20 Useful Idioms For Essays With Their Meanings And In Sentences

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. 

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

Photo by cottonbro

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!

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