beside oneself

Meaning

This expression means to be in an extreme state of emotion, such as grief, anger, worry, or joy, to the point where a person cannot think clearly. It is almost always followed by the preposition 'with' and a noun. It emphasizes that the emotion is overwhelming and hard to control.

Examples

• She was beside herself with grief when her dog passed away.

  She was beside herself with grief when her dog passed away.

• He was beside himself with anger after finding out his car had been keyed.

  He was beside himself with anger after finding out his car had been keyed.

• The parents were beside themselves with worry when their teenager didn't come home.

  The parents were beside themselves with worry when their teenager didn't come home.

• I was beside myself with excitement when I finally got the job offer.

  I was beside myself with excitement when I finally got the job offer.

• They were beside themselves when they heard the devastating news.

  They were beside themselves when they heard the devastating news.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ She was besides herself with joy.

  ✓ She was beside herself with joy.

  'Besides' means 'in addition to' or 'except for'. The correct preposition in this idiom is 'beside' (next to).

• ✗ He was beside himself from worry.

  ✓ He was beside himself with worry.

  The idiom typically uses the preposition 'with' to introduce the emotion, not 'from' or 'by'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• When the little boy got lost in the mall, his mother was ___ with worry.

  💡 Use a form of 'beside oneself'

  Show answer

  beside herself

• He was ___ with anger when he saw the damage to his new laptop.

  💡 Use a form of 'beside oneself'

  Show answer

  beside himself