Dictionary

bee in one's bonnet en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) Something of particular interest or concern; an obsession.
   • McCain stands up for nuclear energy. This puts a spring in my step and a song in my heart. I have to give him credit; when he has a bee in his bonnet, he is often willing to stand up for things, like free trade and immigration, that freak voters out. 2008 September 26, Megan McArdle, “Yay nuclear!”, in The Atlantic:
   • Giraffedata has a single bee in his bonnet, the phrase "comprised of." He has written a 6,000-word essay on his Wikipedia user page explaining why he thinks it's an egregious error. 2015 March 12, Geoff Nunberg, “Don't You Dare Use ‘Comprised Of’ On Wikipedia: One Editor Will Take It Out”, in npr:
   • The BBC is well used to being a punchbag for every crank with a bee in their bonnet or a score to settle but some critics are not so easily dismissed. 2008 July 11, “Is Graham Linehan right to slate BBC3 comedy?”, in The Guardian TV and radio blog:
   • Reader Vivien Bailey also has a bee in her bonnet: “The usage that I detest is the growing use of the word ‘birth’ as a verb. This seems to have come in waves starting five or six years ago, and we’re in the middle of a wave now.” 2023 March 5, Jonathan Bouquet, “May I have a word about… being stuck in a permacrisis”, in The Observer, →ISSN:
   • He has had a bee in his bonnet ever since he heard about the problem.

Forms

Relateds

bug up one's ass

Synonyms

burr in one's saddle

Translations (13)

fr manie (something of particular interest or concern; an obsession) · pt obsessão (something of particular interest or concern; an obsession) · fr fixette (something of particular interest or concern; an obsession) · is ganga með meinloku (something of particular interest or concern; an obsession) · fr marotte (something of particular interest or concern; an obsession) · cy chwilen yn eich pen (something of particular interest or concern; an obsession) · is ganga með dellu (something of particular interest or concern; an obsession) · it fissazione (something of particular interest or concern; an obsession) · it idea fissa (something of particular interest or concern; an obsession) · pt cisma (something of particular interest or concern; an obsession) · pt fixação (something of particular interest or concern; an obsession) · fr idée fixe (something of particular interest or concern; an obsession) · pt ideia fixa (something of particular interest or concern; an obsession)