Idioms
English idioms, sorted by level
Eighty-one expressions that genuinely turn up in conversation, in the press and in exams — each with its meaning, its Spanish translation, and the mistake Spanish speakers reliably make with it.
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning doesn't follow from its words. “Spill the beans” isn't about beans and “under the weather” isn't about weather. That is what makes them the last wall before fluency: you can know every word in a sentence and still not understand it.
They are grouped by CEFR level, following roughly the frequency lists behind Cambridge's B2 First, C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency. If you're preparing for an exam, start at your level and go one above; if you just want to speak better, B2 is where you get the most return per hour.
By level
Each level groups idioms by frequency and difficulty, not by theme.
B220 idioms
See this level →The everyday ones. They show up in any informal conversation and in most TV. Missing these is immediately noticeable.
- out of the bluede la nada, de repente
- by the waypor cierto, a propósito
- on the other handpor otro lado
- make up your minddecidirse
- a piece of cakepan comido, muy fácil
- in a nutshellen resumidas cuentas
- get the hang of (something)agarrar el truco a algo
- spill the beansirse de la lengua, soltar la sopa
- under the weatherno sentirse bien, estar pachucho
- miss the boatperder el tren, dejar pasar la oportunidad
- hit the nail on the headdar en el clavo
- cost an arm and a legcostar un ojo de la cara
- once in a blue moonmuy de vez en cuando
- break the iceromper el hielo
- let the cat out of the bagirse de la lengua
- kill two birds with one stonematar dos pájaros de un tiro
- the ball is in your courtla pelota está en tu tejado
- off the top of my headasí de improviso, sin pensarlo mucho
- back to square onevolver a empezar, vuelta a empezar
- to make a long story shortpara resumir, en resumen
C136 idioms
See this level →The real jump. These separate correct English from natural English — and they carry the most weight in C1 Advanced.
- come to terms with (something)aceptar, hacerse a la idea de
- a turn of minduna forma de pensar, una mentalidad
- in hindsighten retrospectiva
- have second thoughtstener dudas, replantearse algo
- play devil's advocatehacer de abogado del diablo
- in the grand scheme of thingsen el gran esquema de las cosas, a fin de cuentas
- take (something) with a pinch of salttomarse algo con pinzas / con cautela
- splitting hairshilar muy fino, buscarle tres pies al gato
- grasp at strawsagarrarse a un clavo ardiendo
- at the end of the daya fin de cuentas, en el fondo
- cut to the chaseir al grano
- beat around the bushandarse con rodeos
- see eye to eye (with someone)estar de acuerdo, coincidir plenamente
- on the fenceindeciso, sin decidirse
- the elephant in the roomel elefante en la habitación, lo evidente que nadie menciona
- the tip of the icebergla punta del iceberg
- a blessing in disguiseuna bendición disfrazada, un mal que viene para bien
- by and largeen general, en términos generales
- in the long runa largo plazo
- give (someone) the benefit of the doubtdar el beneficio de la duda
- the jury is still outtodavía está por verse, aún no se sabe
- a stone's throw awaya tiro de piedra, muy cerca
- go the extra mileir más allá, hacer un esfuerzo adicional
- take it with a grain of salttomárselo con pinzas
- burn the midnight oilquemarse las pestañas, trabajar hasta tarde
- throw in the toweltirar la toalla
- a rule of thumbregla general, regla empírica
- the bottom linelo más importante, lo esencial
- more often than notmás a menudo que no, la mayoría de las veces
- in the pipelineen proceso, en preparación
- by no meansde ninguna manera, en absoluto
- the jury is out on (something)todavía no hay acuerdo / está por verse
- set the stage for (something)preparar el terreno para
- in broad daylighta plena luz del día
- raise eyebrowslevantar cejas, causar sorpresa
- have a bone to pick (with someone)tener algo que reclamar, tener una queja
C225 idioms
See this level →High register and written press. Less frequent in speech, but decisive for reading The Economist or arguing a position precisely.
- by the skin of your teethpor los pelos, por un pelo
- play it by earimprovisar sobre la marcha
- the proof of the pudding is in the eatingel movimiento se demuestra andando
- leave no stone unturnedno dejar piedra sin remover, agotar todas las opciones
- the writing on the walllos augurios, lo que se veía venir
- throw caution to the windlanzarse sin pensar, dejar de lado la cautela
- wrap your head around (something)hacerse a la idea, entender algo complejo
- pull the rug out (from under someone)dejar a alguien tirado, retirar el apoyo de golpe
- go against the grainir a contracorriente
- have your cake and eat itquerer la chancha y los veinte, todo a la vez
- burn (your) bridgesquemar las naves, cerrar puertas
- preaching to the choirpredicar a los conversos
- the best-laid plans of mice and menel hombre propone y Dios dispone
- in the thick of iten plena vorágine, en lo más intenso
- have a finger in every pietener un dedo en cada pastel, estar metido en todo
- above boardtransparente, legítimo, sin trampas
- par for the courselo normal, lo habitual
- in the same veinen la misma línea, del mismo estilo
- few and far betweenescasos, contados
- out of your comfort zonefuera de la zona de confort
- to each his ownpara gustos, los colores
- set in stoneescrito en piedra, inmutable
- by all accountssegún todos los indicios, por lo que dicen
- have an axe to grindtener una espina clavada, tener intereses personales
- stand the test of timeresistir el paso del tiempo