burst someone's bubble

Meaning

1. 1phraseidiom

   To spoil someone's happy belief or hope by telling them an unwelcome truth.

   Grammar: The possessive changes with the person: burst her bubble, burst my bubble.

   Patterns

   • burst someone's bubble
   • I hate to burst your bubble, but...

   I hate to burst your bubble, but the concert was sold out last week.

   She burst his bubble by pointing out that the prize was only a coupon.

   Don't burst her bubble; let her enjoy her big day.

Word forms

Common combinations

hate to burst your bubble

I hate to burst your bubble, but it's raining.

burst my bubble

The review really burst my bubble.

not want to burst their bubble

I didn't want to burst their bubble, so I kept quiet.

burst the bubble

Reality burst the bubble of his dreams.

Synonyms and how they differ

dash someone's hopes

This is more serious and suggests a bigger disappointment than a small bubble burst.

rain on someone's parade

This is playful and suggests spoiling someone's enjoyment, even if you are not delivering a truth.

disillusion

A formal verb that means to remove false beliefs, without the casual tone of the idiom.

let someone down

This is about disappointing them by failing, not by pointing out an uncomfortable fact.

Opposites

Word family

bubble noun

a thin ball of air in liquid, or a fragile happy state

burst verb

to break open suddenly

bubbly adjective

cheerful and lively

bubble verb

to form or rise as bubbles

Commonly confused: burst someone's bubble or burst into tears?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “burst someone's bubble”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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