gut feeling
An instinct or intuition; an immediate or basic feeling or reaction without a logical rationale.
Don't think too hard about the answers to a personality test; just go with your gut feeling.
ADJ
strong | definite, distinct
nagging, sneaking/sneaky, vague
She had a sneaking feeling that her roommate had eaten her leftover pizza.
glorious, good, great, marvellous, warm, wonderful
There's a wonderful feeling when you finish a difficult project at work.
horrible, nasty, queasy, sick, sinking, terrible, tight, uncomfortable, uneasy
She woke up with a queasy feeling and knew she wouldn't be able to eat breakfast.
guilty | curious, eerie, odd, peculiar, strange
gut, instinctive
I had an instinctive feeling that something was wrong the moment I walked in.
general, popular, public
There's a popular feeling among teenagers that social media is essential for staying connected.
VERB + FEELING
feel, get, have
When I walked into the room, I had a strange feeling that something was wrong.
give sb, leave sb with
The long wait at the airport gave me a frustrating feeling of uncertainty about the flight.
know
When my flight was cancelled, my friend said she knew the feeling because hers was delayed last month.
arouse, evoke, inspire
The movie's ending inspired a bittersweet feeling in everyone who watched it.
FEELING + VERB
come over sb
be mutual
My sister said she was nervous about moving away, and I admitted the feeling was mutual.
PREP
~ about
She asked what I was feeling about the decision, but I wasn't ready to talk.
~ of
She woke up with a feeling of dread about her important exam that morning.
~ on
I'd like to know your feelings on the new restaurant that opened downtown last week.
ADJ
deep, intense, strong
ambivalent, mixed
She felt ambivalent about starting her new job in a different city.
positive, warm | hostile, negative | hurt, injured | inner, innermost, real, true
pent-up
After months of silence, he finally expressed his pent-up feelings about the unfair decision.
personal | religious | sexual
VERB + FEELING
experience, harbour, have, suffer
After the argument, he harboured feelings of guilt for several days.
express, give vent to, release, show, vent
After the argument, she finally vented her frustrations and told him exactly what she thought.
articulate, describe, discuss, talk about
She found it hard to articulate her feelings about leaving her childhood home.
bottle up, hide, mask, repress, suppress
She bottled up her anger for weeks before finally expressing it to her manager.
banish
She tried hard to banish the nervous feeling before her job interview.
hurt
His careless comments really hurt her feelings at the party last night.
spare
I didn't mention the accident to protect his feelings and spare him unnecessary worry.
arouse, engender, evoke, inspire
His unexpected apology evoked mixed feelings among the team members.
heighten
The loud noise from the construction site heightened my feeling of anxiety about the exam.
understand
reciprocate, return
When he finally confessed his love, she was happy to return his feelings.
FEELING + VERB
come into sth
When making business decisions, personal preferences shouldn't come into play.
run high
Emotions ran high in the stadium when the home team scored the winning goal in the final minute.
PREP
~ for
She has always had warm feelings for her grandmother and visits her every week.
~ of
She experienced a sudden feeling of relief when she heard the good news.
~ towards
My grandfather still has some hurt feelings towards his old business partner after their disagreement.
PHRASES
no hard feelings
After the match, the two players shook hands with no hard feelings despite the intense competition.
ADJ
great, wonderful
VERB + FEELING
have
develop
After years of playing guitar, she developed a feeling for the right tempo.
PREP
with ~
He described his childhood memories with feeling, his voice trembling as he spoke.
~ for
He developed a real feeling for jazz music after spending years listening to old records.
VERB + FEELING
have
I have a strange feeling that something important is going to happen today.
PREP
~ for
I have deep feeling for my grandmother, even though we live far apart.
ADJ
bad, ill
VERB + FEELING
cause, create, lead to | stir up
PREP
~ against
There is growing feeling against the new shopping mall in our neighborhood.
~ between
After the argument, there was hard feeling between the neighbors for several months.
VERB + FEELING
lose | regain
PREP
~ in
She complained that she had no feeling in her fingers after sitting in the cold for hours.