Phrases & Expressions

To be similar to something in nature, character or feeling.

• For many students, moving abroad to study is akin to starting a completely new life.
• For my grandmother, using a smartphone for the first time was akin to learning a foreign language.

To be so much in love with someone that you cannot think clearly or see their faults.

• Her friends had doubts about him, but she was besotted with him and would not hear a word against him.
• In the novel, a shy young teacher becomes besotted with a wealthy widow who barely notices him.

To look or feel unhappy and discouraged; a rather old-fashioned expression.

• You look a bit down in the mouth today — didn't you get the exam results you wanted?
• After losing the final, the players were down in the mouth for days.

To work very closely with someone, often in a secret or dishonest way.

• The investigation found that some customs officials were hand in glove with the smugglers.
• Critics claim the regulator is hand in glove with the industry it is supposed to control.

To not be affected or influenced by something such as criticism or pressure.

• The minister was impervious to criticism and refused to change the policy despite widespread protests.
• Some investors are impervious to bad news and keep buying shares even when prices fall.

To agree completely with someone's opinion or with an idea, plan or principle.

• The committee's final recommendations are in accord with the views expressed by most parents in the survey.
• On the question of school uniforms, the teachers and parents were completely in accord with each other.

To have strong but usually short-lived romantic feelings for someone, often without knowing them well.

• At fifteen, I was infatuated with a singer whose posters covered every wall of my bedroom.
• When you are infatuated with someone, it is easy to overlook their faults.

To have the same effect as something bad, or to be as bad as it.

• Cutting the hospital's budget yet again would be tantamount to closing it altogether.
• Many voters felt that the minister's silence was tantamount to an admission of guilt.

To be greatly admired and talked about by everyone in a place because of a recent success.

• After winning the national science competition, the twins were the toast of their small town.
• Within weeks of releasing her first album, she was the toast of the London music scene.

(of an actor) to keep being given the same kind of character to play.

• After playing a villain in his first film, he was typecast as the bad guy for the rest of his career.
• Actors who become famous for comic roles often worry about being typecast as clowns and never being offered serious parts.