Dictionary › 火上加油

火上加油

huǒ shàng jiā yóu

4-character word

What 火上加油 means

1. to add oil to the fire (idiom); fig. to aggravate a situation
2. to enrage people and make matters worse

The characters in 火上加油

• 火huǒfire; urgent; ammunition
• 上shàng(bound form) up; upper; above; previous; first (of multiple parts); to climb…
• 加jiāto add; (math) plus; to increase; to augment
• 油yóuoil; fat; grease

Example sentences

• 你现在说这种话，只会火上加油。
  For you to come out and say that kind of thing now would just be pouring oil on the fire.