EGP Cambridge Advanced Word List

Adept

Being good at something difficult

Affliction

Something that harms you

Anathema

Something that is very disliked

Anonymous

Having no outstanding features

Asserion

Saying something that is definitely true

To be a touch aggrieved

Being slightly upset with an unfair situation

To be in two minds about something

To have to make a hard decision

To be on the mend

To be healing after illness of injury

To be up to scratch

To be of good enough quality

Benefit rates

How much money the government will give to people who need money

By attrition

The use of force to gradually make something weaker and eventually destroy it

Byways

Facts about a subject that very little people know

Censor

Someone who removes parts of books, documents or movies that are offensive or not allowed

Crude

Made or done in a simple way without much skill

Dreariness

Feeling when something is boring and makes you unhappy

Endow somebody with something

To give someone a particular quality

Ferocity

Extreme violence or force

Fringe

The outer part of an area, group or activity

Galley

Kitchen in a ship or plane

Genome

Complete set of genetic material of a living thing

To get attuned to something

To start to be able to understand something

To get behind the scenes

To look deeper and see things most people usually don’t see

To get down to something

To start doing something seriously

To get stuck into something

To start doing something with energy

To give somebody an edge over somebody

To give someone a benefit over someone else

Haughtily

In a way that shows pride an a feeling of superiority

To have an aptitude for something

To have a natural talent for something

To have an excellent command of something

To have great knowledge of a subject

Hereditary

Something passed from parent to child before birth

High-rise block

A tall building with a lot of floors

In excess of

More than

Indignant

Being angry because something is unfair

Innate capacity

Ability you were born with (synonyms: faculty, ability)

Intrapersonal

Thinking about your own thoughts and trying to understand them

To lose your nerve

To suddenly get frightened and become unable to do something

Parameter

A limit that controls the way you can do something

Poised

Ready to do something

Preposterous

Extremely stupid

Right across the board

Affecting everyone/every part

Rudimentary

Very basic

To settle up

To pay someone the money you owe them

To sift something

To carefully look at things to find something

To stand somebody in good stead

To be useful to someone

Stifling

Extremely hot and unpleasant to breathe

Tenet

A principle/belief of a theory/religion

Utilitarian

Designed for utility, not aesthetics