tempest-tost

Thân thiện

A small boat is tempest-tost upon the raging sea.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Pounded or hit repeatedly by storms or adversities: Describes something or someone that has been violently and repeatedly struck by severe storms or battered by a series of misfortunes and hardships. It conveys a sense of being tossed about and assailed by powerful, uncontrollable forces.

Usage

• This is a literary and somewhat archaic adjective, primarily used in poetic, formal, or descriptive contexts to evoke a powerful image of struggle against overwhelming natural or metaphorical storms.
• It is typically used attributively (before a noun) or predicatively (after a linking verb like 'was' or 'seemed').

Examples

• Attributive use:
  • The tempest-tost ship finally found safe harbor after days at sea.
  • He was a tempest-tost soul, seeking peace after a life of turmoil.
• Predicative use:
  • For years, their nation was tempest-tost by war and famine.
  • The old lighthouse, tempest-tost but still standing, was a symbol of resilience.

Advanced Usage

• The term is famously used in Emma Lazarus's 1883 sonnet "The New Colossus," inscribed on the Statue of Liberty: Here, it metaphorically describes immigrants fleeing hardship and persecution.

Variants and Related Words

• Tempest-tossed: This is a more common modern spelling variant of "tempest-tost." The meaning is identical.
  • The tempest-tossed waves crashed against the cliffs.
• Tempest (n): A violent windy storm.
• Storm-tossed (adj): Similar in meaning, describing something violently agitated by storms.

Synonyms

• Storm-tossed: Agitated or battered by storms.
• Battered: Beaten repeatedly and violently.
• Beleaguered: Experiencing a lot of difficulties or criticism.
• Buffeted: Struck repeatedly, as by winds or adversities.

Notes on Meaning

• The core meaning is literal—physically battered by a storm (a tempest).
• Its more common and powerful use is metaphorical, describing a person, group, or thing that has endured prolonged and severe difficulties, crises, or emotional turmoil.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. pounded or hit repeatedly by storms or adversities

Từ đồng nghĩa

• buffeted
• storm-tossed
• tempest-tossed
• tempest-swept