curdle

The phrase “more modern ways of thinking” may curdle the blood of the reader, who may brace for Ms. Lutz to inculpate her subject in matters of race, class and gender.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

A practicing Mormon, Coppins had no previous experience with gambling but quickly learned how easily the “joyful naivete” of his initial use “could curdle into delusion and compulsion.”

From Slate ● May 5, 2026

Two Navy sailors, Jefferson Jones and his pal, Sink, have been adrift on a raft for 18 days, long enough for hunger to curdle into imagination.

From Salon ● Dec. 25, 2025

But his father declined the offer, and Cuenci’s voice began to curdle under the influence of puberty.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2022

From my place in the shade it isn’t so bad, but the stink of bodies, all sweating with the morning work, is enough to make milk curdle.

From "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard

Hilarious and incisive, the humor never draws blood, never curdles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026

There may be an undercurrent of gossip, like the hints of discord between Affleck and Leavitt, but nothing that curdles our mood.

From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2025

I’ve seen it over and over in my practice: A gesture that is initially received with intense gratitude curdles into hurt or anger.

From Slate ● Mar. 23, 2025

It turns out you can pay a lot for the privilege of real-time “re-enactments,” and he does, commissioning a series of increasingly elaborate set pieces whose pursuit soon curdles into monomania.

From New York Times ● Jan. 13, 2024

“Shallow and self-absorbed. The change in appearance reveals the tragic side of that mind-set. Vanity curdles into misery. They become spiteful and jealous, wallowing in wretchedness.”

From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull

Against him stand those who think Britain's hostility to cooling has curdled into a type of masochism.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

Colombian writer-director Simón Mesa Soto’s acutely observed Cannes-recognized “A Poet” lays bare that torment with the tale of a has-been writer for whom exquisite suffering has curdled into garden-variety middle-age failure.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026

Sharon would soon suffer a devastating stroke, but his Gaza policy survived and curdled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025

Even as investor sentiment has curdled, TD Cowen believes a sustained appetite for data-center spending could cause Vertiv’s customer orders to accelerate as soon as the fourth quarter.

From Barron's ● Dec. 1, 2025

All that came out was a strangled and pathetic sound, like the spit had curdled in her mouth.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

I called Gao Shanwen back in 2019, early in Xi Jinping’s second term, when disappointment over Beijing’s failure to reform its state sector was curdling into something closer to alarm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

He returned to a hometown that seemed to be developing under that same American planning influence whose reputation was curdling up north.

From Slate ● Dec. 22, 2024

The tagline — “What a guy! What a lug! What a hero! What a bum!” — illustrates the tentative truce between fans and umpires that is always, inevitably, one call from curdling.

From Seattle Times ● May 31, 2024

Then warm liquid from a broth or sauce is added slowly to the mixture to temper the eggs and prevent them from curdling.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 27, 2023

I end up hunching over and slinking away, shame curdling inside me then reaching its fingers to wrap tight around my body.

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali