Example: He was late and, to add insult to injury, forgot my birthday.
Definition
"To add insult to injury" is an expression used to describe a situation where someone makes a bad or unfortunate circumstance even worse by saying or doing something hurtful or disrespectful.
Translations
echar sal en la herida
zout in de wond strooien
afegir insult a la ferida
ajouter l'insulte à la blessure
noch eins draufsetzen
Etymology
The phrase "to add insult to injury" originated in the 14th century and was popularized in English literature. It literally means making a bad situation worse by adding an insult on top of an injury, emphasizing the compounding of misfortune.
Learn to use this expression actively
"To add insult to injury" appears in the Vocaplus list "English - General - Idioms and Proverbs - (C2) - set 1", containing 106 commonly used expressions.
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