追い打ちをかける

• 読み: おいうちをかける
• ローマ字: oiuchi wo kakeru
• 漢字の分解: 追 (tsui/o) — pursue, follow; 打 (da/u) — strike, hit; 掛 (ka/kake) — apply, deliver
• 発音: /o.i.ɯ.tɕi.o.ka.ke.ɾɯ/

意味

To deal a further blow; to add insult to injury; to pile on when someone is already down.

A Group 2 (ichidan) idiomatic compound centred on かける (kakeru, to apply/deliver). 追い打ち literally means 'a pursing strike' — attacking an enemy who is already retreating or fallen. The modern figurative sense describes delivering an additional hardship, setback, or criticism to someone already struggling. Used when bad news follows bad news, or when a further problem compounds an existing crisis. The phrase can be used with the nominalised form 追い打ち as a standalone noun.

例文

1. 試合に負けた直後、エースが負傷するという追い打ちをかけるような出来事が起きた。
2. 給料が下がったうえに家賃まで上がるとは、まさに追い打ちをかけられた形だ。
3. 批判が続く中、新たなスキャンダルが追い打ちをかけた。

使い方ガイド

場面: crisis, news, sports, business

トーン: negative

起源と歴史

Military idiom from samurai warfare: 追い打ち refers to the tactic of pursuing and striking a retreating enemy. The figurative extension emerged in the Edo period, applied to any situation where additional misfortune strikes someone already weakened.

文化的背景

時代: Edo–Modern

世代: Adults

社会的背景: Universal