aʊt əv ðə ˈfraɪɪŋ pæn ˈɪntuː ðə ˈfaɪər
Food & Cooking
neutral
intermediate
- Literally:
- Moving from a frying pan into flames
What does "out of the frying pan into the fire" mean?
- Going from a bad situation to an even worse one
- Escaping one problem only to encounter a bigger problem
Examples
- Leaving that job for this one was out of the frying pan into the fire.
- She went from one bad relationship into another—out of the frying pan into the fire.
- The new solution is out of the frying pan into the fire.
Origin
The image of food jumping from a hot pan into the fire below—escaping heat only to be destroyed by worse heat.
How to use it
Describes making things worse while trying to escape a problem.
Similar expressions
from bad to worse
trading down
no improvement
Opposites
improvement
better situation
Related idioms
- piece of cake
Something very easy to do
- a piece of cake
Something very easy to do
- in a nutshell
In a very brief or concise form
- an apple a day keeps the doctor away
Eating fruit or having a healthy diet helps maintain good health
- bite off more than you can chew
To take on more responsibility or work than one can handle
- don't put all your eggs in one basket
Don't risk everything on a single opportunity
Use it in a practice answer
Try "out of the frying pan into the fire" in a CELPIP-style Speaking or Writing task. The AI feedback tells you whether your word choice worked.