An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are the 25 most common Czech idioms, ranked by how often you will actually meet them, each with its literal translation, real meaning, the closest English idiom where one exists, and an example sentence with an English translation, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Czech idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, držet někomu palce literally means "to hold one's thumbs for someone" but is used to mean to wish someone luck before something important. This free page ranks the 25 most common Czech idioms by how often you meet them, each with its literal translation, meaning, the closest English idiom where one exists, and an example sentence with an English translation.
All 25 idioms, most common first.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of August 2026.
držet někomu palce
Literally to hold one's thumbs for someone
Means to wish someone luck before something important
English idiom to keep one's fingers crossed
Example Zítra mám pohovor, tak mi drž palce.
I have a job interview tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed for me.
Note Czechs squeeze their thumbs inside a fist instead of crossing fingers, and people really do make the gesture.
mít kliku
Literally to have a door handle
Means to be lucky, to get away with something by chance
English idiom to luck out
Example Měl jsi kliku, že tam ten policista zrovna nebyl.
You were lucky that the policeman happened not to be there.
Note Informal but heard everywhere; klika here goes back to German Glück (luck), not to the door handle.
lámat si hlavu
Literally to break one's head
Means to think hard about something puzzling
English idiom to rack one's brains
Example S tou křížovkou jsem si lámal hlavu celý večer.
I racked my brains over that crossword all evening.
mít něčeho plné zuby
Literally to have full teeth of something
Means to be completely fed up with something
English idiom to be fed up to the back teeth
Example Mám těch věčných výmluv plné zuby.
I am fed up with those endless excuses.
Note Informal and blunt, fine with friends but too strong for a formal meeting.
držet jazyk za zuby
Literally to hold one's tongue behind one's teeth
Means to keep quiet and not give something away
English idiom to hold one's tongue
Example O tom překvapení drž jazyk za zuby.
Keep quiet about that surprise.
házet flintu do žita
Literally to throw the shotgun into the rye
Means to give up too soon when things get hard
English idiom to throw in the towel
Example Neházej flintu do žita, ještě to můžeš dokázat.
Don't give up yet, you can still pull it off.
mít hluboko do kapsy
Literally to have deep into the pocket
Means to be short of money
English idiom to be strapped for cash
Example Na konci měsíce mám vždycky hluboko do kapsy.
At the end of the month I am always short of money.
spadl mu kámen ze srdce
Literally a stone fell from his heart
Means to feel huge relief once a worry is over
English idiom a weight off one's mind
Example Když jsme se dozvěděli výsledky testů, spadl mi kámen ze srdce.
When we got the test results, it was a huge weight off my mind.
tahat někoho za nos
Literally to pull someone by the nose
Means to mislead someone, to keep someone believing something untrue
English idiom to string someone along
Example Nevěř mu, jen tě tahá za nos.
Don't believe him, he is just stringing you along.
dělat z komára velblouda
Literally to make a camel out of a mosquito
Means to blow a small problem out of proportion
English idiom to make a mountain out of a molehill
Example Nedělej z komára velblouda, není to tak zlé.
Don't blow it out of proportion, it is not that bad.
chodit kolem horké kaše
Literally to walk around hot porridge
Means to avoid saying the thing that actually matters
English idiom to beat around the bush
Example Řekni mi to rovnou, nechoď kolem horké kaše.
Just tell me straight, stop beating around the bush.
mít máslo na hlavě
Literally to have butter on one's head
Means to be far from innocent yourself, which leaves you in no position to criticize others
Example Neměl by mě kritizovat, sám má máslo na hlavě.
He shouldn't criticize me when he is no better himself.
být za vodou
Literally to be beyond the water
Means to be financially secure with the hard part behind you
English idiom to be sitting pretty
Example Po prodeji firmy je konečně za vodou.
After selling the company he is finally sitting pretty.
mít dlouhé vedení
Literally to have long wiring
Means to be slow to understand things
English idiom to be slow on the uptake
Example Promiň, mám dlouhé vedení, můžeš to zopakovat?
Sorry, I am slow on the uptake, could you say that again?
Note Mildly teasing, safe about yourself but a little insulting about someone else.
házet někomu klacky pod nohy
Literally to throw sticks under someone's feet
Means to deliberately make things difficult for someone
English idiom to put a spoke in someone's wheel
Example Místo aby mi pomohl, házel mi klacky pod nohy.
Instead of helping me, he kept putting obstacles in my way.
nemá to hlavu ani patu
Literally it has neither head nor heel
Means it makes no sense at all, it hangs together badly
English idiom there is neither rhyme nor reason to it
Example Ta jeho výmluva nemá hlavu ani patu.
That excuse of his makes no sense at all.
trefit hřebíček na hlavičku
Literally to hit the little nail on its little head
Means to say exactly the right thing, to name the heart of the matter
English idiom to hit the nail on the head
Example Tím posledním komentářem jsi trefil hřebíček na hlavičku.
With that last comment you hit the nail on the head.
být pro někoho španělská vesnice
Literally to be a Spanish village for someone
Means to be completely incomprehensible to someone
English idiom it's all Greek to me
Example Kvantová fyzika je pro mě španělská vesnice.
Quantum physics is all Greek to me.
vzít nohy na ramena
Literally to take one's legs onto one's shoulders
Means to run away as fast as possible
English idiom to take to one's heels
Example Jakmile uviděl policii, vzal nohy na ramena.
As soon as he saw the police, he took to his heels.
mít o kolečko míň
Literally to have one little wheel fewer
Means to be a bit crazy, to not think quite straight
English idiom to have a screw loose
Example Podle mě má ten chlap o kolečko míň.
If you ask me, that guy has a screw loose.
Note Rude to someone's face, so it is normally used behind their back or as a joke among friends.
koukat jako tele na nová vrata
Literally to stare like a calf at a new gate
Means to look completely baffled and blank
Example Když jsem mu to vysvětlil, koukal jako tele na nová vrata.
When I explained it to him, he just stared at me blankly.
být v rejži
Literally to be in the rice
Means to be in trouble with no easy way out
English idiom to be in a jam
Example Když nám vypadl server, byli jsme v rejži.
When our server went down, we were in real trouble.
Note Colloquial; rejže is a dialect form of rýže (rice).
nechat někoho na holičkách
Literally to leave someone on the unripe fruit
Means to abandon someone who was counting on you
English idiom to leave someone in the lurch
Example Slíbil, že přijede, a pak nás nechal na holičkách.
He promised to come and then left us in the lurch.
Note Holičky is an old word for small unripe fruit that fails to grow; outside this phrase almost nobody uses it.
jednou za uherský rok
Literally once in a Hungarian year
Means very rarely, almost never
English idiom once in a blue moon
Example Do kina se dostanu jednou za uherský rok.
I get to the cinema once in a blue moon.
natáhnout bačkory
Literally to stretch out one's slippers
Means to die
English idiom to kick the bucket
Example Starý soused minulý týden natáhl bačkory.
The old neighbour kicked the bucket last week.
Note Jokey and disrespectful, so avoid it around people who are grieving.
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning is fixed by convention, not built from its words. That is why a word-for-word translation fails: Držet někomu palce comes out as "to hold one's thumbs for someone", which makes no sense until you know it means to wish someone luck before something important.
Learn a few at a time, not a whole list. Pick the ones you keep running into, say them out loud in a real sentence, and you will remember them far longer than by drilling flashcards.
The most reliable way to absorb idioms is to meet them in context, again and again, in things you actually read. Parallel text and audio let you catch an idiom in a real Czech sentence and check what it means without breaking your reading. That is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
Start reading Czech with Lingo7 →
Find Czech books at your level (A1 to C1) →
Not sure of your level? Take the CEFR test (A1-C2) →
The most common Czech idioms, ranked by everyday frequency, start with držet někomu palce, mít kliku, lámat si hlavu, mít něčeho plné zuby, držet jazyk za zuby. Each one means something you could not guess from the words alone, which is exactly why learners have to meet them in context. This page lists 25 of them with meanings and example sentences.
In Czech, "držet někomu palce" translates literally as "to hold one's thumbs for someone", but it actually means to wish someone luck before something important. The closest English idiom is "to keep one's fingers crossed". Example: Zítra mám pohovor, tak mi drž palce. ("I have a job interview tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed for me.")
The Czech equivalent is "držet někomu palce", literally "to hold one's thumbs for someone". Example: Zítra mám pohovor, tak mi drž palce. ("I have a job interview tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed for me.")
In Czech, an idiom is called rčení, and a proverb is přísloví. Czechs call a fixed figurative phrase a rčení (linguists prefer frazém or idiom), while a přísloví is a complete sentence that states a piece of folk wisdom.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Držet někomu palce translates literally as "to hold one's thumbs for someone", yet it means to wish someone luck before something important. Translate word for word and you get nonsense, so idioms have to be learned as whole units.
The fastest way is to meet them in context and reuse them, not to memorize a list. Learn a handful at a time, notice them while reading and listening, and try them in your own sentences. Reading real Czech with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.