American English

grim

grim [grim grimmer grimmest]   [ɡrɪm]    [ɡrɪm]  adjective (grim·mer, grim·mest)
1. looking or sounding very serious
• a grim face/look/smile
• She looked grim.
• with a look of grim determination on his face
• He set about the task with grim concentration.

• grim-faced policemen

2. unpleasant and depressing
• grim news
• We face the grim prospect of still higher unemployment.
• Despite the grim forecast, the number of deaths was slightly down on last year.
• The outlook is pretty grim.
• This latest attack is a grim reminder of how vulnerable our airports are to terrorist attack.
• Booth paints a grim picture of life in the next century.
• a grim struggle for survival

• Things are looking grim for workers in the building industry.

3. (of a place or building) not attractive; depressing
• The house looked grim and dreary in the rain.

• the grim walls of the prison

4. not before noun (BrE, informal) ill/sick

• I feel grim this morning.

5. not usually before noun (BrE, informal) of very low quality
• Their performance was fairly grim, I'm afraid!
Idiom: hang on for grim death
Derived Words: grimly ▪ grimness
See also: hang on for dear life  
Word Origin:
Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch grim and German grimm.  
Example Bank:
• James had some rather grim news.
• The accident serves as a grim reminder of what drinking and driving can do.
• There was a grim smile on her face as she approached.

• They clung on to the edge of the boat with grim determination.

passionate

pas·sion·ate   [ˈpæʃənət]    [ˈpæʃənət]  adjective
1. having or showing strong feelings of sexual love or of anger, etc

• to have a passionate nature

2. having or showing strong feelings of enthusiasm for sth or belief in sth
• a passionate interest in music
• a passionate defender of civil liberties
Derived Word: passionately  
Word Origin:
[passionate passionately] late Middle English (also in the senses ‘easily moved to passion’ and ‘enraged’): from medieval Latin passionatus ‘full of passion’, from passio (chiefly a term in Christian theology), from Latin pati ‘suffer’.  
Example Bank:
• He makes no secret of his passionate commitment to the nationalist cause.
• His guitar playing was passionate and extremely skilful.
• She is passionate about her work.
• She was a passionate defender of civil liberties.
• a passionate kiss/embrace/affair/lover
• a passionate speech/sincerity/attachment/belief/commitment/conviction
• a passionate supporter/defender of sth

• passionate love/feelings

gifted

gift·ed [gifted]   [ˈɡɪftɪd]    [ˈɡɪftɪd]  adjective
1. having a lot of natural ability or intelligence
• a gifted musician/player, etc.

• gifted children

2. ~ with sth having sth pleasant
• He was gifted with a charming smile.  
Example Bank:
• He's very gifted at maths.
• Their helpers are gifted with amazing powers of patience.
• a naturally gifted athlete
• academically gifted children
• gifted in the art of healing
• He's an extremely gifted young player.
• She goes to a school for gifted children.

• She's especially gifted at art.

repetitive

re·peti·tive [repetitive repetitively repetitiveness]   [rɪˈpetətɪv]    [rɪˈpetətɪv]  adjective
1. saying or doing the same thing many times, so that it becomes boring
Syn:  monotonous

• a repetitive task.

2. repeated many times
• a repetitive pattern of behaviour
• Travel sickness is caused by the effect of repetitive movements.
Derived Words: repetitively ▪ repetitiveness  
Example Bank:

• Machines can now perform many repetitive tasks in the home.

dated

dated [dated]   [ˈdeɪtɪd]    [ˈdeɪtɪd]  adjective
old-fashioned; belonging to a time in the past
• Those TV comedies were OK in their day but seem incredibly dated now.
compare  undated  
Example Bank:
• These ideas seem a bit dated now.

• This drama series is supposedly modern yet its characters live in a curiously dated world.

commercial

com·mer·cial [commercial commercials] adjective, noun   [kəˈmɜːʃl]    [kəˈmɜːrʃl] 

adjective
1. usually before noun connected with the buying and selling of goods and services
• the commercial heart of the city
• She is developing the commercial side of the organization.

• a commercial vehicle (= one that is used for carrying goods or passengers who pay)

2. only before noun making or intended to make a profit
• The movie was not a commercial success (= did not make money).
• commercial baby foods

• the first commercial flights across the Atlantic

3. (disapproving) more concerned with profit and being popular than with quality
• Their more recent music is far too commercial.

• The show was unashamedly commercial, with little artistic merit.

4. (of television or radio) paid for by the money charged for broadcasting advertisements
• a commercial radio station/TV channel  
Thesaurus:
commercial adj.
1. usually before noun
• banks in the commercial heart of the city
economic • • financial • |finance monetary • • budgetary •
commercial/economic/financial/monetary/budgetary policy/arrangements/systems/problems
commercial/economic/financial/monetary gain/loss/value/affairs/consequences
the commercial/economic/financial side/status of sth
2. only before noun
• They are an educational charity, not a commercial publisher.
profitable • • profit-making • • economic • • lucrative •
Opp: non-profit
a commercial/profitable/profit-making/lucrative enterprise  
Synonyms:
economic
financial • commercial • monetary • budgetary
These words all describe activities or situations that are connected with the use of money, especially by a business or country.
economic • connected with the trade, industry and development of wealth of a country, an area or a society: ▪ This book deals with the social, economic and political issues of the period.
financial • connected with money and finance: ▪ She had got into financial difficulties. ◊ ▪ Tokyo is a major financial centre.
commercial • connected with the buying and selling of goods and services.
monetary • (formal or finance) connected with money, especially all the money in a country: ▪ closer European monetary union
budgetary • (finance) connected with a budget (= the money available or a plan of how it will be spent).
economic/financial/commercial/monetary/budgetary affairs/decisions
the economic/financial/commercial/budgetary climate
the economic/financial/commercial side of sth
an economic/financial/commercial centre  
Synonyms:
successful
profitable • commercial • lucrative • economic
These words all describe sb/sth that is making or is likely to make money.
successful • making a lot of money, especially by being popular: ▪ The play was very successful on Broadway. ◊ ▪ The company has had another successful year.
profitable • making a profit: ▪ a highly profitable business
commercial • [only before noun] making or intended to make a profit: ▪ The movie was not a commercial success ▪ (= made no profit) ▪.
lucrative • (of business or work) producing or paying a large amount of money; making a large profit: ▪ They do a lot of business in lucrative overseas markets.
economic • (often used in negative sentences) (of a process, business or activity) producing enough profit to continue: ▪ Small local shops stop being economic when a supermarket opens up nearby.
a successful/profitable/lucrative business
a successful/profitable/lucrative year
a(n) commercial/economic success  
Example Bank:
• The movie was not a commercial success.
• They are an educational charity, not a commercial publisher.
• They have offices in the commercial heart of the city.
• We manufacture commercial vehicles.

Derived Word: commercially 

sentimental

sen·ti·men·tal [sentimental sentimentally]   [ˌsentɪˈmentl]    [ˌsentɪˈmentl]  adjective
1. connected with your emotions, rather than reason
• He has a strong sentimental attachment to the place.
• She kept the letters for sentimental reasons.

• The ring wasn't worth very much but it had great sentimental value.

2. (often disapproving) producing emotions such as pity, romantic love or sadness, which may be too strong or not appropriate; feeling these emotions too much
• a slushy, sentimental love story
• Her book is honest without being sentimental.
• He's not the sort of man who gets sentimental about old friendships.
Opp:  unsentimental
Derived Word: sentimentally  
Example Bank:
• You, crying at a film! You must be getting sentimental in your old age!
• a rather sentimental gesture
• He's not the sort of man who gets sentimental about old friendships.
• His book is honest without being sentimental.

• The ring wasn't worth much but it had great sentimental value.

roll with the punches

roll with the ˈpunches idiom

to adapt yourself to a difficult situation

sitting duck

ˌsitting ˈduck [sitting duck]       (also ˌsitting ˈtarget) noun
a person or thing that is easy to attack 
Example Bank:

• Its location makes the island a sitting duck for attackers.

get to somebody

ˈget to sb derived
(informal) to annoy or affect sb

• The pressure of work is beginning to get to him.