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Glite Dictionary
up to someone's ears in

up to someone's ears in

5 7.7
Very busy with more work than you can handle
  • idiom
  • Informal
: hasta las orejas en
  • She's up to her ears in studying for her final exams and feels overwhelmed.

Examples

Synonyms

engaged
vsup to someone's ears in
126 3.4

Giving full attention to an activity or idea

is more intense, indicating being overwhelmed rather than simply occupied
engrossed
vsup to someone's ears in
14 4.5

Paying all your attention to something because you are very interested

stresses extreme busyness and possible overwhelm rather than focused interest alone
up to your neck
vsup to someone's ears in
  • Informal
4 7.9

Very involved in a difficult situation with too much to do

is about being overwhelmed rather than focusing on hopelessness
up to my neck
vsup to someone's ears in
  • Informal
4 7.6

Very busy with difficult work or problems and almost overwhelmed

talks more about very high busyness and full overwhelm rather than nearing it
up to their necks
vsup to someone's ears in
  • Informal
2 6.7

Very involved in a difficult or serious problem

emphasizes being overwhelmed and very busy more than mere trouble
elbow-deep in
vsup to someone's ears in
  • Informal
1 6.8

Very involved in an activity, often working with your hands

is about extreme busyness and being overwhelmed rather than mere absorption
overbusy
vsup to someone's ears in
1 6.1

So busy with many tasks that you cannot rest or take breaks

adds the idea of excessive busyness but not always deep involvement or overwhelm
up to one's ears
vsup to someone's ears in
  • Informal
6.9

Very busy with work or tasks and feeling overwhelmed

shares the same intense involvement and overwhelming sense
up to one's neck
vsup to someone's ears in
  • Informal
7.9

Being very busy with a lot of difficult work or problems

is more about extreme busyness and being overwhelmed than just difficulty
up to one's neck in alligators
vsup to someone's ears in
  • Informal
9.6

Very busy dealing with many difficult problems

is similar but stresses general extreme busyness rather than only problems
up to (one's) neck
vsup to someone's ears in
  • Informal
6.8

Having too much work or too many problems to deal with

leans more toward extreme busyness and near overwhelm than general burden

Antonyms

idle
60 2.8

Not working or being used

unoccupied
13 3.4

Empty and not used by anyone

How Involved

overstressed
3 5.1
up to someone's ears in
  • Informal
5 7.7
swamped with work
  • Informal
2 4.4
tied up
93 4.0
busy
∞ 1.0
involved
∞ 3.5

Surface Forms

up to someone's ears in positive

Morphology

up + to + someone's + ears + in

The phrase evokes a clear physical image—being covered up to the ears—which metaphorically maps onto being overwhelmed or extremely busy; the constituent words are common, so a learner can often guess the general sense. However the idiomatic prepositional pattern ('up to ... in') and the metaphorical use of 'ears' to mark degree make the exact meaning less strictly compositional, so prior exposure or context is usually needed for full comprehension.

Etymology

Up to someone's ears in may come from the image of someone standing up to their ears in water or mud, with only the top of their head above the surface. That's why it means 'very busy' or 'overwhelmed'.