to reopen old wounds

Examples

• All

• Theramore is simply another victim of the Horde war machine, and the destruction of the city may reopen old wounds that have not yet healed, especially since Theramore is the city that prompts retaliation at last from the Alliance's side.

  Blog text (11)

• - The bureaucrats and the politicians have asked me not to rock the boat, not to roll stones that have gathered moss, not to reopen old wounds, let it be said that there are some dark corners in this great democracy of ours that are afraid of close scrutiny.

  Timebomb (1991)

• These most recent activities only reopened old wounds.

  Academic text (2008)

• The U.S. Civil War reopened old wounds, and an internal war devastated the nation.

  Academic text (2010)

• Who do you think you are to disrupt lives and reopen old wounds?

  The Watcher in the Woods (1980)

• We have all had a chance to heal and move on, but a recent post from Kotaku reopened those old wounds.

  Blog text (5)

• However, I'm not trying to reopen old wounds in order for fights to break out about its many merits and flaws.

  Blog text (10)

• "She repeated what she’d told Alan Protheroe about the letters in the attic and her reluctance to reopen old wounds."

  Fiction book (1996)

• Achebe's new book, There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra, appears to have reopened old wounds and resulted in widespread debate, whether in op-ed columns, on blogs, or on social media.

  Blog text (28)

• His comments about the past only served to reopen old wounds that many had tried to heal.

Synonyms

R

to resurrect

vsto reopen old wounds

42 6.8

Bring something back into use after it was forgotten

concerns reviving past hurts and painful issues rather than neutral restoration

R

to rekindle

vsto reopen old wounds

33 5.1

Make a feeling or interest strong again

is about bringing back painful memories rather than positive renewal

D

to dredge up

vsto reopen old wounds

18 6.2

To mention an unpleasant or forgotten memory from the past

revives painful memories that deeply hurt not just mentions from the past

R

to reinjure

vsto reopen old wounds

6.5

To hurt someone's feelings again by bringing up a past painful event

revives painful past memories reopening feelings that had already begun to heal

R

to rake up old memories

vsto reopen old wounds

• Informal

6.8

Remember past events on purpose, often ones you would rather forget

often reawakens healed pain even when such recall is avoidable

R

to rake over old coals

vsto reopen old wounds

• Informal

8.4

To bring up old arguments or painful memories again

brings back painful issues that were better left healed rather than discussed

S

to stir the embers

vsto reopen old wounds

7.8

To make old feelings or memories strong again

focuses specifically on reviving painful issues that should remain forgotten

Antonyms

F

to forget

∞ 1.0

Not remember something you should remember

M

to move on

670 3.1

To start the next stage or activity and stop focusing on the past

How Painful

to reinjure

2 4.0

to reopen old wounds

• Informal

1 7.4

to bring up

788 2.6

to remind

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology