slings and arrows
/ˌslɪŋz‿n̩ ˈæɹoʊz/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.66 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
2
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
noun
Example Sentences
- "To be, or not to be, that is the queſtion: / VVhether tis nobler in the minde to ſuffer / The ſlings and arrovves of outragious fortune, / Or to take Armes againſt a ſea of troubles, / And by oppoſing, end them, to die to ſleepe / No more, […]"
- "Now that we're entering the thick of the holiday travel season and we've been groped, scanned, forced to eat a Cinnabon and otherwise made to suffer the slings and arrows of air travel – here’s something rarely offered of late: a positive story about airports."
- "It seems inevitable that an elite institution in a democratic republic will suffer the slings and arrows of populist discontent. The wonder of it all may be that the institution of lifetime tenure has persisted for so long. Proponents of changing that rule may take satisfaction in humbling the justices ever so slightly, or believe that instituting term limits would forestall more radical change, such as expanding the size of the court."
- "In every role, he [Giancarlo Esposito] mesmerizes audiences with a coiled intensity that he credits to military school, the slings and arrows of a volatile profession, and a lifelong commitment to mindfulness. "My karmic journey is to be told what to do and accept that and do it the best I can,” he said. “I realize one of my strengths is to control the chaos.""
- "[…] Mrs. Dareville, without any motives of interest, or good nature of sufficient power to restrain her talent and habit of ridicule, free from hope or fear, gave full scope to all the malice of mockery, and all the insolence of fashion. Her slings and arrows, numerous as they were and outrageous, were directed against such petty objects, and the mischief was so quick, in its aim and its operation, that, felt but not seen, it is scarcely possible to register the hits, or to describe the nature of the wounds."
- "In Massachusetts, the Kennedy family, unafraid of the slings and arrows from lesser breeds, proudly ran its youngest son through a convention gauntlet, and saw him emerge the victor."
Etymology
Word Breakdown
- Root: *slenk-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌslɪŋz‿n̩ ˈæɹoʊz/
- British English: /ˌslɪŋz‿n̩ ˈæɹəʊz/