rub the wrong way

Idioms and Phrases

Irritate, annoy, as in His remarks about welfare rubbed a great many people the wrong way . This idiom alludes to rubbing an animal's fur in the wrong direction. [Mid-1800s] Also see ruffle someone's feathers .

Example Sentences

But for people who were smoking, and in some cases getting arrested, back during prohibition, and especially for minorities who got targeted disproportionately by police, the rush to corporatize cannabis, mostly spearheaded by rich white people in suits, can rub the wrong way.

From Slate

There's a chic emptiness to "Entertainment," undoubtedly, and anti-comedy constructs that may rub the wrong way, but there's also a spiky intelligence at work too, one that engages through the artifice of disengagement and the illusion of "performance."

From Los Angeles Times

Still, no matter how many times one hears the lecture about being more objective it never fails to rub the wrong way.

From BusinessWeek

While it’s hard to argue with using one word instead of five, “robust” can still rub the wrong way.

From Forbes

Rub′-a-dub, the sound of the drum when beaten; Rub′-ī′ron, a wheel-guard, or wheel-guard plate; Rub′stone, a whetstone: a coarse-grained sandstone used for sharpening instruments.—Rubbed work, work in stone smoothed by rubbing with gritstone; Rub down, to rub from top to bottom; Rub in, to force into the pores of by friction: to reiterate or emphasise; Rub out, to erase; Rub the wrong way, to irritate by opposition; Rub up, to polish: to freshen the memory.

From Project Gutenberg