bane
/beɪn
/noun [usually in singular]
1A cause of great distress or annoyance: the telephone was the bane of my life...
- His dyslexia - the bane of his life - meant that he found writing difficult, and he preferred giving papers at meetings.
- On the other hand there are the low waist pants - the bane of my life.
- In fact the bane of my life was a cousin and his birthday parties.
Synonyms
scourge, ruin, death, plague, ruination, destruction;
torment, torture, menace, suffering, pain, distress, hardship, cross to bear, burden, thorn in one's flesh/side, bitter pill, affliction, calamity, despair, trouble, misery, woe, tribulation, misfortune, nuisance, pest, headache, trial, blight, curse, nightmare
2 archaic Something, especially poison, which causes death.
Derivatives
baneful
/ adjective (archaic) ...- Unlike most mayors, he saw that social problem solving goes beyond the province of experts, planners, and managers and that most baneful of concepts, ‘delivering services.’
- Second, declarations about the baneful influence of popular culture gloss over the dearth of evidence supporting a causal link between watching portrayals of violence and engaging in violent behavior.
- In many places in Britain, it was customary to light huge bonfires in the fields to ward off baneful influences, often accompanied by much partying.
Origin
Old English bana 'thing causing death, poison', of Germanic origin.