cut to the quick

verb2

1. •
   (figurative) To hurt a person deeply, especially emotionally.

   • I was cut to the quick at the idea of having lost the inestimable privilege of listening to the gifted Kurtz. — 1899
2. •
   (figurative) To incisively discuss the underlying sensitive or unpleasant root of a given topic.

   • Alfar's analysis cuts to the quick of the socioeconomic structures that underlie marriage, primogeniture, monarchy, and imperialism. — 2005