ruffle someone's feathers

present singular third person ruffles someone's feathers · participle present ruffling someone's feathers · participle past ruffled someone's feathers · past ruffled someone's feathers

1. idiomaticTo unease, cause discomfort to someone.

   Sutton and David Templeton both had efforts just off target as Hearts' tactics of high-tempo, pressing football ruffled the English side's feathers.

   2012 August 23, Alasdair Lamont, “Hearts 0-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport

   1 more example

   The Spanish newspaper El País suggested that Trump’s feathers had been ruffled by a video at the same meeting, showing Meloni appearing to scold him.

   2026 July 1, Riccardo Alcaro, “Why Meloni has hit back hard against Trump and his ‘made up’ photo claim”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   Synonyms: get someone's dander up, raise someone's hackles, aggravate, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle, sting