Joint Vocabulary List
Academic English, ENGAA1, autumn 2008
English
English definition
Example(s)
Example: Abstruse
Often disapproving, difficult to understand (Oxford)
An abstruse argument (Oxford)
To purvey
To supply food, services or information to people
The homepage purveys the same information given in the leaflet.
Ample
Enough or more than enough / Synonym for: plenty of
They had ample opportunity to do it before the deadline.
To devastate
To completely destroy a place or an area / (often passive) to make
some-body fell very shocked and sad
The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city.
To refute
To prove that something is wrong / to say that something is not true or
fair
She refutes any suggestions that she behaved unprofessionally.
To envisage
To imagine or expect as a likely or desirable possibility in the future
When do you envisage finishing the project?
To jot something down
To make a quick short note of something
Could you jot down your address and phone number in my address
book?
Fallacious
If an idea, argument, or reason is fallacious, it's wrong because it's
based on a fallacy.
Their main argument is fallacious and their conclusion untenable
A red herring
If you say that something is a red herring, you mean that it's not
important and it takes your attention away from the main subject or
problem you are considering
As Dr Smith left he said that the inquiry was something of a red herring.
Abortion
The non-induced birth of an embryo to the stage of viability at about 20
weeks of gestation
There is a lot of discussion about abortion.
Urge
Earnestly or persistenly to persuade to do something
He urged her to come with us.
Self-criticism
The action of finding one’s own faults and short-comings
You need some self-criticism to grow in a job.
Itinerant
Passing or traveling from place to place
Their characters are itinerant voyagers between countries, languages
and religions
Complication
Something that makes a situation more difficult to deal with
She had some complications during her pregnancy.
Shortcoming
A fault or weakness
You have to work on your own short-comings.
Affable
Easy to speak to, receiving others kindly and conversing with them in a
free and friendly manner
Johnny’s father, while strict, with his children, was usually affable and
relaxed.
Application
A formal request
You need an application before you start a job.
To be on cloud nine
To be extremely happy
I was on cloud nine after my wedding.
To feel hard done-by
To feel that you have been treated unfairly
I felt hard done-by by the police.
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To be over the moon
To be very pleased
I’m over the moon about this!
To be in the black
If a bank account is in the black, it contains some money, and if a
person or business is in the black, they have some money in the bank
and are not in debt. Antonym: To be in the red (= to be in debt).
After winning the lottery, I’ll be in the black.
Assiduous
Constant in application or effort, unremitting, persevering
Peter is an assiduous student, who never leaves a task undone.
Tenacious
Adhesive or sticky, holding together, cohesive, tough, tending to retain
There has been tenacious local opposition to the new airport.
Mitigating
1) FORMAL making something less harmful, unpleasant or bad
(Cambridge Advanced).
2) LEGAL causing you to judge a crime to be less serious or to make the
punishment less severe (Cambridge Advanced).
1) Are there any mitigating circumstances/factors which might help
explain her appalling behaviour?
2) The jury must take into account any mitigating circumstances
presented by the defense, such as previous good character.
To elicit
Bring out a response or reaction, find out information by careful
questioning
The lawyer tries to elicit a description of the attacker from the witness.
To burgeon
To grow or increase rapidly
The town burgeoned into a thriving city.
To spruce
To make neat and smart
Spruce up your house for Spring!
To encompass
To include a wide range of ideas, subjects, etc
The study encompasses the social, political, and economic aspects of
the situation.
To infringe
To do something that is against a law or someone's legal rights
A backup copy of a computer program does not infringe copyright.
Loan
A thing that is borrowed, a sum that is expected to be paid back with
interest.
Borrowers can take out a loan for $84,000.
General practitioner
A doctor who isn´t specialist but treat all illness. Family doctor.
Last week I went to see the general practitioner because I had caught
an infection.
Resume
Begin to do or pursue (something) again after a pause or interruption
A day later normal service was resumed.
Join up
If someone joins up, they become a member of the army, the navy or
their air force. Enlist.
I want to join the army.
Insurer
A person or a company that contracts to indemnify another in of loss
damage
My insurer gave me back the value on my car after the crash.
Dozen
A group of twelve.
This recipe makes three dozen cookies.
Flinch
You make small sudden movements, especially when something
surprises you.
He didn’t even flinch when the nurse cleaned the wound.
Accomplish
To bring to its goal or conclusion; carry out; perform; finish.
We accomplished our mission.
Verdict on sth/sb.
A decision that you make or an opinion that you give about something,
after you have tested it or considered it carefully
Well, what is your verdict?
Explicit
Clear and exact
I gave her very explicit directions how to get here.
Page
To contact sb. by sending a message to their pager
Page Dr Green immediately!
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To flesh out
If you flesh out sth. such as a story or plan, you add details and more
details to explain it
He talked with him for an hour and a half, fleshing out the details of his
original five-minute account.
Gullible
Too willing to believe or accept what other people tell you and therefore
easily tricked
She acknowledges the fact that she was gullible and naive.
Busman’s holiday
A holiday spent doing the same work as you do in your job
Mr Booker took a busman’s holiday helping his neighbor repaint his
house.
Osmosis
1)If you learn facts or understand ideas, you gradually learn them by
hearing them often
Children learn new languages by osmosis.
He seems to absorb information through a process of osmosis.
2) The gradual process of liquid passing through a membrane, technical
Fidget
Uneasiness or restlessness as shown by nervous movements
Small children are likely to fidget in church.
Turmoil
A state of confusion, uncertainty or lack of order
The stock exchange is in a turmoil following a huge wave of selling.
Spurious
False or fake
Someone has been phoned repeatedly on spurious grounds.
Gale
Strong wind, an outburst of laughter
A gale of laughter blows from our table.
Miscellaneous
Many different things or people who are not connected with each other
They receive a grant of $ 200,- to cover the cost of miscellaneous
expenses.
Surreptitious
Done secretly of quickly because you do not want other people to notice We all kept making surreptitious trips to the staff room to refill our
plastic beakers.
Estimation
Judgment, regard, opinion
In my estimation the boy is guilty.
To placate
Soothe, take away somebody’s angry feelings
He placated her with our apology.
Plodder
Someone who works slowly but determinedly
Dennis is a bit of a plodder, but he gets the job done in the end.
Get off with sb
If you get off with someone you have a romantic or sexual encounter
with them.
I got off with a cute boy from London.
Detachable:
If one part of an object is detachable, it has been made so that it can be
removed from the object.
The wheels are detachable from the car.
Nibble
Take small bite out of
She nibbles on her food.
Pittance
A very small or inadequate amount of money paid to someone as an
allowance or wage.
Slaves receive a pittance.
Self restraint
Self-control; restraint imposed by oneself on one’s own feelings, desires. He was angry but managed, with great self-restraint, to reply calmly.
Scholar
A learned person, especially in the humanities.
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The time to act is now, argues US-based scholar Barry Schwartz.
Viable
Capable of occurring or being done.
It’s a viable agreement.
Tranquil
Motionless, calm.
The city was tranquil.
Ephemeral
Lasting or used for a very short time.
A tornado is relatively small and ephemeral.
Strenuous
Needing or using a lot of physical or mental effort or energy.
He rarely does anything more strenuous than changing the channels on
the television.
To derive from sth.
To come from something.
The English word ‘olive’ is derived from the Latin word ‘oliva’.
Endearing
Making someone like you.
She laughs at herself a lot which is endearing.
Lush
A lush area has a lot of green, healthy plants, glass and trees.
He said that the fire will make the lawn lush.
Confound
To confuse and surprise somebody.
The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists.
Dilettante
A person who seems to be interested in a subject, but whose
understanding is not very deep.
He was a bit of a dilettante when it came to wine.
Rudimentary
Involving or limited to basic principles.
Most hiking books contain at least rudimentary maps.
Nosy
Unduly curious about the affairs of others
He knows everything about his neighbour. He’s no nosy!
To subdue
To conquer and bring into subjection
Rome subdued Gaul.
Magnificent
Making a splendid appearance or show of exceptional beauty
The cathedral is magnificent.
To realign
To put something into a new or correct position
The surgeon realigned my jaw after the accident.
To trouble sb
To disturb or inconvenience sb
May I trouble you to shut the door?
To soak
To pass, as a liquid, through pores or holes
The rain soaked through my umbrella.
Feast
Any rich or abundant meal
The steak dinner was a real feast.
To sink (sank, sunk)
To fall or descend into or below the surface or to the bottom
The battleship sank within two hours.
Hamstring
If you hamstring sb, you make it very difficult for them to take any action. If he becomes the major opposition leader, he could hamstring the
coalition.
Exemplary
If you describe someone or something as exemplary, you think they are
extremely good.
Underpinning this success has been an exemplary record of innovation.
Authenticate
To prove that something is genuine, real or true.
The letter has been authenticated by handwriting experts.
Cajole
To make somebody do something by talking to them and being very nice He cajoled me into agreeing to do the work.
to them
Peculiar
Unusual and strange, sometimes in an unpleasant way
She has the most peculiar ideas.
Wits
Intelligence and the ability to think quickly
She learned to survive on her wits.
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Divulge
To give someone information that should be secret
It is not company policy to divulge personal details of employees.
Nuisance
A person, thing, or situation that annoys or causes problems
The dogs next door are a real nuisance.
To agonize over /about something
To spend a long time thinking and worrying about a difficult situation or
problem
I spent days agonizing over whether to take the job or not.
Gender bender
A person who dresses and behaves like a member of the opposite sex
I’m quite sure Jenny is a gender bender. She doesn’t sound like a
woman.
To intermingle
To mix people, ideas, colours etc. together
The book intermingles fact with fiction.
Mayhem
Confusion and fear, usually caused by violent behaviour or by some
sudden shocking event
There was absolute mayhem when everybody tried to get out at once.
Ripple effect
A situation in which an event or action has an effect on sth which then
has an effect on sth else
His resignation will have a ripple effect on the whole department.
To sack
To dismiss sb from job
She was sacked for refusing to work on Sundays.
Solace
A feeling of emotional comfort when you are sad or disappointed; a
person or thing that makes you feel better or happier when your are sad
or disappointed
He sought solace in the whisky bottle.
Think tank
A group of experts who provide advice and ideas on political, social or
economic issues
One can choose to go all the way back to Plato's Academy for the root
of the think tank, groups of thinkers, not politicians, who wanted to alter
the way states were run.
To assimilate
To take into the mind and thoroughly comprehend
Assimilation is the process by which individuals from one cultural group
merge…
To recur
To happen many times or to happen again
If the pain recurs, contact me again.
Willy-nilly
Whether one wishes to or not, willingly or unwillingly
He will have to do it willy-nilly.
Prosperous
Successful, usually by earning a lot of money
In a prosperous country like this, none should go hungry.
Morose
Unhappy, annoyed and unwilling
Why are you so morose these days?
Per se
By or of itself
It is not the divorce per se that harms the children, but the continuing
conflict between the parents.
To endeavor
To attempt, to make an effort
Every environmental system and every human endeavor.
Dissident
Disagreeing especially with an established religious or political system,
organization or belief.
What answer did dissident leader Amalde give?
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