25 Common IELTS Idioms That You Can Use In Speaking Test?

Use of idioms can help you stylize your English. It will be good to make use of common and understandable idioms. During your speaking test, it is important that you should sound natural. And using idioms in a natural way, you can double up your chances of getting a good score.

What are the common idioms that you can use in your IELTS Speaking?

Of course, you are expected to make use of idioms that are common but effective too. Pick only the best.

Do not use idioms that may confuse. Even if they are trendy or sound fashionable.

For instance:

I couldn’t stop my friend. I had to bite my tongue. I didn’t say anything.

“Bite my tongue” is an idiom here and it means that you have stopped yourself from saying something. You wanted to say but you have intentionally stopped yourself from saying that thing.

Similarly, you should not say, “He put all the eggs into one basket.” (which would mean putting all the resources into one possibility). It may look a little weird.

Common Idioms For IELTS speaking

1 Piece of cake - A task that is very easy for you.

2 The last straw - The difficulty that ultimately makes the situation worse or unbearable.

3 Go down in flames - To fail in a surprisingly manner.

4 Run like the wind - To run very fast.

5 Through thick and thin - Experiencing good and bad times.

6 Time is money - You say time is money when you want to describe the importance of working more efficiently.

7 Cutting corners - Trying to save money or time, by not performing duty or the given task.

8 Devil’s advocate - Offering an alternative viewpoint, taking the side of the counter-argument.

9 Feeling under the weather - When you feel under the weather, you do not feel well. Or you feel sick.

10 Fit as a fiddle - If someone is fit as a fiddle, he/she is doing well or healthy.

11 Giving the benefit of the doubt - To believe a story that may not be true, to believe a story even if there is no enough proof to support it.

12 A blessing in disguise - Something that is good for you. You thought it was bad but it has benefited you a lot, made you happy.

13 Beat around the bush - Try to avoid sharing true feelings, taking more time to say something, saying something that is not what you want to say, avoid sharing feelings because it is uncomfortable.

14 Don’t judge a book by its cover - It is not good to judge just by considering the initial appearance.

15 Let someone off the hook - To let go someone, to not punish or hold someone responsible for something.

16 No pain, no gain - If you work hard, you will succeed. If you do not work hard you will not get good results.

17 Once in a blue moon - Something that rarely happens.

18 Clouds on the horizon - You say clouds on the horizon when you want to say that the trouble is coming on the way.

19 Giving cold shoulder - To ignore someone.

20 A wild goose chase - Doing something that may seem impossible, meaningless or pointless.

21 Hitting the nail on the head - To do something as exactly as you want or told.

22 Going extra mile - Doing something that is more than required.

23 You are what you eat - You say you are what you eat to show the importance of food. If you eat good food, you will be healthy. But if you eat bad food you will fall ill.

24 To be buzzing - To be excited or happy about something.

25 To be down in the dumps - To be sad.

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