English Idiom – Jump out of your skin.
To get a sudden, big fright.
You’re sitting in your favourite armchair with a cup of tea and the newspaper. The house is lovely and quiet. Then a small ghost pops out from behind the chair and shouts “Boo!” Your tea goes one way, the paper goes the other, and for a second you nearly leave your own body behind. You’ve just jumped out of your skin.
Of course, nobody really jumps out of their skin. The idiom paints a funny picture of being so shocked that you leap right out of it. It’s about a quick, sudden fright, like a loud bang or someone creeping up behind you, not a long, slow fear.
How to Use It
- nearly / almost jump out of your skin (very common): “I nearly jumped out of my skin when the phone rang.”
- make someone jump out of their skin: “You made me jump out of my skin!”
- the short version, make someone jump: “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you jump.”
- change the pronoun to match the person: my skin, your skin, his skin, her skin, their skin.
Don’t mix it up with scared stiff. If you’re scared stiff, you freeze. If you jump out of your skin, you leap. Both are on our list of 10 Halloween idioms.
Example:
- “I nearly jumped out of my skin when the fireworks started.”
- “Don’t creep up on me like that! I nearly jumped out of my skin.”
- “The cat knocked a glass off the table and we all jumped out of our skins.”
- “Dad jumped out of his skin when my little sister shouted ‘Boo!'”
More spooky English: give someone the creeps, a skeleton in the cupboard and our Halloween vocabulary.
Learn More
Look it upJump out of your skin – Cambridge DictionaryCambridge DictionaryWhat is an idiom?
An idiom is a word or phrase that is not taken literally. An idiom is an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its individual words, but has a separate meaning of its own.
Frequently Asked Questions
It means to get a sudden, big fright, for example when there is a loud noise or someone surprises you.
Both. Change the pronoun to match the person: “I nearly jumped out of my skin”, “She jumped out of her skin”.
“Jump out of your skin” is a quick, sudden fright that makes you move. “Scared stiff” means you are so frightened that you cannot move at all.
Test Yourself
🎃 More Halloween English: 10 Halloween idioms · Halloween vocabulary · dress up · a skeleton in the cupboard · give someone the creeps · a ghost town
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