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雪上加霜

xuě shàng jiā shuāngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
(idiom) to make matters even worse / to add insult to injury
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-fc2074458f54ff9e. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

雪上加霜 雪上加霜 [xue3 shang4 jia1 shuang1] /(idiom) to make matters even worse/to add insult to injury/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

  • 雪
    xuě

    snow / CL:場|场[cháng] / (literary) to wipe away (a humiliation etc)

    Xuě

    surname Xue

  • 上
    shǎng

    used in 上聲|上声[shǎng shēng]

    shàng

    (bound form) up / upper / above / previous / first (of multiple parts) / to climb / to get onto / to go up / to attend (class or university) / (directional complement) up / (noun suffix) on / above

  • 加
    jiā

    to add / (math.) plus / to increase / to augment / (used before a disyllabic verb, often after an adverb like 不[bù], 大[dà], 稍[shāo] etc, to indicate that the action applies to sth previously mentioned, as in 稍加改良[shāo jiā gǎi liáng] "make some minor improvements to (it)")

    Jiā

    Canada (abbr. for 加拿大[Jiā ná dà]) / surname Jia

  • 霜
    shuāng

    frost / white powder or cream spread over a surface / frosting / (skin) cream

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.