rub someone up the wrong way

Related to word: rub

Idiom

Definition

  1. To unintentionally irritate or offend someone; to cause annoyance.

    • She always seems to rub her colleagues up the wrong way without meaning to.

    • His know-it-all attitude tends to rub people up the wrong way.

    • I tried to be friendly, but it seemed like everything I did rubbed him up the wrong way.