idiom · informal
bottle up one's feelings
UK/ˈbɒtəl ʌp wʌnz ˈfiːlɪŋz/US/ˈbɑːtəl ʌp wʌnz ˈfiːlɪŋz/bottle·up·one's·FEEL·ings
to refuse to express your emotions; to keep feelings inside
Examples
“He bottled up his feelings for years and then had a breakdown.”
“It's unhealthy to bottle up your feelings instead of talking about them.”
“Rather than argue, she bottled her feelings up and left.”
Band 8 sentence
“Many people in that community bottle up their feelings because emotional expression is frowned upon.”
Collocations
- bottle up feelings
- bottle things up
Word family
Common mistakes
He bottled down his feelings.→He bottled up his feelings.
Say it for a higher band
5hide feelings→6suppress feelings→7+bottle up one's feelings
Synonyms
suppress feelings
Easily confused
hold it in
“She tried to hold it in during the meeting but started crying afterwards.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Emotions
Learn it with its set