Phrases & Expressions

To suffer lasting emotional damage because of a painful experience.

• Many people who were bullied at school are scarred by the experience well into adulthood.
• She was deeply scarred by her parents' divorce and found it hard to trust people as an adult.

To have far fewer workers than are needed to do the work properly.

• Patients often wait hours to see a doctor in rural hospitals that are seriously understaffed.
• Because the call centre was seriously understaffed, customers had to wait over an hour to speak to someone.

To be chosen as one of a small number of candidates from whom the final choice will be made.

• Out of two hundred applicants, only six were shortlisted for the final round of interviews.
• Her first novel was shortlisted for a major literary prize, which increased its sales enormously.

To show that a particular situation or problem, usually a negative one, exists.

• Many observers see the low turnout at the election as symptomatic of declining trust in politicians.
• Long waiting times in hospitals are symptomatic of a health service that is badly underfunded.

To smile very widely because you feel proud and happy.

• Her parents beamed with pride as she walked onto the stage to receive her degree.
• The young volunteer was beaming with pride after the mayor thanked her in front of the whole town.

To stop being used because something newer or more suitable has replaced it.

• Some economists predict that cash will become obsolete in many countries within the next twenty years.
• Within ten years of the arrival of cheap personal computers, typewriters had become obsolete in most offices.

To become known by many people, especially after being kept secret.

• If details of the secret deal become public knowledge, the minister will almost certainly have to resign.
• The company kept the safety problem hidden for months to stop it becoming public knowledge before the product launch.

To have silly, repeated arguments about things that do not really matter.

• My flatmates constantly bicker over whose turn it is to take the rubbish out.
• While the politicians bicker over minor details, the housing crisis continues to get worse.

Completely and perfectly happy.

• My grandparents were blissfully happy together for more than sixty years.
• Toddlers can be blissfully happy playing with an empty cardboard box for hours.

Completely unaware of a problem or danger, and therefore happy and relaxed.

• Many consumers remain blissfully unaware of how much personal data apps collect about them.
• The children played happily in the garden, blissfully unaware of the approaching storm.