How do you say “Out of the frying pan and into the fire” in Spanish?
The closest natural Spanish equivalent is ir de mal en peor, which literally means “to go from bad to worse”. English speakers use out of the frying pan and into the fire to mean from a bad situation into an even worse one. Broader than the English: the sentence must explain the failed attempt to improve things. Register: neutral. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural Spanish
ir de mal en peor
/iɾ ðe mal em peˈoɾ/
- Literal meaning
- “to go from bad to worse”
- Register
- neutral
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Close equivalent
82 out of 100
What a native Spanish speaker would actually say
“Ir de mal en peor” describes things getting worse. It can also describe a steady decline, so explain which attempted solution caused the new problem.
“Salir de Guatemala y entrar en Guatepeor” keeps the failed-escape idea, but is less common. The wordplay replaces “mala” (bad) with “peor” (worse).
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning3 out of 5
- Tone4 out of 5
- Context4 out of 5
- Literal similarity1 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
What are other ways to say it in Spanish?
salir de Guatemala y entrar en Guatepeor
Literally: “to leave Guatemala and enter “Guate-worse””
An established but less-common expression for escaping one problem only to meet a worse one.
In context
English
We changed landlords to escape the damp flat, but went out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Spanish
Cambiamos de casero para salir del piso húmedo, pero fuimos de mal en peor.
English
She changed jobs, only to go out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Spanish
Cambió de trabajo, pero salió de Guatemala y entró en Guatepeor.
Related expressions
Last updated 2026-09-19