add insult to injury
Say it: add IN-sult to IN-juh-ree /ˌæd ˈɪnsʌlt tʊ ˈɪndʒəri/ · idiom
What “add insult to injury” means
Make an already bad situation even worse.
More precisely: To make a bad situation even worse.
Example: “My flight was cancelled, and to add insult to injury, they lost my bag.”
When to use it
In everyday conversation, when another unpleasant thing happens after something has already gone wrong. The tone is annoyed.
Similar words
make matters worse, rub salt in the wound
Where it comes from
From a fable by the Roman writer Phaedrus about a bald man and a fly.
Quick check
A café serves you burnt toast, then charges you extra to replace it. What does that extra charge do?
add insult to injury or rub salt in the wound?
Show the answer
add insult to injury
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