a chip on your shoulder
a lingering grudge or resentment
What it means
To have a chip on your shoulder means to carry a persistent grudge or sense of grievance, often because you feel you've been treated unfairly or looked down on. People with a chip on their shoulder tend to be defensive or easily angered, expecting criticism even where none is intended.
Words like “a chip on your shoulder” are exactly the kind of vocabulary our English vocabulary size test measures — find out how many English words you know.
Examples
- Ever since he was passed over for promotion, he's had a chip on his shoulder.
- She walked in with a chip on her shoulder, ready to argue with everyone.
- Try not to take a chip on your shoulder into the interview tomorrow.
- He's brilliant, but that chip on his shoulder makes him hard to work with.
Where it comes from
The phrase comes from a 19th-century American custom in which a boy spoiling for a fight would balance a wood chip on his shoulder and dare another to knock it off.
Related idioms
🎓 Think you know your idioms?
Take the English Idioms Test — 20 terms, instant result, no signup.
Take the English Idioms TestBuilt by the team behind Deep In.