Adding Complexity: English Vocabulary List

to prevent someone from achieving success by destroying their plans

"You will cook your goose."

"The spy cooked his own goose when he accidentally left secret documents on the train for anyone to find."

to give someone an opportunity to act freely with the intention of hurting them

"Give him rope to hang."

"The manager decided to give the underperforming employee enough rope to hang himself."

to act as though one is not interested in another person's romantic or sexual advances in order to increase their interest or desire

"She is playing hard to get."

"She told her friend to play hard to get so that he would want her even more than before."

to prevent someone from achieving what they want by creating problems for them

"He queered my pitch."

"Her competitor's last-minute offer unfortunately queered her pitch for the contract."

to ruin what someone has planned or not allow them enjoy something

"Don't rain on my parade."

"I was so excited about my promotion, and I didn't want anyone to rain on my parade with negative comments."

to slow down a plan or activity or prevent it from going on

"Threw wrench in works."

"The unexpected budget cuts threw a monkey wrench into the project's timeline."

to do something that makes oneself overly worried or confused

"Tied myself in knots."

"He tied himself into knots trying to remember all the complex instructions."

to cause problems, often by ruining or interrupting something that was planned

"He upset the apple cart today."

"The sudden resignation of our team leader completely upset the apple cart, leaving everyone confused about who would take over the important project."

to complicate a simple situation

"He muddied waters."

"The politician's vague statements only served to muddy the waters of the debate."

to make an attempt to prevent something from continuing or happening

"They put kibosh on plans."

"The city council decided to put the kibosh on the controversial new development."

to do something, particularly something others do not expect, in order to make them feel less confident or important

"The news knocked me."

"The sudden bad news knocked the wind out of me and I had to sit down for a minute."

to create a sense of negativity and hopelessness regarding a particular thing or situation

"It cast a shadow."

"The recent scandal cast a dark shadow over the organization's reputation."

a person or thing that ruins an otherwise positive or enjoyable situation

"The cost is a fly in ointment."

"The beautiful vacation destination was perfect, but the constant noise from construction was a real fly in the ointment."

to lessen or decrease the enjoyment, strength, or activity of something

"It put a damper."

"The bad news about the economy put a damper on everyone's holiday spirits."

to cause something to be less enjoyable as it could be

"It took gilt off."

"Discovering the hidden fees unfortunately took the gilt off the gingerbread of our vacation."

to not easily give a person something that they need or want from one

"She played hard to get."

"He found her elusive nature intriguing, but she was just playing hard to get."