get under someone's goat

verb

To irritate or annoy someone; to bother.

Similar
get someone's goataggravateannoynettleranklerufflestingburn someone's ass
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Meanings

verbget under someone's goat (third-person singular simple present gets under someone's goat, present participle getting under someone's goat, simple past got under someone's goat, past participle gotten under someone's goat or got under someone's goat)

present singular third person gets under someone's goat · participle present getting under someone's goat · past got under someone's goat · participle past gotten under someone's goat · participle past got under someone's goat

  1. figurativelynonstandardtransitiveTo irritate or annoy someone; to bother.

    Maybe you would have been warm when you died; You should not have gotten under my goat.

    2013, Sherlyn Gajewski, Freedom of F-----g Speech Baby, page 105

    Synonyms: get someone's goat, aggravate, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle, sting, burn someone's ass

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo irritate or annoy someone; to bother.

Similar
get someone's goataggravateannoynettleranklerufflestingburn someone's assantagonizebotherdisgruntlebotheratebuggetgrateburn upbedevilacerbatecheese offdevil

Origin

Uncertain. Perhaps a blend of get under someone's skin + get someone's goat.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

get under someone's goat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20under%20someone's%20goat

MLA

“get under someone's goat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20under%20someone's%20goat. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “get under someone's goat,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20under%20someone's%20goat.

Source: get under someone's goat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.