Saying good-bye with dignity – The Hindu (July 05, 2016)
“In India, the poor die in agony in neglect, the middle-class die in agony in ignorance, and the rich die in agony on a ventilator,” says Dr. Sankha Mitra, the British oncologist, referring to the sometimes inhuman treatment meted out to people in the end-stage of life. “No one gets a dignified and pain-free death.” For further reading, visit “The Hindu”.
Today’s Words:
- Agony (noun) – pain, torture, torment, anguish.
- Neglect (noun) – negligence, carelessness, lack of concern, irresponsibility.
- Ignorance (noun) – lack of knowledge, lack of education, stupidity.
- Ventilator (noun) – a respirator, a device (used for a patient to breathe).
- Oncologist (noun) – Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an oncologist. (Courtesy: Wikipedia).
- Inhuman (adjective) – heartless, merciless, unkind, pitiless.
- Mete out (verb) – dispense, hand out, apportion, assign.
- Dignified (adjective) – solemn, ceremonious, courteous.
- Futile (adjective) – pointless, useless, ineffective.
- Imprison (verb) – confined, detained, put in a prison like place.
- Distress (noun) – difficulty, hardship, adversity, trouble.
- Certainty (noun) – sureness, fact, truth, conclusiveness.
- Bed-ridden (adjective) – confined to bed, out of action, immobilized, bed-bound.
- A host of (phrase) – multitude, great quantity, lot, large number.
- Palliative care (noun) – It is a multidisciplinary approach to specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, physical stress, and mental stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis. The goal of such therapy is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family. (Courtesy: Wikipedia)
- Paradoxically (adverb) – absurdly, inconsistently.
- Rapporteur (noun) – a reporter of an research institute/organization. He himself involves in research and proceedings of the institute/organization.
- de facto (adverb) – in practice, in effect, in fact, in reality.
- Refrain from (verb) – abstain, desist, hold back, stop oneself.
- Condemn (verb) – censure, criticize, attack.
- Fall foul of (phrase) – get into conflict/trouble.
- Implication (noun) – consequence, result, ramification, repercussion.
- Obligation (noun) – duty, commitment, responsibility.
- Opioid (noun) – Opiate; calmative, palliative, mind-altering drug, tranquilizer, depressant, pain reliever.
- Exhort (verb) – urge, encourage, pressurize, call on, push.
- Continuum (noun) – a series of things with a particular quality, but by differed minute angles.
- Bereavement (noun) – loss, deprivation, grief, sorrow, sadness; death in the family, loss, demise.
- Hanged (past & past participle of hang) – execute by hanging, put to death, killed.
- Inconceivable (adjective) – beyond belief, unbelievable, unthinkable, unimaginable.
- Dispense (verb) – distribute, supply, disburse, pass around.
- Viable (adjective) – workable, feasible, practicable.
Note:
- Click each one of the words above for their definition, more synonyms, pronunciation, example sentences, phrases, derivatives, origin and etc from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/ .
- Definitions (elementary level) & Synonyms provided for the words above are my personal work and not that of Oxford University Press.