carry away

make someone so excited or emotional that they lose control

B2

What does "carry sb away" mean?

To get carried away means to become so enthusiastic, excited, or emotional about something that you lose your usual self-control and go further than you intended — spending more money, saying more than you meant to, or doing far more than was necessary. It captures that feeling of being swept along by a wave of excitement or emotion until your better judgement takes a back seat. The key idea is excess: you didn't just enjoy something, you overstepped because of it. This phrasal verb is almost always used in the passive construction 'get carried away' rather than in an active form — you would say 'I got carried away' rather than 'the excitement carried me away'. A degree adverb like 'a bit', 'completely', or 'totally' is very often added to show how far out of control things went, and 'with' can introduce the specific trigger, for example 'carried away with the planning'.

Examples

How to use it

get carried away

The dominant and most natural construction — almost always used without a stated object, with a human subject who loses control due to excitement or emotion.

He got carried away and booked a five-star hotel when they only needed somewhere simple.

get carried away with + noun/gerund

Use 'with' to specify the activity or situation that triggered the loss of control.

We got completely carried away with decorating the office for the party.

degree adverb + carried away

Adverbs like 'a bit', 'completely', 'totally', or 'rather' are very commonly added to show the degree to which someone lost control.

I think I got a bit carried away — I ordered enough food for twice as many people.

don't get carried away / let yourself get carried away

Used in warnings or advice to tell someone not to lose their self-control or to caution against excessive enthusiasm.

Don't get carried away with the budget — we still need to cover the other costs.

be carried away (with + noun)

'Be carried away' is a slightly more formal alternative to 'get carried away', used when describing a state rather than the moment something happened.

She was completely carried away with excitement and forgot to check the time.

Common Collocations

get a bit carried awayget completely carried awaycarried away with excitementcarried away with the momentcarried away with shoppingdon't get carried away

Common Mistakes

Using the active form instead of the passive

In modern English, this meaning is almost always expressed with the passive 'get carried away'. The active form — where something else 'carries you away' — sounds unusual or literary in everyday speech.

✗ The atmosphere carried me away and I spent too much.
✓ I got carried away with the atmosphere and spent too much.
Using 'be' instead of 'get'

'Get carried away' is far more natural than 'be carried away' in everyday English. Using 'was/were carried away' can sound stiff or overly formal in most spoken and informal written contexts.

✗ I was carried away and ordered way too much food.
✓ I got carried away and ordered way too much food.
Confusing it with 'get caught up in'

'Get carried away' means you do or spend too much because enthusiasm overrides your judgement. 'Get caught up in' means you become so absorbed in something that you lose track of time or perspective — the focus is on involvement, not excess.

✗ I got carried away in the details and didn't notice the time passing.
✓ I got caught up in the details and didn't notice the time passing. (OR: I got carried away with the details and went way over schedule.)

Usage

This phrasal verb is almost always used in the passive with 'get' (not 'be'): 'I got carried away' is far more natural than 'I was carried away.' It is equally common in British and American English and suits both spoken and informal written contexts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does 'get carried away' always mean doing something excessive, or can it just describe a strong feeling?

It almost always implies acting excessively, not just feeling something strongly. The key idea is that the emotion or excitement pushed you to do or say more than you should have — for example, spending too much, over-planning, or reacting too strongly. If you only felt intense emotion without acting on it, a different expression would usually be more natural.

Can I say 'I got carried away' without explaining what caused it?

Yes, and this is very common. You can simply say 'I got carried away' and leave it for the listener to understand from context. If you want to specify the cause, you can add 'with' followed by a noun or gerund, such as 'I got carried away with the shopping', but this is optional.

Does 'carry away' have a completely different meaning in some sentences?

Yes — 'carry away' also has a literal meaning of physically moving something from one place to another, as in 'the storm carried away part of the roof.' You can usually tell the difference easily: the literal sense involves a physical object being moved, often by a natural force, while the emotional sense almost always uses 'get carried away' with a human subject and no physical object.

Is 'get carried away' used in both British and American English?

Yes, it is equally common and natural in both varieties. You might notice that British English sometimes uses 'got carried away' with 'have' (as in 'I've got carried away'), while American English might prefer 'I've gotten carried away', but both are perfectly natural and the core expression is the same.

Can I use 'get carried away' to describe something that hasn't happened yet, like a warning about the future?

Yes — 'don't get carried away' and 'try not to get carried away' are very common ways to warn someone about the future. You can also say 'I don't want to get carried away' to express caution about your own enthusiasm. Extended future forms like 'will be getting carried away' or 'will have got carried away' sound unnatural, so it's best to keep future uses to simple forms like these.

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