Word.ws English Dictionary

go over someone's head

go over someone's head verb: to take up an issue with another person's boss or other superior rather than beginning or continuing to deal with the original person.

Verb

go over someone's head (third-person singular simple present goes over someone's head, present participle going over someone's head, simple past went over someone's head, past participle gone over someone's head)

  1. (idiomatic) To take up an issue with another person's boss or other superior rather than beginning or continuing to deal with the original person.
    • She went over his head and took her complaint directly to the president of the company.
  2. (idiomatic) To escape someone's comprehension.
    • I listened carefully, but the technical jargon went over my head.

Forms of go over someone's head

third-person singular presentgoes over someone's head
present participlegoing over someone's head
pastwent over someone's head
past participlegone over someone's head

Questions about go over someone's head

What does go over someone's head mean?
Go over someone's head means to take up an issue with another person's boss or other superior rather than beginning or continuing to deal with the original person.
What part of speech is go over someone's head?
Go over someone's head is a verb.
What is the past tense of go over someone's head?
The past tense of go over someone's head is went over someone's head.

Words near go over someone's head in the dictionary

  1. go outside
  2. go over
  3. go over as well as a lead balloon
  4. go over like a lead balloon
  5. go over like a lead zeppelin
  6. go over someone's head
  7. go over to the majority
  8. go overboard
  9. go past
  10. go pear shaped
  11. go pear-shaped

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: go over someone's head (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-go over someone's head.ogg.

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