Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

rub salt in someone's wounds

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.58 in modern English

Syllables
rub salt in -some-one's -wounds
IPA
31
Scrabble Score
23
Letters
4
Syllables
14
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To make a painful situation even worse (even with the best of intentions).

Example Sentences

Etymology

From the practice of using salt to inhibit infection of open wounds.

Inflected Forms

rubs salt in someone's wounds (present, singular) rubbing salt in someone's wounds (participle, present) rubbed salt in someone's wounds (participle, past) rubbed salt in someone's wounds (past) rub salt in the wound (alternative)

Questions

What does rub salt in someone's wounds mean?
To make a painful situation even worse (even with the best of intentions).
Where does rub salt in someone's wounds come from?
From the practice of using salt to inhibit infection of open wounds.

How to pronounce rub salt in someone's wounds

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “rub salt in someone's wounds”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “rub salt in someone's wounds”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “rub salt in someone's wounds” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.