witches' brew
- noun
- /ˈwɪtʃɪz bru/
- Literature
:
mezcla peligrosa
- The report warned of a witches' brew of threats facing the region.
Examples
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The city was gripped by a witches' brew of political unrest and economic instability.
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His addiction was fueled by a witches' brew of drugs and alcohol.
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This is a witches' brew!
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Don't create a witches' brew!
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The factory produced a witches' brew of hazardous chemicals that posed serious health risks to nearby residents.
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The recipe was a witches' brew of unusual ingredients, resulting in a dish that had unpredictable flavors.
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The report described a witches' brew of social issues, such as poverty and crime, leading to a community in distress.
Synonyms
212
6.6
A drink made to heal, harm, or cause magic
24
6.0
A food or drink made by mixing different things, often in a new way
1
8.2
A mix of different things that causes trouble or fear
A drink made by soaking, boiling, and fermenting ingredients, like beer
How Dangerous
367
2.1
- Literature
- Literature
212
6.6
24
6.0
- Specialized
55
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
witches' + brew
The constituents 'witches'' (implying a magical or sinister agent) and 'brew' (a concoction or mixture) make it reasonably predictable that the phrase refers to a sinister or dangerous mixture. Because the meaning is a figurative extension of the literal parts and relies on cultural knowledge about witches rather than being wholly arbitrary, it is partially but not fully transparent to learners.
Etymology
Witches' brew comes from the image of witches stirring a bubbling brew of strange ingredients in a pot. Because that mix looks dangerous and unpredictable, the phrase now means 'a dangerous or disturbing mixture' of different things.