weal
Other forms: weals
A weal is a sore or other mark on the skin. Don't pick up that hot pan without an oven mitt — it will burn you and leave a red weal on your hand.
Think of a weal as the painful-looking mark on the skin. In medicine, weal means an itchy, raised rash: "The weals on his neck make me think he's allergic to cats." This noun also has a completely different meaning: it can refer to a state of being content and prosperous, especially when discussing society as a whole. These two meanings of weal have different roots.
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a raised mark on the skin (as produced by the blow of a whip); characteristic of many allergic reactions
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a contented state of being happy, healthy, and prosperoussynonyms: eudaemonia, eudaimonia, upbeat, welfare, well-being, wellbeingtypes:fool's paradisean illusory state of wellbeingtype of:
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the good of a communitysynonyms: common good, commonwealtype of:goodbenefit
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Vocabulary lists containing weal
In this tragedy, King Lear's plan to divide his kingdom between his three daughters leads to his downfall when he misjudges their true feelings.
After wizard Ged Sparrowhawk arrives at the Tombs of Atuan to steal an ancient treasure, he meets Tenar, a young girl who guards the Tombs and knows nothing of the outside world.