🇨🇳Chinese Source WordCode: ZH

戳到痛处

Pronunciation / Transliteration: chuō dào tòng chù

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Hit a sore spot/hɪt ə sɔːr spɒt/
verb phraseCEFR B2 (Upper)Top #4500 frequency
Full Thesaurus
🇨🇳 Example Sentence in Chinese:

"我的话似乎戳到了他的痛处。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As verb phrase
  1. 1

    To mention or bring up a sensitive, embarrassing, or painful subject that someone prefers to avoid.

    "When I asked him about his recent job loss, I realized I had hit a sore spot."
  2. 2

    To unintentionally provoke an angry or defensive emotional response by touching upon an insecurity.

    "Her casual joke about budgeting inadvertently hit a sore spot with the frugal manager."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the literal noun 'sore spot' on a physical body, which causes pain when touched, combined with the verb 'hit'. By the 19th century, the idiom metaphorically extended from physical tenderness to emotional vulnerability, describing remarks that provoke sensitive or painful reactions.

Quick Vocabulary Retention Check

Which of the following is the closest synonym for "Hit a sore spot"?

10 Global Lexicons: How "Hit a sore spot" is said worldwide

Click any language below to open its dedicated Language to English dictionary page with native script & transliteration

Thesaurus & Synonyms Graph

Explore Nuanced Synonyms for "Hit a sore spot"

Discover exact matches, context-specific alternatives, and antonyms with intensity ratings in the VocabDictionary Thesaurus.

View "Hit a sore spot" Synonym Map