ruffle feathers

ruffle feathers
ruffle (someone's) feathers to make someone annoyed or upset.

Her spokeswoman wouldn't say whether the lawsuit has ruffled the singer's feathers.

He tries not to ruffle feathers, and people seem to like to work with him.

Usage notes: sometimes used in the form smooth ruffled feathers - to make someone feel less annoyed or upset:

The candidate went out of her way to smooth ruffled feathers.

Etymology: based on the idea of a bird whose feathers are not smooth because of fear or excitement

New idioms dictionary. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • ruffle feathers — see ↑ruffle, 1 • • • Main Entry: ↑feather ruffle feathers informal : to upset or offend someone His critical remarks ruffled some feathers. = His critical remarks ruffled a few feathers. His critical remarks ruffled the feathers of the board… …   Useful english dictionary

  • ruffle feathers — or[ruffle one s feathers] {v. phr.} Insult or disturb slightly; offend. * /The author ruffled some feathers by his portrait of his hometown./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • ruffle feathers — or[ruffle one s feathers] {v. phr.} Insult or disturb slightly; offend. * /The author ruffled some feathers by his portrait of his hometown./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • ruffle\ feathers — v. phr. Insult or disturb slightly; offend. The author ruffled some feathers by his portrait of his hometown …   Словарь американских идиом

  • ruffle someone's feathers — ruffle (someone s) feathers to make someone annoyed or upset. Her spokeswoman wouldn t say whether the lawsuit has ruffled the singer s feathers. He tries not to ruffle feathers, and people seem to like to work with him. Usage notes: sometimes… …   New idioms dictionary

  • ruffle — ruffle1 [ruf′əl] vt. ruffled, ruffling [ME ruffelen < ON or MLowG, as in LowG, ON hrufla, to scratch] 1. to take away the smoothness of; wrinkle; ripple [wind ruffling the water] 2. to gather into ruffles 3. to put ruffles on as trimming 4 …   English World dictionary

  • ruffle someone's feathers — To upset or offend someone • • • Main Entry: ↑feather * * * ruffle someone’s feathers informal phrase to make someone feel worried or annoyed You can imagine how that ruffled Beryl’s feathers! Thesaurus: to make someone angry or annoyed …   Useful english dictionary

  • Ruffle — Ruf fle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Ruffled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Ruffling}.] [From {Ruff} a plaited collar, a drum beat, a tumult: cf. OD. ruyffelen to wrinkle.] 1. To make into a ruff; to draw or contract into puckers, plaits, or folds; to wrinkle.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • ruffle a few feathers — If you ruffle a few feathers, you annoy some people when making changes or improvements …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • ruffle somebody's few feathers — ruffle sb s/a few ˈfeathers idiom (informal) to annoy or upset sb or a group of people • The senator s speech ruffled a few feathers in the business world. Main entry: ↑ruffleidiom …   Useful english dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”