What does “Avere un diavolo per capello” mean?
Avere un diavolo per capello
Word for word
To have a devil for each hair
What it really means
To be furious, angry at everything and everyone. Said of someone whose nerves are raw and who is best left alone.
How we say it in English
To be hopping mad — or like a bear with a sore head
Want to see this idiom used in a sentence, and where it comes from?
Create a free account to see “Avere un diavolo per capello” in a real sentence (with audio), where it comes from, and to share the card. No card required.
Create a free accountOther Italian idioms
Perdere le staffe
To fly off the handle
Essere al settimo cielo
To be on cloud nine — note the number changes: seven in Italian, nine in English
Avere la coda di paglia
To protest too much — the giveaway of a guilty conscience
Cadere dalle nuvole
You could have knocked me over with a feather
Piantare in asso
To leave someone in the lurch
In bocca al lupo
Break a leg — and, like "break a leg", you never answer with "thank you"