越演越烈

yuèyǎnyuèliè
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 to intensify; to escalate
  2. 2 to be getting worse and worse
  3. 3 to start to run rampant

Examples

Liǎng guó zhī jiān de màoyìzhàn yuèyǎnyuèliè.
The trade war between the two countries is escalating.
Wǎngshàng de zhēnglùn yuèyǎnyuèliè, yǐjīng chǎo dào le rénshēn gōngjī de dìbù.
The online argument has been escalating, to the point of personal attacks.

Tips

grammar
Pattern: … ('the more X, the more Y'). Here means 'to develop / unfold' (not 'to perform') and means 'intense'. So literally 'the more it develops, the more intense' — used for negative situations spiraling out of control.
mistakes
Often confused with the lookalike 愈演愈烈 (yùyǎnyùliè), which means the same thing — / are interchangeable here. Both forms are widely accepted; 愈演愈烈 is slightly more literary.

Stroke Order

yuè
yǎn
liè