searing
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Extremely hot or burning: Describes something that is intensely hot, often to the point of scorching or burning a surface.
- Severely critical or painful: Describes criticism, pain, or emotional experiences that are intensely sharp, harsh, or painful.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- The searing heat of the desert made travel difficult. (The extremely hot temperature of the desert created challenging conditions.)
- She wrote a searing critique of the government's new policy. (She wrote a severely critical analysis of the policy.)
- He felt a searing pain in his chest. (He experienced an intensely sharp pain in his chest.)
Advanced Usage
- "Searing honesty/truth": Refers to a truth that is painfully direct and frank.
- Her memoir is notable for its searing honesty about her struggles. (Her autobiography is remarkable for its painfully direct truthfulness.)
- "Searing indictment": Refers to a very harsh and severe accusation or condemnation.
- The report was a searing indictment of the company's safety practices. (The report constituted a severely critical condemnation.)
Variants and Related Words
- Sear (verb): To burn or scorch the surface of something.
- Sear the steak on both sides to lock in the juices.
- Searingly (adverb): In an extremely hot or severely critical manner.
- The sun beat down searingly. / He spoke searingly about the corruption.
Synonyms
- Scorching: Extremely hot.
- Blistering: Very hot or very harsh and critical.
- Caustic: Bitterly sarcastic or severely critical.
- Excruciating: Intensely painful.
Related Phrases
- To sear into memory: To become permanently and vividly fixed in one's memory, often due to emotional intensity.
- The image of the accident was seared into his memory. (The image became permanently and painfully fixed in his memory.)
Related Idioms
- A searing experience: An experience that is emotionally painful or traumatic.
- Surviving the war was a searing experience for him. (It was an intensely painful and formative event.)