Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
10 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
|
debilitating |
(of a disease or condition) making someone very weak and infirm. |
1.1 Tending to weaken something.‘the debilitating effects of underinvestment’More example sentences‘A final debilitating difficulty was an almost total lack of standardisation.’‘Poor customer care can have a debilitating effect on a business.’‘Depending on how one employs it, local media has the potential to be either a great stabilizing force or a debilitating factor on the local audience.’‘Shareholders have welcomed what they hope is an end to the debilitating row.’‘Weeks before a prospective invasion of Iraq, the oil-rich state has doubled its exports of oil to America, helping US refineries cope with a debilitating strike in Venezuela.’‘In a letter of grievance over his July 14 firing, Smith says he was subject to "severe and debilitating harassment" over the 18 months preceding his dismissal.’‘Operation Allied Force was indicative of the debilitating influence of negative political objectives on positive military objectives.’‘There were also calls to revive the issues that had been subject to a debilitating conspiracy of silence.’‘The community of Engcobo near here expressed their anger this week at the frequent and debilitating power failures which also cut the water supply to the town.’‘Its sole purpose was to bleed the USSR in a debilitating conflict.’‘The second factor has to do with the debilitating effects of unearned privilege.’‘The programmes will also include personal testimony from Iraqis to help them deal with the trauma of war and its debilitating effect on people trying to rebuild their lives.’‘The debilitating wars of survival that continued until 1815 did eventually confirm the patriotic self-esteem of Britons.’‘His father, a distinguished Marxist academic, resigned from Labour during one of its debilitating civil wars.’‘In respect of the Champions League, Arsenal have betrayed a debilitating weakness for falling at the group stages.’‘Its most debilitating effect is the erasure of the experience of racism and sexism for black women.’‘If nationalism was a principal cause of the war, the four-year struggle merely intensified its importance and worsened its debilitating effects.’‘Well, I think the entertainment industry has been one of the most debilitating factors in our nation's moral decline.’‘He unfortunately relies on philosophical categories that imply the debilitating skepticism he argues is incompatible with true liberalism.’‘The debilitating disease of prejudice and tribalism is alive and spreading among our brothers and sisters.’ |
|
|
obnoxious |
Extremely unpleasant. |
obnoxious odours’‘he found her son somewhat obnoxious’More example sentences‘It has become bigger and more obnoxious than the people and events themselves.’‘We have, in this country, a generation of obnoxious, unruly, disrespectful louts.’‘I picked up the fake gun and held in a particularly obnoxious woman's face.’ |
|
|
fray |
A situation of intense competitive activity. |
ten companies intend to bid for the contract, with three more expected to enter the fray’More example sentences‘Old enemies take a stand and strangers enter the fray.’‘There are also rumours that a financial bidder could enter the fray and then sell stores to the supermarket giant, which was very disappointed not be cleared.’‘It is possible other bidders could enter the fray, if the take-out price is seen as too low.’ |
|
|
ploy |
A cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one's own advantage. |
the president has dismissed the referendum as a ploy to buy time’More example sentences‘Others have disguised price hikes in ingenious marketing ploys that give the ticket holder so-called " front-of-the-line " privileges for almost double the regular price.’‘Was it a ploy in their strategy for later deals of product endorsements?’‘And he said alcohol companies were introducing very sharp marketing ploys aimed at encouraging young people to consume drinks.’ |
|
|
circumvent |
Find a way around (an obstacle) |
Overcome (a problem or difficulty) in a clever and surreptitious way.‘it was always possible to circumvent the regulations’ ‘At the same time, the number of people seeking private treatment is growing, as couples seek to circumvent long hospital waiting lists.’‘Even if this is successful, Britain's media will undoubtedly seek to circumvent the ruling by fair means or foul.’ |
|
|
enclave |
A portion of territory surrounded by a larger territory whose inhabitants are culturally or ethnically distinct. |
they gave troops a week to leave the coastal enclave’More example sentences‘Delegates at the assembly were careful to emphasise that they didn't seek independence, but a semi-autonomous enclave within a federal Iraq.’‘They settled in metropolitan areas including Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago, and formed organized ethnic enclaves throughout the nation.’‘In large urban areas, distinct ethnic enclaves such as the Polish, Irish, Jewish, and Italian communities persisted.’ |
|
|
mind-boggling |
Overwhelming; startling. |
the implications are mind-boggling’More example sentences‘Plans are still lacking on coping with the mind-boggling problems brought about by mass tourism.’‘That's because Doctorow writes with the kind of hardheaded humor and logic that makes one suspect this book will be a mind-boggling delight.’‘His workrate throughout was impressive but in the second half it bordered on mind-boggling.’ |
|
|
chafe |
with reference to a part of the body) make or become sore by rubbing against something. |
the collar chafed his neck’no object ‘her arms chafed where the rope bit into them’ |
|
|
gaffe |
An unintentional act or remark causing embarrassment to its originator; a blunder |
in my first few months at work I made some real gaffes’‘his comments are a major diplomatic gaffe |
|
|
dubious |
Hesitating or doubting. |
‘I was rather dubious about the whole idea’More example sentences‘I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual.’‘I shrugged, probably dubious about the opportunity myself.’‘I was a little dubious about this tour from the outset.’‘And it is that part that, I think, we are a little dubious about.’ |
