have a chip on your shoulder

informal

Definition

› to blame other people for something bad that has happened to you and continue to feel angry about it: She's always had a real chip on her shoulder because she didn't go to university.

(Definition of have a chip on your shoulder from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Our dictionaries

British English
American English
Business English
Learner's Dictionary
Essential British English
Essential American English
English-Spanish
Español-inglés
English-Turkish

Browse the Thesaurus

Business
Clothes
Education
Finance
Light and colour
Personal care

“have a chip on your shoulder” in other dictionaries

British English

Browse the Dictionary

haunt verb
haunting adjective
have (a) thick skin idiom
have (got) sth on
have a bone to pick with sb idiom
have a chip on your shoulder idiom
have a green thumb idiom
have a senior, blond etc moment idiom
have a skeleton in the cupboard idiom
have a soft spot for sb idiom
have auxiliary verb

Word of the Day

jettison

to get rid of something or someone that is not wanted or needed

Word of the Day ►

Blog

Read our blog about how the English language behaves.

Learn More ►

New Words

Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.