IELTS Vocabulary ebook

Definition: a stunt performed by an acrobat

Example sentences:

• Stunt doubles do acrobatic stunts such as leaping off buildings, walking through fire and running across trains, cranes and automobiles.

Definition: grow and flourish

Example sentences:

• The tap-to-pay system will compete with this new application in the burgeoning mobile payments market.
• The burgeoning population of major cities is increasing a demand for more service.

To embody a role is to fill it completely. If you embody someone, you put him or her "in-body," as when an actor gives a complete and compelling representation of a character. Used in a sentence, “The award-winning actress studied for weeks so could properly embody the character she was playing.”

You can also use embody to describe character traits you see in a person, like, “He embodies truth,” or, “She is the embodiment of goodness.”

The embodiment of something gives concrete form to an abstract idea. A flag is the embodiment of a country. 

Example sentences:

• He is a leader who embodies courage.
• The legislature embodied a revenue provision in the new law.
• The new law embodies a revenue provision.

Have you ever thought long and hard about a problem and then, suddenly, experienced an "ah-ha!" moment? If your answer is yes, then congratulations! You were enlightened or in possession of a clear understanding of what was otherwise mysterious. Let's look at an example sentence

• Children are often enlightened frequently as they are learning about the world.

Envision is a synonym of imagine and means to picture something in one’s mind. To picture something happening in the future or the creation of an image that you think exist.

The word “envision” in a sentence is commonly followed by an object.

Here are some example sentences:

• The inventor envisioned many uses for his creation.
• She envisioned a better life for herself.

If A exemplify B, A is the perfect(typical) example of B. 

Look at the following sentences:

• The behavior of a harmless king snake resembling a venomous coral snake is a typical example of visual mimicry. = The behavior of a harmless king snake resembling a venomous coral snake exemplifies visual mimicry.

Definition: a distinct feature or element in a problem

Example sentences:

• The Cold War has ended; technology has refashioned the biggest industries and the tiniest facets of everyday life.
• You should first consider every facet of what your new life would be like if you are thinking quitting your job to become a freelancer.

Definition: free from undue bias or preconceived opinions

Example sentences:

• While consultants often claim that they provide an impartial assessment of a bank’s problems, they are also handpicked and paid by those same banks.

Definition: incapable of being avoided or prevented

Example sentences:

• Change is inevitable, so preparation is key to maneuver fluidly with the changes.
• Virtually every parent has faced the inevitable problem of disciplining a child for conduct that merely replicates the parent’s own actions.

Definition: the early stage of growth or development

Example sentences:

• How much they would lose or gain is a matter of speculation because the legislation is still in its infancy.
• The technology is in its infancy, and changing consumer behavior is half the work.

A manifestation is the public display of emotion or feeling.  An example of manifestation is when a person makes a disgusted face when they eat something they don’t like, or a wife smiles when she sees her husband, thus showing her love for him. Used in a sentence, “You can take this as a manifestation of my love”

Example sentences:

• The first manifestations of her behavior problems occurred soon after she left home.
• Her work with the poor was a manifestation of her compassionate nature.

There is another meaning of manifestation.  A manifestation can be an event, action, or object that clearly shows or embodies something abstract or theoretical. Example sentences:

• New York is the ultimate manifestation of American values.
• Sea-level rise, changes in the jet stream and different water patterns in the Atlantic Ocean are some global manifestations of climate change.

Definition: The quality of being peculiar

Example sentences:

• I just kind of conjured them up out of my subconscious and put them in order of ascending peculiarity.

Use the adjective precarious when something is unstable, dangerous or difficult and likely to get worse. Are you totally broke and the people you owe money to keep calling? You'rein a precarious financial situation! Precarious always signals that help is needed desperately. If your life is precarious or you are in a precarious situation, things could become difficult, maybe even dangerous, for you. If your footing or hold on something is precarious, it is unstable or not firmly placed, so that you are likely to slip or lose your grip. Used in a sentence, “She put herself in a precarious situation by purchasing a car she couldn’t afford.”

Example sentences:

• He earned a precarious livelihood/living by gambling.
• She was in a state of precarious (meaning delicate) health.
• The government is in a precarious position.
• The strong wind almost knocked him off of his precarious perch on the edge of the cliff.
• Our financial situation had become precarious.
• They looked rather comical as they crawled up precarious ladders.

Precariousness is a state of being in danger or unsure about something. The precariousness of a small child balancing on a rock wall might cause you to wait below with your arms outstretched, ready to catch her. 

Example sentences:

• The precariousness of your financial situation will not allow us to give you a loan.
• It’s that very precariousness, the authors argue, that can reinforce the power of the normal, as people constantly try to approximate it.

Definition: Strengthen (an existing feeling, idea, or habit):

Example sentences:

• She said the educational system reinforces the idea that there is only one right answer, stifling creativity

Retro- means back, -spect- means look (think: spectacles), so the word means literally 'a looking back.'  

"Retrospective" can be an adjective, meaning relating to the past or something that happened in the past. For example:

• Many people take a retrospective look at their lives on birthdays or on New Year's Eve to evaluate events and see how well they've met their goals.
• You could call the yearly evaluation you get from your boss a retrospective review of your work.
• The museum is having a retrospective exhibit of the artist's early works.
• They issued a retrospective report.

"Retrospective" can be a noun.  An art exhibit that covers an artist's entire career is called a retrospective because it looks back at the work the artist has produced over many years.

The phrase "in retrospect" means when thinking about the past or something that happened in the past​ Here are example sentences:

• In retrospect, I should have realized I was going to fail the class.
• In retrospect, I made the right decision.​

Definition: concerned with or comprehending only what is apparent or obvious; not deep or penetrating emotionally or intellectually

Example sentences:

• The fashion industry is often seen as superficial, or for the eyes of the rich and famous only.
• It seems that nowadays the internet makes it almost too easy for the business to establish a superficial relationship with the customer.

Use the verb symbolize when you use an image, shape, color, or other simple visual to stand for something else, like when you wear black to symbolize that you're mourning a loss.

Example sentences:

• The lion symbolizes (meaning represents) courage.
• Let’s all wear white to work tomorrow to symbolize we are united as coworkers.”​
• She came to symbolize the women's movement in America
• The use of light and dark symbolizes good and evil.

Definition: subject to sharply varying moods; likely to perform unpredictably

Example sentences:

• At the best of times, the temperamental rains come for three or four months and turn dusty plains into green pastures, forests and fields.
• "He can be temperamental, of course ... But when it comes to a crisis, he's the one who is most composed."

Definition: without a good reason or cause; inappropriate

Example sentences:

• The assumption that a single gene is causative can lead to unwarranted conclusions and an over- interpretation of any genuine genetic linkage.
• In the credit card industry, there are 1,000 rules regarding the use of so-called firewalls that block unwarranted access to sensitive information.