变本加厉

變本加厲

biànběnjiālì

idiom #25,479

Meanings

1 to become even worse
2 to go from bad to worse
3 to intensify (negatively)
4 to escalate beyond the original

Characters

change, transform

original, fundamental

Examples

他的坏习惯不但没有改正，反而变本加厉。

Tā de huài xíguàn bùdàn méiyǒu gǎizhèng, fǎn'ér biànběnjiālì.

His bad habits not only didn't improve, they actually got even worse.

霸凌行为一旦不被制止，只会变本加厉。

Bālíng xíngwéi yīdàn bù bèi zhìzhǐ, zhǐ huì biànběnjiālì.

Once bullying is not stopped, it will only escalate further.

他批评她一次，她竟然变本加厉地反击。

Tā pīpíng tā yī cì, tā jìngrán biànběnjiālì de fǎnjī.

He criticized her once, and she retaliated with even greater force.

Tips

usage

变本加厉 is almost always used in a negative sense — a bad behavior or situation that intensifies rather than improving. It implies the original problem was already bad.

Stroke Order

变 biàn

本 běn

加 jiā

厉 lì