添油加醋 — Chinese idiom

Meaning

• (lit.) to add oil and vinegar
• (fig.) to embellish; to exaggerate (a story, a narration etc)

Character by character

• 添tiānto add, to append, to increase, to replenish
• 油yóuoil, fat, grease, lard; oil paints
• 加jiāto add to, to increase, to augment
• 醋cùvinegar; jealousy, envy

Idioms sharing a character

• 如虎添翼 rú hǔ tiān yì
• 添砖加瓦 tiān zhuān jiā wǎ
• 画蛇添足 huà shé tiān zú
• 锦上添花 jǐn shàng tiān huā
• 柴米油盐 chái mǐ yóu yán
• 油光可鉴 yóu guāng kě jiàn
• 油然而生 yóu rán ér shēng
• 油盐不进 yóu yán bù jìn
• 油盐酱醋 yóu yán jiàng cù
• 滚油煎心 gǔn yóu jiān xīn

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3). Retrieved 2026-10-22.