hit/touch a (raw) nerve
C2 to upset someone:
She touched a raw nerve when she mentioned that job he didn't get.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Making people sad, shocked and upset
- aback
- amiss
- appal
- be laughing on the other side of your face idiom
- bite
- burn
- haunt
- horrify
- hurt sb's feelings idiom
- hurtful
- it'll (all) end in tears idiom
- laugh
- mess
- nose
- shake
- tear sb apart
- tear sb's heart out idiom
- torture
- traumatize
- twist/turn the knife (in the wound) idiom
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