Words / M / Business

millstone

noun/ˈmɪlstəʊn/

B2CEFR level
55/100Rarity: uncommon
TechnicalRegister

A heavy ongoing burden that weighs down a company's performance or strategic options.

The legacy pension liability became a millstone that scared off potential acquirers.

Similar: burden, albatross

Topic: Corporate strategy in Business English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More business words: Corporate strategy