IELTS English Vocabulary - A

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IELTS English Vocabulary - A

ABANDON:

(verb) Leave, discard, desert. For example: ‘The fishermen had to abandon their ship and escaped to safety in the rescue helicopter when they were caught in the storm last week.’

ABSTRACT:

(verb) Summary, synopsis, short version. For example: ‘When researching journals for information, it is useful to read just the abstract to quickly find out if the topic is relevant to your assignment as it takes too long to read the whole thing.’

ACADEMIC:

(adjective) Something or someone showing a high level of education. Example: ‘University students have to write in an academic style’.

ACADEMY:

(noun) School, comedy, institute. For example: ‘The academy, which opened two years ago, has just had the pleasure of seeing its first group of students graduate.’

ACCESS:

(verb) Gain entry to, get in to, log on to. For example: ‘It is possible to access a wide range of information on the internet.’

ACCLIMATISE:

(verb) Adapt, become used to something. Example: ‘It can take some time to acclimatise when first moving to a new country.’

ACCOMMODATE:

(verb) Hold, have room for. For example: ‘The hotel seems able to accommodate our needs for the upcoming seminar.’

ACCOMMODATION:

(noun) Place to stay or temporary place to live. Example: ‘Accommodation in capital cities is often very expensive.’

ACCOMPANY:

(verb) Go with, escort. For example: ‘The Prime Minister will be accompanied by four government officials through the whole tour of Australia.’

ACCORDINGLY:

(adverb) To show something corresponds, relates. Example: ‘He was told that the project was urgent, so he accordingly worked overtime until it was completed’.

ACCOUNTABLE:

(adjective) reponsible, answerable. Example: ‘Parents should be accountable for the actions of their children’.

ACCUMULATE:

(verb) Collect, gather, amass. For example: ‘The business accumulated a huge amount of debt in the year prior to its closure.’

ACCURATE:

(adjective) Correct, true. For example: ‘I am not sure if the information you have received is accurate as I have heard much different information from a reliable source.’

ACCUSING:

(adjective) Giving the blame to someone for something. Example: ‘When writing letters of complaint, it is a good idea to avoid being too accusing’.

ACHIEVE:

(verb) Get, accomplish, attain. For example: ‘He won four gold medals and three silver medals in his sporting career and achieved a lot on behalf of his country.’

ACKNOWLEDGE:

(verb) Recognise, make reference to. For example: ‘I feel disappointed because my manager did not acknowledge all of the hard work I had put into the project at last week’s meeting.’

ACQUIRE:

(verb) get hold of, gain, purchase. For example: ‘His business is to acquire computers at low cost prices then sell them on for a profit overseas.’

 ACQUIT:

(verb) To let go, to release from blame. Example: ‘He was acquitted of the murder because there was no evidence’.

ACRONYM:

(noun) A word made up of the inital letters of a collection of words. Example: ‘IELTS is the acronym for the International English Language Testing System’.

ACTIVE VERB:

(noun phrase) A verb which describes an action. Example: run, write, listen, sleep.

ADAPT:

(verb) get used to, change, adjust. For example: ‘It can be difficult to adapt to a different environment.’

 ADDICTION:

(noun) A habit involving something that is not just wanted but needed. For example: A drug addiction

ADDITION:

(noun) More of something. Example: ‘Schools would benefit from more funding. In addition, they would also benefit from having more qualified teachers.’

ADEQUATE:

(adjective) enough, sufficient. For example: ‘A large number of homeless people do not have adequate food to eat.’

ADJACENT TO:

(preposition) next to, near to. For example: ‘The reception area is adjacent to the Conference room, ask there and they’ll show you in.’

ADJECTIVE:

A word used to describe a noun. Examples of adjectives: hot, cold, intelligent, impressive

ADJUST:

(verb) Alter, change, adapt. For example: ‘There were errors in my last pay cheque so they have adjusted this month’s pay to correct the mistake.’

ADMINISTRATE:

(verb) Control, run, manage. For example: ‘The Head Office in London administrates all operations for the company for the rest of the country.’

ADULT:

(noun) grown up, no longer a child. For example: ‘In the UK, teenagers officially become classed as adults on their 18th birthday.’

ADVANCE:

To move forward; to improve something.

ADVERB:

An adverb describes a verb. Examples: run quickly, wait patiently

ADVOCATE:

(noun) Supporter, backer, believer. Example: ‘While many people oppose the new rules, there are probably enough advocates to give support. ‘

(verb) To support, to back, to believe in. Example: ‘Some countries advocate higher wages for teachers’.

AFFECT:

(verb) Have an effect on, influence. For example: ‘Drinking alcohol severely affects a person’s ability to drive safely.’

AGGREGATE:

(adjective) Total, combined. For example: ‘We have 40 staff in aggregate and the majority of them work in Sales.’

AGGRESSIVE:

(adjective) Showing anger or violence. Example: ‘Some animals become aggressive if they are treated badly’.

AID:

To help.

AIM:

(verb) To direct towards a particular goal or target. For example: ‘I am aiming to get a 7.5 on my IELTS test’

ALBEIT:

(adverb) Although, though, even though. For example: ‘A university education gives graduates the opportunity to enter a high paid job over the long term, albeit an expensive investment during their years of study.’

ALLOCATE:

(verb) Assign, give out. For example: ‘The Government should allocate a higher percentage of funding for healthcare’

ALTER:

(verb) Change, adjust. For example: ‘Many cities have altered their road systems dramatically in order to cope with additional traffic.’

ALTERNATIVE:

(noun) Option, other choice. For example: ‘The only alternative to cutting staff hours would be to make some members of the team redundant.’

AMBIGUOUS:

(adjective) Unclear, vague, confusing. For example: ‘The email message from the CEO was ambiguous and confused the majority of the Management team.’

AMEND:

(verb) Alter, make corrections, improve. For example: ‘The university policy regarding international students was amended last July and the changes will be put in place from the New Year.’

ANALOGY:

(noun) Likeness, similarity, comparison. For example: ‘The finance lecturer used an analogy to help students understand the concept of profitability to a company; he said it was similar to the body’s need for food.’

ANALYSE:

(verb) To examine carefully and in detail to find key points. Example: ‘It is important to analyse the question before you start writing your IELTS essay’.

ANNUAL:

(adjective) Yearly, twelve-monthly. For example: ‘The budget is decided on an annual basis, at the end of April each year.’

ANNUL:

(verb) Cancel or remove. Example: ‘Developed countries should annul the debts of developing countries.’

ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR:

(noun phrase) Against the good of society. Example: ‘Increasing anti-social behaviour is a cause for concern’.

ANTICIPATE:

(verb) Expect, predict. For example: ‘It is difficult to anticipate which questions will come up in an examination as the lecturer uses a mixture of new questions and those from past exam papers.’

APOLOGY:

(noun) A statement showing that you are sorry about something you have done. Example: ‘Many people are happy to forgive if they receive an apology’.

(verb) Apologise (US spelling apologize)

APPARENT:

(adjective) Clear, plain, obvious. For example: ‘It is apparent from the travel information he gave us that we will be spending a long time travelling on the bus.’

APPEARANCE:

(noun) Physical characteristics; the way something looks. Example: ‘People are often judged by their appearance’.

APPEND:

(verb) Add on, attach. For example: ‘When students complete a University assignment it is common for them to append additional information at the end of the project. These are called the appendices and should be clearly numbered.’

APPLIANCE:

(noun) Electrical item or tool. Eg: iron, fridge, toaster, kettle.

APPRECIATE:

(verb) Be thankful for, be pleased about, value. For example: ‘James really appreciated all of the help that Steven had given him with his revision, so much so that he bought him a gift to say thank you.’

APPROACH:

(noun) Style, methodology. For example: ‘Different people have different approaches to learning and revision, one way is to make notes of the main issues and read over them several times to help remember the information.’

(verb) The way of doing something

APPROPRIATE:

(adjective) Suitable, correct, fitting. For example: ‘It is not always appropriate to act in the same way as usual when in a different culture..’

APPROXIMATE:

(adjective) Estimated. For example: ‘We are unsure exactly how many new students will enrol in the course next term, however, we could expect approximate figures to be around 150.’

ARBITRARY:

(adjective) Random, chance, illogical. For example: ‘The system for deciding which workers will lose their jobs can sometimes seem fairly arbitrary as it does not seem that experience, or length of time working at the company are taken into account..’

AREA:

(noun) Section, part, field. For example: ‘It is important to consider carefully which area of business we hope to work in, in the future and choose modules for study which give experience in that field.’

ARRANGEMENT:

(noun) An agreed plan. Example: ‘The company made an arrangement to deliver the product before 5.30 pm.’

ASCRIBE:

(verb) A specified cause, source, or origin. Example: ‘The decline in the number of people reading books can be ascribed to the availability of the internet’.

ASPECT:

(noun) A part or feature of something. Example: ‘There are 4 aspects the examiner will mark your essay on’.

ASSEMBLE:

(verb) Put together, build, compile. For example: ‘Jason has just assembled a new computer from parts he was given by friends.’

ASSESS:

(verb) Measure, test, gauge. For example: ‘In the IELTS exam students are assessed on their ability to read, write, speak and listen in English.’

ASSIGN:

(verb) Give, allocate, designate. For example: ‘I have been assigned a new project at work, which will involve business trips to Japan as I am the only member of the team who can speak Japanese.’

ASSIST:

(verb) Help, aid, support. For example: ‘Being a P.A. can be an interesting job as the role involves assisting the CEO with a variety of important tasks.’

ASSUME:

(verb) Think, believe, presume. For example: ‘It is sometimes wrongly assumed that people with disabilities are also stupid.’

ASSURE:

(verb) promise, guarantee, pledge. For example: ‘The technical support team assured me that the internet service would be working again within the next 30 minutes.’

ATTACH:

(verb) add, join, append. For example: ‘I replied to the job advert by email and had to attach a copy of my CV and qualifications.’

ATTAIN:

(verb) Achieve, accomplish, reach. For example: ‘It is possible for most people to attain wealth through hard work and education. ‘

ATTITUDE:

(noun) Way of thinking, approach, manner. For example: ‘With a positive attitude and hard work it is possible for most people to gain a tertiary qualification.’

ATTRIBUTE:

(noun) Characteristic, feature, trait. For example: ‘Simon has many positive attributes including patience, dedication and understanding.’

AUTHOR:

(noun) Writer. For example: ‘It is important to reference the name of the author and the year the book was written if quoting from other books or journals in academic writing.’

AUTHORITY:

(noun) Power, right, influence. For example: ‘Teachers no longer have the authority to smack children at school.’

AUTOMATE:

(verb) mechanise, computerise. For example: ‘Many companies are automating their systems reducing the need for people as machinery can do their jobs equally well.’

AVAILABLE:

(adjective) existing, accessible, to be had. For example: ‘Types of medical treatment available is increasing all the time due to medical research.’

AWARE:

(adjective) Informed, concerned. For example: ‘It is important for us to be aware of the impact of human behaviour on the environment.’

AWARENESS:

(noun) Understanding and acknowledgement of something. Some parents have no awareness of the teenage drug problem’.