add insult to injury

Idioms  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

To add insult to injury, Iran’s production has increased thanks to its quota exemption.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026

To add insult to injury: The company announced the layoffs were due to “low performance.”

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

Higher ticket prices only add insult to injury.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026

To add insult to injury, a photo went viral of a Springfield man walking with a goose in his hand, which people twisted into a false narrative.

From Salon • Sep. 23, 2024

To add insult to injury, the FBI claimed in public that their success was due to their own code breakers.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield