雪上加霜
xuě shàng jiā shuāng
one blow on top of another
Character by character
雪xuě
snow
snow
上shàng
on
on
加jiā
add
add
霜shuāng
frost
frost
Example
丢了工作又生了病,真是雪上加霜。
Losing his job and then falling ill: it's one blow after another.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
Opposite of 锦上添花; for misfortune piled on misfortune.
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