stark

stark    [stahrk]

adjective.  complete and extreme

India's extreme weather that has killed more than 18,000 people serves as a stark reminder of how vulnerable the human body is to severe heat. Human beings aren't built to spend long periods of time in temperatures that exceed the body's own temperature of about 98.6 degrees.  

For all its growing nuclear capability, North Korea is suffering economically, in stark contrast to its southern neighbor. 

Although Brazil has a mature finance sector and progress has made in the last two decades, stark inequality remains. 

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/stark

dearth

dearth    [durth]

noun.  lack, scarcity 

"Despite the fact that there have been some 50 Superhero movies made just in the past 10 years - from Spider Man to The Dark Knight to X-Men to The Avengers - no woman has directed any of the major films. There's been a dearth of female superhero movies over this time period as well."

"In the mid-1980s, women accounted for 30% to 40% is computer science students in the United States. Today that has dropped to about 16%. The dearth of women in the tech world also creates an economic problem."

"Faced with a dearth of logistical and challenges related to climate change, human-powered trips to the North Pole may be on the brink of extinction."

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/dearth

stifling

stifling    [Stahy-fling]

adjective. suffocating because of heat, lacking air or something else

"Stifling heat has killed more than 700 people in India in less than one week. India recorded its highest temperature of 47 degrees Celsius -- 117 degrees Fahrenheit -- at Angul in Odisha on Monday."

"It's difficult to be overly critical, considering what the team has been able to accomplish thanks to Lundqvist and a stifling defense. 

"Indian research is hampered be stifling bureaucracy, poor-quality education at most universities and insufficient funding."

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/stifling

weather

weather    [Weth -er]

verb.  come safely through (a storm, danger, trouble, etc.)

"Lundqvist after his team's 5-1 win in Game 4 over the Tampa Bay Lightning evened the Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece, 'I felt like the entire team stepped up tonight. There were times, especially in the second, where they came really hard. But we weathered the storm, and we answered back with some high goals.'"
"China is rewriting the rules of the mobile game.  Apple, on the other hand, has taken a comfortable seat at the top of the heap and is weathering this disruption in luxurious style."
"This year has tested industry's ability to weather recession."
"to weather a severe illness."

coveted

coveted [kuhv-it]

adjective.  greatly desired 

"The observatory of New York's One World Trade Center will finally open to visitors on May 29, 2015. One World Trade Center is now the tallest building in New York. We can predict that the bar seats facing the Hudson River on the 101st floor may soon be among the most coveted in New York. "

"Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos picks the first female technical advisor, Maria Renz. This is a coveted, high-ranking role at the e-commerce giant, and one that has never before been filled by a woman."

“If you are seeking health, wealth, usefulness, skill in any direction, there is nothing and no one who can hinder your attainment of the coveted boon, if you are willing to work and wait." --  poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/coveted

grievance

grievance    [Gree-vuh ns]

noun. a complaint

"The protests in Baltimore were similar to the Boston Tea Party in 1773, the more than 200,000 people at the Washington, D.C. National Mall to hear Martin Luther King Jr. in 1964, and the anti-war march of more than 500,000 on Washington, D.C., in 1969. When people feel disenfranchised, helpless, and hopeless, they will take to the streets to air their grievances."

"India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, told China's leaders that it was up to them to rethink policies that had hindered cooperation between the Asian giants. He added a proviso:  that the Chinese government should consider India's grievances."

"He filed a grievance against a neighbor who built a fence in his front yard in his town that does not allow that."

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/grievance

hoist

hoist    [hoist]

verb.  to raise or lift (especially something heavy)

The Super Crane can hoist 1,900 tons in a single heave, the equivalent of 12 Statues of Liberty. It has arrived in New York from California to help build the replacement Tappan Zee bridge. It was used to rebuild the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. 

The last time the Rangers won a Game 7 in overtime was 1994, when they beat the Devils and, one round later, hoisted their most recent Stanley Cup. 

Germany was the team hoisting the World Cup trophy in Brazil last year. 

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/hoist