destructive
/dɪˈstɹəktɪv/
adjectivecausing a lot of damage or harm
Click to see examples
Examples
1. Clashes between the atmosphere and hydrosphere can become destructive, though.
2. The war itself was incredibly destructive.
3. They're destructive.
4. But the rich territory of a successful colony draws more destructive enemies.
5. Thankfully, this destructive storm has a short lifespan.
disastrous
/dɪˈzæstɹəs/
adjectivevery harmful or bad
Click to see examples
Examples
1. The consequences of chronic sleep deprivation can be truly disastrous.
2. And some jokes have disastrous consequences.
3. The vote for the Iraq war was disastrous.
4. Either way, the effect on us was disastrous.
5. The results would be disastrous.
elusive
/ɪˈɫusɪv/
adjectivehard to achieve, find, remember, or define
Click to see examples
Examples
1. So far, exoplanet rings, or exorings, have been pretty elusive.
2. Objectivity, in fact, is elusive.
3. - They're elusive.
4. This burrito is elusive.
5. Now, in the eighteenth century, statistics are elusive.
grave
/ˈɡɹeɪv/
adjectivevery bad or worrisome
Click to see examples
Examples
1. So things really were grave.
2. Their great cities turned to graves.
3. Grave danger lies ahead.
4. Open the grave!
5. The situation for residents and carers is very grave.
ineffective
/ˌɪnɪˈfɛktɪv/
adjectiveunable to have any effect or achieve the intended results
Click to see examples
Examples
1. It’s very ineffective.
2. And the treatment is often completely ineffective.
3. It was rather ineffective.
4. The South Vietnamese military was largely ineffective due to massive corruption, low morale and little training.
5. That's ineffective.
undesirable
/ˌəndɪˈzaɪɹəbəɫ/
adjectivenot wanted because of having the potential to cause problems
Click to see examples
Examples
1. This could cause undesirable behavior.
2. It's morally undesirable.
3. Tiger is another undesirable animal, due to its volatile temperament.
4. Are they undesirable?
5. Discourage undesirable behavior with deterrents.
overwhelming
/ˌoʊvɝˈwɛɫmɪŋ/, /ˌoʊvɝhˈwɛɫmɪŋ/
adjective(of a desire, feeling, or need) too strong to get rid of or resist
Click to see examples
Examples
1. The evidence is overwhelming.
2. The evidence is overwhelming.
3. The chipotle is overwhelming.
4. The numbers are overwhelming
5. The affective charge of everything is overwhelming.
in vain
/ɪn vˈeɪn/
adverbwith no success
Examples
to doom
/ˈdum/
verbto have no choice but to die, fail, etc.
Click to see examples
Examples
1. The star is doomed.
2. We get doom.
3. For them, the combination of climate change and human arrival spelled doom.
4. Are securities analysts doomed?
5. Their relationship is doomed.
to neglect
/nəˈɡɫɛkt/, /nɪˈɡɫɛkt/
verbto fail to do something, particularly as a result of carelessness
Click to see examples
Examples
1. 'Neglected'.
2. Neglecting your skincare.
3. The waitress neglected my appetizer.
4. Ida's parents neglect any efforts at potty training entirely.
5. Air traffic control also neglected the problem.
to overshadow
/ˈoʊvɝˈʃædoʊ/
verbto cause a person or thing to come across as less significant
Click to see examples
Examples
1. The Tea family has always been overshadowed.
2. The history of the Byzantine empire is often overshadowed by the Western Roman empire.
3. Three, Bond's style never overshadows him.
4. Jessica Simpson Simpson's side hustle success has long overshadowed her relatively brief career as a pop and reality TV star.
5. However, the excitement is overshadowed by mother Kim Plath's reluctance.
breakdown
/ˈbɹeɪkˌdaʊn/
nouna failure in the progress or effectiveness of a relationship or system
Click to see examples
Examples
1. I often have breakdowns.
2. Breakdowns can attract attention of the four-legged variety.
3. Brad Parr scale has a breakdown.
4. A protein-rich diet will complement muscle breakdown.
5. Here's the breakdown.
burden
/ˈbɝdən/
nouna responsibility or task that causes hardship, stress, etc.
Click to see examples
Examples
1. Put the burden on me.
2. Number two, the state must share the burden.
3. Lift the burden.
4. And that communication, that connectivity around the world, that globalization now raises a burden.
5. And the defendant bears the burden.
catastrophe
/kəˈtæstɹəfi/
nouna horrible event that causes much suffering and damage
Click to see examples
Examples
1. But for the survivors, this catastrophe presented an opportunity.
2. Between 450 and 550, a catastrophe happened.
3. The second best songs could be catastrophes.
4. None of these projections or future looks can assume catastrophe.
5. After all, catastrophes bring people together.
dead end
/dˈɛd ˈɛnd/
nouna situation that shows no signs of progress or improvement
Examples
deficiency
/dɪˈfɪʃənsi/
nounan existing weakness or fault in someone or something
Click to see examples
Examples
1. Liver Damage Protein deficiency brings on fatty liver.
2. Edema Protein deficiency causes edema.
3. Deficiency of nutrients and genetics also plays a part in it.
4. Around 79% of adults in the US have magnesium deficiency.
5. Deficiency of biotin can cause muscle fatigue and cramps as well.
fail
/ˈfeɪɫ/
nouna mistake or unsuccessful act
Click to see examples
Examples
1. Magicians also prey on our change blindness, the psychological phenomenon in which we fail to notice changes in our environment.
2. The motion fails.
3. Now, the union vote failed.
4. A rescue attempt at the air-base failed.
5. Task failed successfully.
fall
/ˈfɑɫ/, /ˈfɔɫ/
nouna reduction in size, amount, number, etc.
Click to see examples
Examples
1. Snow is falling, and the sky is darker.
2. Every ten billion years one single grain of sand falls to the bottom.
3. Don't fall victim to dogma.
4. - Falling.
5. The fat one falls.
fault
/ˈfɔɫt/
nouna wrong move or act
Click to see examples
Examples
1. I have plenty of faults.
2. It's all your fault!
3. It's not your fault that he's ill.
4. 'It's not my fault that I can't eat or rest.
5. Nobody faults the people in Central America.
hurdle
/ˈhɝdəɫ/
nouna difficulty or problem that must be overcome in order to achieve something
Click to see examples
Examples
1. He just hurdled the line!
2. What were the hurdle?
3. The onion and the chocolate is a hurdle.
4. - Watch the hurdle.
5. But immense hurdles prevented further breakthroughs.
inconvenience
/ˌɪnkənˈvinjəns/
noundifficulties caused by something that makes one irritated or uncomfortable
Click to see examples
Examples
1. This inconvenience happens because of our bodies’ immune systems.
2. I suppose the inconvenience down there.
3. The acquisition would put several inconveniences on the table.
4. People are at least inconvenienced heavily throughout.
5. One of the biggest impediments to pumping is inconvenience.
malfunction
/mæɫˈfəŋkʃən/
nouna failure to function or work properly
Click to see examples
Examples
1. Malfunctions which pile up and crush hope.
2. My alarm has never malfunctioned.
3. The escalator has malfunctioned.
4. The dart has malfunctioned.
5. Is it malfunctioning?
mess
/ˈmɛs/
nouna situation with many problems or difficulties, caused particularly by someone who is careless
Click to see examples
Examples
1. This stuff is mess.
2. Syria's war is mess.
3. Cooking is just creating mess.
4. I love mess.
5. - Messed that up.
mishap
/ˈmɪsˌhæp/
nouna minor accident that has no serious consequences
Click to see examples
Examples
1. Epiglottis flap stops a tube mishap.
2. Got a major mishap.
3. Until the White House administration’s claims of success create another mishap.
4. Sometimes food mishaps happen!
5. We had a mishap right there.
odds
/ˈɑdz/
nouncircumstances that make it difficult to achieve something
Click to see examples
Examples
1. The odds are against you.
2. Narrator: TONY CAN EVEN CALCULATE THE ODDS THAT OUR SOLAR SYSTEM WILL CRASH INTO ONE OF ANDROMEDA'S BILLIONS OF STARS DURING THE COLLISION.
3. Odds are they will continue to no comment.
4. The link to the video the Odds of Dying of Covid part one and part two is down below in the description.
5. Bearden: YOU TELL ME WHAT THE ODDS MIGHT BE, IT'S A LIGHTNING STRIKE.
oversight
/ˈoʊvɝˌsaɪt/
nouna mistake made because of forgetting to do or not noticing something
Click to see examples
Examples
1. And the first one is planning oversight.
2. This place clearly needs more oversight.
3. In that role, Mr. Gorman's responsibility included oversight of the DAV National Service, Legislative, and Voluntary Service programs.
4. You made an oversight.
5. Oversight, burn-out, or secret desire to make a political comeback?
setback
/ˈsɛtˌbæk/
nouna problem that gets in the way of a process or makes it worse
Click to see examples
Examples
1. Branson's Virgin Hotel chain is also suffering setbacks from the virus.
2. Your service has recently suffered some setbacks.
3. - He had a setback.
4. This setback sets up the drama of the episode.
5. Everybody has setbacks.
underdog
/ˈəndɝˌdɔɡ/
nounan individual, team, etc. who is regarded as weaker compared to others and has little chance of success as a result
Click to see examples
Examples
1. Her dad loves the underdog.
2. Every story needs an underdog.
3. You want an underdog?
4. - Underdog me daddy, please.
5. I like underdogs.
to give sb trouble
/ɡˈɪv ˌɛsbˈiː tɹˈʌbəl/
phraseto cause someone problems
Click to see examples
Examples
1. Which we thought would give us trouble anyway.
2. One thing I thought would be a problem really wasn't, and another thing I never expected to give me trouble, did.
3. As soon as there are numerous events in his life, that give him trouble and disturb his peace of mind, he sets himself free.
4. Our minds give us trouble.
5. What's your cameras give us trouble today I'm gonna see if I can
to no effect
phrase
not yielding the expected result
Click to see examples
Examples
1. You press it several more times, still to no effect.
2. She moved where she was building in the classroom, to no effect.
3. However unlike a demon he cannot be harmed by religious symbols or holy water, and the practice of true faith seems to have little to no effect on deterring his persistent attacks.
4. Aemilius’ main force was now closing in, and the swarm of velites and other skirmishers threw their missiles at the phalanx, mostly to no effect.
5. Clearly to no effect, since the factory continues to pollute.
up against
/ˌʌp ɐɡˈɛnst/
phrasefaced with a problem or difficult situation
Click to see examples
Examples
1. The workers rose up against their rulers.
2. That idea comes up against more recent ideas about bodily autonomy.
3. The back of your tongue goes up against your soft palate.
4. - Have his back up against you.
5. Team up against.
in the face of sth
/ɪnðə fˈeɪs ʌv ˌɛstˌiːˈeɪtʃ/
phrasein spite of difficulties, problems, etc.
Click to see examples
Examples
1. And further cuts to those budgets in the face of the global pandemic adds extra strain.
2. How do you see education changing in the face of the virus pandemic?
3. We are using deadly force because we sincerely believe it's the only option in the face of imminent threat.
4. And perhaps there are lessons we can all learn from this village about resilience in the face of extreme climate change.
5. But the evidence he found flew in the face of conventional wisdom.
at the expense of sb/sth
/æt ðɪ ɛkspˈɛns ʌv ˌɛsbˈiː slˈæʃ ˌɛstˌiːˈeɪtʃ/
phraseused when something is done by harming another person or thing
Click to see examples
Examples
1. The best things that you know about Florida on those beautiful postcards are at the expense of black people of immigrant people, Haitian folks, African folks, these are the invisible people who make Florida run.
2. We have problems in our corporate governance where CEOs are taking a larger and larger share of the corporate pie and dancing themselves at the expense of their workers and of investment.
3. The standardized languages get taught in schools at the expense of regional dialects, even though the regional dialects are just as old.
4. This makes overflows less likely to happen, but at the expense of more gates.
5. Many countries at the time had heavy tariffs which protected their domestic manufacturers at the expense of trade.
to evacuate
/iˈvækjəˌeɪt/, /ɪˈvækjəˌeɪt/
verbto leave a place to be safe from a dangerous situation
Click to see examples
Examples
1. The bladder evacuated one or two drams of urine.
2. The carrier, Phoenix Air, often evacuates Ebola patients.
3. Thirty thousand people were evacuated.
4. The U.S government belatedly evacuated people from the islands.
5. Evacuate! -
Murphy's law
/mˈɜːfiz lˈɔː/
phrasea principle stating that if there is a possibility for a bad thing to happen, it will happen
Examples
to walk / tread a tightrope
/wˈɔːk tɹˈɛd ɐ tˈaɪtɹoʊp/
phraseto be in a situation where a person has to be careful about every decision they make because even one mistake can pose a great risk
Click to see examples
Examples
1. The Fed, is the bank of banks and its job is essentially to walk a tightrope between encouraging the economy to grow, aka, allowing prices to rise, but at the same time, keeping inflation from gaining too much ground and taking away the purchasing power of its citizens.
2. Like many entrepreneurs in China, Ma had been walking a tightrope, balancing sometimes conflicting demands from Beijing and foreign investors who are eager to see growth.
3. Emily is the author a new book, 'Rapport: the four ways to read people' and, as she told BBC Radio 4 programme All In The Mind it isn't easy to get along with everyone: I often describe rapport-building in a relationship as like walking a tightrope because you really do need to maintain that balance of being objective, treating people with compassion but that doesn't mean I'm sympathetic, I'm collusive - it's that balance between judgement and avoidance.
4. Emily describes rapport building as like walking a tightrope, an idiom to describe being in a difficult situation which requires carefully considering what to do.
5. Walking a tightrope means to be in a difficult situation which requires careful consideration of what to do.