20 Useful Idioms For Essays With Their Meanings And In Sentences
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Idioms can be heard absolutely everywhere. Chances are, you’ve probably used an idiom before in a sentence, and you might not even know that you did! Every language has its own idioms; however, the meaning of each idiom doesn’t translate across languages.
Why? Well, an idiom is essentially a phrase that has its own meaning in a specific language. All that means is that an idiom doesn’t carry any meaning when you break the phrase down into its individual words. And, you should never take an idiom literally.
Idioms add colour to a language; you can use them when you speak and especially so in your essays. That’s why we’ve rounded up 20 of the most useful idioms for essays with their meanings and sentences – happy reading!
20 Idioms With Their Meanings And In Sentences To Add To Your Vocabulary
Idiom 1: Add insult to injury
Meaning: Make a bad situation worse
Sentence: The school bus broke down in the middle of nowhere. Then, to add insult to injury, it started to pour with rain!
Idiom 2: An arm and a leg
Meaning: Something very expensive/costs a lot of money
Sentence: Those dance lessons cost me an arm and a leg. Hopefully, they help me get into dance school.
Idiom 3: Beat around the bush
Meaning: Avoid getting to the point of a problem or issue
Sentence: She can handle the truth, however difficult it may be. Don’t beat around the bush!
Idiom 4: Best of both worlds
Meaning: To have the best parts of two different situations
Sentence: I only have to go into the office three days a week. I get to do what I love and look after my kids – really, I have the best of both worlds.
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Idiom 5: Cross (your/my) fingers
Meaning: A wish for good luck or that something happens the way you want it to
Sentence: My students have studied tirelessly for their exams. I can only cross my fingers and hope for the best for them!
Idiom 6: Cut corners
Meaning: To do something most easily or least expensively; a shortcut
Sentence: When the bookshelf came tumbling down, it was obvious that the carpenters had really cut corners in building it.
Idiom 7: Cut to the chase
Meaning: Get straight to the point of something while leaving out unnecessary details
Sentence: He didn’t have time to talk so he told me to just cut to the chase. That’s why the conversation ended so quickly!
Idiom 8: Face the music
Meaning: Accept responsibility for something you’ve done
Sentence: After weeks of pretending to attend tuition class, Alex’s parents found out and he had to face the music.
Idiom 9: Get up on the wrong side of the bed
Meaning: To be in a bad mood throughout the day
Sentence: My sister keeps getting angry at me today – she must’ve got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
Idiom 10: Go the extra mile
Meaning: To put in more effort than required or expected for the task at hand
Sentence: My teacher was extremely kind and would always go the extra mile to help her students.
Idiom 11: Hang in there
Meaning: Encouraging someone not to give up despite difficulties
Sentence: Our family is going through tough times but hang in there – things will get better soon.
Idiom 12: Head over heels
Meaning: Totally or completely, and often used to describe the feeling of being in love
Sentence: My parents have been head over heels in love since the day they first met.
Idiom 13: Hit the nail on the head
Meaning: To be exactly right or accurate
Example: Sarah hit the nail on the head by choosing that essay topic for his assignment – it was amazing!
Photo by Case Joel
Idiom 14: Hold your horses
Meaning: Wait or slow down
Sentence: This is a big decision, Ali! Hold your horses and really think about what you want to do next.
Idiom 15: Last straw
Meaning: The final event or situation that you’re willing to accept before you lose your patience
Sentence: Losing the marathon was bad enough, but Jennifer also had a knee injury. That was the last straw for her and she stopped running after.
Idiom 16: On the fence
Meaning: Not able to decide between two options
Sentence: Most people read online reviews if they’re on the fence about buying a product.
Idiom 17: Out of hand
Meaning: A person or situation that is not in control
Sentence: The protest got out of hand and they had to call the police.
Idiom 18: Piece of cake
Meaning: A task or activity that is easily achieved
Sentence: Those girls made moving heavy furniture look like a piece of cake.
Idiom 19: Pulling (your/my/their) leg
Meaning: Joke with someone playfully
Sentence: She was just pulling my leg when she told me we had a week-long holiday.
Idiom 20: Under the weather
Meaning: Feeling sick
Sentence: Fatin didn’t go to school today because she was slightly under the weather.
How To Use Idioms in Your Essay
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1. Look for repetitive descriptions.
Go over your essay and look for language that feels dry or boring. For example, do you use the word ‘hardworking’ multiple times to describe people? This is an opportunity for you to replace the repetitive word with an idiom for a more colourful essay. In this instance, instead of saying ‘the hardworking student’, you could say ‘the student that always went the extra mile’.
2. Don’t overdo it.
Although idioms can make your writing richer, using too many idioms in your essay can confuse the reader; so always remember to use idioms sparingly!