get bent out of shape

verb

To take offense; to become angry, agitated, or upset.

“They stopped inviting him to the gatherings, and he really got bent out of shape about it.”

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Meanings

verbget bent out of shape (third-person singular simple present gets bent out of shape, present participle getting bent out of shape, simple past got bent out of shape, past participle (UK) got bent out of shape or (US) gotten bent out of shape)

present singular third person gets bent out of shape · participle present getting bent out of shape · past got bent out of shape · UK participle past got bent out of shape · US participle past gotten bent out of shape

  1. idiomaticslangTo take offense; to become angry, agitated, or upset.

    They stopped inviting him to the gatherings, and he really got bent out of shape about it.

    1 more example

    Just reflecting on the events of the twentieth century alone could take your breath away, so why get bent out of shape about the ultimate fate of the earth?

    2005, James Howard Kunstler, The Long Emergency
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see get, bend, out of, shape.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
blow a fusego postalgo snake
Cite this entry
APA

get bent out of shape. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20bent%20out%20of%20shape

MLA

“get bent out of shape.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20bent%20out%20of%20shape. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “get bent out of shape,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20bent%20out%20of%20shape.

Source: get bent out of shape on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.