越描越黑
yuè​miáo​yuè​hēi

to only make matters worse

  • created sense approved 越描越黑 · yuè​miáo​yuè​hēi · to only make matters worse — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    越描越黑

    yuè​miáo​yuè​hēi

    to only make matters worse

    Literally "the more you touch things up, the darker they get"; to make a situation worse by trying to cover up or explain away a mistake

    越 (literal) → 越 · yuè · the more 描 (literal) → 描 · miáo · to touch up 越 (literal) → 越 · yuè · the more 黑 (literal) → 黑 · hēi · black

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense