1. Headwind vs tailwind
• A tailwind is a wind that blows in the direction of travel of an object. A headwind blows against the direction of travel.
• A tailwind increases the object’s speed and reduces the time required to reach its destination, while a headwind has the opposite effect.
Usage:
• The resulting devaluation of the Swiss franc appeared to provide a tailwind for an export-oriented economy.
• The forenoon was sunny and bright, and the roads good, with a coldish headwind blowing.
2. Predilection
• A preference or special liking for something; a bias in favour of something.
Usage: Your predilection for pretty ornaments.
3. Stealthily
• In a cautious and surreptitious manner, so as not to be seen or heard.
Usage: I woke up and stealthily crept downstairs.
4. Imputation
• A charge or claim that someone has done something undesirable; an accusation.
Usage: There are grounds for inquiring into the imputations of misconduct against him.
5. Trespass
• Enter someone’s land or property without permission.
Usage: There is no excuse for trespassing on railway property.
• Commit an offence against (a person or a set of rules).
Usage: A man who had trespassed against Judaic law.
6. Affray
• An instance of group fighting in a public place that disturbs the peace.
Usage: Lowe was charged with causing an affray.
7. Mayhem
• The crime of maliciously injuring or maiming someone, originally so as to render them defenceless.
Usage: From the mayhem around us, it’s clear that she’s gone through considerable trouble to pull this off.
8. Stymie
• Prevent or hinder the progress of.
Usage: The changes must not be allowed to stymie new medical treatments.
• A stymie is an archaic rule in the game of golf for a situation or problem presenting such difficulties as to discourage or defeat any attempt to deal with or resolve it.
9. Permeate
• Spread throughout something or pervade.
Usage: The aroma of soup permeated the air.
10. Triumvirate
• A triumvirate is a political regime ruled or dominated by three powerful individuals known as triumvirs.
• The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three are notionally equal, this is rarely the case in reality.
Usage: As the eldest of the triumvirate, Clarke perhaps knows best the decades of pain endured by Northern Ireland and its people.
