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add insult to injury
Hurt a person's feelings after doing him or her harm; also, make a bad situation worse. For example, Not only did the club refuse him, but it published a list of the rejected applicants—that's adding insult to injury, or The nearest parking space was half a mile away, and then, to add insult to injury, it began to pour: The phrase is an ancient one, even older than its often cited use in the Roman writer Phaedrus's fable of the bald man and the fly. A fly bit the head of a bald man, who, trying to crush it, gave himself a heavy blow. The fly then jeered, “You want to avenge an insect's sting with death; what will you do to yourself, who have added insult to injury?” In English it was first recorded in 1748.
Example Sentences
Ms Potter added: "It's hard enough for people in the creative industry to sustain careers but to be competing with a robotic version of yourself just adds insult to injury."
As a city of immigrants known for caring for its own, this adds insult to injury.
To add insult to injury, our eyes' sensitivity shifts towards the blue end of the spectrum at night.
To add insult to injury, employees of color experience these detriments while receiving substantial backlash.
To add insult to injury, the highly qualified Brown was replaced by Air Force Lt.
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