Sometimes, things can be really gross. You might see something yucky, smell something bad, or hear a story that makes you feel sick. When people talk about things that are disgusting, they often use funny or creative phrases. These are called idioms. An idiom is a group of words that means something different from what the words say.
Idioms help make talking and writing more fun. Instead of just saying “That’s gross,” someone might say “It turns my stomach.” These phrases make it easier to share how we feel, and they can also make us laugh. In this article, we will learn some common idioms that people use to talk about things that are nasty or unpleasant. Let’s find out what they mean and how to use them.
Idioms For Disgusting
1. Turns my stomach
Meaning: Makes me feel sick
Give an Instance: The smell of rotten milk turns my stomach. / Watching that bug crawl in the food turned my stomach.
Substitute Meaning: Makes me feel gross / Feels sickening
2. Gross me out
Meaning: Makes me feel really uncomfortable or sick
Give an Instance: Worms gross me out. / That movie scene totally grossed me out.
Substitute Meaning: Makes me feel nasty / Too yucky to handle
3. Makes my skin crawl
Meaning: Gives me a creepy, bad feeling
Give an Instance: The slimy snake made my skin crawl. / Seeing mold on the bread made my skin crawl.
Substitute Meaning: Gave me chills / Felt really icky
4. Sick to my stomach
Meaning: Feeling sick from seeing or thinking about something
Give an Instance: I felt sick to my stomach after hearing that story. / That old food made me sick to my stomach.
Substitute Meaning: Felt queasy / Felt ill
5. Like nails on a chalkboard
Meaning: Very annoying or unpleasant to hear or feel
Give an Instance: That loud screech was like nails on a chalkboard. / Her whining was like nails on a chalkboard.
Substitute Meaning: Very irritating / Awful to hear
6. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth
Meaning: Makes me feel uncomfortable or upset
Give an Instance: The way he talked to her left a bad taste in my mouth. / That unfair game left a bad taste in my mouth.
Substitute Meaning: Felt wrong / Didn’t feel good
7. Makes my hair stand on end
Meaning: Scares or grosses me out
Give an Instance: That spooky bug story made my hair stand on end. / The gooey mess made my hair stand on end.
Substitute Meaning: Gave me chills / Felt super creepy
8. Creeps me out
Meaning: Makes me feel scared or grossed out
Give an Instance: That old doll creeps me out. / His weird stories creep me out.
Substitute Meaning: Makes me uneasy / Feels strange and scary
9. Gag me
Meaning: Something is really disgusting
Give an Instance: Gag me, that food smells awful! / That slime on the floor? Gag me.
Substitute Meaning: So gross / Totally nasty
10. Upchuck
Meaning: To throw up or feel like throwing up
Give an Instance: I almost upchucked after smelling that trash. / That spoiled milk made me upchuck.
Substitute Meaning: Vomit / Throw up
11. Makes me gag
Meaning: Makes me feel like throwing up
Give an Instance: That rotten egg made me gag. / Just thinking about bugs in food makes me gag.
Substitute Meaning: Feels really sick / Almost vomit
12. Nauseates me
Meaning: Makes me feel sick in my stomach
Give an Instance: The smell of old fish nauseates me. / That gross story nauseated me.
Substitute Meaning: Makes me queasy / Sick feeling
13. Gives me the heebie-jeebies
Meaning: Makes me feel weird or grossed out
Give an Instance: That dirty bathroom gave me the heebie-jeebies. / Touching that sticky gum gave me the heebie-jeebies.
Substitute Meaning: Creepy / Gross
14. Makes me want to hurl
Meaning: Makes me feel like throwing up
Give an Instance: That slimy lunch made me want to hurl. / The gross smell made me want to hurl.
Substitute Meaning: Vomit / Throw up
15. Gives me goosebumps (in a bad way)
Meaning: Makes me feel weird or uncomfortable
Give an Instance: That scary bug gave me goosebumps. / Her creepy laugh gave me goosebumps.
Substitute Meaning: Weird chills / Felt icky
16. That’s foul
Meaning: That’s really bad or disgusting
Give an Instance: That trash can smell is foul. / The locker room was foul after the game.
Substitute Meaning: Yucky / Gross
17. Downright nasty
Meaning: Extremely unpleasant
Give an Instance: That old lunchbox was downright nasty. / The mud in my shoes felt downright nasty.
Substitute Meaning: Super gross / Awful
18. Gives me the creeps
Meaning: Makes me feel scared or weird
Give an Instance: That bug movie gave me the creeps. / The basement gives me the creeps.
Substitute Meaning: Feels spooky / Yuck feeling
19. Smells like something died
Meaning: Smells really bad
Give an Instance: The locker smelled like something died. / That old food in the fridge smells like something died.
Substitute Meaning: Super stinky / Awful smell
20. Like licking the floor
Meaning: Very dirty or gross
Give an Instance: That gum under the desk is like licking the floor. / Eating with dirty hands is like licking the floor.
Substitute Meaning: Nasty / Full of germs
21. Rotten to the core
Meaning: Really bad or spoiled
Give an Instance: That apple was rotten to the core. / His old sandwich was rotten to the core.
Substitute Meaning: Totally spoiled / Very bad
22. Like chewing on rubber
Meaning: Tastes weird or gross
Give an Instance: That old meat was like chewing on rubber. / The gummy candy left out was like chewing on rubber.
Substitute Meaning: Chewy and gross / Bad texture
23. Slime-fest
Meaning: Something super slimy
Give an Instance: The science project turned into a slime-fest. / That sink was a slime-fest.
Substitute Meaning: Gooey mess / Sticky gross stuff
24. Smells like feet
Meaning: Very stinky
Give an Instance: His gym bag smells like feet. / That hallway smells like feet.
Substitute Meaning: Bad odor / Nasty smell
25. Like eating dirt
Meaning: Tastes really bad
Give an Instance: That weird snack tasted like eating dirt. / Her burnt toast was like eating dirt.
Substitute Meaning: Gross flavor / Bad taste
26. Covered in gunk
Meaning: Full of sticky or dirty stuff
Give an Instance: His shoes were covered in gunk. / That dish was covered in gunk.
Substitute Meaning: Full of yuck / Sticky mess
27. Feels like goo
Meaning: Very slimy or soft in a bad way
Give an Instance: That pumpkin felt like goo inside. / The melted candy felt like goo.
Substitute Meaning: Sloppy / Squishy mess
28. Funky smell
Meaning: Strange and unpleasant odor
Give an Instance: The locker had a funky smell. / That old juice had a funky smell.
Substitute Meaning: Odd odor / Weird stink
29. As gross as garbage
Meaning: Very disgusting
Give an Instance: That old pizza is as gross as garbage. / His locker is as gross as garbage.
Substitute Meaning: Super yucky / Just awful
30. Mucky mess
Meaning: Very dirty or messy
Give an Instance: The shoes were in a mucky mess after the rain. / That muddy puddle made a mucky mess.
Substitute Meaning: Messy and gross / Dirty scene
31. Crawling with germs
Meaning: Very dirty or full of bacteria
Give an Instance: That public phone looks like it’s crawling with germs. / The doorknob was crawling with germs.
Substitute Meaning: Full of dirt / Germ-filled
32. Like old socks
Meaning: Really bad smelling
Give an Instance: His gym locker smelled like old socks. / That corner of the room smelled like old socks.
Substitute Meaning: Stinky / Nasty smell
33. Covered in crud
Meaning: Dirty or gross
Give an Instance: The playground bench was covered in crud. / His hands were covered in crud after digging.
Substitute Meaning: Full of dirt / Super messy
34. Oozing with slime
Meaning: Very gooey or nasty
Give an Instance: The trash bag was oozing with slime. / That sandwich was oozing with slime.
Substitute Meaning: Gooey / Nasty liquid
35. Like licking a toad
Meaning: Super gross idea
Give an Instance: Cleaning that bathroom was like licking a toad. / Touching that rotten food was like licking a toad.
Substitute Meaning: Really disgusting / Gross and weird
36. Stinks to high heaven
Meaning: Smells very bad
Give an Instance: The fridge stinks to high heaven. / That fish stinks to high heaven.
Substitute Meaning: Smells awful / Bad odor
37. Like a swamp
Meaning: Wet, dirty, and gross
Give an Instance: After the rain, our backyard was like a swamp. / His shoes were soaked and smelled like a swamp.
Substitute Meaning: Muddy and yucky / Soaked and dirty
38. Sticky situation
Meaning: Literally sticky and gross or hard to deal with
Give an Instance: The spilled soda made a sticky situation. / The table was a sticky situation after lunch.
Substitute Meaning: Messy / Tacky
39. Putrid
Meaning: Really bad smelling and gross
Give an Instance: The lunch meat was putrid. / That smell coming from the locker was putrid.
Substitute Meaning: Rotten / Awful
40. Funky taste
Meaning: Weird or bad flavor
Give an Instance: That new drink had a funky taste. / Her snack had a funky taste I didn’t like.
Substitute Meaning: Strange flavor / Off-tasting
41. Smelled like gym socks
Meaning: Really stinky
Give an Instance: That dog smelled like gym socks. / His shoes smelled like gym socks.
Substitute Meaning: Bad smell / Stinky
42. Grimy
Meaning: Covered with dirt
Give an Instance: The window was grimy. / His hands were grimy after recess.
Substitute Meaning: Dirty / Messy
43. Filthy
Meaning: Very dirty or unclean
Give an Instance: The bathroom was filthy. / That old couch is filthy.
Substitute Meaning: Gross / Not clean
44. Like eating bugs
Meaning: Something really unpleasant
Give an Instance: That jelly tasted like eating bugs. / Her sandwich was so weird, it was like eating bugs.
Substitute Meaning: Nasty / Super gross
45. Disgusting beyond words
Meaning: So bad it’s hard to explain
Give an Instance: That smell was disgusting beyond words. / What he found under his bed was disgusting beyond words.
Substitute Meaning: Extremely gross / So yucky I can’t explain
Find the “Idioms for Disgusting”
Reading Passage
It was the day of the school picnic, and things started out great. But by lunch, things took a turn. When Sam opened his lunchbox, the smell hit everyone it smelled like something died. Emma gagged and said, “Ugh, that funky smell is coming from your tuna sandwich!” Sam looked inside and saw that his sandwich was covered in crud.
“I can’t eat this,” Sam said, “It’s like chewing on rubber.” He threw it away and grabbed a snack from his backpack, but the squished banana turned his stomach. Mia walked by and said, “Ew, that thing looks rotten to the core!”
Later, they went to the field to play games. Sam slipped and fell in a puddle. “This grass is like a swamp,” he groaned, now covered in mud. As he stood up, a worm wriggled on his shirt. “That gives me the heebie-jeebies!” he yelled.
When it was time to clean up, they found a forgotten trash bag near the tree. It had been sitting in the sun all day. “This bag stinks to high heaven,” said Emma, holding her nose. “I feel sick to my stomach just standing near it.”
They all ran from the trash, laughing and holding their noses. “Best picnic ever?” asked Sam. “More like a slime-fest,” said Mia.
Directions for Students
Read the story again. Find and underline or list all the idioms used in the passage.
Answer Key
- Smelled like something died
- Funky smell
- Covered in crud
- Like chewing on rubber
- Turned his stomach
- Rotten to the core
- Like a swamp
- Gives me the heebie-jeebies
- Stinks to high heaven
- Sick to my stomach
- A slime-fest
Conclusion
Idioms help us explain how we feel in fun and clear ways. When something is really gross, we don’t always say “That’s disgusting.” Instead, we use phrases like “turns my stomach” or “smells like something died.” These sayings are easy to understand and make our talking more interesting.
Now that you’ve learned 45 idioms for disgusting, try using them when you see or smell something nasty. It’s a cool way to share your feelings and sound more natural. Keep learning new idioms they make speaking and writing more fun.
