thick-skinned

Preview（腕試し）

Maria: I expected George to get angry when I told him about all the mistakes he made, but he didn't seem upset at all.

Henry: You know George--he's quite thick-skinned.

　

What does Henry mean? Please guess the best answer.

A. George is not so clever.

B. George does not get angry about criticism.

C. George is is a little overweight.

　

Examples（例文）

This idiom has two different (but closely related) meanings.

1) To be a person who does not get offended easily. (The opposite of sensitive.)

Derrick is rather thick-skinned, so he usually doesn't get upset when people criticize him.

2) To be a person who does not care about the feelings of other people. (A synonym for insensitive.)

Frank doesn't seem to care about any of his co-workers. He is so thick-skinned that he just laughs when he hears about another employee's misfortune.

　

Exercises （練習）

1. Even though his friends laugh at his strange clothes, Jack never gets angry. He might feel hurt if he weren't so ____________ .

A. thick-skinned

B. full-bodied

C. big-headed

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2. This one is easy (and was a Weekly Idiom feature before). What is the opposite of thick-skinned?

A. smooth-skinned

B. silky-skinned

C. thin-skinned