Chinese word dictionary

火上浇油

huǒ shàng jiāo yóu · to pour oil on the fire (idiom); fig. to aggravate a situation; to enrage people and make matters worse

Practice word

Word information

Simplified火上浇油

Traditional火上澆油

Pinyinhuǒ shàng jiāo yóu

Part of speechDictionary

HSK 3.0Not listed

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

火huǒ

fire

上shàng

above, on top, superior; to go up; to attend; previous

浇jiāo

to spray, to sprinkle, to water

油yóu

oil, fat, grease, lard; oil paints

How to learn 火上浇油

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

火车huǒchē

train; CL:列[lie4],節|节[jie2],班[ban1],趟[tang4]

上shàng

(bound form) up; upper; above; previous; first (of multiple parts); to climb; to get onto; to go up; to attend (class or university); (directional complement) up; (noun suffix) on; above

上班shàngbān

to go to work; to be on duty; to start work; to go to the office

上课shàngkè

to go to class; to attend class; to go to teach a class

上午shàngwǔ

morning; CL:個|个[ge4]

上学shàngxué

to go to school; to attend school