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cruel mistress

noun

Etymology

From cruel + mistress

  1. derived from maistresse
  2. inherited from maistresse
  3. compounded as cruel mistress — “cruel + mistress”

Definitions

  1. Something which has both significant positive and negative aspects.

    • For bandleaders, society can be a cruel mistress. At debutante parties they receive compliments but not calling cards, at charity balls they take their breaks with their players instead of their patrons […]
    • Even if you can’t afford a new one, the cruel mistress of depreciation will soon have her way with the Stinger and that’s very good news.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for cruel mistress. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA