kambing hitam
Literally black goat
Means the person blamed for other people's mistakes
English idiom scapegoat
Example Jangan jadikan saya kambing hitam atas kesalahan tim.
Do not make me the scapegoat for the team's mistake.
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are the 25 most common Indonesian 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 Indonesian idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, kambing hitam literally means "black goat" but is used to mean the person blamed for other people's mistakes. This free page ranks the 25 most common Indonesian 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.
kambing hitam
Literally black goat
Means the person blamed for other people's mistakes
English idiom scapegoat
Example Jangan jadikan saya kambing hitam atas kesalahan tim.
Do not make me the scapegoat for the team's mistake.
keras kepala
Literally hard head
Means stubborn, refusing to listen to anyone
English idiom hard-headed
Example Adiknya keras kepala, dinasihati berkali-kali tetap tidak mau dengar.
His younger brother is stubborn, he has been told many times and still will not listen.
naik daun
Literally rise leaf
Means becoming popular and successful
English idiom a rising star
Example Sejak filmnya sukses, aktor itu semakin naik daun.
Since his film was a hit, that actor has become more and more popular.
kutu buku
Literally book louse
Means someone who is always reading
English idiom bookworm
Example Sejak kecil, dia memang kutu buku.
She has been a bookworm since she was little.
tangan kanan
Literally right hand
Means a person's most trusted helper
English idiom right-hand man
Example Pak Budi adalah tangan kanan direktur di perusahaan ini.
Mr. Budi is the director's right-hand man at this company.
besar kepala
Literally big head
Means arrogant, full of yourself after some success
English idiom big-headed
Example Jangan besar kepala dulu, ini baru kemenangan pertama.
Do not get big-headed yet, this is only our first win.
kepala dingin
Literally cold head
Means calm and clear thinking in a tense situation
English idiom a cool head
Example Kita harus menghadapi masalah ini dengan kepala dingin.
We have to face this problem with a cool head.
cuci tangan
Literally to wash hands
Means to refuse any responsibility for something you were part of
English idiom wash your hands of it
Example Setelah proyek gagal, dia malah cuci tangan.
After the project failed, he just washed his hands of it.
Note The same two words also mean washing your hands literally, so context decides.
banting tulang
Literally to slam bones
Means to work extremely hard, usually to support a family
English idiom work your fingers to the bone
Example Ayahku banting tulang siang malam demi menyekolahkan kami.
My father worked himself to the bone day and night to keep us in school.
gulung tikar
Literally to roll up the mat
Means to go out of business
English idiom go under
Example Banyak restoran gulung tikar selama pandemi.
Many restaurants went under during the pandemic.
buah tangan
Literally fruit of the hand
Means a small gift or souvenir brought back from a trip
Example Aku bawa buah tangan dari Bandung untuk kalian.
I brought you all a little something from Bandung.
Note In casual speech people say oleh-oleh, while buah tangan sounds more polite.
cari muka
Literally to look for face
Means to act nice to a superior only to win their approval
English idiom suck up
Example Dia selalu cari muka di depan atasannya.
He is always sucking up to his boss.
mata duitan
Literally money eyed
Means caring about nothing but money
Example Katanya dia mata duitan, cuma mau dekat dengan orang kaya.
They say she is only after money, she just wants to be around rich people.
Note Always an accusation, never a neutral description, so it stings.
angkat tangan
Literally to raise the hand
Means to give up because something is beyond you
English idiom throw in the towel
Example Soal matematika ini susah sekali, aku angkat tangan.
This math problem is far too hard, I give up.
Note It also means raising your hand literally, so the meaning depends on context.
gigit jari
Literally to bite the finger
Means to end up with nothing after expecting something
English idiom be left empty-handed
Example Tiketnya habis dalam lima menit, jadi kami cuma gigit jari.
The tickets sold out in five minutes, so we were left empty-handed.
anak emas
Literally gold child
Means the clear favorite of a teacher, boss or parent, the one who gets special treatment
Example Dia anak emas manajer, jadi selalu dapat proyek bagus.
He is the manager's favorite, so he always gets the good projects.
buah bibir
Literally fruit of the lips
Means the person or thing everyone is talking about
English idiom the talk of the town
Example Skandal artis itu jadi buah bibir di mana-mana.
That celebrity scandal became the talk of the town.
bermuka dua
Literally to have two faces
Means friendly to your face and against you behind your back
English idiom two-faced
Example Hati-hati dengan dia, orangnya bermuka dua.
Be careful with him, he is two-faced.
bertepuk sebelah tangan
Literally to clap with one hand
Means loving someone who does not love you back
English idiom unrequited love
Example Cintanya bertepuk sebelah tangan karena gadis itu sudah punya pacar.
His love went unreturned because that girl already had a boyfriend.
panjang tangan
Literally long hand
Means in the habit of stealing
English idiom sticky fingers
Example Hati-hati dengan dia, katanya dia panjang tangan.
Be careful with him, they say he has sticky fingers.
Note It accuses someone of stealing, so it is not thrown around lightly.
otak udang
Literally shrimp brain
Means very slow to understand things
English idiom birdbrain
Example Kamu ini otak udang, disuruh belok kiri malah belok kanan.
You are such a birdbrain, you were told to turn left and you turned right.
Note Rude, used only between close friends or in anger.
gali lubang tutup lubang
Literally dig a hole, cover a hole
Means taking on a new debt to pay off an old one
English idiom rob Peter to pay Paul
Example Kalau terus gali lubang tutup lubang, utangmu tidak akan pernah lunas.
If you keep borrowing to cover old debts, you will never pay them off.
mulut manis
Literally sweet mouth
Means smooth, pleasant talk used to win someone over
English idiom sweet talk
Example Jangan mudah percaya pada mulut manis penjual itu.
Do not be so quick to believe that seller's sweet talk.
Note The verb form bermulut manis is just as common.
tebal muka
Literally thick face
Means having no sense of shame
Example Dasar tebal muka, sudah salah masih saja membantah.
What a shameless person, he is in the wrong and still argues back.
Note Not the English thick-skinned, which means able to take criticism. The variant muka tebal is just as common.
meja hijau
Literally green table
Means a court of law
Example Sengketa tanah itu akhirnya diselesaikan di meja hijau.
That land dispute was finally settled in court.
Note Mostly newspaper language, everyday speech uses pengadilan. The verb dimejahijaukan means taken to court.
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: Kambing hitam comes out as "black goat", which makes no sense until you know it means the person blamed for other people's mistakes.
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 Indonesian sentence and check what it means without breaking your reading. That is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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The most common Indonesian idioms, ranked by everyday frequency, start with kambing hitam, keras kepala, naik daun, kutu buku, tangan kanan. 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 Indonesian, "kambing hitam" translates literally as "black goat", but it actually means the person blamed for other people's mistakes. The closest English idiom is "scapegoat". Example: Jangan jadikan saya kambing hitam atas kesalahan tim. ("Do not make me the scapegoat for the team's mistake.")
The Indonesian equivalent is "kambing hitam", literally "black goat". Example: Jangan jadikan saya kambing hitam atas kesalahan tim. ("Do not make me the scapegoat for the team's mistake.")
In Indonesian, an idiom is called ungkapan, and a proverb is peribahasa. An ungkapan (also called idiom) is a short fixed phrase whose meaning cannot be worked out from the separate words, while a peribahasa is a longer traditional saying that carries advice or a moral.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Kambing hitam translates literally as "black goat", yet it means the person blamed for other people's mistakes. 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 Indonesian with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.