Meaning & use
itchy feet
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiominformalfigurative
A restless wish to travel, move to a new place or start something different.
Grammar: Usually used with have or get and is plural: she has itchy feet.
Patterns
- have itchy feet
- get itchy feet
- itchy feet about something
After two years in the same job, she started to get itchy feet.
He's had itchy feet ever since he came back from Peru.
My brother has itchy feet and never stays anywhere for long.
Common combinations
- get itchy feet
- I always get itchy feet in the spring.
- have itchy feet
- Anyone who has itchy feet should take a long trip.
- a case of itchy feet
- It was just a case of itchy feet, and he soon came home.
- start to get itchy feet
- Our neighbors started to get itchy feet and put their house on the market.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wanderlust
- Wanderlust is a single noun and sounds more literary, while itchy feet is a casual idiom.
- restlessness
- Restlessness is a general word for being unable to settle, whereas itchy feet usually involves a specific wish to travel or move.
- the travel bug
- The travel bug is about loving travel, while itchy feet is about being restless where you are.
- cabin fever
- Cabin fever comes from being stuck indoors, whereas itchy feet is a desire to go somewhere new.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: itchy feet or cold feet?
itchy feet vs cold feet
Cold feet means sudden fear or doubt before doing something such as a wedding, while itchy feet means a restless urge to move on.
Practice
After five years in the same town, Leo got ____ and began planning a move abroad.
Choose one answer.
Itchy feet means a restless urge for change or travel. Cold feet is a different idiom meaning nervous doubt, so it is the tempting wrong answer.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “itchy feet”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.