English Idioms: Meanings, Examples and Equivalents
Learn English idioms with meanings, examples, origins and multilingual equivalents.
Akcento is a growing collection of English idioms paired with their natural equivalents in Russian, Spanish and French — not word-for-word translations, but expressions real speakers would actually use. Every entry includes the meaning, origin story and example sentences in all four languages.
Popular Idioms
Sick to death
🇷🇺 Надоело до смерти · 🇪🇸 Harto hasta la coronilla · 🇫🇷 En avoir sa claqueThoroughly tired of something unpleasant.
Play devil's advocate
🇷🇺 Выступать адвокатом дьявола · 🇪🇸 Hacer de abogado del diablo · 🇫🇷 Jouer l'avocat du diableTo argue against a point for the sake of discussion.
Jump on the bandwagon
🇷🇺 Присоединиться к побеждающей стороне · 🇪🇸 Subirse al carro · 🇫🇷 Monter dans le train en marcheTo join a popular activity or trend.
Draw the short straw
🇷🇺 Крайним оказался · 🇪🇸 Tocarle la china a alguien · 🇫🇷 Tirer la courte pailleTo be the unlucky person chosen to do an unpleasant task or accept an undesirable outcome, often by chance or an apparently fair selection.
Take a rain check
🇷🇺 Перенести на другой раз · 🇪🇸 Dejarlo para otra ocasión · 🇫🇷 Remettre à plus tardTo postpone accepting an offer to a later date.
Blow your mind
🇷🇺 Поразить воображение · 🇪🇸 Dejar boquiabierto · 🇫🇷 Couper le souffleTo amaze or shock someone greatly.
Browse by Category
Action & Decision
🇷🇺 Действия и решения · 🇪🇸 Acciones y decisiones · 🇫🇷 Actions et décisionsEnglish idioms and expressions about actions, decisions, choices, and taking action. Explore their meanings, examples, translations, and equivalents…
Communication
🇷🇺 Общение · 🇪🇸 Comunicación · 🇫🇷 CommunicationCommon English communication idioms with meanings, examples, and translations. Explore expressions about speaking, conversation, and social interaction.
Daily Expressions
🇷🇺 Повседневные выражения · 🇪🇸 Expresiones cotidianas · 🇫🇷 Expressions du quotidienEnglish idioms and expressions used in everyday communication. Explore their meanings, examples, translations, and equivalents in other languages.
Effort & Success
🇷🇺 Усилия и успех · 🇪🇸 Esfuerzo y éxito · 🇫🇷 Effort et réussiteEnglish idioms and expressions about effort, achievement, progress, and success. Explore their meanings, examples, translations, and equivalents in…
General Phrases
🇷🇺 Общие выражения · 🇪🇸 Expresiones generales · 🇫🇷 Expressions généralesCommon English idioms and expressions that cover a wide range of everyday situations. Explore their meanings, examples, translations,…
Luck & Chance
🇷🇺 Удача и случай · 🇪🇸 Suerte y azar · 🇫🇷 Chance et hasardEnglish idioms and expressions about luck, chance, fortune, and unexpected events. Explore their meanings, examples, translations, and equivalents…
Mind & Emotions
🇷🇺 Разум и эмоции · 🇪🇸 Mente y emociones · 🇫🇷 Esprit et émotionsEnglish idioms and expressions about thoughts, attitudes, emotions, and states of mind. Explore their meanings, examples, translations, and…
Money & Cost
🇷🇺 Деньги и расходы · 🇪🇸 Dinero y costes · 🇫🇷 Argent et coûtsEnglish idioms and expressions about money, prices, costs, wealth, and spending. Explore their meanings, examples, translations, and equivalents…
Nature & World
🇷🇺 Природа и мир · 🇪🇸 Naturaleza y mundo · 🇫🇷 Nature et mondeEnglish idioms and expressions inspired by nature, the world, animals, and the environment. Explore their meanings, examples, translations,…
Secrecy & Secrets
🇷🇺 Тайны и секреты · 🇪🇸 Secretos y confidencialidad · 🇫🇷 Secrets et confidentialitéEnglish idioms and expressions about secrets, secrecy, hidden information, and keeping things private. Explore their meanings, examples, translations,…
Social Interactions
🇷🇺 Социальные взаимодействия · 🇪🇸 Interacciones sociales · 🇫🇷 Interactions socialesEnglish idioms and expressions about relationships, communication, social situations, and interactions with others. Explore their meanings, examples, translations,…
Time & Action
🇷🇺 Время и действия · 🇪🇸 Tiempo y acción · 🇫🇷 Temps et actionEnglish idioms and expressions about time, timing, actions, and getting things done. Explore their meanings, examples, translations, and…
Time & Change
🇷🇺 Время и перемены · 🇪🇸 Tiempo y cambio · 🇫🇷 Temps et changementEnglish idioms and expressions about time, change, transformation, and the passage of time. Explore their meanings, examples, translations,…
Weather & Nature
🇷🇺 Погода и природа · 🇪🇸 Tiempo y naturaleza · 🇫🇷 Météo et natureEnglish idioms and expressions related to weather, nature, seasons, and natural phenomena. Explore their meanings, examples, translations, and…
Work & Business
🇷🇺 Работа и бизнес · 🇪🇸 Trabajo y negocios · 🇫🇷 Travail et affairesEnglish idioms and expressions about work, business, careers, professional relationships, and workplace situations. Explore their meanings, examples, translations,…
Latest Idioms
Draw the short straw
🇷🇺 Крайним оказался · 🇪🇸 Tocarle la china a alguien · 🇫🇷 Tirer la courte pailleTo be the unlucky person chosen to do an unpleasant task or accept an undesirable outcome, often by chance or an apparently fair selection.
Make a mountain out of a molehill
🇷🇺 Делать из мухи слона · 🇪🇸 Hacer una montaña de un grano de arena · 🇫🇷 En faire toute une montagneTo exaggerate a small problem until it seems much more serious than it really is. Usually criticizes an excessive reaction or needless drama.
Have a chip on your shoulder
🇷🇺 Быть обиженным на весь мир · 🇪🇸 Tener un resentimiento · 🇫🇷 Avoir de la rancœurTo carry a lasting grievance or sense of being unfairly treated, often making someone defensive, touchy or ready to take offense. It is more than a momentary irritation.
Be at sixes and sevens
🇷🇺 Быть в полной растерянности · 🇪🇸 Estar hecho un lío · 🇫🇷 Être sens dessus dessousTo be confused, disorganized or in a state of disorder, with people or plans lacking coordination. Can describe either mental confusion or a chaotic situation.
Throw a wrench into something
🇷🇺 Вставлять палки в колёса · 🇪🇸 Poner trabas · 🇫🇷 Mettre des bâtons dans les rouesTo disrupt a plan or process by introducing an unexpected obstacle or complication. The action may be deliberate or accidental, depending on context.
A tough nut to crack
🇷🇺 Крепкий орешек · 🇪🇸 Un hueso duro de roer · 🇫🇷 Un os dur à rongerA difficult problem to solve or a person who is hard to understand, persuade or defeat. The expression suggests that the challenge resists ordinary efforts and may require persistence or ingenuity.
Rub someone the wrong way
🇷🇺 Действовать кому-то на нервы · 🇪🇸 Caerle mal a alguien · 🇫🇷 Prendre quelqu’un à rebrousse-poilTo irritate or offend someone, often unintentionally, through one’s manner, attitude or way of speaking. The annoyance may arise even when nothing explicitly rude has been said.
Be caught between a rock and a hard place
🇷🇺 Между молотом и наковальней · 🇪🇸 Estar entre la espada y la pared · 🇫🇷 Être entre le marteau et l’enclumeTo face a dilemma in which both available choices carry serious disadvantages. The person feels trapped because avoiding one difficulty means confronting another.
Have bigger fish to fry
🇷🇺 Есть дела поважнее · 🇪🇸 Tener cosas más importantes que hacer · 🇫🇷 Avoir d’autres chats à fouetterTo have more important matters to attend to than the issue currently being discussed. Often used to dismiss a minor dispute or unproductive task.
Be skating on thin ice
🇷🇺 Ходить по тонкому льду · 🇪🇸 Estar pisando terreno peligroso · 🇫🇷 Être sur un terrain glissantTo behave in a way that puts one at risk of trouble, punishment or failure, especially when patience or trust is already running out. A warning often implies that one more mistake could have consequences.
Go against the grain
🇷🇺 Идти против течения · 🇪🇸 Ir a contracorriente · 🇫🇷 Aller à contre-courantTo act contrary to what is usual, expected or natural to someone’s character. Can refer to resisting convention or doing something that feels personally uncomfortable.
Get your wires crossed
🇷🇺 Не так понять друг друга · 🇪🇸 Entenderse mal · 🇫🇷 Se comprendre de traversTo misunderstand what another person has said or intended, often because messages, instructions or assumptions have become confused. Usually refers to a mutual mix-up rather than deliberate deception.
Why Are English Idioms Important?
Idioms are an essential part of natural English. You will hear them in everyday conversations, movies, podcasts, books, news, and social media. Even when you know every word in a sentence, an idiom can still change its meaning completely.
Idioms Help You Understand Real English
Knowing individual words is not always enough to understand what someone means. Expressions like spill the beans or under the weather have meanings that cannot be guessed from the words alone. Learning common idioms helps you understand native speakers more easily and avoid confusion.
Idioms Make Your English More Natural
Idioms are also a way to make your own English sound more natural and expressive. Instead of always describing an idea literally, you can use the expressions that English speakers commonly use in real conversations and writing.
Idioms Reflect Culture and History
Many idioms come from everyday life, historical events, literature, occupations, traditions, and cultural habits. Understanding where an expression comes from can make its meaning easier to remember — and gives you a glimpse into the culture behind the language.
Learning Idioms Across Languages
An idiom becomes even more interesting when you discover how the same idea is expressed in another language. A literal translation may sound strange or unnatural, while another language may have its own expression with a similar meaning. Akcento helps you discover these natural equivalents and see how different languages express the same ideas in their own way.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Akcento?
Akcento is a multilingual idiom dictionary. Each entry shows an English idiom together with its natural equivalents in Russian, Spanish and French, along with meaning, origin and example sentences.
Why aren't the translations literal?
Idioms rarely translate word for word — “it’s raining cats and dogs” has nothing to do with animals in Russian or Spanish. Instead of literal translations, we match idioms across languages by meaning.
How can I find an idiom?
Use the search bar at the top of any page, or browse all idioms by category or by first letter on the All Idioms page.
Is Akcento free?
Yes, Akcento is free to browse.