old wound
7
7.4
- noun
:
herida emocional
- And if I were you, I would not open old wounds.
- heal old wounds
- open old wounds
These cycles play on old wounds and create confusion that is hard to work through.
- These cycles play on old wounds and create confusion that is hard to work through.
- Well, listen, we don't need to rehash old wounds.
- Teddy told me that in Greek, nostalgia literally means the pain from an old wound.
- It has to do with the most vulnerable part of yourself being played upon and preyed upon or of old wounds being reactivated.
- And that means that this pathetic ask for forgiveness that he was making of her and their kids plays on these old wounds, trauma bonds and fears.
- Like it's old wounds that we attached to, like new things that happen, man.
- It would be important to to stay in touch, share their share thoughts and insights and compare new and old wounds.
Examples
-
After decades, an old wound was tended to, a formal apology, an admission of guilt and an exoneration of previously blamed victims.
-
People you have liked, still do like, can have agonies you never conceived, fears that haunted them until they escaped all reason and turned to violence, or old wounds so terrible they cannot leave them behind.
Fiction book (1990) -
I guess some old wounds never heal, huh?
-
These cycles play on old wounds and create confusion that is hard to work through.
-
Yet we are healing old wounds and living as one American people, and this shapes our engagement with the world.
Academic text (2008) -
A lot of times it's when we get hurt, it's when like a very old wound gets poked that we go into a defensive mode.
-
But now, instead of helping to heal old wounds, it's threatening to inflame them.
Academic text (2004) -
Ian hated knowing she could still affect him that way, and he hated her, too, for ripping open all the old wounds inside him.
Fiction book (1994) -
I realize that discussing my childhood brings up old wounds that I thought had healed.
-
Talking about the past often opens old wounds that cause unnecessary pain.
Synonyms
171
5.4
A deep hurt to a person's feelings or pride
149
1.0
A feeling of emotional or physical pain
7
5.6
Long-lasting emotional harm from a very upsetting event
5
6.2
Old feelings and problems from the past that still affect how you feel or act
5
5.0
A lasting hurt in your feelings after a very upsetting event
3
6.3
A deep hurt inside that stays after a painful event
Antonyms
How Painful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'old' (long-standing) modifies 'wound' (a hurt, physical or emotional), so 'old wound' will be understood as a long-standing hurt. This adjective+noun combination and the metaphorical extension to emotional pain are common and predictable across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the intended sense.
Etymology
Old wound comes from the picture of a real wound that healed but left a sore spot that hurts if you touch it again. So old wound is used for a 'past emotional hurt' that still causes pain when it is remembered.