Definition
雪上加霜 is a chengyu meaning 'to make matters even worse' — it describes a situation where a second misfortune follows an existing one, compounding the trouble. It is used exactly like the English idiom 'add insult to injury' and is common in both speech and writing.
idiom
adds insult to injuryto make matters even worse
Examples
- ,,,雪上加霜。Tā zuìjìn yùnqì bù hǎo, xiān shì shēngbìng, yòu yùdào chēhuò, zhēn shì xuě shàng jiā shuāng.He's had bad luck lately — first he got sick, then he was in a car accident. It really adds insult to injury.
- ,雪上加霜,。Nǐ zài zhège shíhòu pīpíng tā, zhǐ huì xuě shàng jiā shuāng, ràng tā gèng nánguò.Criticizing him at this moment will only make matters worse and make him even sadder.
- ,,雪上加霜。Wǒmen běnlái jiù hěn máng, lǎobǎn yòu zēngjiā le xīn rènwù, zhēn shì xuě shàng jiā shuāng.We were already very busy, and then the boss added new tasks — that's truly adding insult to injury.
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