IELTS® Vocabulary Flashcard

Definition: Although; in spite of the facts

Example sentences:

• He was making progress, albeit rather slowly. Albeit difficult at times, speaking another language is rewarding.

Definition: turn away or aside

Example sentences:

• Don’t you sense the way people avert their gazes while you long for them to meet your eyes?
• There's nothing new about companies averting responsibility for their workforce by shifting formal employment to subcontractors or calling workers independent contractors.

Definition: to give as a gift or to give time or effort to something

Example sentences:

• The office was bestowed on him by the chief of state. In 1903 it was decided to bestow degrees on women, and in 1904 to establish women's scholarships.

Definition: Find a way around (an obstacle):

Example sentences:

• Clever strategists that we were, we decided to circumvent this problem or objection by presenting a symposium rather than submitting independent papers.

Definition: (Of language) used in ordinary or familiar conversation; not formal or literary

Example sentences:

• colloquial and everyday language.

Definition: prevent from being seen or discovered

Example sentences:

• Over the past few years, He have been creating fake companies to conceal the fraudulent checks.

Definition: Causing or likely to cause an argument; controversial:

Example sentences:

• The most contentious issue is likely to be a provision encouraging commissioners to facilitate voluntary co-operation by witness to be heard in private.

A contrivance can also mean a gadget or device that can be used for some particular purpose. An example sentence would be

• This modern contrivance [=devices] can cook food faster.

The word sometimes also implies a falseness or obviousness. In this case, a contrivance is an unfair or dishonest scheme or trick to gain an advantage for yourself.

When you contrive, you make a plan or a plot. Even though contrive often has a false or cunning feel to it, it is not always a bad thing. Mental effort is always required though, as contrive is often used in connection with inventing schemes and plans to make something happen.

Example sentences:

• The prisoners contrived a way to escape.
• Native Americans contrived [=designed] weapons out of stone, wood, and bone.

Copious is a word to describe a large amount of something.

copious amounts of something = large/vast/immense/enormous amounts of something

Example sentences:

• The storm produced a copious amount of rain.
• I have a copious amount of work I have to do before I can leave the office.
• She sat in the front row and took copious notes during the lecture.
• Los Angeles has a copious amount of automobiles.

Definition: Act against (something) in order to reduce its force or neutralize it

Example sentences:

• Unequally spaced white stripes painted across the road leading up to an off-ramp have been used to create an illusion that counteracts motion adaptation and reduces driving speed.

Use the noun deadlock to describe a standstill when two people or sides, cannot move beyond a disagreement. One example would be in a business arrangement. If you cannot get past a deadlock disagreement, you likely won’t be able to do business with the other party.

The phrase "reached a deadlock", "end in deadlock", and "break the deadlock" are often used. Here are example sentences:

Example sentences:

• Negotiations ended in deadlock.
• They called for a compromise on all sides to break the deadlock in the world trade talks.
• Peace talks between the two sides ended in deadlock last month.
• The talks have reached a complete deadlock.
• The strike appeared to have reached a deadlock.

Definition: Individually separate and distinct

Example sentences:

• All of these may usually be discrete and distinct domains but one key theme of this chapter is that there are also overlaps.

Definition: escape, either physically or mentally

Example sentences:

• In March, when we are antsy for all things spring yet blooms elude us, we can enjoy dried flowers from natural food and ethnic markets.
• The criminal has eluded the police for months.

Definition: devote (oneself) fully to; consume all of one's attention or time

Example sentences:

• The teacher's lecture engrossed the entire class.
• The hotel lobby was empty when we arrived and the sole receptionist was engrossed in her cellphone.

Definition: (Of an attitude, habit, or belief) firmly established and difficult or unlikely to change; ingrained:

Example sentences:

• In 1995, Lai founded Apple Daily, taking on Hong Kong's entrenched newspapers in a fierce price war.

Definition: Force out or eject (something), especially from the body

Example sentences:

• You know how wretched it is to eat something you shouldn't have and spend the next day and a half miserably expelling it from your body

Definition: Lose or be deprived of (property or a right or privilege) as a penalty for wrongdoing

Example sentences:

• Those unable to meet their taxes were liable to forfeit their property

Definition: In a manner lacking any obvious principle of organization

Example sentences:

• His attire will be haphazardly thrown together, but he'll still look good.

Definition: Widespread destruction:

Example sentences:

• A tornado is a funnel-shaped cloud that descends on land, creating havoc and destruction in its wake.

Definition: a high point of success or abundance

Example sentences:

• You have to go back 10 years, to the heyday of Radio 1, to find a station with a bigger audience.

Definition: The ideas and manner of thinking characteristic of a group, social class, or individual

Example sentences:

• But these social ideologies were united in their underlying belief that economic progress was the way to go.

Definition: Showing no sign of life; lifeless

Example sentences:

• In both photographs the inanimate face is shown in three-quarter profile facing right against a blank background.

Definition: Too many to be counted (often used hyperbolically)

Example sentences:

• I sat surrounded by flowers and portraits and innumerable tributes to him.

Definition: beyond normal limits

Example sentences:

• The average adult human brain only weighs about three pounds, but it consumes an inordinate amount of glucose, oxygen, and blood flow.

Definition: Diversify (a thing or things) with other things at intervals:

Example sentences:

• Now, during the US war on Iraq, news from the frontlines is seamlessly interspersed with news from the stock markets.

Definition: Exhilarating or exciting;(Of alcoholic drink or a drug) liable to cause intoxication.

Example sentences:

• Refrain from intoxicating drink and drugs which lead to carelessness.

Definition: to be stretched; easily shaped

Example sentences:

• The dancers are attractive, agile, limber and fully equipped for contemporary ballet’s technical demands.

Definition: Be or remain hidden so as to wait in ambush for someone or something

Example sentences:

• A grove of crotons became a magical jungle where snakes and other exotic creatures lurked, waiting to pounce.

Definition: A movement or series of moves requiring skill and care;A carefully planned or cunning scheme or action

Example sentences:

• Snowboarders performed daring manoeuvres on precipitous slopes. It would seem a shame to turn down such a cunning manoeuvre without a compelling need.

Definition: Treat (a person, group, or concept) as insignificant or peripheral

Example sentences:

• (as adjective marginalized) The term ethnic minority is often used to refer to marginalized cultural groups.

Definition: very small; of little consequence

Example sentences:

• The sale of the building had a minuscule effect on the profits of the corporation.
• To determine a planet’s mass, astronomers typically measure the minuscule movement of the star caused by the gravitational tug of an orbiting planet.

Definition: very small; in form, but not in substance

Example sentences:

• Electric vehicle drivers will be able to charge their cars without cost for a two-year trial period; then there will be a nominal fee.
• One rule of thumb—that nominal growth in gross domestic product is a decent guide to the 10-year bond yield—has broken down.

Definition: A subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound:

Example sentences:

• It's not a point of view I've ever heard before, and I may not entirely have got the subtler nuances of it.

Definition: Prevent or hinder (movement or someone or something in motion)

Example sentences:

• If protest demonstrations and rallies can be confined to select areas and organised peacefully without obstructing the free movement of others, nobody can complain.

Definition: an opinion formed beforehand without adequate evidence

Example sentences:

• Our professor encouraged us to dream big about what our life could be like, and not be "boxed in" by ideologies or preconceptions about others.
• It was a lesson in the ugliness of preconceptions, the peril of jumping to conclusions.

Definition: Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience

Example sentences:

• Preconceived notions are prejudices about what is supposed to happen during the ritual, or the way in which the ritual must be done.

Definition: produced or growing in extreme abundance

Example sentences:

• While people can certainly be allergic to eating fish, viewing their aquatic beauty should not cause profuse sneezing.
• The esteemed university was issuing profuse apologies this week after hundreds of early applicants were mistakenly informed that they had been accepted.

Definition: Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view:

Example sentences:

• Most blogs are a form of personal propaganda, stating views in an authoritative tone.

Definition: Sending out light; shining or glowing brightly:

Example sentences:

• The bright light was radiant with the morning rays of red, orange, pink, and gold, reflecting brilliantly on the glasslike water.

Definition: Emit (energy, especially light or heat) in the form of rays or waves

Example sentences:

• If a particle moves faster than the speed of light, it must create a shockwave, and radiate energy.

Definition: Say or do something to remove the doubts and fears of (someone)

Example sentences:

• Her smile reassures David the outfit he chose was a wise decision.

Definition: in return: in exchange or in reciprocation;

Example sentences:

• The energy of attraction between opposite charges is reciprocally related to the distance between the charges.

Definition: Bitter indignation at having been treated unfairly

Example sentences:

• There is much poverty and anguish in the world, and it breeds resentment and envy.

Definition: Extremely thorough and careful

Example sentences:

• Her approach to film is not unlike that of photography: careful composition, rigorous planning of the frame, scrupulous attention to visual detail and regular use of a stationary camera.

Definition: Involving or limited to basic principles;Relating to an immature, undeveloped, or basic form

Example sentences:

• A large proportion are children who have barely obtained rudimentary education and live in shacks without basic amenities. The first digit, or dew claw, is rudimentary but clawed and does not contact the ground.

Definition: Marked by or given to using irony in order to mock or convey contempt:

Example sentences:

• How are you supposed to follow the story when you're constantly making sarcastic comments about the hammy acting.

Definition: The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues; A play, novel, film, or other work that uses satire

Example sentences:

• Through humour, satire, and a range of experiments with language, the collection offers an oblique commentary on Caribbean society. The film is an incisive satire on religion and British society, with the Church of England hierarchy particularly coming in for a skewering.

Definition: Suddenly change direction or position;Make biased or distorted in a way that is regarded as inaccurate, unfair, or misleading:

Example sentences:

• No-one is suggesting that all science funded by company money is skewed or biased or lacking independence.

Definition: widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing

Example sentences:

• A person in this stage also participates in transforming racial and cultural stereotypes, biases, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. People just do not understand the issues, or have stereotyped views of how a lesbian or gay man behaves and use it as a basis to criticise their lifestyle.

Definition: Prevent from growing or developing properly:

Example sentences:

• Affected children usually have stunted physical growth, as well as irreparably retarded mental development.

Definition: Fail to resist pressure, temptation, or some other negative force:

Example sentences:

• Young people who feel good about themselves are less likely to succumb to negative pressure.

Definition: Unnatural or mysterious, especially in a disturbing way:

Example sentences:

• There was something strange in that moment when she looked at him, something unearthly and mysterious.

Definition: Strong, healthy, and full of energy:

Example sentences:

• The hunger I felt was the kind you could only get after using up large amounts of energy on vigorous physical activity.
• Her vigorous defense of the case impressed everyone.

Definition: Cause (a large amount of damage or harm):

Example sentences:

• The Category 5 storm wreaked havoc, doing more than $20 billion in damage and making it by far the costliest hurricane ever in United States history.

Definition: the highest point; the point above the observer that is directly opposite the nadir on the imaginary sphere against which celestial bodies appear to be projected

Example sentences:

• She leveraged her newfound power, bringing the country to the zenith of its post-World World II influence in Europe.
• I have a personal affection for Lincoln’s second inaugural address, and I believe it should be elevated to the zenith of presidential speeches.