passed away.”
“I don’t feel like myself until I’ve had at least two cups of coffee.”
If you feel a bit off or feel a little off, you feel physically or mentally unwell.
“Some people feel a bit off in the middle of winter when the days are short and cold.”
“I always feel a little off if I don’t get a full seven hours of sleep.”
Practice
To practice the idioms, answer the following questions.
Also try this practice exercise.
1. Are you bummed out about anything right now? What is it?
2. Are you on edge about anything right now? When was the last time you were on edge about something?
3. What makes you feel a bit off?
4. Have you ever taken a class that bored you to tears? What was the class? Why was it so boring?
5. When was the last time you felt out of it?
6. What gives you butterflies in your stomach?
7. Do you ever have days when you feel like you’ve woken up on the wrong side of the bed? Do you think most people have days like this from time to time?
8. When was the last time you felt shaken up? What happened?
9. Have you ever received a compliments that made your day? What was the compliment?
10. Have you ever felt scared out of your wits? What happened?
11. What do you do to make yourself feel better when you’re feeling down in the dumps?
12. What has been your greatest accomplishment? When you accomplished this, did you feel like you were walking on air? Did you feel on top of the world?
13. What causes you to lose your cool?
14. Have you ever flown off the handle at someone and then felt bad about it afterwards? What happened?
15. What makes your blood boil? Why does this make you so angry?
For more idiomatic expressions, see these articles on idioms and phrasal verbs.
