Meaning
To deliberately avoid acknowledging or addressing difficulties, hoping they will disappear on their own.
Practice Bank
3 exercisesEr neigt dazu, seine ___ zu ignorieren.
Das ___ von Problemen führt selten zu einer Lösung.
Anstatt die Situation anzugehen, entschied er sich dafür, die ___ zu ignorieren.
🎉 Score: /3
The German word 'Probleme' comes from the Latin 'problēma', which itself is derived from the Greek 'próblēma' (πρόβλημα), meaning 'an obstacle, something thrown forward'. The Greek word is a combination of 'pro-' (πρό) meaning 'before, forward' and 'ballein' (βάλλειν) meaning 'to throw'. This etymology highlights the original sense of a 'problem' as something that stands in one's way. The word 'ignorieren' comes from the Latin 'ignorare', meaning 'not to know, to be unacquainted with'. This Latin word is formed from the prefix 'in-' (not) and 'gnarus' (knowing, acquainted). The combination of 'Probleme' and 'ignorieren' therefore literally means 'to not know or to be unacquainted with problems', which accurately conveys the meaning of deliberately avoiding acknowledgement.
