HIGH-LEVEL FORMAL & ACADEMIC VERBS

Encompass

Surround, contain, or include comprehensively.

Abolish

Formally put an end to.

Address (a topic)

Deal directly with an issue.

Overwhelm

Submerge or overpower with emotion/burden.

Refrain

Deliberately stop oneself from acting.

Quell (rumours)

Suppress or crush undesirable speculation.

Accommodate

Provide room for; adapt to.

Ascribe

Attribute something to a specific cause.

Alleviate

Make suffering or pain lighter.

Allude (to)

Suggest or refer to indirectly.

Mitigate

Lessen the severity or harm.

Discern

Perceive or recognise clearly with difficulty.

Disseminate

Spread information or seeds widely.

Emulate

Strive to equal or surpass.

Exacerbate

Make an existing problem worse.

Fossilise (ideas)

Become permanently rigid and outdated.

Galvanise

Shock or excite into action.

Ponder

Weigh and consider deeply mentally.

Prejudge

Form premature judgment without facts.

Proliferate

Increase rapidly in numbers; multiply.

Refute (a theory)

Prove an assertion entirely incorrect.

Reiterate

Repeat something for clarity/emphasis.

Scrutinise

Examine with extreme, meticulous care.

Subsume

Include within a larger category.

Succumb (to)

Surrender to superior unyielding pressure.

Thwart

Successfully prevent from accomplishing purpose.

Withstand

Resist successfully against physical/mental pressure.