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Glite Dictionary
to go to your head

to go to your head

11 7.7
To become too proud because of praise, success, or power
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
: subirse a la cabeza
  • Don't let it go to your head.
  • let it go to your head
  • success can go to your head

Examples

  • Winning the award felt great, but I won't let it go to your head.

  • How do you not let this go to your head, right?

  • Do not let that go to your head, boys!

    Blog text (2)

  • Well, don't let it go to your head, hmm?

    Dead Space: Aftermath (2011)

  • Crow: Don't let flattery go to your head.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • It's all very nice to think you've got a direct line to the celestial sphere, as long as you don't let it go to your head.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • It's important to stay humble and not let success go to your head.

  • After receiving all the praise, he made sure not to let it go to your head.

Synonyms

to go to one's head
vsto go to your head
7.8

To become too proud after praise or success

is the direct informal address form used more often in speech

Antonyms

to stay humble
2 3.6

Keep being modest and not become proud when you do well

groundedness
1 5.9

A calm, steady mind that stays connected to real life

How Proud

to go to your head
  • Informal
11 7.7

Surface Forms

go to your head infinitive
went to your head past
gone to your head past participle
going to your head present participle
goes to your head third person singular

Morphology

go + to + your + head

The phrase uses a metaphorical spatial image (something 'goes to' a person's 'head') so its sense is linked to the literal constituents, but the specific inference that this means 'to become conceited' requires a non-obvious metaphorical mapping. Many languages have comparable expressions (e.g. Spanish 'subirse a la cabeza'), so the connection is partially recoverable but not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure.

Etymology

The idiom go to your head may come from the feeling when a strong drink reaches your head and makes you dizzy or 'drunk'. So if praise or success 'goes to your head' it makes you too proud or 'conceited'.