Phrase guide

goose bump

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Raised skin, usually caused by the involuntary erection of hairs on the neck or arms caused by cold, excitement, or fear.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: in-plural

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: goose pimple, goose skin, goose flesh, chicken skin

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

reflex erection of hairs of the skin in response to cold or emotional stress or skin irritation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pilomotor reflex, gooseflesh, goosebump, goose pimple, goose skin, horripilation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: reflex, reflex response, reflex action, instinctive reflex, innate reflex, inborn reflex, unconditioned reflex, physiological reaction

History

Etymology

From the resemblance of goose bumps to the bumps on the skin of a plucked goose.

Across languages

Translations

72 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: hoendervleis — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Arabic: قُشَعْرِيرَة (qušaʕrīra) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Armenian: փշաքաղություն (pʻšakʻaġutʻyun) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Belarusian: мура́шкі (muráški) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Belarusian: гусі́ная ску́ра (husínaja skúra) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Catalan: pell de gallina — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Catalan: pell anserina — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Chechen: хьара (ḥrara) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Chinese Mandarin: 雞皮疙瘩 /鸡皮疙瘩 (jīpígēda) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Czech: husí kůže — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Danish: gåsehud — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Dutch: kippenvel — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Esperanto: anserhaŭto — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Faroese: gásarhold — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Finnish: kananliha — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • French: chair de poule — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Galician: carne de galiña — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Galician: arrepío — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • German: Gänsehaut — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Hindi: रौंगटे खड़े होना (rauṅgṭe khaṛe honā) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Hungarian: libabőr — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Hungarian: lúdbőr — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Icelandic: gæsahúð — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Indonesian: bulu kuduk — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Ingrian: kylmäsuurima — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Irish: craiceann circe — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Irish: craiceann gé (from gé, 'goose') — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Irish: cáithníní — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Italian: pelle d'oca — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Japanese: 鳥肌 (torihada) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Korean: 옴 (om) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Korean: 소름 (soreum) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Korean: 닭살 (daksal) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Lithuanian: žąsies oda — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Luxembourgish: Héngerhaut — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Macedonian: наежу́вање (naežúvanje) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Macedonian: е́жење (éženje) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Malay: bulu roma — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Māori: wawana — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Māori: hītaratara — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Māori: pukupuku — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Māori: mimiko — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Mirandese: quelobrinas — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gåsehud — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Occitan: carn de galina — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Pannonian Rusyn: мраз (mraz) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Pannonian Rusyn: жима (žima) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Plautdietsch: Gaunsefleesch — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Polish: gęsia skórka — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Portuguese: pele de galinha — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Portuguese: arrepio — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Punjabi: ਰੁਮਾਂਚ (rumāñc) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Romanian: piele de găină — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Russian: гуси́ная ко́жа (gusínaja kóža) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Serbo-Croatian: срх — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Serbo-Croatian: жмарци — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Serbo-Croatian: srh — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Serbo-Croatian: žmarci — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Sotho: ditlhokanyane — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Spanish: escalofrío — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Spanish: piel de gallina — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Spanish: pelos de punta — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Spanish: carne de gallina — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Swedish: gåshud — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Swedish: ståpäls — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Tagalog: kulag — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Tagalog: pangilabot — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Thai: ขนลุก (kǒn-lúk) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Ukrainian: мура́шки (murášky) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Ukrainian: гуся́ча шкі́ра (husjáča škíra) — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Vietnamese: da gà — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear
  • Welsh: croen gŵydd — raised skin caused by cold, excitement, or fear