4. 100 Top Action Verbs for Challenging Situations and Difficult Moments, Calumny, Comebacks, or When You Just Want to Get in the Last Word
Abase
(1) belittle; cause to feel shame; degrade; demean; humble; humiliate; lose esteem or self-worth; subjugate
(2) lower in grade or rank or prestige
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Islam, too, favors self-effacement. ‘Whoever humbles himself for the sake of Allah,’ Mohammed teaches, ‘Allah will exalt him and enhance his honor and dignity.’ Christianity is the supreme champion of humility. St. Bernard defined it as ‘a virtue by which, knowing ourselves as we truly are, we abase ourselves.’ Thomas Aquinas adds: ‘The virtue of humility consists in keeping oneself within one’s own bounds, not reaching out to things above one, but submitting to one’s superior.’”
—Farrell, Michael J. “Humility: What’s in It for Me?,” U.S. Catholic, Volume 72, Issue 9, September 2007.
Collocates to: biofuels, himself, ourselves, themselves, worth
Abash
(1) chagrin; daunt; deflate; disconcert; embarrass; faze; humble; humiliate; make ill at ease or ashamed; mortify; rattle; shame
(1) “Abash’d the Devil stood, And felt how awful goodness is, and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely.”
—John Milton, English poet, historian, and scholar (1608–1674)
Abhor
(1) be repulsed by; be revolted by; despise; detest; dislike; hate; loathe; shrink from; view with horror
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) American patriots abhor the thought that elected representatives of our government would suggest or infer that there should be legislation to alter the first and second amendments.
(1) We abhor the thought of selling our 200-year-old family business.
(1) “‘Could you please not scream at the officials?’ my daughter would plead. My son, braver, shouted back at me from the basketball court: ‘I am hustling! Leave me alone!’ I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. They were the ones playing, but I was the one caring. I’ve read the same news stories you have, about the T-ball coach who paid a player to bean a subpar teammate, the parents who have done even worse. I clucked my tongue along with you. I abhor the emphasis America places on winning. I know what matters isn’t the score but how you play the game. And yet... There’s a fire that flares up in me when opponents square off. It doesn’t matter what they’re playing, or at what level-competition makes me come alive. (‘My wife will watch any sport with me on television,’ my husband once told an envious colleague. ‘Even soccer.’) I don’t know how I got this way.”
—Hingston, Sandy. “Confessions of an Ugly Sports Mom,” Prevention, Volume 59, Issue 11, November 2007: pg. 75.
Abstain
(1) deny; desist; do without; give up; go without; refrain; refuse to partake; sit on the fence; withdraw; withhold
—Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President (1609–1865)
(1) “The people are the best guardians of their own rights and it is the duty of their executive to abstain from interfering in or thwarting the sacred exercise of the lawmaking functions of their government.”
—William Henry Harrison, 9th U.S. President (1773–1841)
(1) “The companies that tried to keep pace by launching mergers of their own not only failed to usurp the leader Ericsson but also found themselves under assault by the only player that abstained from the M&A frenzy: the Chinese company Huawei.”
—Keil, Thomas and Tomi Laamanen. “When Rivals Merge, Think Before You Follow Suit,” Harvard Business Review, December 2011: pg. 25.
Collocates to: alcohol, food, intentions, marriage, relations, sex, vote
Accost
(1) approach and speak to someone aggressively
(2) solicit for sex
(3) buttonhole; greet; hail; salute
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Byrnes went 2-for-3 and drove in the winning run against USC later in the day, and the L.A. Times’ headline read, ‘Byrnes KOs intruder, then SC.’ Byrnes spent this past winter in the Dominican Republic. He was immensely popular, earning the nickname ‘Captain America,’ and he was named MVP of the league after hitting .345 with 11 homers and 37 RBIs. But he also saw the lawless side of the island, where angry fans sometimes accost players in the dugout.”
—Slusser, Susan. “Byrnes Burns for Big-League Job: A’s Are Giving Outfielder His Shot This Season,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 17, 2002: pg. B9.
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Alex knew how passionate and agitated the crowd was, so rather than acerbate them further, he tempered his remarks.
(1) His child-like actions acerbate his fellow classmates and make it hard to carry on a meaningful conversation.
Admonish
(1) caution; chide; give a warning; rebuke; reprimand; reprove; scold gently; tell off; warn
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Many people do not believe it is the federal government’s role to admonish citizens for acts of personal behavior affecting no other person.
Collocates to: correct, judge, jury, senator, sternly, them, wake
Adulterate
(1) contaminate; make impure
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “‘Some importers are adulterating tequila, and they’re doing great damage to our image,’ said Jose Luis Gonzalez, president of the Tequila Regulatory Council, which governs the industry. The vast majority of imported mixto is by established companies like Cuervo and Sauza, and we have no doubt that their product is genuine. But some of the others adulterate it and even use silly, offensive brand names that make Mexico look ridiculous.”
—Collier, Robert, Chronicle Staff Writer, “Tequila Temptation,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 19, 1997: pg. 1/Z1.
(1) “The test of friendship is assistance in adversity, and that too, unconditional assistance. Cooperation which needs consideration is a commercial contract and not friendship. Conditional co-operation is like adulterated cement which does not bind.”
—Mohandas Gandhi, Indian, preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India (1869–1948)
Adumbrate
(1) foreshadow; give a general description of something but not the details; prefigure; obscure; overshadow; predict; presage; summary
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) The global political troubles adumbrated an eventual world—wide economic recession.
(1) It is never good for a manager to adumbrate news of a partial layoff to just a few employees.
Affect
(1) change; concern; have an effect on; impact; impinge on; impress; influence; move; shape; strike; sway; touch
(2) distress; disturb; move; touch; upset
(3) assume; fake; imitate; pretend or have; put on
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) How various countries attract or discourage import and export operations affects the way American firms structure their global operations.
(1) “Being fit matters...New research suggests that a few extra pounds or a slightly larger waistline affects an executive’s perceived leadership ability as well as stamina on the job.”
—Kwoh, Leslie. “Marketing,” Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2013: pg. B1.
Collocates to: adversely, does, factor, how, negatively, performance, positive
Allege
(1) assert without proof; claim; cite as an authority; excuse; offer as a plea
(1) “‘We need a healthy dose of real competition,’ says John Anderson, president of the Electricity Consumers Resource Council. ‘We were deregulation’s first supporters. But all we’ve really done is go from one regulatory structure to a new one that is less customer-friendly.’ He and other critics also allege that a key negative feature in each market is ‘market power’—an oligopoly situation that may be allowing generating companies to whipsaw prices upward.”
—Clayton, Mark. “In Deregulation of Electric Markets, a Consumer Pinch,” Christian Science Monitor, April 25, 2006.
Collocates to: authorities, courts, critics, defendants, documents, officials, lawsuits, plaintiffs, police, prosecutors
Arrogate
(1) ascribe; assume; claim as own; take power that is not yours
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) I won’t arrogate to teach you about life.
(1) He is the type of man who will arrogate, assume, and ascribe such powers to himself.
Back down
(1) back off; bow out; give up; pull out; retreat from a position; surrender
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Don’t back down just to keep the peace. Standing up for your beliefs builds self-confidence and self-esteem.”
—Oprah Winfrey, American television personality, actress, and producer (1954–)
(1) “You are a coward when you even seem to have backed down from a thing you openly set out to do.”
—Mark Twain, American humorist, writer, and lecturer (1835–1910)
(1) “Officials tend to back down when the people get their backs up.”
—Unknown
Back out
(1) abandon; ; back off; back pedalbail out; cancel or renege on an arrangement; leave; pull back; retreat
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “When in doubt, back out on a technicality.”
—Walter Shapiro, American columnist
Bafflegab
(1) double-talk; gibberish talk; speak in an ambiguous or incomprehensible way; song and dance; speak tap dance around a straight answer; speak gobbledygook; use puffery
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) The Play, “Death of a Salesman” could have easily been subtitled “the end of one man’s bafflegab.”
Belie
(1) disprove; to give false impression or to contradict
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) The small, unassuming building belied the global Internet business that was taking place inside.
(1) “Man is a creature of hope and invention, both of which belie the idea that things cannot be changed.”
—Tom Clancy, American novelist (1947–)
(1) “Our very hopes belied our fears, our fears our hopes belied, we thought her dying when she slept, and sleeping when she died!”
—Thomas Hood, English poet and humorist (1799–1845)
Collocates to: fact, image, notion, numbers, seem, words
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) In spite of the toughest gun laws in the U.S., Chicago is beset by more gun violence than any other American city.
Collocates to: by, delays, economy, financial, injuries, internal, problems, troubles
Besmirch
(1) attack someone; blacken; cast aspersions on; charge falsely or with malicious intent; damage; defame; slander; sully; taint; tarnish
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Since being fired, he has been busy besmirching his former boss.
(1) Because of the ubiquity of social media, it is much easier to besmirch someone and not be held accountable.
(1) He besmirched her reputation with lies and untruths.
(1) “Men are nicotine-soaked, beer-besmirched, whiskey-greased, red-eyed devils.”
—Carrie Nation, American temperance activist (1848–1911)
Collocates to: anything, man, name, otherwise, reputation, would
Blandish
(1) coax; cajole; induce or persuade by gentle flattery; influence
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) A leader most likely would not attempt to blandish a follower into accepting his point of view but rather resort to the use of influence.
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “John Nance Garner, FDR’s first vice president, famously said ‘the job of second-in-command wasn’t worth a warm bucket of spit.’ Well, that’s not exactly what Garner said, but in an era before hot microphones, newspapermen were kind enough to bowdlerize it for him.”
—Mark Hemingway, American writer for The Washington Examiner
Bullyrag
(1) dominate; force into agreement or compliance; intimidate
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) This was the kind of neighborhood in which it was standard practice for young teens to be bullyragged into joining a street gang.
Cadge
(1) ask; beg; get away with; rob; sneak; sponge by imposing on another’s good nature; steal; take
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) If people were not in such a good mood during the Christmas season, cadging by many charities would not be so successful.
Collocates to: drinks, food, free, from, lift, try
Calumniate
(1) utter maliciously false statements, charges, or imputations; slander; traduce
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “I am not to order the natural sympathies of my own breast, and of every honest breast to wait until the tales and all the anecdotes of the coffeehouses of Paris and of the dissenting meeting houses of London are scoured of all the slander of those who calumniate persons, that afterwards they may murder them with impunity. I know nothing of your Story of Messalina. What, are not high rank, great splendour of descent, great personal elegance and outward accomplishments ingredients of moment in forming the interest we take in the misfortunes of men?”
—Bromwich, David. “The Context of Burke’s Reflections,” Social Research, Volume 58, Issue 2, Summer 1991: pg. 313–354.
Collocates to: afterwards, person, slander, that, those, who
Capitulate
(1) acquiesce; cede; give in; give up; give way; relent; submit; surrender; yield
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) When the company brought in nonunion workers, the union capitulated and went back to work without a new contract.
(1) The union bargaining team was forced to capitulate on the pension issue.
(1) “I will be conquered; I will not capitulate.”
—Samuel Johnson, English poet, critic, and writer (1709–1784)
(1) Today, successful selling should produce a win-win outcome, not one in which the buyer feels like she had to capitulate.
Card stack
(1) load an argument with evidence for one side while suppressing evidence to the contrary
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Card stacking can be a tool of advocacy groups or of those groups with specific agendas to manipulate perception of an issue by emphasizing the groups’ beliefs over the opposition, over fact-based information, even over reality.
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) He cast back to his Scottish heritage for themes in his poetry.
Castigate
(1) call down; chastise; criticize; punish; reprimand severely
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) The consumer advocacy group castigated the online firm for not protecting the privacy of the customer database.
(1) Sometimes the political left will castigate the fundamentals of the free market concept.
(1) “You are quick to castigate those who dare to heap verbal or visual abuse upon liberals and the socialistic programs The Chronicle’s editorial policies endorse, but fail to acknowledge the one-sided news reporting and total unfairness in maligning 3.4 million NRA members, 60 to 100 million American gun owners, and most members of Congress, as something less than loyal Americans and patriotic citizens.”
—Letters to the editor, San Francisco Chronicle, May 17, 1995.
Collocates to: critics, female, find, publically, quick, those, unemployed
Caterwaul
(1) brawl; make a loud wailing noise; protest or complain nosily; quarrel noisily
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) In many cultures, people caterwaul to demonstrate their unhappiness with government policies.
(1) The attendees at the music festival caterwauled for hours when the main attraction cancelled.
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) The lawyers never caviled throughout the entire proceedings.
(1) “Bluster, sputter, question, cavil; but be sure your argument be intricate enough to confound the court.”
—William Wycherley, English dramatist of the Restoration Period (1640–1715)
Challenge
(1) brave; call something into question; confront; dare; defy; face up to; invite to compete; stimulate intellect; take exception to; test; throw down the gauntlet
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Support and challenge clients to examine life-work roles, including the balance of work, leisure, family, and community in their careers.”
—National Career Development Association Career Counseling Competencies “Minimum Competencies, Individual and Group Counseling Skills,” (Revised Version, http://ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/37798/_self/layout_ccmsearch/true, December 14, 2012.)
(1) Anyone serving as a manager or team leader faces a challenging and complicated job that just gets more complex and difficult as time goes on.
(1) “Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.”
—General George Patton, American General World Wars I and II (1885–1945)
(1) “The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution.”
—Bertrand Russell, English logician and philosopher (1872–1970)
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “A few progressive companies have been able to coax better performance from their teams by treating their sales force like a portfolio of investments that require different levels and kinds of attention.”
—Steenburgh, Thomas and Michael Ahearne. “Motivating Salespeople: What Really Works,” Harvard Business Review, July–August 2012: pg. 71.
(1) “Happiness is like a cat. If you try to coax it or call it, it will avoid you. It will never come. But if you pay no attention to it and go about your business, you’ll find it rubbing up against your legs and jumping into your lap.”
—William Bennett. American author and politician (1943–)
Coerce
(1) bully; compel; dominate; drive; force; intimidate; persuade; pressurize
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) In the eyes of the anti-war movement of the 1960s, the military draft coerced men against their will to serve in the military.
(1) “A woman simply is, but a man must become. Masculinity is risky and elusive. It is achieved by a revolt from woman, and it is confirmed only by other men. Manhood coerced into sensitivity is no manhood at all.”
—Camille Paglia, American author, teacher, and social critic (1947–)
Comprise
(1) compose; comprehend; consist of; constitute; include; make up
—Paul Weyrich, American conservative political activist and commentator (1942–2008)
(1) “Remember, that of all the elements that comprise a human being, the most important, the most essential, the one that will sustain, transcend, overcome, and vanquish obstacles is—Spirit!”
—Buddy Ebsen, American character actor and dancer (1908–2003)
Confiscate
(1) forfeit; impound; seize; take
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Many second amendment advocates believe that periodic legislative attempts at gun control are nothing more than thinly veiled attempts to confiscate private weapons.
Conflagrate
(1) enflame; enkindle; ignite; kindle; start to burn
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “In fact, she was the one who got him the job with Janus. And he’s the one who’s supposed to investigate this. Dammit. By the time Rebecca arrived at the refinery, the automatic fire-suppression systems had dealt with the resultant conflagration—which barely had a chance to conflagrate. The different section chiefs started reporting in that their sections were okay, with the obvious exception of Yinnik regarding the refinery. One of T’Lis’s assistants said the computer core was fine.”
—DeCandido, Keith R. A. A Singular Destiny, NY: Pocket Books Edition: 1st Pocket Books paperback ed., 2009.
Confute
(1) prove to be false; refute
(2) make useless
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Certain terms referring to emotion do not translate across cultures. ‘They have a word for it that we lack.’ Or, ‘they’ use a word that seems to mean something like our word, but just don’t apply it in the same way. English lacks a clear translation for the Malaysian term marah—a word that to English speakers seems to confute anger and envy.”
—Eaton, Marcia Muelder. “Instilling Aesthetic Values,” Arts Education Policy Review, Volume 95, Issue 2, November/December 1993: pg. 30.
Connive
(1) avoid noticing something; cooperate secretly or have a secret understanding; encounter or assent to an illegal or criminal act; form intrigue in an underhanded manner; pretend ignorance or fail to take action; look the other way; plot a secret plan
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “God cannot alter the past; that is why he is obliged to connive at the existence of historians.”
—Samuel Butler, British author (1835–1902)
Connote
(1) imply meanings or ideas beyond the explicit meaning; suggest or convey a meaning
(2) involve as a condition or accompaniment
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Hal Rothman explained how Las Vegas was built on industries of vice by offering visitors something they could not have at home, and it thus took on the label of ‘Sin City.’ Las Vegas, he wrote, ‘is a code for self-indulgence and sanctioned deviance’ (2002, xviii). Indeed, ‘vice’ is common in the local vernacular in reference to the activities for which the city is known. Of course, ‘vice’ and ‘sin’ connote different things to different religions and cultures.”
—Rowley, Rex. “Religion in Sin City,” Geographical Review, Volume 102, Issue 1, January 2012: pg. 76–92.
Collocates to: came, differently, does, names, necessarily, status, term, uses
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “But if we had to trade with a Europe dominated by the present German trade policies, we might have to change our methods to some totalitarian form. This is a prospect that any lover of democracy must view with consternation.”
—Wendell Willkie, corporate lawyer and politician (1882–1944)
Contradistinguish
(1) contrast; reveal differences; show disparity
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “These are our complex ideas of soul and body, as contradistinguished.”
—John Locke, English philosopher and physician (1632–1704)
Contravene
(1) be in breach of; breach; break; contradict; deny; disobey; disregard; flout; violate
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Sometimes it leads me even to hesitate whether I am strictly correct in my idea that all men are born to equal rights, for their conduct seems to me to contravene the doctrine.”
—Benjamin F. Wade, American lawyer and United States Senator (1800–1878)
(1) “Yates has denied wrongdoing and said that, with the benefit of hindsight, he would have reopened an inquiry into electronic eavesdropping of voicemail messages. After the hearing, Rupert Murdoch sent News International staff an email saying that the company has taken responsibility, and that the allegations ‘directly contravene our codes of conduct and do not reflect the actions and beliefs of our many employees.’”
—Dodds, Paisley. “Murdoch Rejects Blame for Hack Scandal at Hearing,” Associated Press, July 20, 2011.
Convolute
(1) coil; draw out; make complex
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “And how many models and actresses do you see on magazine covers who have brand-new faces and have had plastic surgery, while I myself have never had any plastic surgery? I am an artist, and I have the ability and the free will to choose the way the world will envision me. ‘But can she acknowledge that some people will misinterpret a woman putting horns on her face?’ Trust me, I know that. I think a lot of people love to convolute what everyone else does in order to disempower women.”
—Blasberg, Derek. “Going Gaga,” Harper’s Bazaar, May 2011.
Countervail
(1) avail against; balance; compensate; equalize; make up for
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “In doctrinal form, this is known as the universal destination of goods, which fixes a social mortgage or claim on all property, tangible or intellectual. It is not collectivism, which has never produced enough wealth to distribute. Universal destination calls, rather, for a broader view of wealth and a robust array of forces and institutions to countervail pure capitalism. The anti-debt crusade, which seemed almost utopian a few years ago, has given us a useful sketch of that new global vision.”
—Bole, William. “Forgiving Their Debts,” America, Volume 182, Issue 10, March 2000: pg. 17.
Cross the Rubicon
(1) decision that cannot be reversed; die is cast; no turning back; pass a point of no return; take the plunge
(1) “A great statesman crosses the Rubicon without considering the depth of the river. Once he or she declares to cross it, they must face any challenges and risks during the journey. Fretting on the shore won’t make the dangers go away.”
—“North Korean Negotiating Behavior: A Cultural Approach,” East Asian Review, Volume 15, No. 2, Summer 2003, pg. 87–104.
Curtail
(1) abridge; cut short; make less; scale back; shorten
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Many school districts have had to curtail the non-core classes and add that time to science and math courses.
(1) We were forced to curtail the grand opening celebration due to power failure.
(1) “The budget should be balanced. Public debt should be reduced. The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered, and assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest Rome become bankrupt.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero, ancient Roman lawyer, writer, scholar, orator, and statesman (106 BC–43 BC)
Daunt
(1) deprive of courage or power to act out of fear or anxiety; intimidate; make fearful; to dismay
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) For many college freshmen, the sheer size of the campus is the most daunting thing about college.
(1) The goals presented by the executive committee were daunting.
(1) “Do not doubt a woman’s power to aid; no toil can daunt a pure affection.”
—Silius Italicus, Roman council and poet (ca. 28–ca. 103)
Collocates to: did, does, even, may, others, would
Debase
(1) adulterate; bastardize; contaminate; corrupt; debauch; defame; degrade; demean; deprave; downgrade; pervert; ruin in character or quality; vitiate
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “With enough ‘bad apples’ in the system, judges may develop a grudging attitude towards all prisoner claims. Indeed, as some scholars have admonished, overextension of constitutional protection may dilute and thus debase constitutional values.”
—Juceam, Daniel. “Recent Developments,” Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Volume 21, Issue 1, Fall 1997: pg. 251.
Collocates to: currency, demean, dilute further, myself, our, tended, threaten, values
Debauch
(1) corrupt; debase; degrade; deprave; lead astray morally; lower in character; ruin
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency.”
—Vladimir Lenin, Russian communist revolutionary, politician, and political theorist (1870–1924)
Decimate
(1) annihilate; destroy; devastate; great destruction or harm on a tenth; select by lot to harm or kill a tenth; vacate
(1) Hurricane Sandy decimated the New Jersey coastal communities.
Deep six
(1) dump; hide or destroy evidence; reject something
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) With the advent of the Internet, it has become much harder to hide white-collar crime by deep sixing evidence.
(1) When the U.S. Marshalls arrived, the accountants tried to deep six the books.
Defy
(1) challenge; confront; dare; disobey; disregard; dissent; face front; flout; hurl defiance; mutiny; out dare; rebel; resist; revolt; rise up; stand up to
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “You must not fear death, my lads; defy him, and you drive him into the enemy’s ranks.”
—Napoleon Bonaparte, French general, politician, and emperor (1769–1821)
Deign
(1) condescend; lower oneself; unsuitable role for one’s position
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) She would not deign to discuss the matter in a public forum.
(1) “Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes, and pause awhile from learning to be wise. There mark what ills the scholar’s life assail—toil, envy, want, the patron, and the jail.”
—Samuel Johnson, English writer (1709–1784)
Collocates to: answer, did, does, even, give, look, notice, themselves, would
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) The audience denigrated the speaker with shouts and insults.
(1) Our current elected representatives have been denigrating the concept of the public servant conceived by the founding fathers.
Deplete
(1) consume; eat up; exhaust; use up completely; wipe out
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Time and health are two precious assets that we don’t recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted.”
—Denis Waitley, American motivational speaker, writer, and consultant (1933–)
Collocates to: layer, protocol, resources, substances
Depreciate
(1) belittle; derogate; disparage; lower the value of
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Today people who hold cash equivalents feel comfortable. They shouldn’t. They have opted for a terrible long-term asset, one that pays virtually nothing and is certain to depreciate in value.”
—Warren Buffet, American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist (1930–)
(1) “Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.”
—Frederick Douglass, American social reformer, orator, writer, and statesman (1818–1895)
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) He managed to derail the proposed merger.
(1) “I put less stock in others’ opinions than my own. No one else’s opinions could derail me.”
—Judd Nelson, American actor, screenwriter, and producer (1959–)
Disabuse
(1) correct; enlighten; free one from an incorrect assumption or belief
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Our foreign policy must come from the strength to disabuse despots and dictators of allusions of grandeur at the expense of peace.
Disavow
(1) deny knowledge or approval of; disassociate; disclaim; disown; recant; refuse to acknowledge or accept; reject; renounce; repudiate; turn your back on; wash one’s hands of
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) The board of directors disavowed the actions of the CEO.
(1) “One may disavow and disclaim vices that surprise us, and whereto our passions transport us; but those which by long habits are rooted in a strong and powerful will are not subject to contradiction. Repentance is but a denying of our will, and an opposition of our fantasies.”
—Michel Eyquem De Montmainge, French Renaissance writer (1533–1592)
Discombobulate
(1) confuse; disconcert; disrupt thinking; upset the composure
(1) Trying to make the best choice for a college can be discombobulating because there are so many excellent options.
(1) Too many fancy words will just discombobulate simple people.
(1) The frenzied pace of commodities trading can leave one discombobulated.
Disparage
(1) belittle; criticize; demean; denigrate; deride; laugh at; lower in esteem or discredit; mock; pour scorn on; ridicule; run down; slight; sneer; think of something or someone as small or insignificant; underestimate; vilify
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “When men are full of envy, they disparage everything, whether it be good or bad.”
—Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Roman senator and a historian of the Roman Empire (56–117 AD)
(1) “But the disparaging of those we love always alienates us from them to some extent. We must not touch our idols; the gilt comes off in our hands.”
—Gustave Flaubert, French writer (1821–1880)
Dissipate
(1) blow; disappear; disintegrate; dissolve; fade; fritter away; spread out; thin out; throw away; waste
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Beware of dissipating your powers; strive constantly to concentrate them. Genius thinks it can do whatever it sees others doing, but it is sure to repent every ill-judged outlay.”
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German playwright, poet, novelist, and dramatist (1749–1832)
(1) “To penetrate and dissipate these clouds of darkness, the general mind must be strengthened by education.”
—Thomas Jefferson, American founding father, 3rd U.S. President (1743–1826)
Dither
(1) falter; flap; fuss; hesitate; shiver; shutter; tizzy; wait
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Practice easing your way along. Don’t get het up or in a dither. Do your best; take it as it comes. You can handle anything if you think you can. Just keep your cool and your sense of humor.”
—Smiley Blanton, American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (1882–1966)
Do a one-eighty
(1) to radically reverse one’s decision, ideas, or opinions; to turn around and go in the opposite direction
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) He did a one-eighty in his political beliefs when he grew a little older.
Don’t fly too close to the sun
(1) don’t become over exuberant; don’t become self-centered; don’t get carried away with success; don’t try to be more than you are
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Because of our arrogance that our technology can solve almost any problem, we are deaf to the warnings of “don’t fly too close to the sun,” and we could initiate our own destruction.
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Being a POW will enervate the best man, and repatriation requires a long recuperation.
(1) “Reformers sought to strengthen certain measures while their opponents sought to repeal or enervate some provisions of the 1985 Defense Authorization Act. This fight became part of the work on defense authorization in 1986.”
—Wirls, Daniel. “Congress and the Politics of Military Reform,” Armed Forces & Society, Transaction Publishers, Volume 17, Issue 4, Summer 1991: pg. 487–512.
Enmesh
(1) catch; embroil; ensnare; entangle; implicate; involve; trap
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “No matter how enmeshed a commander becomes in the elaboration of his own thoughts, it is sometimes necessary to take the enemy into account.”
—Winston Churchill, British politician, best known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II (1874–1965)
(1) “They come here, they don’t know the can’ts because they’re fleeing things that are generally worse. And they see this place as the land of opportunity, and they come here and they—they—they enmesh themselves in it, and many of them do quite well—much better, in many cases, than some who are born and raised here.”
—Rush Limbaugh radio discussion, EIB network, January 18, 1996.
Equivocate
(1) ambiguous; evasive; hedge; mince words; palter; prevaricate; pussyfoot; quibble; shuffle; waffle
(2) use equivocal terms or language in order to be devisive, mislead, hedge, or otherwise be deliberately ambiguous
(1) “I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—and I will be heard!”
—William Lloyd Garrison, U.S. abolitionist (1805–1879)
Exacerbate
(1) aggravate; annoy; bilious; embitter; exasperate; intensify; irate; make more bitter or severe; to be cantankerous; to be contentious; to worsen an already bad or difficult situation or condition
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) One cannot escape an eventual empty and exacerbated life if one’s existence consists of bilious and embittered efforts to engage in self-pity.
(1) “By speaking, by thinking, we undertake to clarify things, and that forces us to exacerbate them, dislocate them, schematize them. Every concept is in itself an exaggeration.”
—Jose Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher and humanist (1883–1955)
Collocates to: conflicts, differences, difficulties, dilemmas, discrimination, fears, feelings, issues, injustices, problems, situations, tendencies, threats, violence
Fight on death ground
(1) deliberately choose a strategy that leaves no options other than winning
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “When it comes to the carbon pricing agenda, PM Gillard and her Labor Government are fighting on death ground—the terrain that the military strategist Sun Tzu described more than 2,000 years ago in The Art of War.”
—Eubank, Leigh. “Carbon Price Fight on Death Ground,” ABCnews.net, March 17, 2011.
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Tim got himself crosswise with his supervisor over the work rules.
Gild the lily
(1) add unnecessary decoration or ornamentation that is already pleasing; attempt to improve something that is already fine
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “One may gild the lily and paint the rose, but to convey by words only an adequate idea of the hats and bonnets now exhibited absolutely passes human ability.”
—Version of Shakespeare’s King John, Newark Daily Advocate, 1895.
Hagride
(1) afflict with worry, dread, need, or the like; harass; torment
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “A man hagridden by the future haunted by visions of an imminent heaven or hell upon earth.”
—C.S. Lewis, Irish novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, and essayist (1898–1963)
Hamstring
(1) fetter; hamper; render powerless or useless; unable to perform some action
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) The civic group’s efforts to gentrify the park were hamstrung by political greed and incompetence.
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Bay area water agencies seem to be winning their long battle to harangue customers into consuming less.”
—John Upton, American writer for the New York Times
(1) Under the scathing criticism of the opposition, the pent-up fury of the original speaker vented itself into a fiery harangue.
(1) “Ayn Rand’s popularity on the street is at odds with her standing in the academic world. Some critics have called her interminable, tone-deaf, blind to human reality, a writer who creates not dialogue but harangue.”
—John Timpane, American writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer
Collocates to: began, continues, evils, husband, political, scorching, simultaneous
Hector
(1) bait; bully; heckle; intimidate; swagger; treat with insolence
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Political debate should be an opportunity for voters to learn the candidates’ views on issues, but instead it has become a chance to heckle and hector the opponent more.
Impede
(1) block; delay; encumber; get in the way; hamper; hinder; hold back; hold up; inhibit; obstruct progress; slow down
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Human folly does not impede the turning of the stars.”
—Tom Robbins, American novelist (1936–)
(1) It is the manager’s job to see that nothing impedes the progress of the company’s objectives.
Collocates to: ability, development, efforts, growth, investigation, progress
Impel
(1) drive; fling; force; hurl; propel; provoke; push; set or keep going; thrust; throw
(2) coerce; compel; drive; force; induce; make; require; urge
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Surely you’ve noticed. You’re in a testy mood, but when the phone rings you feign cheer while talking to a friend. Strangely, after hanging up, you no longer feel so grumpy. Such is the value of social occasions—they impel us to behave as if we were happy, which in fact helps free us from our unhappiness.”
—Myers, D.G., “The Secrets of Happiness,” Psychology Today, Volume 25, Issue 4, July 1992.
Collocates to: action, behave, causes, declare, goals, may, separation, toward, us
Impugn
(1) attack as false or wrong by argument or criticism; challenge something as false or wrong; express doubts about the truth or honesty of someone
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Once you publish, you open yourself to critics who sometimes love to impugn your work.
(1) “I am thankful to God for this approval of the people. But while deeply grateful for this mark of their confidence in me, if I know ... my heart, my gratitude is free from any taint of personal triumph. I do not impugn the motives of any one opposed to me. It is no pleasure to me to triumph over anyone.”
—Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President (1809–1865)
Collocates to: anybody, character, might, motives, patriotism
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “This commission has rule-making power that carries the force of law. The Senate, it is true, will have the power to override its decisions—but only with a three-fifths majority. There are no procedures that allow citizens or doctors to appeal the Board’s decisions. The administrative state—here in the guise of providing health care for all—surely will reduce the people under a kind of tyranny that will insinuate itself into all aspects of American life, destroying liberty by stages until liberty itself becomes only a distant memory.”
—Erler, Edward. “Supreme Decisions Ahead,” USA Today, November 2011.
(1) “It is precisely the purpose of the public opinion generated by the press to make the public incapable of judging, to insinuate into it the attitude of someone irresponsible, uninformed.”
—Walter Benjamin, German theologian, writer, and essayist (1892–1940)
Collocates to: herself, himself, into, itself, themselves, tried, trying
Interpose
(1) aggressive; arbitrate; insert; intercept; interfere; intermediate; meddle; mediate; offer assistance or presence; put between; unsolicited opinion
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Finish each day before you begin the next, and interpose a solid wall of sleep between the two. This you cannot do without temperance.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet, lecturer, and essayist (1803–1882)
Jack it
(1) loaf; malinger; work half-heartedly
Jump the shark
(1) reach the point where one has maxed his or her high point and now he or she is on the down side
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Jack Welch might very well have jumped the shark.
Jump ugly
(1) react quickly and harshly insult someone
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Donald Trump has a quick temper and will jump ugly when he feels someone has spoken ill of him or his business tactics.
Kick someone to the curb
(1) do away with; disregard; dump someone; eliminate; fire someone; reject someone; throw under the bus
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Only hang around people that are positive and make you feel good. Anybody who doesn’t make you feel good, kick them to the curb and the earlier you start in your life the better. The minute anybody makes you feel weird and not included or not supported, you know, either beat it or tell them to beat it.”
—Amy Poehler, American actress, comedienne, producer, and writer (1971–)
(1) “Kicked to the Curb”
—Headline from New York Post, Sunday, November 11, 2012.
(2) annoyance; express regret or disappointment about something
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1), (2) “The public generally applauds recent ‘Shock of Order’ policing and commercial revitalization, although critics lament the loss of traditional freedoms for informal beach vendors and casual sports. These paradoxes highlight enduring tensions between social order and hierarchy on one hand, and democratic rights and equality on the other.”
—Godfrey, Brian, and M. Oliva Arguinzoni. “Regulation Public Space on the Beachfronts of Rio de Janeiro,” Geographical Review, Volume 102, Issue 1, January 2012: pg. 17–34.
Lampoon
(1) charade; mockery; parody; satirize
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) The program, Saturday Night Live, is an example of a comedy by lampoon model that has been successful over the long run.
Loathe
(1) detest; disinclined; reluctant; unwilling
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “But the tide (which stays for no man) calling them away, that were thus loathe to depart, their Reverend Pastor, falling down on his knees, and they all with him, with watery cheeks commended them with the most fervent prayers unto the Lord and his blessing.”
—Nathaniel Morton, Keeper of Records, Plymouth Colony (1620–1685)
Misconstrue
(1) get the wrong idea; get the wrong impression; miscomprehend; misinterpret; misread; ; understand incorrectly
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Peer nominations are not a perfect criterion of victim status because students might be unaware that a classmate is being bullied or they might misconstrue peer conflict between students of comparable strength or status as bullying. However, the virtue of peer report is that information is based on multiple observers, which should produce a more reliable overall measure (Pellegrini, 2001).”
—Cornell, Dewey and Sharmila Mehta. “Counselor Confirmation of Middle School Student Self-Reports of Bullying Victimization,” Professional School Counseling, Volume 14, Issue 4, April 2011: pg. 261–270.
Collocates to: conflict, dismiss, easy, gesture, magisterium, might, ordinary, students, peer
Negate
(1) cancel; contradict; counteract; go against; make ineffective; nullify; reverse; undo; wipe out
(2) deny; exclude; refuse; repudiate
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Once you label me, you negate me.”
—Soren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher and theologian (1813–1855)
Nettle
(1) annoy; exasperate; grate; irritate; provoke; vex
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Out of this nettle—danger—we pluck this flower—safety.”
—William Shakespeare, English dramatist, playwright, and poet (1564–1616)
Nullify
(1) abolish; annul; bring to nothing; cancel out; invalidate; make valueless; make void or ineffective; quash
—Robert Greenleaf, American writer (1904–1990)
Obfuscate
(1) complicate; conceal; confuse; disguise; make dim, dark, or indistinct; obscure
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) It is better to face the consequences of telling the truth than to try to obfuscate and face the consequences of the original crime and lying.
(1) “It’s obfuscation. There is no attempt to be clear and concise and to describe the product for what it is.”
—Don Catlin, American scientist and one of the founders of modern drug-testing in sports (1938–)
Obligate
(1) bind by contract; coerce; compel legally or morally; force; make; necessitate; oblige; require
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “The Roots of the Palestine-Israel Conflict, the course catalog warns students: ‘This course is NOT designed to present an objective account of a two-sided conflict.’ The fact that there are supposedly two sides does not obligate us to portray each as equally right and/or equally wrong. The goal, rather, is to understand why the conflict arose, and what sorts of power inequalities have made it continue.”
—Wisse, Ruth. “Now, About That,” Strength and Tolerance, Volume 127, Issue 3, March 2009: pg. 27–30.
Collocates to: bacteria, does, facultative, intracellular scavengers, species, states, united, vertebrae
Obtrude
(1) become obtrusive; impose or force on someone
(2) extrude; force one’s self or one’s ideas on others; thrust out
—Denham, Bryan. “Effects of Mass Communication on Attitudes Toward Anabolic Steroids: An Analysis of High School Seniors.” Journal of Drug Issues, Volume 36, Issue 4, Fall 2006: pg. 809–829.
(1) “I can’t do with mountains at close quarters—they are always in the way, and they are so stupid, never moving, and never doing anything but obtrude themselves.”
—D.H. Lawrence, British poet, novelist, and essayist (1885–1930)
Obtund
(1) blunt; deaden; dull something; paralyze; quell; reduce; stupefy
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Drugs and liquor will obtund the sense that problems are no longer an immediate concern, but when the narcotic and alcohol veil is lifted, the problems are still there.
Occlude
(1) block or obstruct something such as a passageway; close or shut; conceal, hide, or obscure something
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) To occlude the light, the windows were covered with heavy, dark drapes.
Open Pandora’s box
(1) to open a can of worms; unleash a stream of unforeseen problems
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “At some point, this century or next, we may well be facing one of the major shifts in human history—perhaps even cosmic history—when intelligence escapes the constraints of biology, nature didn’t anticipate us, and we in our turn shouldn’t take artificial general intelligence (AGI) for granted. We need to take seriously the possibility that there might be an opening of Pandora’s box moment with AGI that, if missed, could be disastrous. With so much at stake, we need to do a better job of understanding the risks of potentially catastrophic technologies.”
—Shedlock, Mike. “Rise of Intelligent Machines Will Open ‘Pandora’s Box,’ Threatening Human Extinction,” Business News, Favstocks.com, November 29, 2012.
Oscillate
(1) change one’s mind frequently about beliefs and opinions; move back and forth
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “There is nothing in the world more pitiable than an irresolute man, oscillating between two feelings, who would willingly unite the two and who does not perceive that nothing can unite them.”
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German playwright, poet, novelist, and dramatist (1749–1832)
Ostracize
(1) banish; exclude; exclude from normal activities; ignore; shun; snub
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “The situation decayed further, the lawsuit charges, when Kasprowicz and several colleagues filed complaints with their office’s equal opportunity officer. Many of those who filed complaints, according to the suit, were retaliated against by being included in the transfer to the new division, where work was scarce. The suit alleges that managers yelled at workers who complained, urged other workers to ostracize who complained, and that 35 workers were pressured to sign a petition upholding management’s actions.”
—Golab, Art. “Ready to Work, but Nothing to Do All Day,” Chicago Sun Times, July 14, 2002: pg. 14.
Collocates to: further, humiliate, them, themselves, those, Russians, scapegoat, why
(2) be a regular customer of a store or business; frequent; sponsor; use; utilize
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Preferential affirmative action patronizes American blacks, women, and others by presuming that they cannot succeed on their own. Preferential affirmative action does not advance civil rights in this country.”
—Alan Keyes, American conservative political activist, author, and former diplomat (1950–)
(1) “A patronizing disposition always has its meaner side.”
—George Eliot (pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans), English Victorian novelist (1819–1880)
Persuade
(1) cause someone to believe something; convince; induce someone to do something through reasoning or argument; reason; urge
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) By persuading his boss to take that step, Jeff demonstrated his skill in managing upwards.
(1) “Companies work hard to persuade existing customers to buy additional products. Often that is a money losing proposition.”
—Shah, Denish and V. Kumar. “The Dark Side of Cross-Selling, Idea Watch,” Harvard Business Review, December 2012: pg. 21.
(1) “Persuading institutional investors to actively exercise oversight control would be useful—and would reduce fixations on quarterly results.”
—Forester de Rothschild, Lynn and Adam Posen. “How Capitalism Can Repair its Bruised Image,” Wall Street Journal, January 2, 2013: pg. A17.
(1) “We need to try harder to persuade one another—to try to get people to change their minds. There isn’t nearly enough persuasion going on in America today, and there was too little, in the view of many citizens, in the past presidential campaign.”
—Jenkins, John. “Persuasion as the Cure for Incivility,” Wall Street Journal, January 9, 2013: pg. A11.
Pervade
(1) defuse; infuse; permeate; saturate; spread throughout; suffuse; transfuse
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Sincerity is impossible, unless it pervade the whole being, and the pretense of it saps the very foundation of character.”
—James Russell Lowell, American poet, critic, essayist, editor, and diplomat (1819–1891)
(1) “The illusion that times that were are better than those that are, has probably pervaded all ages.”
—Horace Greeley, American newspaper editor (1811–1872)
Purloin
(1) make off with the possessions or belongings of others; steal
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “It is curious how sometimes the memory of death lives on so much longer than the memory of the life it purloined.”
—Roy Arundhati, Indian author of The God of Small Things and political activist (1961–)
Quash
(1) annul; put down; repress; set aside; subdue; suppress; quell something completely; reject as not valid
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Sales managers should quash the concept of the written sales quote or bid unless the product is an undifferentiated commodity.
(2) allay; alleviate; assuage; calm; disperse; mitigate; mollify
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Machines were, it may be said, the weapon employed by the capitalists to quell the revolt of specialized labor.”
—Karl Marx, German political philosopher and revolutionary (1818–1883)
Rankle
(1) aggravate; annoy; bother; cause bitter and lasting annoyance or resentment; exasperate; gall; have long-lasting anger; inflame; infuriate; irate; irk; needle; rile; rub the wrong way
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “In the Midwest, where less of the chill has been felt, critics call this a ‘media recession,’ overplayed by myopic New Yorkers—especially financial journalists, who are seeing their profession weaken and the value of their own assets drop. Yet, as much as it might rankle the rest of the nation, there’s little doubt that when New York gets a chill, the rest of the country shivers along with it.”
—Schwartz, J. and D. Tsiantar, “How Safe Is Your Job?” Newsweek, Volume 116, Issue 19, November 5, 1990: pg. 44, 4p.
Collocates to: continue, does, land, might, much, must, potential, still, tactics, those
Scheme
(1) conspire; devise; machinate; plot; to plan in a deceitful way
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.”
—Socrates, classical Greek Athenian philosopher (470 BC–399 BC)
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) One of the worst foul ups a player can make in a rugby match is badly muff a kick or screw the pooch.
Sow dragon’s teeth
(1) to plant seeds of future conflict
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “If the Republican policy is to sow dragon’s teeth instead of the golden grain of conciliation, they may be prepared to reap accordingly.”
—Editorial, The Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia), 13 January 2012: pg. 4.
Stymie
(1) get in the way of; hinder; stump; thwart
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) A problem in thermodynamics stymied half the class.
(1) “President Harry Cotterell said: ‘We have long campaigned for the closure of the loophole whereby residents try to have development land suddenly designated inappropriately as a village green to stymie sustainable building projects.”
—Knighton, John. “Move to End Green Space Law ‘Abuse,’” Huddersfield Daily Examiner, October 19, 2012.
Subjugate
(1) dominate; subdue
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Strange as may be the historical account of how some king or emperor, having quarreled with another, collects an army, fights his enemy’s army, gains a victory by killing three, five, or ten thousand men, and subjugates a kingdom and an entire nation of several millions, all the facts of history (as far as we know it) confirm the truth of the statement that the greater or lesser success of one army against another is the cause, or at least an essential indication, of an increase or decrease in the strength of the nation—even though it is unintelligible why the defeat of an army—a hundredth part of a nation—should oblige that whole nation to submit.”
—Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer and author of War and Peace (1828–1910)
Vacillate
(1) be indecisive; waver
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “‘At this moment,’ said Porthos, ‘I feel myself pretty active; but at times I vacillate; I sink; and lately this phenomenon, as you say, has occurred four times. I will not say this frightens me, but it annoys me. Life is an agreeable thing. I have money; I have fine estates; I have horses that I love; I have also friends that I love: D’Artagnan, Athos, Raoul, and you.’”
—Alexandre Dumas, French writer and author of The Man in the Iron Mask (1802–1870)
Vex
(1) be aggravated, angry, annoyed, or bugged; be displeased; be exasperated; confuse someone; irk or pester someone; put one’s nose out of joint
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) “Vexed sailors cursed the rain, for which poor shepherds prayed in vain.”
—Edmund Waller, English poet and politician (1607–1679)
(1) “I’ll walk where my own nature would be leading: It vexes me to choose another guide.”
—Emily Bronte, English novelist and poet (1818–1848)
(1) “A very good part of the mischief that vex the world arises from words.”
—Edmund Burke, British statesman and philosopher (1729–1797)
(1) “Action and affection both admit of contraries and also of variation of degree. Heating is the contrary of cooling, being heated of being cooled, being glad of being vexed. Thus they admit of contraries. They also admit of variation of degree: for it is possible to heat in a greater or less degree; also to be heated in a greater or less degree. Thus action and affection also admit of variation of degree. So much, then, is stated with regard to these categories.”
—Aristotle, Greek philosopher and polymath, author of The Categories (384–322 BC)
Vilify
(1) belittle; criticize; defame; do a hatchet job on; disparage; insult; libel; malign; pillory; pull to pieces; run down; slander; speak ill of; use abusive slanderous language
Word Used in Sentence(s)
(1) Political elections have become less about issues and more about who can vilify their opponent more.
(1) “To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness.”
—Edgar Allan Poe, American author, poet, editor, and literary critic (1809–1849)
(1) “Vilify, Vilify, Vilify, some of it will always stick.”
—Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, French playwright, watchmaker, inventor, musician, diplomat, fugitive, spy, publisher, horticulturalist, arms dealer, satirist, financier, and revolutionary (1732–1799)
(1) “Now, as both of these gentlemen were industrious in taking every opportunity of recommending themselves to the widow, they apprehended one certain method was, by giving her son the constant preference to the other lad; and as they conceived the kindness and affection which Mr. Allworthy showed the latter, must be highly disagreeable to her, they doubted not but the laying hold on all occasions to degrade and vilify him, would be highly pleasing to her; who, as she hated the boy, must love all those who did him any hurt.”
—Henry Fielding, English novelist and dramatist, author of The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling (1707–1754)