raise someone's hackles
Get someone bristling
To raise someone's hackles is to provoke irritation or defensiveness.
Hackles are the erectile hairs along a dog's neck and back that bristle when the animal feels threatened or aggressive.
The phrase transfers this image to humans: His condescending tone raised her hackles.
Something that raises hackles provokes a defensive or hostile reaction.
- angerIntense hostile emotion
- provocationAct that triggers response
- get under skinAnnoy profoundly and persistently
- frustrationDispleasure from blocked efforts
- push buttonsDeliberately provoke irritation
antagonism · annoyance · ruffle feathers · confrontation · vexation · pet peeve · offense · outrage · irritation · bristle · dander · blood boiling · see red · resentment · hot button issue · sore spot · indignation · clenched fists