IELTS Vocabulary ebook

To justify is to provide or be a good reason for.  For example:

•  I can't really justify taking another day off work.
• He tried to justify his behavior by saying that he was being pressured unfairly by his boss.
• The fact that we are at war does not justify treating innocent people as criminals.
• It's hard to justify the cost of a new car right now. = It's hard to justify spending money on a new car right now.

Ambiguous is an adjective used to describe a word or something that has more than one meaning. Look to the adjective ambiguous when you need to describe something that's open to more than one interpretation. They synonym of ambiguous is equivocal.

Example sentences:

• We were confused by the ambiguous wording of the message.
• He looked at her with an ambiguous smile.
• Due to the ambiguous nature of the question, it was difficult to choose the right answer.
• This agreement is very ambiguous and open to various interpretations.

Definition: (Of a person) not identified by name; of unknown name:

Example senences:

• One anonymous student raises the concern that women are overly sexualized in society.

Definition: The action or an instance of two or more events or things occurring at the same point in time or space:

Example sentences:

• The conjunction of events marks a widening of the challenge posed by San Francisco's mayor, who last month authorised wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples.

Definition: Be a sign of; indicate:

Example sentences:

• The council has carried out risk assessments on all restricted areas and has reopened nearly three-quarters of the pathways - identified by a pink sign denoting a right of way.

Definition: Having or showing deep religious feeling or commitment

Example sentences:

• When I was brought back to faith it was through the prayers of my devout mother.

Something that's enigmatic is tough to figure out. It's puzzling and even mysterious, examples could include a tricky crossword puzzle or who made a crop circle in the field. “I couldn’t understand the enigmatic syllabus until the end of the class.” A good synonym for enigmatic is puzzling.

Definition: cause to stop

Example sentences:

• A halt to the release of raw methane from oil and gas operations is critical to combating global warming.
• The handful of approved treatments only provide modest and temporary relief for symptoms such as memory loss; none halt the disease's progress.

When something happens by accident, it's inadvertent, or unintentional. .When your actions are inadvertent you're not paying attention to their consequences.

Example of inadvertent usage:

• I’m sorry I forgot to pay rent that was inadvertent.​
• The gas company assured you that the error in your bill was inadvertent and that they would fix it.

Incomprehensible means it's difficult to understand and it might be impossible to explain. Many unfamiliar customs or rituals seem incomprehensible from a distance, for example, people who don’t wear shoes at all may find it incomprehensible why women would wear high heels. Used in a sentence, “It is incomprehensible why my family spent so much money on a vacation.”

Example sentences:

• I found his behavior utterly incomprehensible.
• It's incomprehensible to me that he could have acted that way.
• Her speech was almost incomprehensible.

An instinct is something you don't need to learn — it happens naturally, without you even thinking about it. Babies cry by instinct, and ducks follow their mother by instinct. If you have an instinct for something, you are naturally good at it.

Example sentences:

• Her instincts told her that something was wrong. (This means she believed that something was wrong even though there was no obvious reason to believe it).
• I didn't have as strong a maternal instinct as some other mothers.
• The basis for training relies on the dog's natural instinct to hunt and retrieve.
• He always knew what time it was, as if by instinct.
• I acted purely on instinct.

COLLOCATIONS

deep/strong/powerful instinct

• He bent down, obeying a deep instinct to protect himself from danger.

a natural instinct

• I followed my natural instinct to run away.

somebody's first/initial instinct

• His first instinct was to try and hide.

somebody's gut instinct informal (=someone's first instinct)

• Her gut instinct about Jimmy had been right.

human instinct

• It's a natural human instinct to comfort someone who is unhappy.

animal instinct

• It's animal instinct to attack the leader of the herd when his strength begins to fail.

trust your instinct(s) (also rely on your instincts) (=believe that your instincts are correct)

• I've trusted my instincts in the past and they've usually been right.

Definition: A thing that intrudes; The action or process of forcing a body of igneous rock between or through existing formations, without reaching the surface

Example sentences:

• Overthrusting, volcanism, and plutonic igneous intrusion were identified as originating above the subduction zone where one plate is forced beneath the edge of its neighbour.
• Traffic generates noise and pollution, and is an intrusion for many areas.

Definition: Having no meaning; making no sense

Example sentences:

• It was a nonsensical argument and one got the impression that Kerr did not believe it himself.

If you are oblivious to something or oblivious of it, you are not aware of it.

Example sentences:

• She kept dancing, oblivious to everyone around her.

Definition: Appear more prominent or important than

Example sentences:

• With just five weeks to go before the midterm elections, the talk of war appears to be overshadowing other issues, such as the economy and Social Security.

Something that's puzzling is confusing, or hard to understand. You might also come across particularly puzzling questions on a test or quiz — these are the hard ones, taking a long time to figure out and requiring a lot of thought. “The ending of the book was puzzling, I don’t understand it.

Definition: An organ or cell able to respond to light, heat, or other external stimulus and transmit a signal to a sensory nerve:

Example sentences:

• Our own skin contains a battery of touch receptors that produce nerve signals when pressed.

Definition: A substance that dissuades particular insects or other pests from approaching or settling

Example sentences:

• The fruits make good outdoor Christmas ornaments or could be used as insect pest repellents in the winter.

Definition: The action or process of transmitting something or the state of being transmitted:

Example sentences:

• Even the most simple information can be forgotten or distorted in the process of transmission.

Definition: Without opposition; with the agreement of all people involved

Example sentences:

• The Board of Governors voted unanimously to allow the administrators to unionize. A committee of MPs has unanimously agreed to back his bill.