Meaning & use
over your skis
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiominformalAmerican
Going further or faster than your knowledge, skill or evidence can safely support, so that you risk looking foolish or failing.
Grammar: Used after get or be and with a possessive: get over your skis.
Patterns
- get over your skis
- be over your skis
The candidate got over his skis when he promised numbers he could not back up.
I know a little Spanish, but translating a contract would put me over my skis.
The startup got over its skis by hiring fifty people before it had customers.
Common combinations
- get over your skis
- Try not to get over your skis in the interview by pretending to know everything.
- way over their skis
- The committee was way over its skis on technical questions.
- feel over your skis
- On the first day, I felt over my skis, but my manager helped.
- be careful not to get over your skis
- Be careful not to get over your skis with early promises to clients.
Synonyms and how they differ
- out of your depth
- Out of your depth is more widely used and only means lacking ability, while over your skis also suggests moving too fast.
- overreach
- Overreach is a standard verb for attempting too much, whereas over your skis is a vivid informal image.
- get ahead of yourself
- Get ahead of yourself is about being premature, while over your skis suggests being beyond your competence or facts.
Opposites
Word family
Practice
The new manager promised a launch date before talking to engineers, and soon she was ______. Which fits best?
Choose one answer.
'Over her skis' is the idiom for going beyond what you can support. 'On her skis' would only be literal.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “over your skis”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.