IELTS Vocabulary ebook

Definition: having the tendency to do something; likely

Example sentences:

• Sawfish and sawsharks are aptly named for their long, serrated snouts.
• With news from pro-democracy protests continuing to stream out of the country through social media, the announcement is aptly timed.

Conceivable means the possibility to imagine something. 

Let’s look at some more example sentences where the word “conceivable” is used:

• They discussed the question from every conceivable angle.

This sentence simply means that the question was discussed from every possible angle.

Here is another example sentence:

• It is conceivable that she will refuse to go.

Again, the sentence simply means that it is possible that she will refuse to go.

The word “conceive” is popularly used to describe someone who is pregnant. A conceived woman is a pregnant woman.

Here are example sentences

• She is unable to conceive a child
• Mrs. Brown conceived three children.

Another meaning for "conceive" is to imagine, creating something in mind.  Also, when the word “conceive” is used in a sentence to mean to imagine, creating something in mind, it can be followed by an object or can be used without an object.

Here are some example sentences where the word “conceive” is followed by an object:

• A novelist is able to conceive (meaning imagined) an imaginary world.
• When the writer conceived this role, he had a specific actor in mind to play the part.
• The system was conceived (meaning invented) by a Swedish engineer.

When the word “conceive” is not followed by an object, it is usually followed by the preposition “of” as seen in the following example sentences:

• They conceived of (meaning thought of, regarded) her as a genius.
• I can't conceive of (meaning imagine) a reason for not supporting this policy.

Definition: in a misleading way

Example sentences:

• The action also states some customers were deceptively enrolled in these programs and that some services promised weren't provided.

Definition: to specify, name, or select to do a task

Example sentences:

• The boy is being tried for murder in the juvenile court system, but has been designated as an adult.

Definition: Cause (an idea or account) to seem false or unreliable:

Example sentences:

• Can we expect to defeat terrorism without also discrediting the ideas and passions that underlie it?

Definition: Causing or tending to cause disruption:

Example sentences:

• Frequent meetings can be disruptive at work

Definition: Involving many carefully arranged parts or details; detailed and complicated in design and planning.

Example sentences:

• The buildings were all made of white stone, built carefully with elaborate details, as if every family lived in a miniature castle

Definition: having a debilitating effect

Example senences:

• I’m bored most of the time, and the workload is exhausting

Definition: to cause to go faster; move forward more quickly

Example sentences:

• A personalized approach could eliminate a lot of trial-and-error and hasten critical time to treatment, the study suggests.
• The rise of alternative platforms, such as online streaming services, can also hasten the subscriber losses for the pay-TV industry.

Definition: uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing

Example sentences:

• This incessant belching expels an impressive volume of greenhouse gases—mostly methane and carbon dioxide.
• Fourteen large fires are burning, mostly in the scorched northern half of the state, and California's incessant drought is only making matters worse.

Definition: Become or make more intense

Example sentences:

• The researchers say that increasing the amount of zirconium may intensify the color.
• The importance of the test will intensify the nervousness of the students

Definition: Explain the meaning of (information or actions):

Example sentences:

• Most of the staff quoted in the book wanted to understand numerical measures of risk, and they reported feelings of inadequacy at the difficulties they had in interpreting information for patients.

Definition: cause to be interested or curious

Example sentences:

• As listeners, we’re meant to be intrigued by these secrets, even if their basis in reality is unclear.

Definition: The average period that a person may expect to live

Example sentences:

• One in five adults is HIV positive and the average life expectancy at birth is just under 49 years. They are now of an age that exceeds the average life expectancy in the countries where they live.

Definition: A means of securing the necessities of life

Example sentences:

• In the city people have relied on business to supply jobs to maintain their livelihoods.

Definition: Death, especially on a large scale

Example sentences:

• The most dramatic and perhaps most significant cause of natural mortality among gray whales is predation by killer whales.
• Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer mortality among women worldwide.
• Maternal deaths have been shown to account for a substantial burden of mortality among refugee women of reproductive age.

Definition: Very great in amount

Example sentences:

• The government must unite behind this policy, which is supported by the overwhelming majority of the nation.

Definition: A magazine or newspaper published at regular intervals; Occurring or appearing at intervals; occasional:

Example sentences:

• He has a diploma in journalism and has published several features, stories and poetry in magazines and periodicals
• At periodical intervals, the network returns the data to a central control room by cellular phone, satellite, or a conventional telephone circuit.

Definition: The state or fact of being similar:

Example sentences:

• The similarity of symptoms makes them hard to diagnose

Definition: Unable to be denied or disputed:

Example sentences:

• it is an undeniable fact that some dogs are easier to train than others