thin-skinned

Preview（腕試し）　

Yoshiki: I told Tom that I didn't like his Mickey Mouse tie, and he got really angry.

Rob: Well, Tom is a nice guy, but he can be quite thin-skinned at times.

　

What does Rob mean? Please guess the best answer.

A. Tom is not fat.

B. Tom is too sensitive about criticism.

C. Tom's skin is not thick.

　

Examples（例文）

This idiomatic term means the opposite of thick-skinned. A thin-skinned person is too sensitive to what other people say about him or her and doesn't like to receive criticism.

Jim is so too thin-skinned; he got really angry when I pointed out a few misspelled words in his report.

　

A person who is thick-skinned is the opposite--he or she is not very senstive, especially to other people's feelings or problems.

Kumi tried to tell Kazuaki about her bad day, but he didn't seem to notice at all. He can really be thick-skinned sometimes.

Exercises （練習）

Thin-skinned, thick skinned, or something else? Choose the best answer.

1. Joe complains about his problems a lot, but he doesn't care about the problems of others. He is really ____________ .

A. thick-skinned

B. thin-skinned

C. nice

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2. Jim loves to tell other people how to do things, but he gets very irritated when other people try to show him his mistakes. He is very ____________ .

A. thick-skinned

B. thin-skinned

C. easy-going