have a fit

Idioms  

1. Also,;; have kittens. Become extremely upset. For example, She'll have a fit when she sees Anne wearing the same dress, or Mom had a conniption fit when she heard about the broken mirror, or Don't take a fit—the car's not really damaged, or Jill was having kittens over the spoiled cake. One can also, as in His dithering about punctuation is enough to give me fits. Fit and fits, along with conniption fit, have been used in hyperbolic expressions to denote a bout of hysterics since the 1830s; throw a fit was first recorded in 1906, and have a fit in 1924; have kittens, alluding to being so upset as to bear kittens, also dates from about 1900.

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Example Sentences

So I continued with my own research, calling someone I was sure would have a fit about the idea: Los Angeles County Hispanic Republican Club President David Hernandez.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

If nothing else, the environmentalists would have a fit!

From Slate • Apr. 1, 2025

Rewrite too much, and Fitzgeraldophiles have a fit.

From New York Times • Jul. 20, 2017

Later he asked detectives: "Can I just say for the scenario - if it was an accident, and if he did have a fit in my place, is that still my fault?"

From BBC • Nov. 23, 2016

“Dada will have a fit when he finds out what you’re doing.”

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer

Related Words

• blow up
• boil over
• erupt
• rampage
• roar
• seethe
• tear