add insult to injury
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add insult to injury
Where it comes from
Derived from the fables of Phaedrus in the first century CE. The story was of a bald man who swats at a fly which has just landed on his head, but instead hits himself on the head. The fly comments, "You wished to kill me for a touch. What will you do to yourself since you have added insult to injury?" (quid facies tibi,
Iniuriae qui addideris contumeliam?) The actual wording appears in English from the middle of the 18th century.
verb adds insult to injury · adding insult to injury · added insult to injury
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To further a loss with mockery or indignity; to worsen an already unfavorable situation.
As if the hostile takeover weren't enough, to add insult to injury they scrapped ninety percent of our products and replaced them with their own.
Similar: heap insult on injury, make matters worse
Translations
Every language
verb to further a loss with mockery or indignity
| Español | echar leña al fuego, para colmo de males, para añadir insulto a la injuria, para añidir afrenta a la lesión |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 설상가상 seolsanggasang, 엎친 데 덮친 격 eopchin de deopchin gyeok |
| 日本語 | 傷口に塩を塗る kizuguchi-ni shio-o nuru |
| 中文 | 雪上加霜 xuěshàngjiāshuāng, 落井下石 luòjǐngxiàshí |
| Português | esfregar sal na ferida |
| Français | ajouter l'injure à l'insulte, pour couronner le tout, comme si ça ne suffisait pas |
| Deutsch | Salz in die Wunde streuen, dem Ganzen die Krone aufsetzen, das Ganze noch schlimmer machen, noch einen draufsetzen |
| Italiano | oltre il danno la beffa, cornuto e mazziato |
| Ελληνικά | όλα του γάμου δύσκολα κι η νύφη γκαστρωμένη óla tou gámou dýskola ki i nýfi gkastroméni |
| Română | a răsuci cuțitul în rană |
| Русский | сы́пать соль на ра́ну sýpatʹ solʹ na ránu |
| Tiếng Việt | đổ thêm dầu vào lửa, xát muối vào vết thương |
| العربية | زَادَ الطِّينَ بِلَّةً zāda ṭ-ṭīna billatan |
| עברית | הוסיף חטא על פשע, הרצחת וגם ירשת |
Talk about this word "add insult to injury." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/add%20insult%20to%20injury. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026. add insult to injury. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/add%20insult%20to%20injury "add insult to injury." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/add%20insult%20to%20injury.Cite this
@misc{add_insult_to_injury_2026,
title = {add insult to injury},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/add%20insult%20to%20injury},
urldate = {2026-11-07}
}
