Chinese word

雪上加霜

Pronunciation

Pinyinxuě shàng jiā shuāng

Meaning

  • idiommake matters worse

Example

工资被裁后，他又病了，真是雪上加霜。gōng zī bèi cái hòu tā yòu bìng le zhēn shì xuě shàng jiā shuāng

After his pay was cut, he got sick too, which really made matters worse.

Illustration for 雪上加霜 (make matters worse)

More examples

接连的坏消息让他的处境雪上加霜。jiē lián de huài xiāo xī ràng tā de chǔ jìng xuě shàng jiā shuāng

One piece of bad news after another made his situation even worse.

Core concept

Trouble piles onto trouble until the whole situation becomes harder to bear.

Common phrases

  • 让雪上加霜ràng xuě shàng jiā shuāng

    make matters worse

  • 使雪上加霜shǐ xuě shàng jiā shuāng

    make matters worse

Similar words

落井下石luò jǐng xià shí: Adding attacks or criticism to another person's hardship pushes that person into greater difficulty.
雪上添霜xuě shàng tiān shuāng: Another bad event is added to existing trouble, deepening the overall difficulty.
火上加油huǒ shàng jiā yóu: Provoking or strengthening a tense situation leads to even worse results.
推波助澜tuī bō zhù lán: Stirring up a situation already gaining momentum makes the problem spread and grow.

Definition in Chinese

形容祸事接二连三，在原有的问题上又添新麻烦，整体情况越来越糟的成语。xíng róng huò shì jiē èr lián sān zài yuán yǒu de wèn tí shàng yòu tiān xīn má fán zhéng tǐ qíng kuàng yuè lái yuè zāo de chéng yǔ

Word origin

In 雪上加霜 (xuěshàngjiāshuāng, "snow with frost added on top"), the ordinary scene of frost settling over snow becomes a compact picture of an additional hardship worsening an earlier one.

Usage tips

  • The phrase carries a strongly negative tone and is most natural when the added problem has real consequences, not when a minor inconvenience merely follows another.

Opposites

  • 雪中送炭xuě zhōng sòng tànoffer timely helpidiom

Word lists with this word