Idioms are helpful for the IELTS exam if you want to score 7+ bands. You can easily get a score of 6.5 or 7 bands by using vocabulary, but to score higher than that, you must know idioms.
There are common idioms to boost IELTS score, and for 8.5 or 9 bands, you must know some advanced idioms.
You can learn idioms easily, but the thing that you will find difficult to do is to use idioms in sentences. So to solve your problem, we will describe some important common idioms to improve your IELTS score with meaning and examples.
But before that, you must understand what idioms are.
What Are Idioms?
Idioms are words that generally don’t have a specific, it means that you can’t understand the meaning of an idiom by reading every word in the idiom. Idioms are used to make a sentence more attractive. For example, to show you are very happy after getting a good score in IELTS, “you can say you were over the moon when you saw your IELTS result.”
Here over the moon is an idiom that is used to show your happiness. You can see that by reading every word of the idiom, you can’t tell the exact meaning of the idiom. If you don’t know this idiom, then you may think that over the moon mean looking moon in the sky.
You can also express the same feeling by saying, “you were happy when you saw your result.”
Here you can see that the sentence in which we have used idiom looks more attractive compared to the simple sentence.
Importance Of Using Common Idioms To Boost IELTS Score
After knowing what idioms are you should understand the importance of using idioms:
- Work as advanced vocabulary
- Improve your speaking skill
- Build up confidence
- Help you score higher
Some Common Idioms To Boost IELTS Score
| Idioms | Meaning | Example |
| Out of the blue | Something which was not expected to happen | Today, out of the blue, Ram asked Sita to marry. |
| In the red | When you don’t have money | Sorry, I can’t help you, I am in my red. |
| Give someone the green light | Give permission | Ram’s father gives him the green light to buy a new phone. |
| A white lie | To speak a lie that is not too serious | I don’t think that you should worry about it, it was a white lie. |
| Green with envy | To be jealous | Shivani was green with envy when she saw her sister’s gold and diamond ring. |
| Day and night | Continually working without stopping | Ram studies day and night for his math test. |
| Drop out | To leave without finishing | He dropped out of the program/course because it was too hard. |
| Learn by heart | To memorize | You must learn all the idioms by heart to get a good score in IELTS. |
| Pass with flying colors | Pass with good grades | Parents always hope their child passes with flying colors. |
| Bookworm | Someone who reads a lot | Ram used to be a bookworm when he was a child. |
| Brought up | Raised | Every parent brought up their child with some hope. |
| Child’s play | Very easy to do | It is not a child’s play to learn how to play guitar. |
| Like a kid in a candy store | Very excited about something | When we first came to the town, we were like a kid in a candy store as there was a lot to do and see. |
| To follow in someone’s footsteps | Achieve something that someone already has achieved | I followed my father’s footsteps to become a doctor. |
| To run in the family | Similar qualities in the family | We are all good in science and maths, it runs in our family. |
| Under the weather | Feeling unwell | One of my friends was feeling under the weather I hope he does not have COVID. |
| As sick as a dog | Feeling very ill | Raj was as sick as a dog yesterday. |
| On the mend | Recovering | Ram was sick yesterday, but now he is on the mend. |
| Kick the bucket | To die | Shaam was very sick, everyone once thought he might kick the bucket. |
You should also read our other blog, “50 Difficult Words With Meaning That Are Important For IELTS.”
Other common Idioms
Here are many other common idioms to boost IELTS score for you to practice. We will provide the idioms with their meaning and you can make your own examples using those idioms.
You can let us know through comments whether your examples are right or not. Our experts will check your comments and respond as soon as they can.
So now, let’s look at common idioms to boost IELTS scores for both IELTS speaking and writing.
- To show promise
Meaning: To indicate possible success
- Practice makes perfect
Meaning: To continuously improve by practicing
- Break a leg
Meaning: To wish someone good luck
- Driving me up the wall
Meaning: Something that annoys you
- Better late than never
Meaning: It is good or better to do something than never doing it
- Blind as a bat
Meaning: Can’t see or bad eyesight
- Pulling your leg
Meaning: Joking around
- Actions speak louder than words
Meaning: Better to do something instead of speaking about it
- Cut to the chase
Meaning: Come to the point by cutting unnecessary details
- The heat of the moment
Meaning: To say something without thinking about it
- A drop in the ocean
Meaning: A small of something much bigger
- An arm and a leg
Meaning: Very expensive
- Stuck between a rock and a hard place
Meaning: Having two terrible choices
- Once in a blue moon
Meaning: Happening very rarely
- Over the top
Meaning: Excessive or more than enough
- Keep an eye on them
Meaning: Watch something carefully
- let sleeping dogs lie
Meaning: Avoid a conflict
- Driving me up the wall
Meaning: to make (someone) irritated
- Hold your horses
Meaning: wait a moment.
- You are what you eat
Meaning: Eat good food to be healthy and fit
- Jumping the gun
Meaning:
- Chip on his shoulder
Meaning:
- Piece of cake
Meaning:
- To hit the nail on the head
Meaning: to do or say something exactly right or accurate
- To kill two birds with one stone
Meaning: to accomplish two tasks with one effort
- To cut corners
Meaning: to do something in a hurry or cheaply, often sacrificing quality
- To have a chip on one’s shoulder
Meaning: to have a grudge or resentment, often over a perceived slight or injustice
- To pull someone’s leg
Meaning: to tease or joke with someone in a playful manner
- To turn a blind eye
Meaning: to ignore or pretend not to see something that is wrong or unethical
- To bite off more than you can chew
Meaning: to undertake more than you can handle or manage
- To throw in the towel
Meaning: to give up or abandon a situation or goal
- To cost an arm and a leg
Meaning: to be very expensive or cost too much
- To be the icing on the cake
Meaning: to be the best part or the finishing touch to something already good
- To beat around the bush
Meaning: to avoid discussing a difficult or sensitive issue directly
- To jump on the bandwagon
Meaning: to follow the trend or join a popular movement
- To be the black sheep
Meaning: to be the odd one out or the outcast in a group
- To have a snake in the grass
Meaning: to have an enemy or someone who is secretly plotting against you
- To be the elephant in the room
Meaning: to be an issue or problem that everyone is aware of but no one wants to talk about
- To be a wolf in sheep’s clothing
Meaning: to be someone who pretends to be innocent or friendly but is actually dangerous or harmful
- To be the straw that broke the camel’s back
Meaning: to be the final problem or stressor that leads to a breakdown or collapse
These are the most common idioms to boost IELTS score.
To get good band score in IELTS speaking you must read, “Idioms For IELTS Speaking With Meaning And Example.”
Should We Use Idioms In IELTS Writing
No, we should not use idioms in writing because idioms are informal, and we can not use them in IELTS writing tasks 1 and 2.
Conclusion
In this blog, we have provided some of the common idioms to boost IELTS score. We have given idioms with meanings and examples to help you understand them easily.
We have given 20 idioms without examples that you can practice by yourself. You can also let us know through comments about the examples, and our experts can look at them for you and will let you know if you have any mistakes.
We hope we have cleared all your queries about common idioms to boost IELTS score. For more content like this, keep visiting CourseMentor™.
FAQs
Are idioms good for IELTS?
Yes, idioms are good for the IELTS exam. You can easily improve your score in IELTS speaking and writing by using idioms correctly. However, you may lose your band score if you do not use it correctly.
Does IELTS depend on luck?
No, it is just a myth that IELTS depends upon luck. If you work hard, you will easily get a good score if you do not, then it will be hard for you to score good marks.
