up in arms

Idioms  

1. Angry, rebellious, as in The town was up in arms over the state's plan to allow commercial flights at the air base. This idiom originally referred to an armed rebellion and was so used from the late 1500s. Its figurative use dates from about 1700.

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Example Sentences

U.S. voters aren’t the only ones up in arms about affordability.

From Barron's • Jan. 8, 2026

The rapper’s overhaul of the dwelling saw it reduced to little more than a concrete shell, decimating almost all of Ando’s original design—and leaving design lovers up in arms over its destruction.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 11, 2025

Members of Parliament are up in arms because men they believe spied on them won’t face trial.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025

Their visas were revoked, and critics scoured their past performances for further things to get up in arms about.

From Salon • Jun. 29, 2025

Northern abolitionists like Ralph Waldo Emerson made Brown a martyr, and Southern loyalists got up in arms, quite literally, at the idea that this might be the start of a trend.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson