IELTS Vocabulary ebook

Definition: An ideal example of a type; quintessence:

Example sentences:

• Newer ones, like the one in Watchet, are built of bricks and mortar but the archetypal model is the ubiquitous wooden structure.

There are two different meanings for brushstroke. First, the most obvious one is the actual stroke of a brush, normally a paint brush or hairbrush. The other definition is an individual action that contributes to an overall effect or work. For example:

• I love how the artist used different sizes of brushstroke in the painting.
• He acted like he did all the work, when in reality his contribution was a brushstroke of the whole project.

Definition: A small musical instrument played by stretching and squeezing a central bellows between the hands to blow air over reeds, each note being sounded by a button.

Example sentences:

• All varieties of accordion (including the concertina and the bandoneon) have been made in both double and single-action models.

Definition: A person or thing holding a position or performing a function that corresponds to that of another person or thing in another place

Example sentences:

• The clothes the actresses wear are noticeably different from their Western counterparts.

Her paintings depict the lives of ordinary people in the last century.

In the film she's depicted as a very cold and calculating character.

Found on the Isle of Eigg, a stone cross dating back over 1000 years, depicting a man on horseback hunting several animals such as deer, boar and aurochs

At 65 meters long, 20 meters wide and 27 meters deep, Rani Ki Vav features 500 distinct sculptures carved into niches throughout the monument, depicting gods such as Vishnu and Parvati in various incarnations.

Distorted is an adjective that describes something so badly out of shape, or misformed that it is ugly. For example, if you visit a funhouse at a carnival, they may have a crazy mirror that makes your face look distorted.

Distorted can be having an intended meaning that was misrepresented. For example, if you wanted to ask for a raise because you worked hard, but your boss thinks you want a raise because you are greedy, your message is distorted.

If you epitomize something, you are the perfect example of it. Normally, people epitomize abstract qualities, like kindness or truthful, but it can apply to literal things as well.

• The prince was a very honest man. He epitomized truthfulness

Something unusual or something from an unusual place is exotic. Something you like, or dislike can be considered exotic, as long as it isn’t something that you are used to.

• The food in Thailand was too exotic for her palette, since she came from America.
• She loved the exotic art, she purchased it to keep in her house.

Definition: (Of an artist or work of art) representing forms that are recognizably derived from life.

Example sentences:

• Duncan creates elegant female forms and her work is figurative, though not representational.

If something like an idea, a trend, a civilization, or a business..etc flourishes, it is successful, active, or common, and developing quickly and strongly. Used in example sentences:

• The Indus civilization flourished for half a millennium from about 2600 bc to 1900 bc. Then it mysteriously declined and vanished from view. 
• Romanticism was a movement in the arts that flourished in Europe and America between 1750 and 1870.
• The economy flourishes despite a fairly high rate of chronic unemployment.
• If businesses flourish they will attract more industries and more people.

If a plant or animal flourishes, it grows well or is healthy because the conditions are right for it. Used in example sentences:

• The plant flourishes particularly well in slightly harsher climes.
• With the advent of global warming, farmers needed diversity more than ever because it was unclear what varieties would flourish in unfamiliar conditions.

Definition: The visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation of these:

Example sentences:

• Ever since, lions have been portrayed in art, myth and iconography as powerful symbols of solar strength, supremacy, glory, light and brilliance.

Interplay is a reciprocal action and reaction. For example, an action could be you had a hair in your mouth, and a reaction would be to spit.

• The interplay of the employees and customers is what makes our business so successful.

The juxtaposition of two contrasting objects, images, or ideas is the fact that they are placed together or described together, so that the differences between them are emphasized. In art, this usually is done with the intention of bringing out a specific quality or creating an effect, particularly when two contrasting or opposing elements are used.

Here are example sentences:

• Growing out of Dada during World War I, Surrealism began in the early 1920s, and is best known for its visual artworks that feature the element of surprise and unexpected juxtapositions.
•  Renee Magritte….a meticulous, skillful technician, he is noted for works that contain an extraordinary juxtaposition of ordinary objects or an unusual context that gives new meaning to familiar things.

A lithograph is a print made from lithography. What is lithography? It is a printmaking technique commonly used when a text is being printed. It can also be used to print onto a stone, or hard materials.

• The artist was famous for her litographs.

Miniatures are used in film when something is too expensive or difficult to film in real life. They create a scene on a much smaller scale, and film it in a way that makes it look real.

An ordinary, unexciting thing is mundane. Exotic is a perfect synonym for mundane. If you want to go on an adventurous vacation and it ends up being mundane, you would be disappointed. Used in sentences:

• I wanted a new date night, but my husband planned a mundane date of dinner and a movie.
• After she got done traveling, she moved back to her small hometown and found it to be very mundane.

To narrate is to tell a story or to say the words that are heard as part of (a movie, television show, etc.) Here are example sentences:

• The film is narrated by one of the Nine, Jefferson Thomas, who died in 2010.
• The author narrates her story in great detail.

Definition: Relating to neoclassicism.

Example sentences:

• Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century.

Someone who is nouveau-rich is someone who has just recently become wealthy and enjoys spending money. They may be someone who sold their business, or recently inherited a lot of money, but they aren’t frugal with it.

• Our nouveau-rich neighbor just bought six new cars, even though his garage can only fit two.

Ornamentation can be referred to as the materials used for decoration. Ornamentation is typically used to make something pretty, or fancier. Try to remember this word by thinking of Christmas ornaments that people use to make their Christmas tree look more beautiful.

Popularity is the quality of being well-liked and having a lot of supporters and admirers.

Acupuncture has grown in popularity in the West.

In the United States, Americans reportedly preferred alternative therapy in the year 1990, and they are typically spending $US 12 billion annually on unorthodox therapy methods. In Australia, the fading popularity of orthodox medical care has allowed for alternative therapy methods to emerge more substantially.

The popularity of ragtime was enhanced by the easy availability of sheet music, which was pressed cheaply and distributed widely.

Definition: The art of painting or taking portraits:

Example sentences:

• While employed by major commercial studios in Pittsburgh, Detroit and Toronto, he continued his studies of fine art, specializing in portraiture, figure, and plein air landscape painting.

Dorothea Lange's photographs are an accurate portrayal of the Great Depression.

The artist's works were known for their accurate portrayal of the Old West.

Definition: A person or thing that comes before another of the same kind; a forerunner:

Example sentences:

• In his literary spirit he is a precursor of the humanists of the Renaissance.
• The pre-meal selection of chutneys is a precursor of the sharp flavours to come.

Prefabricate is to produce synthetically, artificially or stereotypically and unoriginally. Basically, the meaning is mass production. Nothing that is prefabricated is original, or one of a kind. An example in a sentence:

• The material was cheap and prefabricated, so my mother didn’t want to use it to make my dress.

We can use "prevalent" to describe something (usually a condition, practice, style, disease, or belief) that is widespread.  Here are example sentences:

• During the early part of the 1920s, New Orleans Jazz was prevalent in many nightclubs in Chicago.
• Smoking is becoming increasingly prevalent among younger women.
• Solvent abuse is especially prevalent among younger teenagers.
• The disease is even more prevalent in Latin America.
• Shopping via smartphone is becoming increasingly prevalent.
• Fast food consumption is prevalent in developed countries.

The noun "prominence" means the state of being prominent, and prominent means famous or well-known, so if someone or something is in a position of prominence, they are well-known and important. You will see and hear the phrases "come to prominence" and "rise to prominence" a lot. These two phrases basically mean "become renowned".  Take a look at the following example sentences:

• Carla Bley is an American jazz musician and composer who came to prominence in1960s.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger achieved fame as a Hollywood action hero, and first came to prominence as a bodybuilder,
• With the end of the war, many of the leading minds in Dada moved over to Paris. Paris quickly rose to prominence in the Dada movement as being a centre for performing arts, literature, exhibitions and commentary. 

Definition: The most perfect or typical example of a quality or class:

Example sentences:

• Benjamin Franklin must have been the quintessence of self-improvement because he actually made a list of thirteen important virtues and tracked his progress in abiding by the list.
• The corruption scandal was reported as the quintessence of dirty politics.

When something such as the economy, a business, a trend, or a feeling is revived or when it revives, it becomes active, popular, or successful again. Example sentences:

• The fine arts revived during the Renaissance.

Something that is shimmering is shining with a soft, tremulous light. You can often think of the beach shimmering in during the sunrise, or a beautiful dress shimmering in the light.

• The fresh snow looked beautiful as it was shimmering across our front lawn.

Turmoil is a violent disturbance, or a disturbance by form of protest. If all of a sudden, the entire class is throwing their food at each other, you could consider the classroom to be in turmoil. If a country has a civil war, it would be a country in turmoil. Examples used in a sentence:

• There wasn’t enough food for the country, it was in turmoil.
• The art resignated from the turmoil amongst the people.

To usher is to help find a way. Normally, people who lead you to your seats at a concert or movie theatre are called ushers. But certain ideas can also usher new ideas into place. Used in a sentence:

• This idea encouraged trade which helped usher in the Renaissance

As a noun, a visionary is a person with unusual powers of insight, or a person with fanciful expectations with little regard for what is possible.

Normally, inventors, artists and musicians are considered visionaries because they think outside the box.

Visionaries have a big, grand idea of something that hasn’t been done before and they do it.

Many people consider Michael Jackson a visionary of music, and Picasso a visionary of art.