# gnashing of teeth

idiom · CEFR C1

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/gnashing-of-teeth
Updated: 2026-07-29

## Meaning

Extreme distress, frustration, or anguished complaining.

## Examples

- The new policy caused a lot of gnashing of teeth in the office.
- There was much gnashing of teeth among the fans when the club sold its best player.
- The reorganisation was announced to predictable gnashing of teeth, though within a month the same people who had denounced it loudest were quietly admitting it had solved problems everyone had complained about for years.

## Origin

The phrase belongs to Jesus's warnings about judgment in Matthew's Gospel. The formula weeping and gnashing of teeth appears at Matthew 8:12 and again at 13:42, describing the anguish of those shut out of the kingdom — grinding the teeth being the ancient gesture of rage and torment. Repeated across several of the parables, the image lodged in Christian imagination as the sound of despair, and the King James wording carried it whole into English. Modern usage has softened it considerably. Gnashing of teeth now often names loud but survivable dismay — the outrage and hand-wringing that greet an unpopular decision — usually with a hint of dry amusement at how much fuss is being made.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.