ruffle (redirected from smoothing ruffled feathers)

ruffle someone's feathers

to make someone annoyed. He wasn't asked to speak at the conference, and I know that ruffled his feathers a bit.

See also: feather

smooth (someone's) ruffled feathers

to try to make someone feel less angry or upset, especially after an argument. I spent the afternoon smoothing ruffled feathers and trying to convince people to give the talks another chance.

See also: feather, smooth

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ruffle (someone's) feathers

to make someone annoyed or upset. Her spokeswoman wouldn't say whether the lawsuit has ruffled the singer's feathers. He tries not to ruffle feathers, and people seem to like to work with him.

Usage notes: sometimes used in the form smooth ruffled feathers to make someone feel less annoyed or upset: The candidate went out of her way to smooth ruffled feathers.

Etymology: based on the idea of a bird whose feathers are not smooth because of fear or excitement

See also: feather