Word.ws English Dictionary

slings and arrows

Syllables: slings and ar·rowsUK/ˌslɪŋz‿n̩ ˈæɹəʊz//ˌslɪŋz‿n̩ ˈæɹoʊz/

slings and arrows noun: hardships or adverse circumstances.

Noun

slings and arrows pl (plural only)

  1. (idiomatic, plural, plural-only) Hardships or adverse circumstances.
    • To be, or not to be, that is the queſtion: / VVhether tis nobler in the minde to ſuffer / The ſlings and arrovves of outragious fortune, / Or to take Armes againſt a ſea of troubles, / And by oppoſing, end them, to die to ſleepe / No more, […]c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604...
    • Now that we're entering the thick of the holiday travel season and we've been groped, scanned, forced to eat a Cinnabon and otherwise made to suffer the slings and arrows of air travel – here’s something rarely offered of late: a positive story about airports.2010 December 17, Allison Arieff, “Opinion: Can airports be fun?”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Jul 2023
  2. (idiomatic, plural, plural-only) Harsh criticism or personal attacks.
    • […] Mrs. Dareville, without any motives of interest, or good nature of sufficient power to restrain her talent and habit of ridicule, free from hope or fear, gave full scope to all the malice of mockery, and all the insolence of fashion. Her slings and arrows, numerous as they were and outrageous...1802–1812, [Maria] Edgeworth, “. Chapter III.”, in Tales of Fashionable Life, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, pages 284–285
    • In Massachusetts, the Kennedy family, unafraid of the slings and arrows from lesser breeds, proudly ran its youngest son through a convention gauntlet, and saw him emerge the victor.1962 June 15, “Politics: Passion, Pageantry & Platform”, in Time, volume LXXIX, number 24, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 13, column 1
    Synonyms:
    barbs, broadsides

Examples of slings and arrows in a sentence

  • It seems inevitable that an elite institution in a democratic republic will suffer the slings and arrows of populist discontent.2021 October 17, J[ames] Harvie Wilkinson III, “Opinion: Supreme Court term limits wouldn’t solve anything”, in The Washington Post...
  • Exposed to a fellow employee's harassment, one can walk away or tell the offender to "buzz off." A supervisor's slings and arrows, however, are not so easily avoided.2013 June 24, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States (dissenting judgment), “Vance v. Ball State...
  • Today it'd be a lot harder to find a man that would stand up for his principles and suffer the slings and arrows of the haters on social media.2015 October 14, Cara Buckley, “Steven Spielberg on the Cold War and other Hollywood front lines”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y....

Synonyms of slings and arrows

Origin of slings and arrows

Coined by the English playwright William Shakespeare (baptized 1564; died 1616) in his play Hamlet (written 1599–1601; first published 1604 in the second quarto), referring to fortune attacking a person, as if using slingshots and arrows: see the quotation.

Questions about slings and arrows

What does slings and arrows mean?
Slings and arrows means hardships or adverse circumstances.
How do you use slings and arrows in a sentence?
It seems inevitable that an elite institution in a democratic republic will suffer the slings and arrows of populist discontent.
What part of speech is slings and arrows?
Slings and arrows is a noun.
How do you pronounce slings and arrows?
Slings and arrows is pronounced /ˌslɪŋz‿n̩ ˈæɹəʊz/ (UK).

Words near slings and arrows in the dictionary

  1. slingload
  2. slingloads
  3. slings
  4. slings about
  5. slings along
  6. slings and arrows
  7. slings for
  8. slings ink
  9. slings it in
  10. slings off
  11. slings one up

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: slings and arrows (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-slings and arrows.oga.

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