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Synonyms

cut to the quick

Idioms  

  1. Deeply wound or distress, as in His criticism cut her to the quick. This phrase uses the quick in the sense of a vital or a very sensitive part of the body, such as under the fingernails. It also appeared in such older locutions as touched to the quick, for “deeply affected,” and stung to the quick, for “wounded, distressed,” both dating from the early 1500s. The current expression was considered a cliché from about 1850 on.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

When therapists talk to adult clients and conduct surveys, they find that kids hold onto "things like that, that cut to the quick," ruminating over them well into their adolescent and adult years.

From Salon • Jul. 11, 2021

Her words cut to the quick of Maud’s beliefs, the constructions and delusions of a troubled and very lonely young woman.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2021

He has to be realistic and cut to the quick when it comes to solutions.

From Washington Times • Feb. 13, 2018

Jessa’s passionate speech in the second-to-last episode really cut to the quick for me — maybe there’s something redemptive in the hot mess that is Hannah Horvath, even if we can’t see it yet.

From New York Times • Apr. 17, 2016

“Be happy for me,” she says, and I feel cut to the quick.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.