kryptonite
/ˈkɹɪptənaɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.89 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "The terrific seven-grain bread here is the kryptonite of restaurant reviewers: two mini-loaves and you are incapacitated."
- "So while recording or sampling a Charlie Manson track […] makes for shock rock kudos aplenty, a devotion to Hubbard is kryptonite for credibility."
- "We all have our own kryptonite or kryptonites, so don't tempt yourself by listening to so-called friends who are just demonic tools being used to bring you under."
- "But of course porn is kryptonite to many investors."
- "And even those two were pretty puny, like Superman after he had been kryptonited."
Etymology
From a fictional radioactive element, kryptonite, that has a detrimental effect on the otherwise invulnerable character Superman. Formed from Superman's home planet Krypton + -ite, which was named after the chemical element krypton.