dwell on — to think or talk about something for a long time, especially something unpleasant
Part of speech: VERB
Definition: to think or talk about something for a long time, especially something unpleasant
Pronunciation (IPA): /dwel ɑn/
Example Sentences
- My grandmother tends to dwell on how expensive everything is these days, especially when she pays $7 for coffee.
- Instead of dwelling on his failed diet, he decided to dwell on his successful Netflix binge-watching skills.
- The therapist advised her not to dwell on her ex-boyfriend's new relationship status updates.
dwell on
VERB[/dwel ɑn/]
to think or talk about something for a long time, especially something unpleasant
He keeps dwelling on one bad exam grade while life moves on around him.
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🎤Pronunciation
🌳Etymology
Origin
Derived from Middle English 'dwellen', meaning 'to remain' or 'to delay'. Originally denoting physical residence in a place, the phrase evolved to express remaining mentally or emotionally fixed on a thought or feeling.
Breakdown
dwell (to remain, to linger) + on (upon, in the direction of) = to remain fixed upon or absorbed in a thought or emotion.
🎵Rhyme
🔗Collocations
📝Examples
“My grandmother tends to dwell on how expensive everything is these days, especially when she pays $7 for coffee.”
“Instead of dwelling on his failed diet, he decided to dwell on his successful Netflix binge-watching skills.”
“The therapist advised her not to dwell on her ex-boyfriend's new relationship status updates.”
“He dwells on every typo in his emails as if they were life-threatening mistakes.”
📚Related Words
Synonyms
Antonyms
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