Meaning & use
cooped up inside
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phraseinformal
kept in a small space indoors and unable to go out, often feeling restless.
Grammar: Used after 'be', 'feel', or 'get': They were cooped up inside all day.
Patterns
- be cooped up inside
- feel cooped up inside
- get cooped up inside
After three days of rain, the children were cooped up inside and full of energy.
I hate being cooped up inside when the sun is shining.
She felt cooped up inside her tiny apartment.
phrasefixed phraseinformal
kept in a small indoor area, especially an animal.
Grammar: Often used about pets or farm animals that cannot go outside.
Patterns
- be cooped up inside
- keep something cooped up inside
The chickens were cooped up inside the barn during the storm.
He keeps his dog cooped up inside all day, which isn't fair.
Common combinations
- cooped up inside all day
- We were cooped up inside all day because of the snow.
- feel cooped up inside
- I start to feel cooped up inside if I don't go for a walk.
- cooped up inside the house
- The kids were cooped up inside the house with nothing to do.
- cooped up indoors
- Being cooped up indoors makes me irritable.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stuck inside
- More neutral and simply means unable to leave; 'cooped up' adds a feeling of restlessness or frustration.
- confined indoors
- More formal and often used for medical or official situations; 'cooped up' is informal and emotional.
Opposites
Commonly confused: cooped up inside or cooped up in?
cooped up inside vs cooped up in
'Cooped up in' is used before a place (cooped up in the house), while 'cooped up inside' already includes the idea of being indoors, so 'cooped up in inside' is wrong.
Practice
After a week of rain, the kids were ______ inside and driving everyone crazy.
Choose one answer.
'Cooped up' is the fixed phrase meaning kept indoors; the others are not used with 'cooped' in this idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cooped up inside”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.