Man's search for meaning

grotesque

strange and unpleasant, especially in a silly or slightly frightening way:

By now she'd had so much cosmetic surgery that she looked quite grotesque.

hackneyed

A hackneyed phrase or idea has been said or used so often that it has become boring and has no meaning:

The plot of the film is just a hackneyed boy-meets-girl scenario.

semblance

a situation or condition that is similar to what is wanted or expected, but is not exactly as hoped for:

The city has now returned to some semblance of normality after last night's celebrations.

She’s raising two kids, holding down a full-time job, and trying to maintain some semblance of a personal life.

deal a blow to someone/something

(also deal someone/something a blow)

to cause someone or something, usually a plan or hope, to fail or to be affected very badly:

The latest trade figures have dealt a severe blow to hopes of an early economic recovery.

vegetate

to live or spend time in a way that lacks physical and mental activity and effort:

The children just vegetate in front of the TV all morning.

expressly

for a particular purpose

The farmer put up the fence expressly to stop people walking across his field.

parable

a short, simple story that teaches or explains an idea, especially a moral or religious idea

bear testimony/witness

His journalism bears witness to the atrocities committed against the Vietnamese people.

a (heavy) cross to bear

an unpleasant or painful situation or person that you have to accept and deal with, although you find it very difficult

baseness

a lack of any honour or morals:

War is brutishness and baseness on a grand scale.

neurotic

behaving strangely or in an anxious (= worried and nervous) way, often because you have a mental illness:

neurotic behaviour/tendencies

She's neurotic about her weight - she weighs herself three times a day.

sublimate

to express strong emotions or use energy by doing an activity, especially an activity that is considered socially acceptable:

Hostile feelings and violent responses often seem to be sublimated into sporting activities.

symptomatology

all of the symptoms (= feelings of illness or physical or mental change) of a particular disease:

One week before surgery, the patient noted a distinct change in his symptomatology so the operation was brought forward.

Children at high economic risk were more likely to exhibit depressive symptomatology than those at low economic risk.

irk

to annoy someone:

The negative reply to my complaint really irked me.

vet

to examine something or someone carefully to make certain that it is or they are acceptable or suitable:

During the war, the government vetted all news reports before they were published.

The material was carefully vetted by lawyers to ensure it complied with the law

cap

to put a limit on the amount of money that can be charged or spent in connection with a particular activity:

High-spending councils have all been capped.

Our mortgage is capped at 8.75 percent for five years.

sanctify

to make something socially or officially acceptable:

a practice sanctified by many years of tradition

happenstance

coincidence

By (a strange) happenstance they were both in Paris at the same time.

transitory

ephemeral, transient

aetiology/ etiology

the study of the causes of a disease

the cause of a specific disease:

The aetiology of the infection was recently discovered.