step on someone's toes
step on someone's toes verb: to cause someone offense, especially by trying to control something that is under their authority, or interfering in their private affairs.
Verb
step on someone's toes (third-person singular simple present steps on someone's toes, present participle stepping on someone's toes, simple past and past participle stepped on someone's toes)
- To cause someone offense, especially by trying to control something that is under their authority, or interfering in their private affairs.
- I didn't think I'd be stepping on my sister's toes when I told my nephew to sit up straight at the dinner table.
- Synonyms:
- tread on someone's toes
Synonyms of step on someone's toes
Forms of step on someone's toes
| third-person singular present | steps on someone's toes |
|---|---|
| present participle | stepping on someone's toes |
| past participle | stepped on someone's toes |
| past | stepped on someone's toes |
Questions about step on someone's toes
- What does step on someone's toes mean?
- Step on someone's toes means to cause someone offense, especially by trying to control something that is under their authority, or interfering in their private affairs.
- What part of speech is step on someone's toes?
- Step on someone's toes is a verb.
- What is the past tense of step on someone's toes?
- The past tense of step on someone's toes is stepped on someone's toes.
Words near step on someone's toes in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: step on someone's toes (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-step on someone's toes.ogg.
Cite this entry: “step on someone's toes.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/step_on_someone%27s_toes. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.