Phrase guide

rub someone the wrong way

verb · 1 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.

  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To cause someone irritation, discomfort or annoyance, often unintentionally, because of one's behavior, manner, attitude or personality.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: chap someone's hide, raise someone's hackles, aggravate, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle, sting, antagonize, bother, disgruntle, botherate, bug, get, grate, burn up, bedevil, cheese off, devil, exasperate, frustrate, get up, grotch, hack off, hassle, irk, irritate, jazz, molest, mommick, nark, nerve, pee off, peeve, peeve off, persecute, pique, piss off, provoke, rile, rile up, roil, storm, test someone's patience, tick off, trouble, try one's patience, vex, wind up, Idioms:, boil someone's piss, get on someone's nerves, get on someone's tits, get on someone's wick, get someone's back up, get someone's dander up, get someone's goat, get someone's Irish up, get someone's nanny, get someone's nanny-goat, get under one's goat, get under someone's skin, give someone the shits, grind one's gears, harsh one's mellow, put someone's back up, rub someone the wrong way, rub up the wrong way, ruffle someone's feathers, tee off, torque off

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From the negative reaction of a cat to being stroked contrary to the direction its fur lies.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 讓某人很不爽 /让某人很不爽 (ràng mǒurén hěn bùshuǎng) — to bother
  • Finnish: ärsyttää — to bother
  • German: jmdn. ein Dorn im Auge sein — to bother
  • German: jmdn. gegen den Strich gehen — to bother
  • German: jmdn. über die Hutschnur gehen — to bother
  • German: jucken — to bother
  • German: kratzen — to bother
  • Italian: infastidire — to bother
  • Italian: irritare — to bother
  • Polish: działać na nerwy — to bother
  • Polish: grać na nerwach — to bother
  • Spanish: no caer bien — to bother