Word of the day
Feeling slightly unwell, but not ill enough to see a doctor
idiom
The English word
under the weather
English never changes here, whatever language you are reading in.
When to use it
This three-word expression describes a mild, temporary physical state, and the noun that closes it has nothing to do with rain, sun or forecasts. Keep it for small complaints: a cold, a headache, the morning after too little sleep. Applied to a serious diagnosis it sounds oddly light, almost as though you were making a joke of the illness. Grammatically it behaves like a state rather than an action: it follows a linking verb of state rather than an action verb, and it is never placed in front of a noun the way an ordinary adjective would be. Speakers also choose it precisely because it is vague, since it explains an absence without handing over any medical detail.
Examples
Goes with
Check yourself
Complete the sentence with the English word above.
Show the answer
under the weather