The object of the contribution is the action-type-related, synonymous and antonymous variance of the idioms of the type “in der Klemme sein”, which is thematized against the background of the traditional phraseological and construction-grammatical approaches in phraseology. The idioms are compiled in their macroparadigms and examined with regard to the formation mechanisms (construction patterns/templates) of the action type related variants, synonymous and antonymous pairs. The goal of the paper is to identify the design patterns (construction patterns, templates) present within the macro paradigms. The conceptualizations and descriptive entities of traditional phraseology underlying the paper: micro- and macroparadigms, character fields, model formations/phraseotemplates, synonymous and antonymous pairs, synonymous phraseological series appear compatible with the tools of construction grammar, in particular with the entities of construction and construction pattern and the mechanism of coining. Thanks to the consideration of the language as a whole (language system in its entirety) and the orientation towards cross-level (lexis-syntax-semantics) and at the same time systematic changes, construction grammar provides a favorable theoretical framework for the description of the paradigmatically conditioned variance of idioms.