Meaning & use
push your buttons
Last updated
Meanings
phraseidiominformal
To make someone feel a strong emotion, especially anger or annoyance, by saying or doing something that affects them personally.
Grammar: Used as a verb phrase; the object usually comes before 'buttons': push someone's buttons.
Patterns
- push someone's buttons
- push the right buttons
- push all the right buttons
He knows exactly how to push my buttons when we argue.
Don't let her push your buttons; stay calm.
The politician pushed all the right buttons with his speech.
phraseidiominformal
To deliberately provoke or upset someone, often for one's own amusement or advantage.
Grammar: Often used in the progressive: 'He's pushing my buttons.'
Patterns
- push someone's buttons
- push the buttons of someone
The kids were pushing each other's buttons all afternoon.
Stop pushing my buttons; I'm not going to react.
Common combinations
- push someone's buttons
- She pushed his buttons by mentioning his ex.
- push the right buttons
- To get the job, you need to push the right buttons in the interview.
- push all the right buttons
- The advertisement pushed all the right buttons for young voters.
- know how to push someone's buttons
- My brother knows how to push my buttons.
Synonyms and how they differ
- provoke
- More formal and general; it means to make someone angry, but it doesn't specifically suggest doing it by targeting personal feelings.
- annoy
- Weaker and more general; it means to make someone slightly angry, but not necessarily by knowing their weaknesses.
- irritate
- Similar to 'annoy' but often suggests a repeated or continuing action; it doesn't imply deliberately targeting someone's emotions.
Commonly confused: push your buttons or press buttons?
push your buttons vs press buttons
This means to press physical buttons on a machine, not to cause an emotional reaction.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'push your buttons' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The idiom means to make someone feel a strong emotion, especially anger, by doing something that affects them personally. The other options use 'buttons' literally, referring to physical buttons on machines.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “push your buttons”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.