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.