IELTS® Vocabulary Flashcard

Notice the root word in “customary” is “custom”, so the two words are very similar. Something customary is done according to practice. For example,

• When a bride walks down the aisle, it's customary for everyone at the wedding to rise out of respect.

Every culture has its own customary traditions. In American culture, it's customary for a child who loses a tooth to put it under her pillow and wait for the Tooth Fairy to arrive. In Greece, on the other hand, it's customary to throw a child's lost tooth onto the roof for good luck.

Customary can also reference habitual things a person does, like taking your shoes off when you come home or writing in your diary before bed. Used in a sentence, “In America, it is customary for the bride to wear something blue on her wedding day.”

The word emphasis can be thought of as the main point of something. It is often used with the preposition "on". For example,

• The main emphasis should be on the quality rather than quantity.
• The dynamics of job qualification have been changed rapidly over the years. Nowadays, more emphasis is given on social skills rather than the qualification.

The phrase "put/place/lay (particular/special/great) emphasis on" is often used.

"put/place/lay emphasis on" = "emphasize" 

Here are examples:

• I put great emphasis on developing good study habits.
• Schools should place emphasis on physical education.
• Employers nowadays put more emphasis on social skills rather than the quealifiation(qualification). 

To emphasize is to make something important, or stress it, like when you were little and your parents would always emphasize the importance of looking both ways before crossing the street. They told you again and again and again. And again. The verb "emphasize" works when you really want to stress a point or give extra weight to an issue.

There are four patterns with the word "emphasize"

• emphasize something
• emphasize that
• emphasize how/what
• It should be emphasized that

Let's look at example sentences

• My parents emphasized the importance of a healthy lifestyle, so I wouldn’t develop diabetes like my brother and sister.
• Their father always emphasized the importance of discipline.
• Schools should emphasize physical education.
• I want to emphasize that working hard is important.
• The government should emphasize how to eradicate the poverty.
• It should be emphasized that this is only one possible explanation.

Note that students often use "emphasize on". This is incorrect. You can use "place emphasis on"  instead.

The adjective instant describes something that is happening right now, without delay. 

A synonym for “instant” is “instantaneous ” or  "immediate". However, most English speakers would say that something that is instantaneous happens even more quickly than something that is instant.  In addition, instantaneous is much less frequently used than instant, and it is a more formal word. It is used mostly to describe things that happen in concrete, academic, or scientific contexts.

Example sentences using the word instant:

• We got an almost instant response from the company.
• Computers have created a system for easy and instants communication.
• While personal cell phones have facilitated instant connections with people, texting is a cause of underdeveloped communication skills in children.
• Through email or various video chat websites, people can send instant messages or speak as if in person.
• The Internet provides instant access to an enormous amount of information.

Instant food or drink is dried, usually in the form of a powder, and can be prepared very quickly by adding hot water. 

• Instant coffee is bad for your health.

The following phrases are often used:

• in an instant = immediately
• for an instant = for a moment

Here are example sentences:

• For an instant, I forgot where I was.
• For a brief instant, I thought she was going to fall.
• The ride was over in an instant.
• It was all over in an instant.

The following collocations are often used:

• an instant hit/sensation/success
• an instant celebrity

Here are example sentences:

• The movie was an instant hit/sensation/success.
• He became an instant celebrity with the publication of his first novel.

A synonym for “instantly” is “instantaneously.” or "immediately". However, most English speakers would say something happens instantaneously happens even more quickly than something that happens instantly.  In addition, instantaneously is much less frequently used than instantly, and it is a more formal word. It is used mostly to describe things that happen in concrete, academic, or scientific contexts.

Example sentences with the word instantly:

• His voice is instantly recognizable.
• They instantly fell in love.
• Telephones allow people to talk over large distances instantly.

The adjective "prompt" describes something done quickly or immediately, often to indicate an efficient or timely manner.

• His prompt action saved the company from a huge loss.

• She is always prompt in replying to emails.

• The prompt response from the emergency services was crucial.

The verb "prompt" means to cause or bring about an action or feeling, motivating someone to do something.

• The teacher's question prompted the student to think more critically.

• His sudden illness prompted a complete change in his lifestyle.

• The rise in crime prompted the city to increase police patrols.
  
  

The adjective "rapid" describes something happening in a short time or at great speed.

• The river flows at a rapid pace.

• Technological advances are occurring at a rapid rate.

• She made rapid progress in her new job. 

The adverb "rapidly" means quickly or at a fast pace. It describes how an action is performed, indicating speed or swiftness. 

• The city is expanding rapidly due to the economic boom.

• Her condition improved rapidly after receiving the new treatment.

• Technology is advancing so rapidly that it's hard to keep up.

Used as a verb, “underline” means to give extra weight to, or extra importance. Used in a sentence, “What is the underlying issue here?” Meaning what is the most important issue.

The adjective "abrupt" describes something that is sudden and unexpected, often in a way that seems rude or too hasty. 

• The meeting came to an abrupt end when the CEO stormed out.

• Her abrupt departure left us all in shock.

• He took an abrupt turn onto the highway, causing some cars to brake suddenly.

To accentuate means to make it more noticeable.

• He likes to wear clothes that accentuate his muscular build.
• Her short hair accentuated her huge eyes.

To accentuate also means to emphasize it. If you use a lot of emphases to describe part of a meal, as in "the steak was SOOO good, and I liked the salad too," you accentuate the highlight of the meal — the steak.

Definition: Praise enthusiastically and publicly

Example sentences:

• They are some of the most committed people i know and should be publicly acclaimed.

Definition: Go up or climb

Example sentences:

Definition: a variety

Example sentences:

• I have an assortment of elective courses from which to choose

Definition: Having parts which fail to correspond to one another in shape, size, or arrangement; lacking symmetry

Example sentences:

• This difference used to be attributed to the asymmetrical shape of the human brain.

Definition: well-known and popular

Example sentences:

• San Francisco is celebrated for its multicultural makeup.

Conventional is an adjective for things that are normal, ordinary, and following the accepted way.This word describes what is typical and ordinary and that which follows accepted standards of behavior or taste. Here are examples

• The wedding was very conventional, there were no big surprises.
• I’m looking for a conventional private school for my son to attend.

One term you will often hear is 'conventional wisdom'. The conventional wisdom is a generally accepted theory or belief.  Here is an example sentence:

• For a long time, conventional wisdom said that we should drink eight glasses a day.

As eliminate means "get rid of or do away with," it has become used to refer to the end of a problem or even an entire species. Here are examples

• We need to eliminate sources of pollution in order to maintain a healthy world.  
• Doctors seek to eliminate the causes of the epidemic.
• Eliminating an entire species could set off a cascade of unexpected effects that could result in the "collapse of ecosystems".

We can also use "eleminate something from one's diet' as in the following sentences:

• My doctor said I needed to eliminate sugar from my diet.
• She's trying to eliminate fatty foods from her diet.

To eradicate something is to get rid of it, to destroy it, and to kiss it goodbye. When you yank that weed up by the roots, it has been eradicated; it's not coming back.

You can also eradicate corruption, poverty, or diseases. Although there are all kinds of things to get rid of, we usually want to only eradicate the bad things. You normally wouldn’t say “I want to eradicate the extra weight I’ve put on”, you only want to describe things that are very, very bad.

Example sentences:

• The government can play a pivotal role in eradicating poverty from society.
• The richer countries have managed to eradicate malaria by having proper drainage so mosquitoes cannot breed.

Definition: Increase rapidly:

Example sentences:

• The main factor that will put a brake on house price rises next year will be gradually escalating interest rates.

Definition: in an exponential manner.

Example sentences:

• Traffic, on both these roads, has increased exponentially in recent years. Inflation is growing exponentially.

To extinguish something means to put an end to it, and get rid of it completely.

• Water can extinguish a fire.
• Nasty smells can extinguish your appetite. 

You can also use the word extinguish to describe things that are abstract, for example,

• You and your sister need to extinguish this fight before it gets out of control.

The verb “give weight to” means to attach importance to something. “I need to give weight to this decision before I make it.” This means that the decision is very important, thus one should think extra hard before coming to a conclusion. If you give weight to you job, you understand that it is important.

Definition: slowly, but surely

Example sentences:

• Nasa once adopted the mantra ‘follow the water’, which is now gradually changing into ‘seek signs of life’.

Definition: The occurrence, rate, or frequency of a disease, crime, or other undesirable thing

Example sentences:

• Trees can help reduce the incidence of respiratory diseases as well as lung cancer.

Inspection = the act of looking at something carefully, or an official visit to a building or organization to check that everything is correct and legal.

• The U.S. customs officials asked us to pull over for inspection.
• Our public health inspectors conduct more than 16,000 inspections of restaurants, food facilities and stores annually. We also educate food handlers and consumers about safe food handling practices.
• Generally speaking, serious homebuyers don't immediately back out of a deal simply because they find something they don't like on an inspection report. There's always the option to ask the seller to make repairs.
• The building administration office is scheduled to conduct a regular inspection of elevators that service the building's odd-numbered floors next week. The elevators will be unavailable starting February 4. All building occupants are requested to use elevators that serve all floors.

The adjective instantaneous describes something that is happening right now, without delay. 

A synonym for “instantaneous” is “instant.” or "immediate". However, most English speakers would say that something that is instantaneous happens even more quickly than something that is instant.  In addition, instantaneous is much less frequently used than instant, and it is a more formal word. It is used mostly to describe things that happen in concrete, academic, or scientific contexts.

Example sentences using the word instantaneous:

• We got an almost instantaneous response from the company.
• In today's society, the technology we carry in our pockets means people often expect an instantaneous or immediate response to emails and text messages
• Computers have created a system for easy and instantaneous communication.
• While personal cell phones have facilitated instantaneous connections with people, texting is a cause of underdeveloped communication skills in children.
• Through email or various video chat websites, people can send instantaneous messages or speak as if in person.

Definition: Make less severe, serious, or painful:

Example sentences:

• It seems to have become accepted that poverty will always exist - the aim of policy is merely to mitigate its worst effects

Negligence is when one neglects to do things that should be done, and there are usually consequences. 

Example sentences:

• Medical negligence may be the cause of death. (This means the patient's death may have happened because the doctor did not do something that should have been done)
• The company was charged with negligence in the manufacturing of the defective tires.
• Negligence of one's children can lead to foster care
• Negligence while driving can cause fatal accidents
• Negligence of work can lead to the loss of a job.
• negligence of nutrition can cause health problems. 

When something is meaningless or insignificant because it is so little, it's negligible.  If you work really hard on something, but the praise you get for it is negligible, you won't try so hard next time.

Besides meaning very small, negligible can mean unimportant or not worth paying attention to.  Used in a sentence, “The teacher was frustrated because her students thought she was negligible.

Example sentences:

• A negligible amount of damage was done to the vehicle.
• The price difference was negligible.
• Health professionals widely concur that, beyond a certain amount of exercise each day, the benefits that an individual can expect to derive from further exercise is negligible.
• An ectotherm is an organism in which internal physiological sources of heat are of relatively small or quite negligible importance in controlling body temperature.
• Senior managers are convinced that the strike will have a negligible impact.
• Uranium is distributed in rocks and soils in many regions of the world usually in negligible amounts.

Definition: take place;happen

Example sentences:

• An air bag is designed to protect a driver or passenger in the event that an accident occurs.

Definition: Express the meaning of (something written or spoken) using different words, especially to achieve greater clarity:

Example sentences:

• The answers are paraphrased as I wrote them down as fast as I could.

Definition: Decrease rapidly in value or amount:

• The stock market plummeted yesterday, causing investors to panic.
• After the scandal broke, the company's stock price plummeted by 30% in just one day.
• The economy took a hit, causing the country's GDP to plummet to record lows.
• With inflation soaring to record levels, President Joe Biden's approval rating is plummeting, which could have significant consequences for Democrats in the midterm elections.
• Rapidly rising mortgage rates have had a negative impact on demand for mortgages since early 2022, but there's no indication that demand has plummeted.

Definition: Jump or dive quickly and energetically or decrease quickly

The adjective "readily" describes something done without hesitation, willingly, or easily. 

• She readily agreed to help us with the project.

• The information was readily available on the website.

• The solution to the problem was not readily apparent.

• He can readily adapt to new environments.
  
  

Definition: the state or quality of being widely honored and acclaimed; fame

Example sentences:

• At the peak of his renown, he became the world's best-known businessman, with prominent appearances in financial publications and television shows.

Definition: very suddenly and to a great degree; showing sensitivity or quick thiking

Example sentences:

• The week got off to a rocky start on Monday, with all major indexes on Wall Street closing sharply down.
• The ring of white calcium carbonate absorbed into the rock from the water contrasts sharply with the deep colors of the sandstone.

Definition: to throw off naturally; to give out

Example sentences:

• The experiments shed no new information on the cause of the disease.
• In order to grow, crabs must shed their shells.

Definition: A sharp increase in the magnitude or concentration of something:

Example senences:

• The recent spike in oil prices seems to have ended as increased production has boosted supplies.

Something spontaneous happens when you're least expecting it. Spontaneous things are natural or instinctive, and they happen without warning.

People who do spontaneous things all the time can be a little hard to judge. For example, she booked a spontaneous trip to France for the next day.” This means that she didn’t have any plans to go to France, but just booked it and went!

Example sentences using the word spontaneous:

• He's a guy who's spontaneous and fun.
• The comment was completely spontaneous.
• He made a spontaneous offer of help.
• I booked a spontaneous trip to France last week.

When you do something spontaneously, you do it on a whim, without preparing for it or giving it much thought.

Example sentences using the word spontaneously:

• He laughed spontaneously.
• She acted spontaneously.
• They spontaneously decided to go to the beach.
• I spontaneously took a trip to Paris last week.

Definition: following; coming after something

Example sentences:

• The sculpture is a high-tech copy produced not by compression but by machine-carving steel blocks that were subsequently assembled into the final product.
• The public applauded the president's actions and subsequently his ratings in the polls improved.

A sustains B means A provides what is needed for B to exist, continue. Here are example sentences:

• There is not enough oxygen to sustain life at very high altitudes.
• All life on earth is sustained by energy from the sun.
• In preparing for hibernation, ground squirrels eat constantly to grow up fat reserves that will sustain them for their long dormant period.
• The movie sustained our interest [=kept us interested] from beginning to end.
• If you get hungry in the mid-afternoon, you might try snacking to sustain your energy through dinner.

 To sustain also means to hold up the weight of (something). For example

• The roof is unable to sustain the weight of all the snow.

Sustainability is the ability of something to last. Normally you only use the word sustainability to refer to the environment or natural resources.  Here are example sentences:

• The hunting of animals posed a threat to the sustainability of the natural species that inhabit the area.
• Fossil fuels do not support sustainability very well because they will eventually run out.

 

If something is sustainable, it means it is able to last or continue for a long time

Example sentences:

• The creation of an efficient and sustainable transport system is critical to the long-term future of London.
• As technological development continues to intensify business competition, the quality of customer service is likely to become the only sustainable source of competitive advantage.

We also use sustainable to describe a natural resource that is able to be consumed without being completely used up. For example:

• Solar energy is a sustainable form of energy.
• Wind energy is sustainable, but manufacture and implementation of wind farms can be costly.
• Geothermal energy is a sustainable energy source and it is nearly emission-free.

We also use sustainable to describe a system or a method that does not completely use up or destroy natural resources and is beneficial to the environment. For example:

• Sustainable agriculture benefits the environment by maintaining soil quality, reducing soil degradation and erosion, and saving water. In addition to these benefits, sustainable agriculture also increases the biodiversity of the area by providing a variety of organisms with healthy and natural environments to live in.

Definition: maintained at length without interruption or weakening

Example sentences:

• Sustained rainfall is the only hope they have for relief from the drought.
• The Director's new thriller is an exercise in sustained creepy atmospherics that takes place in large part underground.

Definition: can be seen

Example sentences:

• He was visibly shaken, and had a hard time walking.
• Throughout the night he's been visibly holding back a well of emotion, puffing out his cheeks with sighs and fanning his face during commercial breaks.

Visualize means to create a mental picture.

Here are example sentences:

• She tried to visualize the scene he was describing.
• I can't visualize him as a parent.