expression🎓 English idiom

out of the frying pan into the fire

from a bad situation to a worse one

What it means

To go out of the frying pan into the fire means to escape a bad situation only to land in one that is even worse. It's used when an attempt to fix or flee a problem makes things more dangerous or difficult.

Examples

  • He quit his stressful job for one with worse hours, out of the frying pan into the fire.
  • Leaving the storm for that crowded shelter was out of the frying pan into the fire.
  • She left a controlling boss for a chaotic company, truly out of the frying pan into the fire.
  • Switching banks didn't help; it was out of the frying pan into the fire.

Where it comes from

The proverb dates to the 16th century, appearing in the works of Thomas More, and vividly likens a hot pan to a worse fate in the open flames below.

Related idioms

#add insult to injury#hit rock bottom#by the skin of your teeth#the last straw

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