Idioms are fun phrases that mean something different from the actual words inside them. People use them to make their speaking and writing more colorful, exciting, and full of life. In this guide, you will discover many helpful expressions that capture the feeling of complete disgust.
In this lesson, we’ll look at idioms for disgust that mean finding something unappealing or gross. Let’s get started and explore some of these helpful expressions.
Idioms for Disgust
1. Turn one’s stomach
Meaning: To make you feel sick and deeply disgusted in your core.
For Example: The strong smell of spoiled milk in the fridge turned my stomach. / Watching him eat a sandwich with peanut butter and pickles turned her stomach.
Other Ways to Say: Make sick / Repulse deeply
2. Make one’s stomach turn
Meaning: To cause a sudden feeling of sickness and strong dislike.
For Example: The sight of the muddy spider crawling across his desk made his stomach turn. / Hearing those gross stories at lunch made my stomach turn.
Other Ways to Say: Disgust completely / Nauseate
3. Make one sick
Meaning: To cause intense annoyance, anger, or physical disgust.
For Example: The way the bully treated the younger kids just makes me sick. / Eating too much greasy candy can really make you sick.
Other Ways to Say: Repulse / Disgust
4. Sick to one’s stomach
Meaning: Feeling physically ill or deeply disgusted by something.
For Example: I felt sick to my stomach when I saw the broken window I accidentally caused. / The messy garbage pile left everyone feeling sick to their stomach.
Other Ways to Say: Nauseated / Deeply upset
5. Give one the creeps
Meaning: To cause an uncomfortable feeling of shivers and disgust.
For Example: Walking through the dark, damp basement gave the kids the creeps. / The way the stray cat stared at me gave me the creeps.
Other Ways to Say: Creep out / Freak out
6. Give one the heebie-jeebies
Meaning: To make someone feel nervous, jittery, and grossed out.
For Example: Touching slimy frogs gives my little brother the heebie-jeebies. / Old abandoned houses at night give me the heebie-jeebies.
Other Ways toSay: Scare / Gross out
7. Make one’s skin crawl
Meaning: To cause an intense physical reaction of fear and disgust.
For Example: Seeing the cluster of bugs crawling on the old log made my skin crawl. / The eerie noise in the empty hallway made his skin crawl.
Other Ways to Say: Creep out / Repulse
8. Turn your nose up
Meaning: To reject something with an expression of strong disgust or pride.
For Example: He turned his nose up at the plate of green vegetables. / Don’t turn your nose up at the helpful advice your teacher gives you.
Other Ways to Say: Reject scornfully / Scorn
9. Look down your nose
Meaning: To view someone or something with arrogant disgust and disapproval.
For Example: She tended to look down her nose at people who wore casual clothes. / It is not nice to look down your nose at your classmates’ hobbies.
Other Ways to Say: Scorn / Disapprove
10. Stick in one’s throat
Meaning: Something so offensive or disgusting that you can hardly accept it.
For Example: His rude comment about my drawing stuck in my throat all afternoon. / Having to apologize for something I didn’t do stuck in my throat.
Other Ways to Say: Hard to accept / Offend deeply
11. Leave a bad taste in one’s mouth
Meaning: To leave a negative and disgusted memory after an experience.
For Example: The unfair argument left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. / Cheating on the test left a bad taste in his mouth.
Other Ways to Say: Cause regret / Leave resentment
12. Bitter pill to swallow
Meaning: An unpleasant and disgusting truth or reality that is hard to accept.
For Example: Losing the final game by one point was a bitter pill to swallow. / Realizing I forgot my homework at home was a bitter pill to swallow.
Other Ways to Say: Hard truth / Difficult reality
13. Hard to swallow
Meaning: Information or behavior that is completely unappealing and unacceptable.
For Example: His excuse for breaking the toy was pretty hard to swallow. / The idea of cleaning the entire garage by myself was hard to swallow.
Other Ways to Say: Unbelievable / Unappealing
14. Gag reflex
Meaning: A sudden physical reaction of choking or disgust from a gross smell.
For Example: Opening the old gym locker triggered my gag reflex right away. / The stinky trash bag was enough to test anyone’s gag reflex.
Other Ways to Say: Nausea / Physical disgust
15. Make one gag
Meaning: To cause an instant physical reaction of disgust and sickness.
For Example: The foul smell coming from the science lab sink made him gag. / Tasting the spoiled milk made her gag instantly.
Other Ways to Say: Nauseate / Repulse
16. Gross out
Meaning: To disgust someone with something filthy or unappealing.
For Example: Showing us pictures of creepy bugs grossed out the whole table at lunch. / Don’t gross out your sister with those slimy mud bugs.
Other Ways to Say: Disgust / Nauseate
17. Freak out
Meaning: To react with extreme shock, disgust, or panic.
For Example: The spider crawling on the wall made her freak out and jump. / He freaked out when he saw the messy room.
Other Ways to Say: Panic / Overreact
18. Turn my stomach
Meaning: To make someone feel physically sick from gross sights or ideas.
For Example: Watching him eat pizza with mustard and jelly turned my stomach. / The muddy puddle of mystery liquid turned my stomach.
Other Ways to Say: Nauseate / Disgust
19. Make one want to hurl
Meaning: To cause such intense disgust that you feel like vomiting.
For Example: The sour smell of the abandoned lunchbox made me want to hurl. / Riding the spinning amusement park ride made several kids want to hurl.
Other Ways to Say: Make sick / Nauseate
20. Turn the stomach
Meaning: To cause deep disgust and a feeling of sickness.
For Example: The cruelty in the villain’s plan was enough to turn the stomach. / Looking down from the very high bridge turned my stomach.
Other Ways to Say: Repulse / Disgust
21. Sick to death of
Meaning: To feel completely disgusted and tired of a bad situation.
For Example: I am sick to death of hearing the same song on the radio every day. / She was sick to death of cleaning up after the messy puppy.
Other Ways to Say: Fed up / Tired of
22. Fed up to the back teeth
Meaning: Being completely disgusted and impatient with ongoing annoyance.
For Example: Mom was fed up to the back teeth with the kids tracking mud inside. / The teacher was fed up to the back teeth with the talking in class.
Other Ways to Say: Completely done / Sick of
23. Up to here with
Meaning: Having reached your absolute limit of tolerance and disgust.
For Example: I am up to here with your silly excuses for not doing chores. / The coach was up to here with late arrivals at practice.
Other Ways to Say: Fed up / Done
24. Sick and tired of
Meaning: Feeling completely annoyed, disgusted, and exhausted by something.
For Example: I am sick and tired of waiting for the bus in the rain. / He was sick and tired of losing his homework.
Other Ways to Say: Annoyed / Fed up
25. Sick of it
Meaning: Experiencing total annoyance and disgust with a repeating problem.
For Example: Eating oatmeal every single morning has me sick of it. / She was sick of hearing her brother practice the drums badly.
Other Ways to Say: Tired of / Fed up
26. Sickening sight
Meaning: A view or event that causes deep emotional or physical disgust.
For Example: The pile of trash left at the beautiful park was a sickening sight. / Watching the bully tease the kitten was a sickening sight.
Other Ways to Say: Awful view / Gross scene
27. Putrid smell”
Meaning: An extremely foul, rotten, and disgusting odor.
For Example: A putrid smell came from the forgotten lunch bag in the locker. / The garbage can had a putrid smell after sitting in the sun.
Other Ways to Say: Foul odor / Rotten smell
28. Rotten to the core
Meaning: Completely dishonest, corrupt, and morally disgusting.
For Example: In the story, the evil wizard was rotten to the core. / Cheating and lying makes a person seem rotten to the core.
Other Ways to Say: Dishonest / Corrupt
29. Smell to high heaven
Meaning: To have an extremely strong and disgusting foul odor.
For Example: The muddy gym shoes left in the closet smelled to high heaven. / The leftover fish in the trash can smelled to high heaven.
Other Ways to Say: Stink badly / Smell awful
30. Stink up the place
Meaning: To fill a room with a terrible, disgusting odor.
For Example: Burning the popcorn really started to stink up the kitchen. / Those muddy boots will stink up the front hallway.
Other Ways to Say: Smell bad / Foul the air
31. Give off a stench
Meaning: To emit a powerful and deeply offensive odor.
For Example: The swamp behind the school gave off a heavy stench in summer. / The old cheese in the back of the fridge gave off a terrible stench.
Other Ways to Say: Smell foul / Stink
32. Make one’s gorge rise
Meaning: To feel sudden physical disgust and anger in your throat.
For Example: The unfair treatment of the new student made his gorge rise. / Seeing the messy waste made her gorge rise.
Other Ways to Say: Feel sick / Become disgusted
33. Repulsive sight
Meaning: Something so gross and ugly that it causes instant disgust.
For Example: The pile of moldy food in the sink was a repulsive sight. / Bugs covering the rotting fruit made a repulsive sight.
Other Ways to Say: Gross view / Horrible sight
34. Turn away in disgust
Meaning: To look away because something is too gross to watch.
For Example: When the dog rolled in the mud, we all turned away in disgust. / She turned away in disgust when she saw the messy food plate.
Other Ways to Say: Look away / Reject
35. A dirty trick
Meaning: A dishonest, unfair, and morally disgusting action.
For Example: Hiding my gym shoes right before practice was a dirty trick. / Telling someone false information about the test is a dirty trick.
Other Ways to Say: Unfair move / Mean prank
36. Low blow
Meaning: An unfair, cruel, and disgusting personal insult during a fight.
For Example: Making fun of his stutter during the debate was a low blow. / Hitting below the belt with insults is always a low blow.
Other Ways to Say: Cruel remark / Unfair insult
37. Cheap shot
Meaning: An unfair and mean attack on someone who cannot defend themselves.
For Example: Tripping him while he was walking past was a cheap shot. / Mocking her painting in front of everyone was a cheap shot.
Other Ways to Say: Unfair attack / Mean move
38. Slap in the face
Meaning: A deeply insulting and disgusting betrayal of trust.
For Example: Being left off the team list after practicing hard felt like a slap in the face. / Ignoring my help on the project felt like a real slap in the face.
Other Ways to Say: Insult / Betrayal
39. Kick in the teeth
Meaning: A harsh, disappointing, and disgusting setback.
For Example: Losing our funding for the art club felt like a kick in the teeth. / Getting a bad grade after studying all night was a real kick in the teeth.
Other Ways to Say: Harsh blow / Major disappointment
40. Wash your hands of
Meaning: To express total disgust and refusal to be involved anymore.
For Example: After seeing them break the rules again, I washed my hands of the whole project. / He washed his hands of the messy argument between his friends.
Other Ways to Say: Quit involvement / Walk away
41. Sick of the sight of
Meaning: To feel complete disgust at seeing someone or something again.
For Example: I am sick of the sight of these math flashcards after studying for hours. / She was sick of the sight of her broken bicycle in the yard.
Other Ways to Say: Tired of / Fed up with
42. Toad of a person
Meaning: Describing someone whose personality you find thoroughly disgusting.
For Example: He acted like a total toad of a person when he ruined his sister’s puzzle. / Nobody wanted to sit near such a toad of a person at lunch.
Other Ways to Say: Unpleasant person / Jerk
43. Snake in the grass
Meaning: A sneaky, untrustworthy, and despicable person.
For Example: He pretended to be my friend, but turned out to be a snake in the grass. / Watch out for any snake in the grass who tries to steal your ideas.
Other Ways to Say: Sneaky person / Traitor
44. Rotten apple
Meaning: A bad, dishonest person who brings disgust or trouble to a group.
For Example: The teacher wanted to deal with the rotten apple before the whole class misbehaved. / One rotten apple can ruin the basket for everyone.
Other Ways to Say: Bad influence / Troublemaker
45. Lowlife
Meaning: Someone who behaves in a dishonest, gross, and despicable way.
For Example: Stealing lunch money from little kids is something only a lowlife would do. / The movie featured a villain who was a total lowlife.
Other Ways to Say: Unscrupulous person / Bad actor
46. Scum of the earth
Meaning: An expression of extreme disgust for the worst kind of person.
For Example: Stealing the puppy rescue money made him look like the scum of the earth. / The bad guys in the story were treated like the scum of the earth.
Other Ways to Say: Despicable person / Worst sort
47. Make one’s stomach heave
Meaning: To cause a powerful physical feeling of sickness and disgust.
For Example: The foul odor from the garbage disposal made my stomach heave. / Watching the dog eat trash made her stomach heave.
Other Ways toSay: Nauseate / Disgust
48. Feel like throwing up
Meaning: Having an intense physical sensation of sickness from something gross.
For Example: The motion sickness on the boat made me feel like throwing up. / Seeing the slimy bug in my salad made me feel like throwing up.
Other Ways to Say: Feel sick / Nauseated
49. Stomach-churning
Meaning: So grossly unpleasant that it causes intense sickness.
For Example: The documentary about food waste had some stomach-churning scenes. / He told a stomach-churning story about stepping in mud barefoot.
Other Ways to Say: Gross / Nauseating
50. Nauseatingly sweet
Meaning: So sugary or fake that it causes mental disgust and annoyance.
For Example: The movie had a nauseatingly sweet ending that made us roll our eyes. / Eating three massive bowls of frosting tasted nauseatingly sweet.
Other Ways to Say: Too sugary / Cloying
51. Sickly sweet
Meaning: An artificial flavor or smell that is unappealing and gross.
For Example: The cheap perfume smelled sickly sweet in the crowded room. / That candy has a sickly sweet flavor that makes me feel sick.
Other Ways to Say: Overly sweet / Cloying
52. Turn one’s stomach over
Meaning: To experience an extreme wave of nausea and disgust.
For Example: The sudden drop on the roller coaster turned my stomach over. / Hearing about the bug infestation turned her stomach over.
Other Ways to Say: Shock / Nauseate
53. Give one a turn
Meaning: To shock someone with something unpleasant and gross.
For Example: Finding a spider in my shoe gave me quite a turn. / The sudden loud crash in the kitchen gave everyone a turn.
Other Ways to Say: Shock / Startle
54. Make one’s gorge rise in anger
Meaning: To feel fierce disgust combined with intense anger.
For Example: Seeing the unfair cheating made his gorge rise in anger. / The cruel words made her gorge rise in anger.
Other Ways to Say: Infuriate / Disgust deeply
55. Spoil your appetite
Meaning: To ruin your desire to eat because of something gross or annoying.
For Example: Don’t talk about bugs while we are eating dinner and spoil my appetite. / Seeing the messy kitchen spoiled my appetite completely.
Other Ways to Say: Ruin hunger / Turn off food
56. Turn off completely
Meaning: To lose all interest or feel disgusted by something.
For Example: The messy service at the restaurant turned us off completely. / Hearing his rude comments turned her off completely.
Other Ways to Say: Disgust / Repulse
57. A real turn-off
Meaning: Something unappealing or gross that ruins the experience.
For Example: Finding a hair in the soup was a real turn-off for everyone. / His arrogant bragging is a major turn-off.
Other Ways to Say: Unappealing thing / Gross element
58. Leave a foul taste
Meaning: To leave a negative, disgusted impression after an event.
For Example: The way they argued left a foul taste in the team’s mouth. / Cheating on the exam left a foul taste in his memory.
Other Ways to Say: Leave resentment / Cause disgust
59. Drop like a hot potato
Meaning: To reject or get rid of something immediately because of disgust.
For Example: When he realized the wallet was fake, he dropped it like a hot potato. / She dropped that bad idea like a hot potato.
Other Ways to Say: Reject quickly / Abandon
60. Clean break
Meaning: To express disgust and cut all ties with a bad situation.
For Example: After the messy argument, they decided to make a clean break. / Leaving the bad club behind felt like a good clean break.
Other Ways to Say: Fresh start / Cut ties
Exercise to Practice
- The strong smell of spoiled milk in the fridge ________.
- The sight of the muddy spider crawling across his desk made ________.
- Walking through the dark, damp basement ________.
- He turned his nose up at the ________.
- Losing the final game by one point was a ________.
- Opening the old gym locker triggered my ________ right away.
- Showing us pictures of creepy bugs ________ the whole table at lunch.
- Mom was ________ with the kids tracking mud inside.
- Watch out for any ________ who tries to steal your ideas.
- Stealing lunch money from little kids is something only a ________ would do.
- The foul odor from the garbage disposal made ________.
- Seeing the slimy bug in my salad made me ________.
- Finding a hair in the soup was a ________ for everyone.
- When he realized the wallet was fake, he ________.
- After the messy argument, they decided to ________.
Answer Key
- turned my stomach
- his stomach turn
- gave the kids the creeps
- plate of green vegetables
- bitter pill to swallow
- gag reflex
- grossed out
- fed up to the back teeth
- snake in the grass
- lowlife
- my stomach heave
- feel like throwing up
- real turn-off
- dropped it like a hot potato
- make a clean break
Conclusion
Learning these idioms helps you express deep disgust and strong feelings of dislike in a colorful way. Try using a few of these fun phrases when telling stories or describing things you find gross this week.
