Vortex    (pronounced vawr-teks) noun


Definition

1. a whirling mass of air, water, or other fluid forming a vacuum at its center and sucking in everything around it; a whirlpool.   2. any situation, activity, or condition which, like a whirlpool, tends to absorb, suck, or consume every person or thing around it.

Other Forms

Vortices   (pronounced vawr-tuh-seez) plural

Main Example

  • Following his earthshaking announcement that Western intelligence regarding Iraq's WMDs was completely wrong, David Kay gave a series of interviews to the media in which he repeatedly stated another startling fact that also remained undetected by the West: that Iraqi society began disintegrating in 1998, "spinning into a vortex of corruption and graft" and producing an environment in which the leadership was only interested in acquiring wealth and "taking care of each other, and not in producing weapons."

    Workplace Examples

  • That assignment three years ago in the corporate office was my most worthwhile ever because I was in the vortex of our company's attempts to turnaround some ailing units, and succeed we did! What a great experience!

    Emphasize Your Point in Just Three Sentences.

  • Be warned that if you join the marketing group, you'll be working from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day whether you like it or not. That operation is a vortex and, just like the others, you too will be sucked into it!

    Other Examples

  • your remarking: "What with all kinds of Palm Pilots, cell phones, and other communication devices hardwired into our routines, the vortex of everyday life is spinning faster and faster!"

  • some parents at the end of their tether and barely having any time for themselves because they become so swept up in the vortex of their children's extracurricular activities, ferrying them from one playground or art class or music tutor to another

  • thanks to people living longer and the continuous development of new high tech medical treatments, healthcare becoming a vortex of soaring costs

  • some other vortices of upward spiralling costs: going to the movies; homeland security and the war against terrorism; the conflict in Iraq; and, in some markets, housing

    © 2004 V.J. Singal

    This Month's Other Words

    Vortex
    Tin Ear
    Truculent
    Engender
    Bulwark
    Vacuous
    Pernicious
    Circumscribe

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