Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

scorched-earth policy

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.06 in modern English

Syllables: scorched-earth pol-i-cy
IPA

37

Scrabble Score

19

Letters

4

Syllables

13

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A strategy that involves destroying buildings, crops, and other resources that could be useful to opponents.

noun

An intentional course of action that is drastic or ruinous.

Example Sentences

"The Ethiopian Army waged a scorched-earth policy with saturation bombings and destruction of Eritrea's infrastructure."
"The scorched-earth policy that voters adopted toward the Tories left them with no seats in Scotland and Wales and greatly reduced numbers through the prosperous swath called Middle England."
"Group member Graeme Bickerdike said: "With its infilling and demolition programme currently paused, NH has adopted a scorched-earth policy of destroying habitats to ensure there are no ecological barriers to projects resuming quickly when government gives the green light."

Etymology

See scorched earth.

Inflected Forms

scorched-earth policies (plural) scorched earth policy (alternative)

Phrases

scorched earth scorched-earth

Frequently Paired Words

scorched earth scorched-earth

Questions

What does scorched-earth policy mean?: A strategy that involves destroying buildings, crops, and other resources that could be useful to opponents.
Where does scorched-earth policy come from?: See scorched earth.

How to pronounce scorched-earth policy

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “scorched-earth policy”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “scorched-earth policy”.
Repeat and practice — Say “scorched-earth policy” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.