Essential Vocabulary for IELTS and TOEFL - Chapter 4

A complete vocabulary list derived from Chapter 4 of the lecture notes, focusing on essential terms for IELTS and TOEFL preparation with detailed definitions grounded in the transcript.

Absolute

Complete or perfect; used to describe laws that are total and concise.

Admission

A confession or the act of accepting something as true, such as an admission of guilt, defeat, or failure.

Accurately

With careful exactness, often used in the context of drawings or showing measurements.

Accuracy

Correctness or precision, such as the reliability of government statistics.

Ash

The remains of a fire, typically cleaned out of a fireplace.

Accountable

Responsible; required to justify actions or decisions to others.

Alms-tax

Money given to poor people, such as the tax paid by Muslims at the breaking of the fast.

Around

Approximately or about; used to indicate estimated values like earnings or dates.

Alternative

Another choice or a viable option substitute for a present system.

Amendment

A small change or improvement made to a document like a resolution.

Adequate

Sufficient; enough to satisfy a requirement, such as parking facilities or existing laws.

Accurate

Exact or right; a description that is correct in all details.

Aggregate

A combination or a whole formed by combining several elements; in sports, the total score of two matches.

Allergy

A susceptibility or antipathy to a substance, such as wheat.

Assume

To presume or suppose that something is the case without proof.

Assault

A physical attack or a strong verbal criticism against a system or values.

Abruptly

Suddenly or quickly; happening without warning.

Aptitude

A natural talent or gift for a specific activity, like sports.

Arrogant

Having an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities; proud and rude.

Apprehend

To arrest or take someone into custody, typically a suspect or thief.

Advisor

A person who gives advice, particularly in a specialized field like economics.

Applicability

The quality of being relevant or appropriate to a particular situation.

Ardent

Passionate and enthusiastic, often used to describe a supporter or fan.

Ban

To officially or legally prohibit someone from doing something, such as driving.

Brainwash

To make someone believe something that is not true through force, confusion, or continuous repetition.

Break

A short period of rest or a pause from a routine, such as university life.

Blindfolded

Having the eyes covered with a cloth to prevent sight.

Bolster

To boost, support, or improve something, such as self-confidence.

Barely

Hardly or scarcely; only just perceptible or audible.

Bruise

A purple or brown mark on the skin caused by a fall or being hit.

Bleed

To lose blood or emit blood, sometimes profusely or heavily.

Board

A group of people who control and manage an organization, such as a board of directors.

Bundle

A collection of things or a batch, such as a group of books.

Brutal

Cruel or violent; used to describe harsh attacks or murders.

Bulk

The mass or magnitude of something; the majority part of a task.

Bureaucrat

An official or office-holder in a government department, often perceived as impersonal.

By itself

Alone; property shown by a substance without interaction with others.

Properties

Characteristics or unique qualities that make a substance or fluid ideal for specific uses.

Cancer

A serious disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in the body.

Crisis

A time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger, such as a crisis of conscience.

Crew

The group of people who work on and operate a ship, aircraft, or boat.

Coast

The part of the land near the sea; the edge of the land.

Communicable

An infectious disease that can be transmitted from one person to another.

Correction

A change made to something to make it right, better, or more accurate.

Seize

To take hold of suddenly or forcibly; to arrogate or confiscate control.

In conjunction with

Together with; happening at the same time or in combination.

Convict

To find someone guilty of a crime, such as fraud or shoplifting, in a court of law.

Crossroads

A place where two roads meet, or a metaphorical turning point where important future decisions must be made.

Curiosity

A strong desire to know or learn something; inquisitiveness.

Cash

Money in the form of notes or coins rather than checks or credit.

Conception

The way in which something is perceived or regarded; a general notion or idea.

Claim

To assert that something is the case, often without providing proof, or to establish rights to something.

Curable

Able to be cured or remediated, especially regarding illnesses.

Collapse

To fall down or give way suddenly, often due to weight or structural failure.

Count on

To rely on or depend on someone, especially during a crisis.

Chance

An opportunity to do something, or the possibility of something happening.

Complain

To express dissatisfaction or annoyance about something to an authority.

Condense

To compress or make something more concise, like summarizing a chapter into paragraphs.

Charity

Goodwill and compassion toward others, or an organization set up to provide help.

Catastrophe

An event causing great and usually sudden damage or suffering; a disaster.

Conservation

The preservation and protection of something, such as the environment or countryside.

Commit

To carry out or perpetrate a mistake, crime, or act like suicide.

Aesthetic

Concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty.

Countryside

The land and scenery of a rural area, typically away from cities.

Constraint

A limitation or restriction, such as those placed on spending or teachers.

Continent

One of the earth's large main landmasses, such as Africa or Europe.

Cylinder

A solid geometric figure with straight parallel sides and a circular cross-section; a tube used for carrying oxygen.

Cession

The formal giving up of rights, property, or territory by a state, such as during the Opium War.

Curve

To bend or move in a line that deviates from a straight one.

Conquest

The act of conquering a territory or people; a victory.

Conjunction

The action or an instance of two or more events or things occurring together; a connector.

District

A particular area or region of a city or country, often defined for administrative purposes.

Discourage

To cause someone to lose confidence or enthusiasm; to deter someone from a course of action.

Divorce

The legal dissolution of a marriage, or a complete separation between two things like theory and method.

Dismiss

To remove someone from a job or position, sometimes unfairly.

Boundless

Endless or without limits, such as infinite love.

Detect

To discover or identify the presence or existence of something, like a change in mood.

Despair

The complete loss or absence of hope.

Devotion

Religious worship or prayers, often performed in a mosque.

Discrimination

The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of age or race.

Decline

To become smaller, fewer, or less; to decrease gradually.

Derive from

To arise from or originate in a specified source.

Deform

To distort the shape or form of something, especially through heat or pressure.

Defect

A shortcoming, imperfection, or lack that causes inadequacy; a flaw.

Dismissal

The act of ordering or allowing someone to leave; the termination of employment.

Despite

In spite of; without being affected by the factors mentioned.

Dislocate

To disturb the normal arrangement or position of a joint in the body.

Discard

To get rid of something that is no longer useful or wanted; to throw away.

Date back to

To have existed since a particular time in the past.

Dynasty

A line of hereditary rulers of a country, such as the Mogul dynasty.

Extensively

To a large degree; comprehensively or thoroughly.

Expressive

Effectively conveying a thought or feeling; indicative of something like peace.

Expectation

A belief that something will happen or is likely to happen in the future.

Extension

The act of enlarging or adding to something, such as civil rights or a museum.

Expert

A person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.

Emerge

To move out of or away from something and come into view; to appear.

Endanger

To put someone or something at risk or in a dangerous situation.

Ensure

To make certain that something shall occur or be the case.

Entrust

To assign the responsibility for doing something to someone else.

Expectancy

The state of thinking or hoping that something, especially something pleasant, will happen.