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火上浇油 (huǒ shàng jiāo yóu) — to add fuel to the fire, to aggravate the situation

Definition

A vivid 成语 meaning to worsen a bad or tense situation by one's words or actions. Comparable to 雪上加霜 (one disaster on top of another), but 火上浇油 is deliberate — the speaker actively makes things worse.

idiom
to add fuel to the fireto aggravate the situation

Examples

  • ，火上浇油。
    Tā zhèng zài qì tóu shang, nǐ bié zài shuō huǒ shàng jiāo yóu de huà le.
    He's already furious — don't say anything that would add fuel to the fire.
  • ，火上浇油。
    Fū qī chǎo jià shí, wài rén zuì hǎo bú yào huǒ shàng jiāo yóu.
    When a couple is arguing, outsiders had better not pour oil on the fire.
  • ，火上浇油。
    Tā běn lái jiù hěn jiāo lǜ, nǐ zhè yàng zuò jiǎn zhí shì huǒ shàng jiāo yóu.
    He was already anxious — what you did was simply adding fuel to the fire.

Origin

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

Open 火 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

上 is drawn as a short horizontal line placed above a longer arc, marking a position above that arc.

Open 上 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 澆; 浇 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
堯
堯yáo澆jiāo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 澆 pairs 水 (water) with 堯 as a sound part; the simplified 浇 is a shorthand.

Open 浇 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
由
由yóu油yóu
Same sound today

油 is built from 氵, a water part, and 由, which supplies the sound.

Open 油 →
Appears in
Conflict & AgreementIdioms & Set Phrases

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