rub salt in the wound
"rub-salt-in-the-wound" is a 17-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rub salt in the wound” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 21
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To aggravate or exacerbate a physical or emotional injury.
Corpus desk
Index EN-rub-salt-in-the-wound · rub salt in the wound · English
rub salt in the wound · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 21 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "R" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rub salt in the wound |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 21 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “rub salt in the wound” in English
Rare enough to double-check
rub salt in the wound is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To aggravate or exacerbate a physical or emotional injury.".
rub salt in the wound doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Derived from the stinging sensation of salt deliberately being rubbed into an open, bleeding wound. The correct English form is rub salt in the wound, spelled R-U-B- -S-A-L-T- -I-N- -T-H-E- -W-O-U-N-D.
Definition
- 1To aggravate or exacerbate a physical or emotional injury.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how rub salt in the wound appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
To rub further salt into the wound, the narrow-gauge locomotives and rolling stock received the new corporate blue livery and double arrows logo.
Etymology
Derived from the stinging sensation of salt deliberately being rubbed into an open, bleeding wound.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.