Phrases & IdiomsIdiom guide

Drive Someone Up the Wall

“Drive someone up the wall” means make someone extremely annoyed or angry. The idiom describes the effect on the person, while the specific behavior causing the irritation comes from context.

Quick answer

“Drive someone up the wall” means make that person extremely annoyed or angry.

Key details

Canonical Formdrive someone up the wall
Core Meaningmake someone extremely angry or annoyed

Further guidance

Meaning

make someone extremely angry or annoyed

Usage Boundary

The expression describes strong irritation; the cause and seriousness depend on context.

Sources and evidence

Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.

  1. Drive someone up the wall — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Current idiomatic meaning: make someone extremely angry

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