get on someone's case

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

get on someone's case

verb gets on someone's case · getting on someone's case · got on someone's case · gotten on someone's case · on someone's case

informal To lecture, berate, or complain to somebody, especially to find fault or criticize. His boss was always getting on his case about his standards of dress, even though he worked well and seldom left the back room.
Similar: harangue, harass

Translations

Every language

verb lecture, berate or complain to somebody

Español	agarrársela con alguien, agárraselas con alguien
中文	挑錯 /挑错 tiāocuò, 挑剔 tiāoti, 找岔子 zhǎo chàzi

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"get on someone's case." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/get%20on%20someone's%20case. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

APA

get on someone's case. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/get%20on%20someone's%20case

Chicago

"get on someone's case." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/get%20on%20someone's%20case.

BibTeX

@misc{get_on_someone_s_case_2026,
  title = {get on someone's case},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/get%20on%20someone's%20case},
  urldate = {2026-11-07}
}