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1. Jaunty: showing that you are feeling confident and pleased with yourself (Syn: cheerful
eg. A jaunty smile, a hat set at a jaunty angle.)
2. Behatted: wearing a hat.
3. Kook: a person who acts in a strange or crazy way. (Eg. He was dismissed as a kook for
saying what he thought.)
4. Memorabilia: things that people collect because they once belonged to a famous person,
or because they are connected with a particular interesting place, event or activity. (Eg.
Football/Beatles memorabilia)
5. Quirk: 1. an aspect of sb’s personality or behavior that is a little strange. (Syn. Peculiarity
Eg. Everyone has their own little quirks and mannerisms.) 2. A strange things that
happens, especially by accident. (Eg. By the strange quirk of fate they had booked into
the same hotel. A quirky sense of humor.)
6. Apt: 1. Suitable or appropriate in the circumstances. (Eg. This song would have been more
apt for a bass voice.) 2. Likely or having a natural tendency to do sth. (Eg. Apt to be
forgetful. Babies are apt to put objects into their mouths.) 3. A person who has natural
ability to learn and understand. (Eg. The aptly named Grand hotel.)
7. Blush: 1. to become red in the face because you are embarrassed or ashamed. (Eg. To
blush with embarrassment/shame) 2. To be ashamed or embarrassed about sth. (Eg. I
blush to admit it, but I quite like her music.)
8. Preposterous: 1. completely unreasonable, especially in a way that is shocking or
annoying. (Eg. These claims are absolutely preposterous! It’s preposterous to suggest
that everything was her fault.) 2. Unusual in a silly or shocking way. (Eg. The bands were
famous for their preposterous clothes and haircuts. Syn. Outrageous)
9. Cobble: to produce sth quickly and without great care or effort, so that it can be used but
is not perfect. (Eg. The essay was cobbled together from some old notes.)
10. Lackluster: not interesting or exciting; dull. (Eg. A lackluster performance.)
11. Byword: 1. a person or thing that is well known or typical example of a particular quality.
(Eg. The name Chanel became a byword for elegance.) 2. A word or phrase that is well
known or often used.
12. Reckon: 1. to consider or treat sb/sth as a serious opponent, problem etc. (Eg. They were
already a political force to be reckoned with.) 2. To consider sth as a possible problem
that you should be prepared for. (Eg. I didn’t reckon with getting caught up in so much
traffic.)
13. Fetter: 1. to restrict sb’s freedom to do what they want. (Eg. He felt fettered by petty rules
and regulations.) 2. To put chains around prisoners feet. (Syn. Shackle Eg. A man lay
fettered on the floor of the prison cell.)
14. Flux: 1. Continuous movement and change. (Eg. Our society is in a state of flux.) 2. A flow;
an act of flowing. (Eg. A flux of neutrons.)
15. Hanker: to have a strong desire for sth. (Eg. He had hankered after fame all his life.)
16. Stoke: 1. to add fuel to a fire, etc. (eg. To stoke up a fire with more coal.) 2. To make
people feel sth more strongly. (Eg. To stoke up envy.) 3. To make sth increase or develop
more quickly. )Eg. They were accused of stoking the crisis.)
17. Grapple: 1. to take firm hold of sb/sth and struggle with them. (Eg. passersby grappled
with the man after the attack.) 2. To try hard to find a solution to a problem. (Eg. I was
grappling to find an answer to his question.)

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18. Temperament: 1. a persons or an animal’s nature as shown in the way they behave or
react to situations or people. (Eg. to have an artistic temperament.) 2. The tendency to get
emotional and excited very easily and behave in an unreasonable way. (Eg. an actor given
to displays of temperament.)
19. Demagogue: a political leader who tries to win support by using arguments based on
emotion rather than reason.
20. Knack: 1. a special skill or ability that you have naturally or can learn. (Eg. It’s easy, once
you have got the knack.) 2. A habit of doing sth. (Eg. She has the unfortunate knack of
always saying the wrong thing.)
21. Atrocity: a cruel and violent act, especially in a war.
22. Inflict: to make sb/sth suffer sth unpleasant. (Eg. They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the
home town.)
23. Anguish: severe pain, mental suffering or unhappiness. (Eg. tears of anguish filled her
eye.)
24. Impromptu: done without preparation or planning. (Syn. Improvised Eg. an impromptu
speech.)
25. Cordon: a line or ring of police officers, soldiers, etc. guarding sth or stopping people from
entering or leaving a place. (Eg. Demonstrators broke through the police cordon.)
26. Renege: to break a promise, an argument etc. (Eg. to renege on a deal.)
27. Concede: 1. to admit that sth is true, logical etc. 2. To give sth away, especially unwillingly;
to allow sb to have sth. (Eg. England conceded a goal immediately after half time.) 3. To
admit that you have lost a game, an election etc. (Eg. Injury forced Hicks to concede
defeat.)
28. Exterminate: to kill all the members of a group or people or animals. (Syn. Wipe out Eg.
Fur seals were nearly exterminated a few years ago.)
29. Pre-emptive: done to stop sb taking action, especially action that will be harmful to
yourself. (Eg. a pre-emptive attack/strike on the military base.)

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30. Resolute: having or showing great determination. (Syn. determined Eg. resolute
leadership.)

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31. Indenture: a type of contract in the past that forced a servant or apprentice to work for their
employer for a particular period of time. (Eg. indentured labors.)
32. Apprentice: a young person who works for an employer for a fixed period of time in order
to learn the particular skills needed in their job. (Eg. an apprentice electrician.)
33. Servitude: the condition of being a slave or being forced to obey another person. (Eg. the
life of being forced to obey another person.)

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34. Dismemberment: 1. to cut or tear the body of a person or an animal into pieces. (Eg. Police
say the body has been dismembered.) 2. To divide a country, an organization, etc. into
smaller parts. (Eg. The British railway network has gradually been dismembered.)

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35. Accusation: a statement that you think a person is guilty of doing sth wrong, especially of
committing a crime; the fact of accusing sb. (Eg. I don’t want to make an accusation until
I have some proof. There was a hint of accusation in her voice.)
36. Embitter: to make sb feel angry or disappointed about sth over a long period of time. (Eg.
A sick and embittered man. Years of caring for her ageing parents had embittered her.)
37. Thwart: to prevent sb from doing what they want to do. (Syn. Frustrate Eg. to thwart sb’s
plan.)
38. Auteur: a film/movie director who plays such an important part in making their films/movies
that they are considered to be the author.
39. Leisurewear: informal clothes worn for relaxing or playing sports in.
40. Disheveled: (Of hair, clothes or sb’s general appearance) very untidy. (Syn. Unkempt Eg.
He looked tired and disheveled.)
41. Naïve: 1. Lacking experience of life, knowledge or good judgement and willing to believe
that people always tell you truth. (Eg. to be politically naïve.) 2. Innocent and simple. (Syn
artless Eg. Their approach to life is refreshingly naïve.) 3. In a style which is deliberately
very simple, often uses bright colors and is similar to that produced by a child. (Eg I naively
assumed that I would be paid for the work.)
42. Nonchalant: behaving in a calm and relaxed way; giving the impression that you are not
feeling any anxiety. (Syn casual Eg. to appear/look/sound nonchalant shrug.)
43. Shrug: to raise your shoulder and then drop them to show that you do not know or care
about sth. (Eg. Sam shrugged and said nothing.)
44. Gruesome: very unpleasant and filling you with horror, usually because it is connected
with death or injury. (Eg. a gruesome murder.)
45. Conflate: to put two or more things together to make one new thing. (Eg. The issues of
race and class are separate and should not be conflated.)
46. Mutilate: to damage sb’s body very severely, especially by cutting or tearing off part of it.
(Eg. The body had been badly mutilated. Syn. vandalize)
47. Empathy: the ability to understand another person’s feelings, experience, etc. (Eg
empathy for other people’s situations.)

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48. Beleaguered: 1. Experiencing lot of criticism and difficulties. (Eg. The beleaguered party
leader was forced to resign.) 2. Surrounded by enemy. (Eg. supplies for the beleaguered
city.)
49. Unfazed: too worried or surprised by sth unexpected happens. (Eg. She was totally
unfazed by the news).
50. Odyssey: a long journey full of experiences.
51. Tantalize: to make a person or an animal want sth that they cannot have or do. (Eg, the
tantalizing aroma of fresh coffee wafted towards them.)
52. Grandiose: seeming very impressive but too large, complicated, expensive etc. to be
practical or possible. (Eg. the grandiose scheme for a journey across the desert came to
nothing.)
53. Resilience: 1. The ability of people or things to feel better quickly after sth unpleasant,
such as shock, injury etc. (Eg. he showed great courage and resilience in fighting back
from a losing position to win the game.) 2. The ability of a substance to regain its original
shape after it has been bent, stretched or pressed. (Eg. the natural beauty and resilience
of wool.)

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54. Glut: a situation in which there is more of sth than is needed or can be used. (Syn surfeit
Eg. a glut of cheap DVD’s in market.)
55. Ingrained: 1. (of a habit and attitude etc.) that has existed for a long time and is therefore
difficult to change. (Eg. The belief that we should do our duty is deeply ingrained in most
of us.) 2. (of dirt) under the surface of sth and therefore difficult to get rid of.
56. Reeling: 1. To move in a very unsteady way, for eg because you are drunk or have been
hit. (Eg. She was reeling after having several glasses of wine.) 2. To feel very shocked or
upset about sth. (Eg. I was still reeling from the shock.) 3. To seem to be spinning around
and around. (Eg. When he opened his eyes, the room was reeling.)
57. Daunt: To make sb feel nervous and less confident about doing sth. (Syn intimidate Eg.
She was a brave woman but she feel daunted by the task ahead.)
58. Curb: to control or limit sth, especially sth bad. (Eg. He needs to learn to curb his anger.)
59. Havoc: a situation in which there is a lot of damage, destruction or confusion. (Eg. the
flood caused havoc throughout the area.)
60. Rein: the state of being in control or the leader of sth. (Eg. It was time to hand over the
reins of power.)
61. Profligate: using money, time, materials etc. in a careless way. (Eg. profligate spending.)
62. Rev: when you revs an engine it runs quickly. (Eg the taxi driver revved up his engine.)
63. Sanguine: cheerful and confidence about the future. (Syn: Optimistic Eg. They are less
sanguine about the company’s long term prospects.)
64. Foray: 1. An attempt to become involved in a different activity or profession. (Eg. The
company’s first foray in the computer market.) 2. A short sudden attack made by a group
of soldiers. (Eg. Those on the front line make regular forays into occupied territory.) 3. A
short journey to find a particular thing or to visit a new place. (Eg. weekend shopping
forays to France.)
65. Succumb: to not be able to fight an attack, an illness, a temptation etc. (Eg. the town
succumbed after a short siege.)
66. Stammer: to speak with difficulty, repeating sound or words and often stopping, before
saying things correctly. (Syn. Stutter, Eg. Many children stammer but grow out of it.)

23.04.2018
67. Adage: a proverb or short statement expressing a general truth. (Eg.
28.04.2018
68. Culmination: the highest point or end of sth, usually happening after a long time. (Eg. The
reforms marked the successful culmination of a long campaign.)
69. Resurrect: 1. Revive 2. To bring a dead person back to life.
70. Overreach: to fail by trying to achieve more than is possible. (Eg. In making these
promises, the company had clearly overreached itself.)
71. Excruciate: extremely painful or bad. (Eg. The pain in my back was excruciating.)
72. Graft: 1. Hard work (Eg. Their success was the result of years of hard graft.) 2. The use
of illegal or unfair methods, especially bribery, to gain advantage in business, politics etc.
money obtained in this way. (Eg. He promised an end to graft and corruption in public life.)
73. Perpetrate: to commit a crime or do sth wrong or evil. (Eg. to perpetrate a crime.)
74. Inextricable: too closely linked to be separated. (Eg. Knowledge and economic power have
become inextricable.)
75. Mundane: not interesting or exciting. (Eg. a mundane task or job Syn. Dull or ordinary.)

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76. Outpouring: 1. A strong and sudden expression of feeling. (Eg. spontaneous outpourings
of praise.) 2. A large amount of sth produced in a short time. (Eg. a remarkable outpouring
of new ideas.)
77. Unfathomable: 1. Too strange or difficult to be understood. (Eg. an unfathomable mystery.)
2. If sb have an unfathomable expression, it is impossible to know what they are thinking.
78. Insurmountable: (of difficulties, problems etc.) that cannot be dealt with successfully. Syn.
Insuperable)
79. Portly: (Especially of an older man) rather fat. (Syn. Stout)
80. Ruse: a way of doing sth or of getting sth by cheating sb. (Eg. She tried to think of a ruse
to get him out of the house. Syn. trick)
81. Cripple: 1. to damage sb body so that they are no longer able to walk or move normally.
(Eg. He was crippled by polio as a child) 2. To seriously damage or harm sb/sth. (Eg. The
pilot tried to land his crippled plane.)
82. Subjugate: to defeat sb/sth; to gain control over sb/sth. (Eg. a subjugated race.)
83. Lurk: 1. to wait somewhere secretly, especially because you are going to do sth bad or
illegal.) 2. When sth unpleasant or danger lurks, it is present but not in an obvious way.
(Eg At night danger lurks in this streets.)
84. Enamored: 1. Liking sth a lot (Eg. He was less than enamored of the music.) 2. in love
with sb.
85. Fraught: 1. Filled with sth unpleasant (Eg. a situation fraught with danger problems.) 2.
Causing or feeling worry and anxiety. (Eg. She looked fraught. Syn. Tense)
86. Confiscate: to officially take sth away from sb, especially as a punishment. (Eg. Their land
was confiscated after the war.)
87. Critter: a living creature
88. Hominid: a human, or a creature that lived in the past which humans developed from
89. Incursion: 1. A sudden attack on a place by foreign armies etc. 2. A sudden appearance
of sth in a particular area of activity that is either not expected or not wanted.
90. Decimate: 1. To kill large number of animals, plants or people in a particular area. (Eg.
The rabbit population was decimated by the disease.) 2. To severely damage sth or make
sth weaker. (Eg. Cheap imports decimated the British cycle industry.)
91. Litter: 1. a number of baby animals that one mother gives birth to at the same time. (Eg. a
litter of puppies.) 2. A kind of chair or bed that was used in the past for carrying important
people.
92. Steward: a man whose job is to take care of passengers on a ship, an aircraft or a train
and who brings them meals, etc. (Eg. a ships steward.) 2. A person who helps to organize
a large public event, for example a race, public meeting, etc. 3. A person employed to
manage another person’s property, especially a large house or land.
93. Contemplate: 1. To think about whether you should do sth, or how you should do sth.
(Syn. Consider Eg. You’re too young to be contemplating retirement.) 2. To think carefully
about and accept the possibility of sth happening. (Eg. The thought of war is too awful to
contemplate.) 3. To think deeply about sth for a long time (Eg. to contemplate your future.)
4. To look at sb/sth in a careful way for long time. (Syn. Stare at Eg. She contemplated
him in silence.)
94. Prolific: 1. Producing many works (Eg. a prolific author.) 2. Producing lot of fruit, flowers,
young etc. (Eg prolific plant growth.) 3. Able to produce enough food, etc. to keep many
animals and plants alive. (Eg prolific rivers.) 4. Existing in large numbers. (Eg. to write
prolifically.)

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95. Pro-life: opposed to abortion. (Eg. the pro-life abortion/a pro-life campaigner.)

96. Neophyte: 1. A person who has recently started an activity. (Eg. The site gives neophytes
the chance to learn from experts.) 2. A person who has recently changed to a new religion.
3. A person who has recently become a priest or recently entered a religious order.

97. Outlandish: strange or externally unusual (Syn. Bizarre Eg. outlandish costumes/ideas.)

98. Backtrack: 1. To go back along the same route that you have just come along. (Eg. The
path suddenly disappeared and we had to backtrack.) 2. To change an earlier statement,
opinion or promise because of pressure from sb/sth.

99. Deranged: unable to behave and think normally, especially because of mental illness. (Eg.
mentally deranged.)

100. Vile: 1. extremely unpleasant or bad (Syn. Disgusting Eg. a vile smell/he was in a vile
mood.) 2. Morally bad; completely unacceptable. (Syn. Wicked Eg. the vile practice of
taking hostages.)

101. Grotesque: 1. Strange in a way that is unpleasant or offensive. (Eg. a grotesque

distortion of the truth.). 2. Extremely ugly in a strange way that is often frightening or
amusing. (Eg. a grotesque figure/tribal dancers wearing grotesque masks.)

102. Smear: 1. To make sth dirty. (Eg smeared windows) 2. To damage sb’s reputation by
saying unpleasant things about them that are not true. (Syn. Slander Eg. The story was
an attempt to smear the party leader.) 3. To rub writing a drawing, etc. so that it is no
longer clear; to become not clear in this way. (Syn. Smudge Eg. The last few words of the
letter were smeared.)

103. Hobnobbed: to spend a lot of time with sb, especially sb who is rich and or famous. (Eg.
He was often seen hobnobbing with influential business people.)

104. Pulpit: a small platform in a church that’s like a box and is high above the ground, where
a priest, etc. stands to speak to people. (Eg. the policy has been widely condemned from
the pulpit.)

105. Grim: 1. Looking or sounding very serious. (Eg a grim face.) 2. Unpleasant and
depressing (Eg grim news) 3. Not attractive; depressing ( The house looked grim and
dreary in the rain.) 4. ill/sick (Eg I feel grim this morning.) 5. of very low quality. (Eg their
performance was fairly grim, I ‘m afraid!)

106. Brethren: 1. Used to talk to people in church or to talk about the members of a
male religious group. (Eg let us pray, brethren.) 2. People who are part of the same society
as yourself. (Eg. We should do all we can to help our less fortunate brethren.)

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107. Repressive: 1. controlling people by force and restricting their freedom. (Syn.
Dictatorial/tyrannical Eg. a repressive regime.) 2. Controlling emotions and desires and
not allowing them to be expressed.

108. Reprieve: 1. to officially cancel or delay a punishment for a prisoner who is

condemned to death. (Eg a reprieved murderer.) 2. To officially cancel or delay plans to
close sth or end sth.

109. Subpoena: a written order to attend court as a witness to give evidence. (Eg. He
was served with a subpoena.)

110. Espionage: the activity of secretly getting important political or military information
about another country or of finding out another company’s secrets by using spies. (Eg she
may call it research; I call it industrial espionage.)

111. Promulgate: 1. to spread an idea, a belief etc. among many people. 2. To

announce a new law or system officially or publicly. (Eg The new constitution was
promulgated in 2006.)

112. Animosity: a strong feeling of opposition, anger or hatred. (Syn hostility Eg. He felt
no animosity towards his critics.)

113. Inscribe: to write or cut words, your name, etc. onto sth. (Eg His name was
inscribed on the trophy.)

114. Gruesome: very unpleasant and filling you with horror, usually because it is
connected with death or injury. (Eg gruesome pictures of dead bodies.)
115. Chummy: very friendly

116. Anachronism: 1. a person, a custom or an idea that seems old-fashioned and does
not belong to the present. (Eg The monarchy is seen by many people as an anachronism
in the modern world.) 2. Something is placed, for example in a book or play, in the wrong
period of history. (Eg the costumes were anachronistic for a victory play.)

117. Glitzy: the quality of appearing very attractive, exciting and impressive, in a way
that is not always genuine (Eg. the glitz and glamour of the music scene.)

118. Solicit: 1. to ask sb for sth, such as support, money or information; to try to get sth
or persuade sb to do sth. (Eg they were planning to solicit funds from a number of
organizations.) 2. To offer to have sex with people in return for money. (Eg. Prostitutes
solicited openly in the secrets.)

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119. Pledge: 1. A serious promise (Eg a pledge of support) 2. A sum of money or sth
valuable that you leave with sb to prove that you will do sth or pay back money that you
owe.

120. Unabashed: not ashamed, embarrassed or affected by people’s disapproval, when

other people would be. (Eg He was unabashed by the reaction he had caused.)

121. Languish: 1. to be forced to stay somewhere or suffer sth unpleasant for a long
time. (Eg She continues to languish in a foreign prison) 2. To become weaker or fail to
make progress. (Eg The share price languished at 102p.)

122. Extrovert: a lively and confident person who enjoys being with other people. (Opp.
Introvert.)

123. Beer cellar: 1. A room for storing beer below a pub or bar 2. A pub or bar that is
underground or partly underground.

124. Profound: 1. Very great; felt or experienced very strongly. (Eg. My father’s death
had a profound effect on us all.) 2. Showing great knowledge or understanding (Eg
profound insights.) 3. Needing a lot of study or thought (Eg profound question about life
and death.) 4. Very serious; complete (Eg profound disability.)

125. Unpalatable: 1. Unpleasant and not easy to accept. (Syn. distasteful Eg. Only then
did I learn the unpalatable truth.) 2. Not pleasant to taste (Eg. unpalatable food.)

126. Cryptically: with a meaning that is hidden or not easily understood. (Syn mysterious
Eg. a cryptic message.)

127. Skunk: a small black and white N American animal that can produce a strong
unpleasant smell to defend itself when it is attacked.

128. Conjure: to do clever tricks such as making things seem to appear or disappear as
if by magic (Eg Her grandfather taught her to conjure.)

129. Ram: 1. To drive or hit another vehicle, ship, etc. wit force, sometimes deliberately.
(Eg. Two passengers were injured when their taxi was rammed from behind by a bus.) 2.
To push sth somewhere with force. (Eg. She rammed the key into the lock.)

130. Embolden: to make sb feel braver or more efficient. (Eg. Emboldened by the wine,
he went over to introduce himself to her.) 2. To make a piece of text in bold print.

131. Inflict: to make sb/sth suffer sth unpleasant. (Eg. heavy casualties were inflicted
on the enemy.)

132.

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