cut to the quick

Idioms and Phrases

Deeply wound or distress, as in His criticism cut her to the quick . This phrase uses the quick in the sense of a vital or a very sensitive part of the body, such as under the fingernails. It also appeared in such older locutions as touched to the quick , for “deeply affected,” and stung to the quick , for “wounded, distressed,” both dating from the early 1500s. The current expression was considered a cliché from about 1850 on.

Related Words

• annoy
• antagonize
• bother
• chagrin
• disappoint
• disgust
• dissatisfy
• enrage
• exasperate
• frustrate
• gall
• incense
• irk
• irritate
• offend
• perplex
• rile
• upset
• vex