TOEFL® Vocabulary ebook

Situated means in a particular spot or position. “The restaurant is situated between the hotel and the beach.” It is a way to describe the location of the place, or give directions.

Example sentences using situated:

• The building is situated in the bad part of town.
• Situated above the valley, the house offers beautiful views.

The phrase “situated for” is often used. Examples:

• Zakro was well situated for trade with Greece. 
• The power station was well situated for coal deliveries as it was only 200 yards from Lemington Staithes.

Definition: inconsistent with reason or logic or common sense

Example sentences:

• It sounds absurd, but a well-known chemistry technique could help authorities identify criminals based on their artificial hair color.
• Anti-patenting campaigners argue that the idea of claiming a patent over the shared genetic heritage of the human race is absurd, immoral or both.

Affluence is the noun form of "affluent" which just means abundant wealth. A synonym would be richness. Used in a sentence, “The flashy car she bought was so she could push her affluence in our faces!”

Example sentences:

• They rose from poverty to affluence. (This means they were poor and became rich)
• The postwar era was one of new affluence for the working class.

The word "alternate" can be a verb.  There are different usages. 

1. When you alternate (between) A and B, you keep using A then B.  (In this case, the verb "alternate " is used as a transitive verb)

Here are example sentences:

• To make the appetizer, you should alternate layers of tomatoes and cheese. 
• Farmers began to alternate the cultivation of grains and pulses, such as lentils and peas, to maintain fertility.  
• He alternates between riding his bike and taking the bus to work.
• Some disease-carrying mosquito species alternate between biting animals and humans.
• Crop rotation can improve soil structure and fertility by alternating deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plants.

2. When A and B alternate or A alternates with B, A regularly occurs after B. (In this case, the verb "alternate " is used as an intransitive verb)

Here are example sentences:

• The light and dark woods alternate to form an elegant pattern around the window. 
• Light woods alternate with dark woods to form an elegant pattern around the window. 

As a noun, an alternate is a replacement.

Here are example sentences:

• If you are brought on in a game to be someone’s alternate, you are there to take their turn.
• The town has elected five councilors and two alternates.

"Alternate" can also be used as an adjective, meaning different or other.  For example:

• An alternate view of history is one that looks at the past from an uncommon perspective.

Definition: State a fact or belief confidently and forcefully;Cause others to recognize (one’s authority or a right) by confident and forceful behavior:

Example senences:

• The company asserts that the cuts will not affect development
• The company assert its control over the banking system

Definition: unable to see or understand; showing poor judgement or understanding

Example sentences:

• Cameras spread out around an airport eliminate blind spots and give controllers more-detailed views.
• I was blinded by the massive bright light he kept constantly shined onto me.

Definition: Filled with excitement, tension, or emotion:

Example sentences:

• Even though I've read the book three times so far, never once have the words conveyed the sense of excitement and the charged atmosphere that came across on film.

Definition: well reasoned; ideas that are clearly presented.

Example sentences:

• The party’s policies were based on prejudice rather than on any coherent ideology.
• When we first hear a song, it stimulates our auditory cortex and we convert the rhythms, melodies, and harmonies into a coherent whole.

Definition: obvious to the eye or mind

Example sentences:

• In the deep sea, where light is dim and blue, animals with bigger eyes see better—but bigger eyes are more conspicuous to predators

Definition: move slowly; to begin to happen

Example sentences:

• Some mistakes are beginning to creep into his work.
• They were caught by surprise when the three men crept up from behind and yelled, “Nobody move.”

A dilemma is a tough choice. When you are in a situation with two options, and neither of them is very good, you are in a dilemma. 

An example of a dilemma is when you have plans to go to a concert, but you get really sick. Your options are to skip the concert you were really looking forward to, or go to the concert but feel miserable. You are in a dilemma because either option isn’t going to bring you much happiness.

You can use this word in your speaking responses for the TOEFL Integrated Speaking Task 5. For example:

• The male student in the conversation is in a dilemma. He doesn't know what to do with his due assignments.

The phrases 'face a dilemma' and 'in a dilemma' are often used. Here are example sentences:

• Women may still be faced with the dilemma of choosing between jobs and families.
• I don't know what to do; it's a real dilemma.
• She faced a dilemma about whether to accept the offer or not.
• After years of recession, the company was in a dilemma over its future.

The collocations 'a solution to a dilemma ' and 'a way out of a dilemma ' are often used. Here are example sentences:

• One possible solution to the dilemma may be to divide the money equally between the brothers.
• I couldn't see any way out of the dilemma.

The usage of "the dilemma over a debatable subject" is often used. For example:

• The dilemma over human cloning lies at the heart of the ethical choices facing society.

Definition: call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses); to get the facts or draw out the truth

Example sentences:

• The fund-raising goal, $25,000, was reached shortly before the beginning of the memorial ceremony, eliciting cheers from the crowd.
• A lawyer will elicit all the facts necessary to prove her case.

Definition: A general statement or concept obtained by inference from specific cases:

Example sentences:

• It just amazed him how people form such absurd generalizations out of specific instances.

Definition: Light up

Example sentences:

• A great flash of lightning illuminated the world outside, showing the trees dark against the night sky.

Definition: (Of an amount or supply of something) unable to be used up because existing in abundance

Example sentences:

• Their say-no-to-drugs mantra affirmed that New York at least has an inexhaustible supply of high energy.

Definition: fill or cover completely, usually with water

Example sentences:

• The radio stations were inundated with reports of a severe traffic accident.
• Practically every Internet user is inundated with spam or virus-riddled messages daily.

Paradox is a tricky word to learn and use correctly. By definition, paradox is a statement that contradicts itself. For example, the statement “I always lie” is a paradox because if the statement is true, it must be false. 

Example sentences using the word paradox:

• It is a paradox that computers need maintenance so often since they are meant to save people time.
• As an actor, he's a paradox. he loves being in the public eye but also deeply values and protects his privacy.
• The facts pose something of a paradox.
• The paradox about time is that it seems to go faster as we become older and less active.

Definition: (of a body of water) free from disturbance by heavy waves; not easily irritated

Example sentences:

• In such a large field, his placid demeanor also made it difficult for him to stand out among all the competitors.
• The flat, glistening, white expanse of the Greenland Ice Sheet, stretching out across hundreds of thousands of square miles, appears placid, unchanging and boring even.

Pronounced means strongly marked, or easily noticeable. 

Example sentences using the word pronounced:

• He walked with a pronounced limp.
• There has been a pronounced improvement in her condition.
• The symptoms of the disease have become steadily more pronounced.
• These blooms have a very pronounced tendency to hang their heads.

The adjective prosperous often describes something having success usually by making a lot of money

If you have a new car, a new high-paying job, and some flashy new shoes, then you could be described as prosperous, meaning you have material success that seems like it will continue to grow.

Example sentences:

• The company had a prosperous year.
• After she got a high entrance test score, her parents knew she had a prosperous future
• Attending colleges might lead you to more prosperous career opportunities.

A resemblance is a similarity in appearance.

A has/bears a resemblance to B = A resembles B in appearance. 

Example sentences:

• Children usually have a strong resemblance to their biological parents. 
• He bears/has a close/striking/strong/uncanny resemblance to his father. This means he looks a lot like his father)
• When she showed me her niece's picture, I immediately saw the family resemblance.
• He doesn't look exactly like his father, but there is some resemblance.
• There is no resemblance between her and her sister.
• I noticed some resemblances between them.

You might see the following phrases with the word "resemblance":

• A point of resemblance
• there the resemblance ends (=they are not similar in any other way)

Example sentences:

• The story has points of resemblance to a Hebrew myth.
• They are both strong-minded women, but there the resemblance ends.

When things are scattered, they're spread out all over the place. If the forecast calls for scattered showers, it'll rain here and there. If the tourist sites are scattered throughout a city, you will need a car to get around.

Scattered is sometimes used with the prepositions “over”, “with” and “across”. Take a look at the examples below:

Be scattered over, means to spread over a wide area or over a long period of time.

Example sentences with the preposition “over”:

• Broken glass is scattered over the floor.
• Tribes speaking related languages are scattered over a large part of the continent
• Villages are scattered over a very wide area.

If something is scattered with a lot of small things, they are spread all over it.

Example sentences with the preposition “with”:

• The whole area was scattered with debris. = debris is scattered over the whole area.
• The ground is scattered with pine needles and hay.

When things are "scattered" in several different locations, you can use the phrase "be scattered across”.

Example sentences with the preposition “across”:

• It has 50 or more offices scattered across the country.
• Small white pills are scattered across the pavement.
• Piles of waste are scattered across the dusty landscape.

Definition: protected from danger; isolated from reality

Example sentences:

• She had a depth of character, and that doesn’t usually come from living a sheltered life.
• He had been a very sheltered person up until then, and hadn’t seen or experienced what’s behind so many closed doors in our society.

Definition: (Of a bridge, arch, etc.) extend from side to side of

Example sentences:

• The path turned to cross a small stone bridge spanning a stream.
• Students who have worse performance in studies tend to have short attention spans and bounce rapidly among smartphones, tablets and desktop computers.

The adjective sprawling is good for describing things that extend across a large area. You could describe your school as sprawling if it consists of many buildings spread over several acres. “

Example sentences using the word sprawling:

• London is a sprawling city; it is like it never ends!
• The sprawling city contained some 4m people.

Definition: having a quality that thrusts itself into attention

Example sentences:

• Since mass-market carmakers’ margins are so slim, it could have a striking effect on their profitability.
• Large studies should give us a clearer picture, but so far they don’t show the striking lifesaving quality we’ve come to expect from cancer screening.

Tranquility is the noun version of tranquil. The noun tranquility means "a state of peace and quiet," like the tranquility you feel at the shore of a quiet lake or inside a beautiful cathedral.

Example sentences using tranquility:

• Cottages nestle on the beach and tranquility is a way of life.
• People go camping for peace and tranquility and hearing loud music blaring out at night has a way of spoiling this experience.