Subirse por las paredes

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/su·ˈβiɾ·se poɾ las pa·ˈɾe·ðes/

To climb up the walls.

Frequency

ConversationVery common

JournalismOccasional

LiteraryRare

AcademicVery rare

In English

to climb the walls; **to climb the walls**; **to be climbing the walls**; **to be at one's wit's end**; **to be beside oneself**; **to be going crazy**

Meaning

Subirse por las paredes means to be extremely impatient, frustrated, furious or desperate.

Examples

Llevo una semana en casa y ya me estoy subiendo por las paredes.

I've been at home for a week and I'm climbing the walls.

Estaba tan nervioso que se subía por las paredes.

He was so nervous he was climbing the walls.

Mi padre se sube por las paredes cuando hay tráfico.

My father goes crazy whenever there's traffic.

Estamos todos subiéndonos por las paredes esperando los resultados.

We're all climbing the walls waiting for the results.

It describes someone who feels so overwhelmed that they can hardly stay still.

Used when

has to wait much longer than expected
becomes extremely impatient
is very angry
feels trapped or desperate
is unable to remain calm because of stress or frustration

Origin

The expression is based on an exaggerated image of someone reacting like a trapped animal.

A person overwhelmed by frustration or anxiety appears almost ready to climb the walls in an attempt to escape.

The metaphor is so visual that it has become one of the most expressive ways of describing extreme impatience in Spanish.

Cultural note

Although the expression may describe anger, it is even more frequently associated with:

waiting,
boredom,
confinement,
anxiety,
or nervous anticipation.

During the COVID-19 lockdowns, for example, subirse por las paredes became one of the most commonly used idioms in Spain to describe the effects of prolonged confinement.

Did you know?

Spanish has several idioms describing intense emotional states:

Subirse por las paredes → to be climbing the walls.
Estar de los nervios → to be a nervous wreck.
No caber en sí → to be beside oneself (with emotion).
Perder los nervios → to lose one's temper.

Among them, subirse por las paredes is the most visual, suggesting that the person's emotional tension is so great that they can no longer keep still.

For English speakers

Interestingly, English has a very similar idiom:

to be climbing the walls

The meanings are almost identical.

Depending on the context, you may also translate it as:

to be at one's wit's end
to be going crazy
to be beside oneself

Choose the version that best reflects the emotional intensity.