cut to the quick
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.79 in modern English
33
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To incisively discuss the underlying sensitive or unpleasant root of a given topic.
verb
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cut, quick.
Example Sentences
- "I was cut to the quick at the idea of having lost the inestimable privilege of listening to the gifted Kurtz."
- "But you must remember that we were boys together, and a fellow naturally confides in a chap he was boys together with. Anyway, be that as it may, he poured out his soul to me, and he hadn't been pouring long before I was able to see that he was cut to the quick. His blood pressure was high, his eye rolled in what they call a fine frenzy, and he was death-where-is-thy-sting-ing like nobody's business."
- "Alfar's analysis cuts to the quick of the socioeconomic structures that underlie marriage, primogeniture, monarchy, and imperialism."