CAE Certificate in Advanced English Vocabulary List

A comprehensive vocabulary list for the Cambridge Advanced English (CAE) exam, providing terms and definitions for essential nouns, verbs, and adjectives used in the test.

Abandon

Leave a place or person forever

Abnormal

Different from what is normal or usual

Abstract

Not concrete or material

Absolutely

Used to strongly agree with someone

Absorb

Understand and remember information that you read or hear

Abuse

Treat someone cruelly

Accelerate

Start to happen more quickly

Accept

Agree to something

Accomplish

Succeed in doing something good

Accumulate

Increase in an amount over a period of time

Accurate

Correct or right

Accuse

Say that someone has done something bad

Acknowledge

Accept that something is true or exists

Acquaintance

Someone whom you know but do not know well

Acquire

Obtain something

Adapt

Change to better suit a new situation

Addictive

Something you can't stop doing, eating, etc.

Adhere

Stick to something

Administration

How an institution or company is arranged and organised

Advantage

A benefit that increases your chances of success

Afford

Have enough money to buy something

Affliction

Something that makes you suffer

Aggression

Angry or violent behaviour towards someone

Ailment

A sickness

Allege

Say that someone has done something wrong or illegal, without proof

Allocate

Give some time, money, space, etc. to be used for a particular purpose

Ally

Someone who supports you, especially when other people are against you

Alien

Strange, unfamiliar

Alternate

Go from one to another repeatedly

Altruism

Willingness to do good things for other people

Amateur

Doing something as a hobby and not as your job

Ambition

A strong desire to do something, a goal

Amnesia

A medical condition that makes it impossible to remember things

Ample

More than enough

Analyse

Study or examine something very carefully

Anecdote

A short, funny story

Angst

Anxiety and unhappiness

Annotate

Add words to a text or image

Antagonist

A person who is against something

Anticipate

Expect something, or to prepare for something before it happens

Apocalypse

A time of great destruction (the end of days!)

Appalling

Very bad

Apparent

Seeming to exist or be true

Appeal

A public request for help, money, etc.

Appetite

The feeling of wanting to eat

Applaud

Clap

Appoint

Officially choose someone for a job

Appreciate

Value someone or something

Approach

A way of doing something

Appropriacy

Right or correct in a specific situation

Aptitude

A natural ability

Arduous

Very hard, requiring a lot of effort to do

Arrogant

Believing you know more than other people

Assassinate

Murder someone famous

Assess

Judge the value, size, or importance of something

Assign

Give someone a particular job or responsibility

Associate

Connect something with something else

Assume

Think something is true without having any proof

Assure

Tell someone that something is true, and there is nothing to worry about it

Attached

Feeling emotionally close to someone or something

Auction

A sale in which things are sold to the person who offers the most money

Audition

A short performance to try to get a job as an actor, singer, etc.

Authority

Legal power or control over others

Aviation

Related to flying an aircraft

Avid

Very interested in something

Await

Wait for something

Aware

Knowing that something is true or exists

Awkward

Very uncomfortable

Background

The type of education, training, or experience someone has had

Bacteria

Very small living things that can cause disease

Balance

State of things being equal

Banal

Boring, unoriginal, repeated too often

Bankrupt

Unable to pay your debts

Barely

Almost not possible

Bear

Accept a difficult, unpleasant situation

Benefit

An advantage in a situation

Benevolent

Helpful, kind, or generous

Best-seller

A new book or product that sells in huge numbers

Bias

A personal opinion that makes you treat someone unfairly

Bid

An offer of a specific amount of money to buy something (e.g. at an auction)

Bitter

Feeling angry because of a bad past experience

Blind

Unable to see

Board

A group of people who officially control a company or organization

Boast

Talk about your achievements or talents in an annoying way

Bold

Brave, not afraid of danger

Bond

A connection between people

Boom

Increase suddenly

Botany

The study of plants

Bounce

(e.g. an email) comes back because it's sent to the wrong address

Bound

Certain to happen

Boundary

A line that divides two areas or forms an edge around an area

Bracket

A group of people whose ages, wages, taxes, etc. are between two limits

Brag

Talk about your achievements or talents in an annoying way

Brains (pl.)

Intelligence

Branch

A division of a bigger or more complex organization

Breadwinner

The person who earns the money for a family

Breed

A particular type of animal

Bend

Curve or lean forward and downward

Bribe

Give money or gifts to someone so that they will do something (dishonest) for you

Browse

Look for information online