Hate is a powerful emotion that shows up in many forms—from mild irritation to full-blown anger. While it’s not always healthy to hold onto hate, it’s still something we all experience from time to time. And when it comes to talking about those strong negative feelings, idioms help us say things in a more vivid and expressive way.
Idioms for hate are used often in everyday conversations, songs, movies, and even books. These phrases don’t just say “I hate it”; they show how deeply someone feels annoyed, disgusted, or just plain fed up. Whether you’re frustrated with a situation, tired of a person, or simply can’t stand something, there’s probably an idiom that fits perfectly.
In this article, we’ll explore 46 idioms that capture the different shades of hate and dislike. You’ll learn their meanings, see them in full example sentences, and even find other ways to say the same thing. These idioms will not only boost your vocabulary, but also make your writing and speaking more expressive and natural. Let’s look at how language can help us describe what we can’t stand—in the most creative ways possible.
Idioms for Hate
1. Can’t stand
Meaning: To strongly dislike or be unable to tolerate something or someone.
In a Sentence: I can’t stand how loud my neighbor’s music is every single night.
Other Ways to Say: Hate, Detest, Loathe
2. Rub someone the wrong way
Meaning: To irritate or annoy someone unintentionally.
In a Sentence: That guy always rubs me the wrong way, even when he’s trying to be nice.
Other Ways to Say: Annoy, Bother, Get under someone’s skin
3. Get on someone’s nerves
Meaning: To annoy or bother someone repeatedly.
In a Sentence: Her constant humming gets on my nerves when I’m trying to focus.
Other Ways to Say: Irritate, Drive crazy, Bug
4. Drive someone up the wall
Meaning: To make someone very irritated or angry.
In a Sentence: The way he chews loudly during lunch drives me up the wall.
Other Ways to Say: Enrage, Aggravate, Infuriate
5. Make someone’s blood boil
Meaning: To make someone extremely angry.
In a Sentence: His rude comments during the meeting made my blood boil.
Other Ways to Say: Enrage, Outrage, Infuriate
6. Have a bone to pick with someone
Meaning: To have a problem or complaint to bring up with someone.
In a Sentence: I have a bone to pick with you about how you handled that situation.
Other Ways to Say: Be upset with, Confront, Argue with
7. Not see eye to eye
Meaning: To strongly disagree or clash with someone.
In a Sentence: We don’t see eye to eye on anything, especially when it comes to politics.
Other Ways to Say: Disagree, Be at odds, Clash
8. Ruffle someone’s feathers
Meaning: To upset or irritate someone, usually by doing something unexpected.
In a Sentence: Her blunt honesty tends to ruffle people’s feathers at work.
Other Ways to Say: Upset, Disturb, Agitate
9. At each other’s throats
Meaning: Constantly arguing or fighting with someone.
In a Sentence: The two coworkers were at each other’s throats all day over a simple mistake.
Other Ways to Say: Fighting, Quarreling, In conflict
10. Bear a grudge
Meaning: To hold onto anger or resentment toward someone for a long time.
In a Sentence: He still bears a grudge against his brother for breaking his skateboard.
Other Ways to Say: Stay angry, Hold resentment, Not forgive
11. Turn your stomach
Meaning: To make someone feel disgusted or sick.
In a Sentence: The sight of that spoiled food turned my stomach instantly.
Other Ways to Say: Disgust, Revolt, Make sick
12. Be sick and tired of
Meaning: To be completely fed up or annoyed with something or someone.
In a Sentence: I’m sick and tired of repeating the same instructions every week.
Other Ways to Say: Fed up, Had enough, Can’t take it anymore
13. Be at odds with
Meaning: To be in disagreement or conflict with someone.
In a Sentence: He’s always at odds with his teacher about classroom rules.
Other Ways to Say: Disagree, Clash, Argue
14. Blow a fuse
Meaning: To lose temper suddenly and get very angry.
In a Sentence: I blew a fuse when I saw the mess in the kitchen again.
Other Ways to Say: Lose it, Snap, Explode
15. Have it in for someone
Meaning: To dislike someone and treat them unfairly or target them.
In a Sentence: I don’t know why the boss has it in for me—I’ve done nothing wrong.
Other Ways to Say: Pick on, Be unfair to, Dislike
16. Push someone’s buttons
Meaning: To intentionally irritate or provoke someone.
In a Sentence: My brother knows exactly how to push my buttons and get me angry.
Other Ways to Say: Provoke, Annoy, Aggravate
17. Be like oil and water
Meaning: Two people who do not get along or mix well together.
In a Sentence: My cousin and I are like oil and water—we can’t spend five minutes without arguing.
Other Ways to Say: Don’t get along, Clash, Opposites
18. Hold a grudge
Meaning: To remember and keep feeling angry about something for a long time.
In a Sentence: She still holds a grudge over something that happened in middle school.
Other Ways to Say: Stay mad, Resent, Not forgive
19. Get under someone’s skin
Meaning: To deeply irritate or bother someone emotionally.
In a Sentence: The way he always corrects people really gets under my skin.
Other Ways to Say: Annoy deeply, Bother, Irritate
20. Give someone the cold shoulder
Meaning: To ignore or treat someone in an unfriendly way.
In a Sentence: After the argument, she gave me the cold shoulder for an entire week.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore, Snub, Freeze out
21. Blow things out of proportion
Meaning: To overreact or exaggerate negative feelings or problems.
In a Sentence: You’re blowing this out of proportion—it was just a small mistake.
Other Ways to Say: Overreact, Exaggerate, Make a big deal
22. Look daggers at someone
Meaning: To look at someone with intense anger or hatred.
In a Sentence: She looked daggers at him after he made that rude comment.
Other Ways to Say: Glare, Shoot a dirty look, Stare angrily
23. Be fed up with
Meaning: To be extremely annoyed, tired, or bored of something or someone.
In a Sentence: I’m completely fed up with all the extra homework this week.
Other Ways to Say: Tired of, Had enough, Done with
24. Cross swords
Meaning: To get into an argument or conflict.
In a Sentence: They crossed swords during the meeting over budget decisions.
Other Ways to Say: Argue, Clash, Disagree
25. Blow your top
Meaning: To become suddenly and violently angry.
In a Sentence: He blew his top when he saw someone had scratched his car.
Other Ways to Say: Explode with anger, Lose temper, Erupt
26. Go ballistic
Meaning: To become extremely angry or enraged.
In a Sentence: My mom went ballistic when I forgot to do the dishes again.
Other Ways to Say: Flip out, Go crazy, Freak out
27. See red
Meaning: To become suddenly very angry.
In a Sentence: When he insulted her family, she saw red instantly.
Other Ways to Say: Lose control, Rage, Get furious
28. Bite someone’s head off
Meaning: To respond with sudden, harsh anger.
In a Sentence: I just asked a question, and she bit my head off for no reason.
Other Ways to Say: Snap at, Lash out, React harshly
29. Be on someone’s bad side
Meaning: To have someone be angry or displeased with you.
In a Sentence: I’m definitely on my teacher’s bad side after being late again.
Other Ways to Say: Upset someone, In trouble with, Out of favor
30. Hate someone’s guts
Meaning: To intensely hate someone.
In a Sentence: She hates his guts after what he did at the party.
Other Ways to Say: Despise, Loathe, Can’t stand
31. Have a short fuse
Meaning: To get angry quickly and easily.
In a Sentence: My uncle has a short fuse—you never know when he’ll snap.
Other Ways to Say: Easily angered, Quick-tempered, Hot-headed
32. Be foaming at the mouth
Meaning: To be extremely angry or furious.
In a Sentence: He was foaming at the mouth after the referee made a bad call.
Other Ways to Say: Fuming, Furious, Livid
33. A chip on your shoulder
Meaning: To be angry or hostile due to past experiences or resentment.
In a Sentence: He walks around with a chip on his shoulder about being overlooked at work.
Other Ways to Say: Hold a grudge, Be defensive, Stay bitter
34. Be green with envy
Meaning: To feel strong jealousy or resentment.
In a Sentence: She was green with envy when she saw her friend’s new phone.
Other Ways to Say: Jealous, Resentful, Envious
35. Be in a huff
Meaning: To be visibly annoyed or upset.
In a Sentence: She left the room in a huff after being told to wait.
Other Ways to Say: Irritated, Grumpy, Upset
36. Blow your stack
Meaning: To explode with anger.
In a Sentence: Dad blew his stack when he saw the broken window.
Other Ways to Say: Lose it, Go mad, Explode in rage
37. Be burning with rage
Meaning: To feel overwhelming anger inside.
In a Sentence: He was burning with rage after reading the unfair review.
Other Ways to Say: Fuming, Furious, Filled with anger
38. Give someone a piece of your mind
Meaning: To express anger openly and directly.
In a Sentence: I’m going to give the manager a piece of my mind about the poor service.
Other Ways to Say: Scold, Confront, Speak out
39. Scream blue murder
Meaning: To scream loudly in anger or protest.
In a Sentence: She screamed blue murder when her phone got stolen.
Other Ways to Say: Yell angrily, Raise a fuss, Cry out
40. Be hopping mad
Meaning: To be extremely angry.
In a Sentence: He was hopping mad when the delivery didn’t show up on time.
Other Ways to Say: Very mad, Furious, Irate
41. Be bent out of shape
Meaning: To get upset or angry over something small.
In a Sentence: Don’t get bent out of shape just because I borrowed your pen.
Other Ways to Say: Overreact, Get upset, Be bothered
42. Blow a gasket
Meaning: To become very angry suddenly.
In a Sentence: He blew a gasket after hearing that someone had crashed his bike.
Other Ways to Say: Explode, Lose temper, Flip out
43. Be red in the face
Meaning: To be embarrassed or very angry.
In a Sentence: She was red in the face after being wrongly accused in class.
Other Ways to Say: Flushed with anger, Embarrassed, Heated
44. Spit nails
Meaning: To be extremely angry and express it in a sharp way.
In a Sentence: He was spitting nails when he found out about the prank.
Other Ways to Say: Rage, Speak angrily, Lash out
45. Lash out
Meaning: To suddenly express anger physically or verbally.
In a Sentence: When she got frustrated, she lashed out at everyone in the room.
Other Ways to Say: Snap, Blow up, Attack
46. Have steam coming out of your ears
Meaning: To look or feel extremely angry.
In a Sentence: He had steam coming out of his ears when he saw the dent in his car.
Other Ways to Say: Furious, Mad, About to explode
Exercise to Practice
Fill in the blanks using the idioms you’ve learned:
- She was ________ mad when her little brother messed up her painting.
- I can’t ________ the way he talks to people—it’s so rude.
- That loud chewing really gets on my ________.
- Don’t ________ out of shape about the comment—it was just a joke.
- After the fight, they were at each other’s ________ all day.
- He gave me the ________ shoulder after I forgot his birthday.
- She was so mad she looked like she had steam coming out of her ________.
- I know he still holds a ________ over what happened last year.
- I’m completely ________ up with this never-ending noise from the construction site.
- He tends to blow a ________ over the smallest things.
- They really don’t get along—they’re like oil and ________.
- I tried to stay calm, but she really pushed my ________ with her attitude.
Answers:
hopping, stand, nerves, bent, throats, cold, ears, grudge, fed, gasket, water, buttons
Conclusion
Hate is a strong word, but language gives us a variety of ways to express irritation, frustration, and anger in more colorful and meaningful ways. Using idioms not only helps you sound more natural in conversations but also adds richness to your speech and writing.
Whether you’re talking about someone who pushes your buttons or a situation that makes your blood boil, idioms let you say what you feel in a creative and engaging way. Try using these expressions the next time something really annoys you, and you might find it a little easier—and even a bit more fun—to vent your feelings. Keep practicing, and you’ll master the art of expressive language in no time.
