matter

important, pressing, serious, urgent, weighty

The manager decided to postpone the meeting because a serious matter required her immediate attention.

awkward, complex, complicated, delicate, difficult

The teacher handled the complicated matter of the failed exam with great care.

no easy, (no) simple

Getting your children to eat vegetables every day is no simple matter.

practical

We need to sort out the practical matters before we can start the project next week.

subject

The course covers sensitive subject matter that requires careful classroom discussion.

economic, environmental, financial, legal, political, procedural, routine, technical

The company had to hire a lawyer to handle the complex legal matters arising from the dispute.

different

Cooking at home is easy, but opening a restaurant is a different matter entirely.

bring up, broach, raise

Sarah decided to raise the matter at the team meeting instead of discussing it privately.

address, debate, discuss, go into, take up

The committee decided to address the matter at their next meeting.

pursue, take further

When the company refused to refund my money, I decided to pursue the matter with their manager.

drop

After their argument, Sarah decided to drop the matter and focus on their friendship instead.

clarify, clear up, decide, resolve, settle

We need to resolve this matter before we can move forward with the project.

approach, deal with, treat

The manager decided to approach the matter carefully before making any final decisions.

in a/the ~

My parents always gave me freedom in the matter of choosing my own clothes.

on a/the ~

I haven't made a decision on the matter yet, so let me think about it more.

~ for

When your car breaks down, that's a matter for a qualified mechanic to handle.

~ of

Whether we go camping depends on a matter of weather and how much money we can spend.

let the matter drop/rest

After their disagreement, he decided to let the matter drop and focus on something else.

the matter in hand

We need to focus on the matter in hand before we discuss anything else.

complicate, confuse, make worse, not help

The argument only complicated matters further when she brought up past mistakes.

arrange

The manager arranged matters so that everyone could leave early on Friday.

organic, vegetable

Plants decompose and return vegetable matter to the soil.

a great deal, a lot, really

Your opinion really matters to me and my family.

hardly, little

What he thinks hardly matters since the decision has already been made.

not much, scarcely

It doesn't much matter which brand of rice you choose for this recipe.

not seem to

It doesn't seem to matter what time you arrive at the party.

about

The teacher said it didn't matter about arriving a few minutes late.

to

What matters most to me is spending time with my family on weekends.