Advanced Vocabulary – 1 |ambiguity |A sentence/expression can be ambiguous if it has two possible meanings, and it is not clear what the | |(adj = ambiguous) |writer/speaker wants to say | |Although she said she was committed to the scheme, there was some ambiguity in her voice. | |Christians are not ambiguous about life after death: they believe in it as an article of faith. | recidivist |Someone who keeps repeating the same crime, who keeps relapsing into bad old habits of behaviour – usually| |(usually used as noun) |criminal. | |Norman Stanley Fletcher was a habitual criminal, whom the judge described as a recidivist, because he could not or would not alter his | |behaviour. | |platitude |A saying or proverb which may once have been wise but has become worn out by repeating; an easy truth; a | |(usually used as noun) |truism; a cliche.
|‘The grass is always greener’ has become something of a platitude in our times, and can deter people for aspiring to better things – better the | |devil you know, and all those cliches. | |coerce |To force someone to do something, to compel, often by physical strength, but not necessarily so. | |(noun = coercion) | | |Reluctant students occasionally need coercing to produce their best work! |posthumous |About what happens after death. | |(adjective only) | | |The Christian faith is not just about eternal life and such posthumous benefits.
| |The valiant soldier lost his life in the conflict and was awarded the VC posthumously. | |benevolent |Kind, generous; from Latin ‘bene’ = well; ‘volens’ = wishing. Very close to benign.The opposite of | |(noun = benevolence) |malevolent and malign. | |The benevolent fund made grants to people who had lost their savings in the war.
| |mundane |Ordinary, dull, everyday, not exciting. Similar to banal (used mainly of comments) and to trite (dull | |(just use the adjective) |words which we have all heard before) | |We all need something to lift our eyes from mundane things, to the higher meaning of life. |euphoria |A state of excitement, an emotional high – the mental equivalent of ecstasy, which is the physical state | |(adj = euphoric) | | |The euphoria of the cup final triumph stayed with the team for a long long time. | utopia |From Sir Thomas More’s book of the same name = paradise, the ideal country. From the Greek meaning ‘no | |(just use the noun) |place’ | |They assumed that they would never create utopia on this earth in this time, however hard they worked for it.
| despot |A tyrant, an absolute ruler, a dictator | |(adjective = despotic) | | |Having ruled for so long with no one to check them, they had become despots, living examples of the truth that power corrupts, and absolute | |power corrupts absolutely. |ambivalence |Being in two minds about something – ‘ambi’ is the prefix from Latin meaning ‘both’ and any word with | |(adj = ambivalent) |‘valence’ is in is to do with values. | |Quakers are pacifists, and they have never been ambivalent about their opposition to war. | fatuous |Silly, pointless, a waste of time, stupid | |(just use as adjective) | | |O what made fatuous sunbeams toil to break earth’s sleep at all? (Wilfred Owen) | Advanced Vocabulary – 2 paradox |Something which appears to be a contradiction | |(adj = paradoxical) | | |Although paradoxical, sometimes it is necessary to go backwards in order to make progress.
| |oxymoron |Two words right next to each other which are opposites but used to describe the same thing | |(ignore the adjective! | | |Losing in love is a bitter sweet thing. | |Parting is such sweet sorrow. | |trait |A characteristic, a quality which distinguishes one person from another | |(noun) | | |If kindness were only the dominant trait in humankind, how different might we be? |ad hoc |Latin expression – literally to the thing , used in English to say that we are making it up as we go | | |along, unplanned, random | |The rather ad hoc methods seemed to get results but left everyone feeling disorganised. | exemplary |Adjective meaning the best, worth using as an exemplar (close to example but stronger) | |(noun = exemplar) | | |Many of your reports were exemplary and could well be used to help younger students to see what they would have to do to succeed | facade |The front elevation of a building, now used metaphorically for an outward appearance hiding a very | |(noun) |different inside reality (like veneer) | |Beneath a facade of wealth, some aristocrats lived in no little poverty. | |protagonist |The main character, actor in a drama, or in a situation, eg in politics.
Sometimes plural to denote the | |(noun) |two main opponents in a contest. |It seems that Brown and Cameron may be the protagonists in the next General election. | |In a play such as ‘Hamlet’, the audience is chiefly interested in the protagonist’s thoughts. | |antecedent |Something that comes before something else; precedent = an earlier event which sets the pattern for how | |(noun) |such things happen in future | |There was no antecedent to his surprising behaviour, which came out of a blue sky.
|If we allow someone to wear pink, we shall be setting a precedent that many may wish to follow. | |eulogy |A Greek word meaning a speech in praise of someone. At the presentation of the Nobel prizes, the winners | |(noun) |get this done to them. | |The Peace prize winner received a deservedly impressive eulogy. | garrulous |Talkative, outgoing, gregarious, chatty, hard to keep this person quiet | |(adjective) | | |The group’s discussion was dominated by one garrulous individual.
| |panacea |The universal cure, the one remedy for all ills, the one solution to all problems. |(noun) | | |In 1945, it was hoped that the United Nations organisation would be the panacea for the troubles of the world, putting all to right. | |antagonism |Hostility towards someone, often personal, opposition, often physically threatening; the expression of | |(adj = antagonistic) |these feelings. |Over a few weeks, their antagonism became overt and very critical.
| Advanced Vocabulary – 3 |enigma |A puzzle, something that will need to be thought out; the adjective often used of people who are | |(adj = enigmatic) |complicated and hard to read | |The complex case gave detectives a difficult enigma to solve. |Advances in science have made moral issues even more enigmatic for many. | |per se |Through itself, for its own sake, just because it is | |All creativity, per se, is important to human society | curt |Short, abrupt, terse to the point of being rude | |(adjective) | | |He found her curt remarks very off-putting and unnecessarily critical | robust |Physically strong and healthy, holding up well, resilient | |(adjective) | | |They presented a robust defence of the argument from intelligent design | perennial |Describing something that keeps on going for good, for ever | |(adjective or noun) |As a noun, used of plants that come back year after year | |Suffering on a universal scale presents a perennial problem to those who argue the goodness of an omnipotent divinity. | omnipotent |From the Latin ‘all powerful’, with the Saxon equivalent almighty | |(adjective) |The more difficult omniscient means all-knowing | |Modern humanistic thought does not welcome the idea of an omnipotent deity | | deity |A god, a divinity, a being to be worshipped, from the Latin deus, and fairly close to the Greek ???? |(noun) |(theos) = god | |Mercy is a thought for humans as well as for any deity on high. | |purgatory |A kind of limbo in between heaven and hell, a posthumous anteroom for waiting and serving time, purging | |(noun) |self of the sins that keep us from heaven, in Roman Catholic theology.A place of suffering.
| |He could bear the pains of purgatory, but not this unknowing, this grey nothing of the world. | |formulaic |One of those words where the adjective is more powerful but harder than the noun – formula is used of | |(noun = formula) |ideas or writing which does not have many ideas but is written following a formula | |Her short stories were interesting, but rather formulaic in plot. | placid |Calm, easy going, even tempered, not easily angered or upset, a more positive word than passive, which | |(adjective) |would be someone who tolerated too much | |Philosophers rarely pass their time in placid mood | |reproach |To tell someone off, to draw to their attention a moral failing and wish them to do better. |(verb or noun) | | |Her words of reproach cut him to the heart and made him vow to do better in the future. | |surreal |A recent adjective, coming from the Surrealist movement in art, which claims to represented the | |(adjective) |subconscious mind – hence unreal, weird | |The nightmarish painting seemed surreal.
|Their situation felt surreal, more in keeping with a crazy film than their usual ordinary world. | Advanced Vocabulary – 4 |contrite (adj) |Sorry, remorseful, admitting to having done | |contrition (noun) | | |Although he claimed to be contrite, it took a long while for him to amend his lifestyle. |imperative |From ‘empire’ and belonging to words such as imperial, it means vital, on order, must do | |(adj and noun) | | |It was imperative that they abandon ship at once. | |anathema |Something that is so abhorrent and awful it seems to have been cursed.NB it is used without the articles.
| |(noun) | | |They had such a strong conscience that it was anathema to them to break a promise that they had made. | |initiate |Belongs to words such as initial, initiative – to begin, the take the first steps, to be the one to get | |(verb) |things underway. |The peace process in Northern Ireland was initiated by ordinary people, exhausted by years of sectarian violence | |passive (adj) |The opposite of active, in the sense that such a person would let things happen to them, and not take | |(noun = passivity) |actions to sort things out | |How could we have sat back passively and allowed the Slave Trade to happen? |existentialism |A movement in early 20th century philosophy which focussed on human beings taking action, doing things to | |(noun) |prove their being. | |There was no existentialist doubt to prevent their fighting for votes for women | pragmatic |Real world, get things done, never mind the rights and wrongs, just sort it out ‘on the ground’ | |(adj) | | |To be pragmatic is to be realistic, to worry more about actions than principles | |literal |Actual and precisely true – the thing that really happened.Often misused by sports commentators for | |(adj) |effect | |They had been standing on their heads for literally half an hour. | |unique |The only one of its kind.
I know that you know what it means – but note that it is not used with an | |(adj) |intensifier – it cannot be quite or really unique | |The very last quagga, a unique animal, died in the 19th century. |flaw |A fault or blemish | |(noun) | | |Shakespeare’s tragic heroes are often thought to have a fatal flaw in their character, such as jealousy, which leads to their tragic end. | |rudimentary |Basic, fundamental | |(adj) | |She was a fine mathematician and her work was free from rudimentary mistakes. | |metaphorical |The opposite of literal – to be able to see one thing in terms of, compared to something else | |(adj) | | |To see the world as a global village is helpful metaphorically to our understanding of how we should see the planet as one community |Advanced Vocabulary – 5 |astute (adj) |Having a sharp mind, with fine understanding of people, situations, arguments | |Although Hal appeared shallow, his depth of understanding revealed an astute thinker.
s | fickle |Changeable, capricious, especially being quick to change side, feelings, not sticking to one person or | |(adj) |argument | |The voters seemed fickle, not supporting one party for more than a few months before swapping sides. | |statutory (adj) |Something that has to be obeyed, followed, because it has the force of the law behind it.Similar in | |(from noun = statute) |meaning to mandatory. | |Schools have a statutory duty to consider the health and well being of all staff and students.
| |forte |Pronounced for-tay, it is based on the Italian/Latin for ‘strong’, as in musical notation, and it means | |(noun) |what someone is particularly good at. |Playing goalkeeper was Martin’s forte, the position he was made for! | |verbose (adj) |Wordy, never using one word where ten would do just as well, not concise and not to the point. | |(noun = verbosity) | | |Anyone who speaks in public has to be careful not to become verbose, but to keep the point succinctly. |unorthodox |Not conventional, not doing things in the expected way, rather unusual. | |(adj) | | |Her approach to refereeing was not usual, but rather unorthodox – but it certainly allowed the game to flow | idiosyncrasy (noun) |A person’s very own way of doing things, an unusual trait, an eccentricity | |(adj = idiosyncratic) | | |In fact, her unorthodox approach was so unusual as to be virtually idiosyncratic! | hyperbole |Pronounced hyperbolly – an exaggeration, especially if done for impact in writing | |(noun) | | |There were hundreds of reasons for this, but the hyperbole was wasted on the lawyer, who only needed one convincing one.
|laconic |Using very few words – in fact, almost taciturn in approach – the opposite of verbose | |(adj) | | |The wisest philosopher is usually laconic – few words are best. | tacit |Unspoken, unsaid, known by intuition rather than by declared agreement | |(adjective | | |They had a tacit understanding that they would never let each other down. | |acquiesce |To give in, give way, give up – to agree to something tacitly. | |(verb) |Someone who was passive would be acquiescent too. |They had little choice but to acquiesce to the demoralising terms of the treaty. | |reminiscence |Looking back, with fondness, reflecting on the past, nostalgia setting in for what has happened before | |(noun) | | |They shared many a good reminiscence of their grand days in college thirty years ago.
| Advanced Vocabulary – 6 |arduous (adj) |Difficult, tiring, something that is hard work to accomplish, requiring much effort. |The Three Peaks Race presents a series of arduous ascents for any fell-runner. | |allusion |An indirect hint, a mention in passing – but so that the reader is meant to recognise what you are | |(noun) |referring to. | |‘The Chair she sat in’ in Eliot’s The Wasteland is an allusion to ‘The barge she sat in’ from ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ | |backbencher |An MP who does not have an official post in government or opposition and sits on the benches at the back –| |(noun) |and can say what they like! |Two angry backbenchers asked the Prime Minister a series of very awkward questions. | |cryptic |Mysterious, coded, obscure and unclear in meaning. A cryptic crossword is one where the clues are anagrams| |(adj) |or puzzles.
| |She had left a series of cunning and cryptic clues to her whereabouts. | |crux |The most important or difficult point, often in an argument, the heart of the matter. |(noun) | | |The crux of the issue about the Olympics is: will the stadium be ready in time? | |faction |A small group within a larger one, sharing the same ideas, and often with its own agenda at odds with the | |(noun) |rest of the group | |There was a rebellious faction determined to find a new leader. |fallacy |A mistaken belief, an untruth, a false or misleading argument | |(noun) | | |The idea that any one person is never wrong is clearly a fallacy. | homespun |Simple, plain, unsophisticated, homemade – as opposed to being mass produced (from the wool/cotton weaving| |(adj) |industries) | |We must make do with our ordinary homespun ideas until we find something wiser. | |inhibition |A feeling that restrains you, and that stops you from acting in a more outgoing and careless manner.
|(noun) | | |People who are drunk tend to lose their inhibitions and later regret what they have done. | |insinuate |To suggest or hint at something bad, indirectly, especially when giving the idea that someone is not so | |(verb) |good as they seem to be. | |Many defenders insinuated that the well-known centre forward fell over too easily. |orchestrate |To organise something so that all the parts needed (as in an orchestra) work well together – so an | |(verb) |elaborate bit of organising | |The students organised their Prom by orchestrating each person’s role very carefully.
| |panache |Impressive skill and confidence – a flourish, outwardly and very noticeable. |(noun) | | |The virtuoso played the difficult solo with real panache. | |vindicate |To clear someone of blame, exonerate, to show someone or something to be in the right. | |(verb) | | |The new evidence vindicated the lawyer’s argument that her client was innocent. |
