Meaning
To be confused, anxious, worried, and/or upset (about something).
Examples
I’ve been tied up in knots trying to come up with a good topic for my term paper, but I just can’t think of anything!
James is tied in knots over how to break up with Danielle, but I think he needs to bite the bullet and just do it.
Origin
Synonyms
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What does the idiom ‘be tied (up) in knots’ mean?
The idiom ‘be tied (up) in knots’ means “to deal with a difficult situation without being harmed or damaged”
How do you use ‘be tied (up) in knots’ in a sentence?
Example usage of idiom ‘be tied (up) in knots’: Newspapers have weathered the storm of online information by providing news online themselves.