Hot Words No.46

Abate

発音：

[əbéit]

意味：

弱まる、又は減少する

To become weaker or less

例文1：

The students held their breath, waiting for the teacher’s wrath to abate.

例文2：

Temperature gradually abated.

Bittersweet

発音：

[bítərswíːt]

意味：

善し悪しが混ざっている、ほろ苦い

Mixed of good and bad, happy and sad

例文1：

After 30 years of employment, I left the company with bittersweet memories.

例文2：

It was a political victory for him but the prize was bittersweet.

Canny

発音：

[kǽni]

意味：

抜け目のない、用心深い

Careful in a shrewd, prudent and clever way

例文1：

The presidential candidate has proven to be a highly canny politician.

例文2：

He looked up from the desk and gave her a canny smile.

Denude

発音：

[dinjúːd]

意味：

除去する、露出させる

To remove or bare

例文1：

The earthquake denuded the region of many foreign residents.

例文2：

The health officials are encouraging the local residents to denude trees to wash radiation fears away.

Engage

発音：

[inɡéidƷ]

意味：

真剣に関わる・対処する、関心を沸かせ興味を引き付ける

To get seriously involved; to get someone’s attention and keep them interested

例文1：

The CIA declared that it will engage the enemies online.

例文2：

Ever since I read Shakespeare in college, poetry has always engaged me.

Feckless

発音：

[féklis]

意味：

うだつの上がらない、甲斐性のない

Weak, ineffective and unsuccessful

例文1：

My father is a Fortune 400 CEO and has always regarded me as a feckless son.

例文2：

She took the train to New York to bail out her feckless little brother.

Grim

発音：

[ɡrím]

意味：

悲壮な、先行きの良くない、厳かな

Unhappy; depressing; serious

例文1：

What’s the grim look? Why aren’t you smiling?

例文2：

For the third month in a row, the economic forecast is grim.

例文3：

There is grim reflection among the public as the mass murder trial is about to begin.

例文4：

He was not mentally prepared to face the nation, but the beleaguered prime minister walked up to the podium with grim determination.

Hinge on

発音：

[híndƷ άn]

意味：

〜いかんによる、〜にかかっている

To depend on

例文1：

His argument for socialism hinges on the socialist country’s fate.

例文2：

A successful outcome hinges on avoiding violence.