Advanced English for International Studies Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards from Advanced English for International Studies lecture notes.

Anesthesia

The use of anaesthetics during medical operations that causes the state of being unable to feel anything, especially pain.

Abstain

To decide not to do or have something, especially something you like or enjoy, because it is bad for your health or considered morally wrong.

Asylum

Protection that a government gives to people who have left their own country, usually because they were in danger for political reasons.

By-product

A substance that is produced during the process of making or destroying something else.

Conscience

The part of your mind that tells you whether your actions are right or wrong.

Cruelty

Behaviour that causes pain or suffering to others, especially deliberately.

Compartmentalise

To divide something/somebody into separate sections, especially so that one thing does not affect the other.

Encroach

To begin to affect or use up too much of somebody's time, rights, personal life, etc.

Enormity

The very great size, effect, etc. of something; the fact of something being very serious or extent of something perceived as bad or morally wrong.

Exploitation

The fact of using a situation in order to get an advantage for yourself

Transaction

A piece of business that is done between people, especially an act of buying or selling.

Undermine

To make something, especially somebody's confidence or authority, gradually weaker or less effective.

Accelerate

To happen or to make something happen faster or earlier than expected.

Backsliding

The situation when somebody fails to do something that they agreed to do and returns to their former bad behaviour.

Biodiversity

The existence of a large number of different kinds of animals and plants which make a balanced environment.

Disposal

The act of getting rid of something.

Desertification

The process of becoming or making something a desert.

Depletion

A reduction in something, or the act of reducing it.

Far-flung

Spread over a wide area.

Finalize

To complete the last part of a plan, trip, project, etc.

Geothermal

Connected with the natural heat of rock deep in the ground.

Hazard

A thing that can be dangerous or cause damage.

Implementation

The act of making something that has been officially decided start to happen or be used.

Invasive

Spreading very quickly and difficult to stop.

Loophole

A mistake in the way a law, contract, etc. has been written which enables people to legally avoid doing something that the law, contract, etc. had intended them to do.

Marijuana

A drug (illegal in many countries) made from the dried leaves and flowers of the hemp plant, which gives the person smoking it a feeling of being relaxed.

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

Multilateral

In which three or more groups, nations, etc. take part.

Recession

A difficult time for the economy of a country, when there is less trade and industrial activity than usual and more people are unemployed.

Sanction

An official order that limits trade, contact, etc. with a particular country, in order to make it do something.

Self-destruction

The act of doing things to deliberately harm yourself.

Summit

An official meeting or series of meetings between the leaders of two or more governments at which they discuss important matters.

Subsidy

Money that is paid by a government or an organization to reduce the costs of services or of producing goods so that their prices can be kept low.

Synergy

The extra energy, power, success, etc. that is achieved by two or more people or companies working together, instead of on their own.

Woeful

Very bad or serious; that you disapprove of.

Agreement

An arrangement, a promise or a contract made with somebody.

Barrier

An object like a fence that prevents people from moving forward from one place to another.

Bilateral

Involving two groups of people or two countries.

Bolster

To improve something or make it stronger.

Contention

Angry disagreement between people.

Cybersecurity

The state of being protected against the criminal or unauthorized use of electronic data, or the measures taken to achieve this.

E-commerce

Commercial transactions conducted electronically on the Internet.

Impede

To delay or stop the progress of something.

Integration

The act or process of combining two or more things so that they work together.

Initiative

A new plan for dealing with a particular problem or for achieving a particular purpose.

Juggernaut

A large and powerful force or institution that cannot be controlled.

Legalise

To make something legal.

Lobby

To try to influence politicians on a particular issue.

Languishing

(of a person or other living thing) Lose or lack vitality; grow weak or feeble.

Mercantilist

Based on the economic theory that trade increases wealth.

Migration

The movement of large numbers of people, birds or animals from one place to another.

Momentum

The ability to keep increasing or developing.

Monetary

Connected with money, especially all the money in a country.

Refugee

A person who has been forced to leave their country or home, because there is a war or for political, religious or social reasons.

Reconcile

To make people become friends again after an argument or a disagreement.

Separatist

A person who supports the separation of a particular group of people from a larger body on the basis of ethnicity, religion, or gender.

Socioeconomic

Relating to or concerned with the interaction of social and economic factors.

Sovereignty

The state of being a country with freedom to govern itself.

Stagnating

To stop developing or making progress.

Stimulus

Something that helps somebody/something to develop better or more quickly.

Tariff

A tax that is paid on goods coming into or going out of a country.

Unprecedented

That has never happened, been done or been known before.