IELTS SPEAKING: Idiomatic expressions to express feelings

IELTS SPEAKING: Idiomatic Expressions to Express Feelings

There is one constant question that is asked in cue-card- how you felt/feel about it? We always have a few words up our sleeve that we keep on repeating. This article will give you a range of idioms to express your feelings.

Felling Happy:

  • To be thrilled to bits
  • Over the moon
  • On cloud nine
  • It made my day
  • It was music to my ears

Example: when I got my first offer letter, I was thrilled to bits.

OR

When I heard my name in the list of position holders, it was music to my ears.

Feeling Angry

  • To go spare
  • To go through the roof
  • To go ballistic

Example: when he started passing obscene comments on my friend, I went ballistic.

  • To lose my cool
  • To the limit
  • It makes my blood boil

Example:  His idiotic answers were making my blood boil.

Feeling Impressed

  • It blew my mind
  • It blew me away
  • I was bowled over

Example: his expertise in coding blew me away

Feeling Excited

  • I was bouncing off the walls
  • I could hardly wait
  • I was on the edge of my seat
  • I was raring to go

Example: when I got to know that the lockdown is getting lifted tomorrow, I was bouncing off the walls. I was raring to go to my favorite pizza parlor.

Feeling Frustrated

  • It gets on my nerves
  • It drives me up the wall
  • It drives me round the bend

Example: his whistling in the library got on my nerves.

  • Banging my head against the wall
  • The last straw

Example: when he started watching videos in full volume, it drove me round the bend and that was the last straw. I got up from my seat and gave him a piece of my mind ( told my thoughts).

Feeling Bored

  • To be fed up
  • I’m bored to tears
  • I’m bored to death
  • I have had it up to here(bored and annoyed)

Example: I was bored to tears waiting for the party to start. After another two hours, I have had it up to here. I got up from there and left the place.

Feeling Thankful

  • To be appreciative
  • To be eternally grateful
  • I was at a loss of words(thankful and surprised)
  • I couldn’t thank him enough

Example: when the stranger gave me my phone back, I was eternally grateful. I was at a loss of words.

Feeling Nervous

  • To be worried sick
  • To have butterflies(in the stomach)
  • To be tongue-tied(couldn’t speak properly)
  • To get worked up( strong nervousness)
  • To tear my hair out( quite/strong nervousness)

Example: before my turn to speak, I was having butterflies. When my name got called out, I got tongue-tied. I was on the verge of tearing my hair out.

Feeling Relaxed

  • To chill out
  • To kick back
  • To put your feet up
  • To let your hair down
  • To unwind

Example: after reaching home, finally I was able to unwind all the bottled-up tension.

Feeling Sad

  • To be down in dumps
  • To be down in the mouth
  • To feel blue

Example: when I realized, I’m not in the selected list of students, I was feeling down in dumps.