Compilation of Idioms on the Topic People and Relationships for IELTS Speaking
07 September, 2023IELTS idioms
![Idioms for IELTS Speaking Human relationships](https://blog.azvocab.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Idioms-for-IELTS-Speaking-Human-relationships.png)
The topic of HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS is highly favored and frequently explored in the IELTS Speaking test. Today, let’s learn and compile some “small but mighty” vocabulary and idioms on this topic with azVocab. In this Relationships topic, we can divide it into two smaller subtopics to make learning Idioms easier.
POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS
Idioms | Meaning | Example |
Get on like a house a fire | if two people get on like a house on fire, they like each other very much and become friends very quickly | In spite of a wide gap in age, they get on like a house a fire. |
Have a soft spot for sb | to feel that you like someone very much | You are having a soft spot for Mary, right? You stared at her all day. |
Go back a long way | if people go back a long way, they have known each other for a long time | Studying at the same university, they went back a long way. |
Be in with | to be or become popular or friendly with someone | I am in with the monitor, and she told me many interesting stories about teachers. |
Speak the same language | to have similar ideas and similar ways of expressing them | We are soulmates. We speak the same language. |
Be on the same wavelength | (of two or more people) to think in a similar way and to understand each other well | I know that she’s gonna choose the same answer as me, we are on the same wavelength. |
Hit it off | to be friendly with each other immediately | I don’t know why many people said that he was so unfriendly but I hit it off with him. |
Meet somebody halfway | to do some of the things that someone wants you to do, in order to show that you want to reach an agreement or improve your relationship with them | To make up for me, she met me halfway. |
(As) thick as thieves | to be very close friends and share secrets, etc. | I’m sure she tells Ruth everything we say – they’re as thick as thieves, those two. |
Be in one’s good books | to be regarded favorably by another person | Maria has been in my good books ever since she stayed late to help me finish that project. |
Give someone a hand | to give someone help | I can’t lift this piano on my own. Can you give me a hand, Carlos? |
Nearest and dearest | your family, especially those that you live with or are very involved with | People would rather go home and spend time with their nearest and dearest after a hard-working day. |
Stand shoulder to shoulder | to give someone or a group of people complete support during a difficult time | It’s encouraging to see students and faculty standing shoulder to shoulder after the tragedy. |
Take a shine to someone | to have or develop a fondness or preference for someone | I think Jennifer has taken a shine to my friend Tommy, so I’m going to try to set them up on a date! |
Throw someone a lifeline | to give help to someone in a difficult situation | I could see that he was really upset about being late to the appointment, so I threw him a lifeline and rescheduled him for later that day. |
Tie the knot | to get married | All of my friends have tied the knot and started having kids. |
NEGATIVE RELATIONSHIPS
Idioms | Meaning | Example |
Get off on the wrong foot | to make a successful/unsuccessful start in something | He got off the wrong foot with his teacher by arriving late right the first day at school. |
Keep someone at arm’s length | to not allow someone to become too friendly with you | He always kept friends at arm’s length since he went to college. |
Like cats and dogs | to have angry arguments all the time | My brother and I are like cats and dogs. We can argue about everything. |
Rub sb up the wrong way | to annoy someone without intending to | I rub my sister up the wrong way and I was so regretful. |
Sworn enemies | people who will always hate each other | After that accident, Maddie and Cassie are sworn enemies. |
Treat someone like dirt | to treat someone extremely badly | I don’t know why my friend still decided to get back with her boyfriend who treated her like dirt. |
To give someone the cold shoulder | to intentionally ignore someone or treat someone in an unfriendly way | She gave me the cold shoulder after realizing that I was cheating on her. |
A rocky relationship | A rocky situation or relationship is unstable and full of difficulties | We are in a rocky relationship and I was so exhausted. |
Turn sour | become less pleasant or attractive; turn out badly | Our relationship turned sour after that we realized that we didn’t share the same thoughts about marriage. |
On the rocks | likely to fail soon | Your relationship is on the rock, be careful. |
Your own flesh and blood | someone’s relation | He is my own flesh and flood so I will protect him with all power I have. |
Give someone a hard time | to make things difficult or unpleasant for someone | My teacher in high school gave me a hard time although I didn’t do anything bad to her. |
At each other’s throats | (of two or more people) to be noticeably and aggressively angry with each other | Those two are at each other’s throats because they can’t agree on how to best lead the committee. |
Bite the hand that feeds you | to act badly towards the person who is helping or has helped you | You might not agree with your parents’ rules, but be careful about biting the hand that feeds you, because you owe everything you have to them. |
Get one’s own back (on someone) | to do something unpleasant to someone because they have done something unpleasant to you | Jonathan bullied me mercilessly at school, but I eventually got my own back when I bought out his father’s business and became his boss. |
Give someone a wide berth | to maintain a good distance from someone | We’ve been giving John a wide berth ever since he dumped our good friend. |
Lay a hand on someone | to harm someone | If you ever lay a hand on the children again, I will divorce you so fast it will make your head spin! |
Play gooseberry | to be an unwanted third person who is present when two other people, especially two people having a romantic relationship, want to be alone | As John and Betty started cuddling up in the cinema, I wished I had just gone home instead of playing gooseberry. |
Stab someone in the back | to do something harmful to someone who trusted you | Jane promised to support me at the meeting, but then she stabbed me in the back by supporting David instead. |
Two-time someone | to deceive someone you are having a relationship with by having a secret sexual relationship with someone else at the same time | I ended the relationship when I found out he was two-timing me. |
With the idioms presented here, we hope that you will have enough vocabulary and feel that conquering the IELTS test is no longer challenging. Besides learning idioms, try to apply them in your daily communication to remember them longer and become more proficient.