English Vocabulary and Idioms: A–G

A comprehensive vocabulary review of words and idiomatic expressions beginning with letters A through G covered in the lecture notes.

Ablaze

Burning very strongly; brightly colored.

Abound in

Filled; contains a very large amount of something or someone.

Absolve

To free someone from guilt or blame.

Abstain from something

Intentionally avoid doing something because it's bad for you.

Accomplice

One who helps another to commit a crime.

Accustomed

Familiar with something; customary; usual.

Address oneself to something

Fully focus on something.

Adhere to something

To obey a rule, contract, or law; act as required; continue to support or believe in something.

Alleviate

To make something easier to deal with or endure; to make something less intense or severe.

Allow for

To include something in a plan or calculation.

Allude

To mention someone or something in an indirect way.

Allure

The quality of being charming, exciting, or interesting.

Amusing

Entertaining and funny; causing laugh; providing entertainment.

Anachronistic

Outdated; not attributed to the correct historical period.

Angle for

Attempting to get something indirectly by hinting or suggesting.

Anguish

Mental or physical pain; extreme unhappiness.

Appertain to something

Relate to; be connected with.

Arguably

Something that may be argued or shown by argument.

Argue down

To beat someone in a discussion or argument.

Atone for something

To show that you are sorry for doing something bad; to compensate.

Atrocious

Of a very bad quality; shockingly bad or wicked.

Attrition

Making something weaker; reducing something's strength; gradually destroy something.

Augment

To make something greater or stronger by adding something to it.

Back out

Decide not to do what you agreed to do.

Back to square one

Back to where you started without making any progress.

Bank on

Expecting something to happen and relying on it to happen.

Bear on something

To have an effect on something; influence something; relate to something.

Beat around the bush

To talk around a subject without getting to the main point.

Beat someone to the draw

To do something before someone else; to accomplish something quicker than someone else.

Bias

To favor one person or thing over another in an unfair manner.

Bilk

Deceive or cheat; to get money from someone in a dishonest way.

Blatantly

Done in an open or very obvious way.

Blasphemous

Showing disrespect for religion, God, or something holy.

Blithering

Foolish or stupid; talking foolishly.

Blue-blooded

A member of a noble, wealthy, or influential family.

Bone up on something

Study hard; learn as much as possible about something.

Break your back

To work very hard to achieve something.

Bring over

To bring someone or something from one place or locality to another; take something to place where someone is.

Bring the curtain down

To end something.

Brush off

Refuse to take someone else's words or arguments into account; to treat something as unimportant.

Carry someone away

To cause someone to become extremely emotional and to lose control.

Come to terms with

To accept or deal with something difficult or unpleasant.

Come what may

No matter what might happen; whatever happens.

Condemn

Sharply criticize someone or something; express strong disapproval.

Congenial

Social, friendly, and pleasant.

Corroborate

To confirm or make more certain; to support by providing evidence or necessary information.

Creep up

Slowly increasing in amount or quantity.

Custody

The legal right to care for someone; the state of being in prison (mostly while waiting for a trial).

Cut out to be

Be suitable for a particular position or role; have the necessary qualities.

Cut to the chase

Strictly to the point; to start talking about what is really important without going into unnecessary details.

Defamation

Damaging someone's good reputation with a lie.

Delinquent

One who behaves in an illegal or immoral manner.

Depict

To describe someone or something using pictures or a story; to represent by a drawing or painting.

Destitute

Extremely poor; homeless; lacking something needed.

Doable

Can be achieved, reached, or accomplished.

Do away with something

To get rid of something; to stop or eliminate something.

Drag out (something)

To make something last much longer than necessary.

Drone on

To talk for a long time in a tedious or boring manner.

Ease off

To become less intense, severe, or annoying.

Edify

To teach or instruct someone in order to improve them morally or intellectually.

Elaborate

Involving many carefully arranged details; done with great care.

Enigmatic

Mysterious; difficult to understand; difficult to interpret.

Enmeshed

Being involved in something (usually bad or illegal).

Enunciate

Speak or pronounce something clearly.

Evaporate

To change from liquid into vapor.

Exasperate

To make someone extremely annoyed.

Exemplary

Representing the best of its kind; an ideal role model; serving as a warning to others (relating to punishment).

Fabricate

To invent or create something false in order to trick people; make something out of different materials.

Face the music

To accept punishment or criticism for something (usually bad or wrong) you have done.

Factor something in

To include something in the calculation; to take something into account.

Fed up

Annoyed or bored, especially with something that has continued for too long.

Fictitious

Not real or true; false; not existing.

Fizzle out

To gradually end or fail; disappear; end in disappointment.

Flippant

Frivolous; not serious about a serious subject.

Fragile

Easily broken or destroyed; thin or light.

Fragrant

Having a pleasant smell.

Freeze someone out

To prevent someone from being part of a group or taking part in something (mostly by being very unfriendly to them).

Fritter away

To spend something in a foolish way.

Gangling

Unusually tall and thin; unable to move gracefully

Get out of hand

Become chaotic or difficult to control.

Gnarled

Very old and twisted; full of knots.

Go all out

To use all your strength, enthusiasm, or energy.

Go down that road

Take a particular course of action; decide to do something in a certain way.

Good things come in small packages

Something does not need to be big in order to be good