ruffle feathers

ruffle someone's feathers

Fig. to irritate or annoy someone. I didn't mean to ruffle his feathers. I just thought that I would remind him of what he promised us.

ruffle (somebody's) feathers

to make someone annoyed or upset Her spokeswoman wouldn't say whether the lawsuit has ruffled the singer's feathers. He tries not to ruffle feathers, and people seem to like to work with him.

Usage notes: sometimes used in the form smooth ruffled feathers (to make someone feel less annoyed or upset): The candidate went out of her way to smooth ruffled feathers.

Etymology: based on the idea of a bird whose feathers are not smooth because of fear or excitement

ruffle somebody's feathers

to make someone annoyed He wasn't asked to speak at the conference, and I know that ruffled his feathers a bit.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Hodiyah	-	Biblical Hebrew
Coenraad	KOON-rah:t	Dutch
Cydney	SID-nee	English (Modern)
Freida	FREE-də	English
Antonietta	-	Italian
Hilja	HEEL-yah	Finnish