Comprehensive Vocabulary Review: Performing Arts, The Natural World, and Surviving and Thriving

A comprehensive collection of English vocabulary flashcards covering Performing Arts, Dance, Opera, The Natural World, Idiomatic Expressions, Phrasal Verbs, and Concepts from Surviving and Thriving.

lot

A particular group of people (informal).

to sling

To put something somewhere so that it is wrapped round something or hangs down (often followed by over or round).

taut

Stretched tight; a taut body is firm with strong muscles and little fat.

to slink

To go somewhere slowly and quietly so that people will not notice you; e.g., slink into/away/out.

precious little

Extremely little or few (used for emphasis).

to hustle

To push one's way; if you hustle, you go somewhere or do something as quickly as you can.

grim

Grim news, situations, or events are unpleasant and make you feel upset and worried (HERE: ugly, unpleasant).

reptilian

Relating to reptiles, or like a reptile.

resilience

Someone's ability to become healthy, happy, or strong again after an illness, disappointment or other problem.

prerequisite

Something that must exist or happen before something else is possible (precondition).

constraints

Something that limits your freedom to do what you want.

sartorial

Relating to tailoring, clothes or style of dress.

bland

Not interesting, exciting, or original, and therefore boring.

lousy

Bad, or unpleasant.

fleet

A group of ships, or all of the ships in a country's navy (HERE: a group of people).

ruthlessness

The quality of lacking pity or compassion for others; the quality of being willing to make other people suffer so that you can achieve your aims.

jaded

If you are jaded, you feel bored, tired, and not enthusiastic, for example because you have had too much of the same thing.

to scrounge

To get something that you want by asking someone for it instead of providing it or paying for it yourself.

exposure

Public attention; things that are written or said about a person, product, event etc. that make them well-known.

savage

Cruel and unpleasant or violent.

to be one for (doing) something

To like or enjoy something very much.

hard-pressed

Burdened with urgent business; in difficulty; having a lot of difficulties doing something, especially because there is not enough time or money.

to counteract

To reduce the negative effect of something by doing something that has an opposite effect.

sedentary

Involving a lot of sitting and not much exercise.

breakdancing

A type of fast dancing, especially done on the street, that often includes spinning your body around on the ground.

to tag along

To go somewhere with someone else although you are not needed.

to take (something) like a duck to water

To learn a new activity very easily, as if you have been doing it for a very long time.

pound

A unit for measuring weight, used in several countries including the US and the UK, containing 16 ounces and equal to 0.454 kilograms; its written abbreviation is lb.

to be/get caught (up) in

To become unexpectedly involved in an unpleasant or annoying situation.

to hark back to

To remember or talk about something that happened in the past.

passable

Satisfactory but not of high quality.

stilt

One of two long narrow pieces of wood with places to put your feet on so that you can stand on them to walk high above the ground.

to get one's teeth into (something)

To put a lot of your time and energy into something that is interesting because it needs a lot of effort and skill.

on the line

At risk.

to work a treat

To be successful, or to operate successfully.

upbeat

Cheerful, optimistic; +.

mind-blowing

Overwhelmingly impressive;.

discordant

(Of sounds) harsh and jarring because of a lack of harmony;.

uplifting

Making you feel happier or more hopeful; -.

moving

Producing strong emotion, especially sadness or sympathy.

to doodle

To draw patterns or pictures because you are bored or thinking about other things.

hooked

If you are hooked on something, you find it so attractive or interesting that you want to do it as much as possible.

to cringe

To feel embarrassed or ashamed about something.

tutor

A private teacher, typically one who teaches a single student or a very small group, (HERE) (BrE) a university or college teacher responsible for the teaching and supervision of assigned students.

to emulate

(FORMAL) to try to be like someone or something else, usually because you admire them.

to slog

To work hard over a period of time.

on the side

In addition to what is usual.

lucrative

Producing a great deal of profit.

storyboard

(In films and television) a series of drawings or images showing the planned order of images.

frames

(CINEMA) one of the single photographs that a film or video is made of.

at our fingertips

(Especially of information) readily available; accessible.

to relish

To get great pleasure or satisfaction from something.

to be up there with (someone)

(INFORMAL) to be equal to someone else in ability or in a particular skill.

live-action

(In filmmaking) action involving real people or animals, as contrasted with animation or computer-generated effects.

to lose sight of

To forget an important fact, or to forget what your main aim is, because you are thinking too much about other things.

to jump to conclusions

To make a decision about something too quickly without knowing all the facts.

to jump down my throat

To suddenly speak very angrily to someone, in a way that seems unfair.

to leap at the opportunity

To accept something quickly and in an enthusiastic way.

by leaps and bounds

Used for saying that someone or something improves or increases a lot.

out of bounds

If a place is out of bounds, you are not allowed to go there (ALSO: if a subject is out of bounds, you are not allowed to talk or know about it).

to know no bounds

To have no limits.

on cue

At the correct moment.

standing ovation

A period of prolonged applause during which the crowd or audience rise to their feet.

dress rehearsal

The final rehearsal of a live show, in which everything is done as it would be in a real performance.

curtain call

The appearance of one or more performers on stage after a performance to acknowledge the audience's applause / occurs at the end of a performance when one or more performers return to the stage to be recognized by the audience.

stage fright

Nervousness before or during an appearance before an audience.

to underact

To act a part in a play or film in an overly restrained or unemotional way.

to overact

(HERE) to act (a dramatic role) in an exaggerated way; (ALSO) to act or behave in an exaggerated manner, as in a theatrical production.

underwriter

A person who decides whether a bank should give an activity financial support and take responsibility for paying any costs if it fails.

understudy

An actor who learns the parts of other actors in a play, so that he or she can replace them if necessary, for example if they are ill.

soundstage

An area of a film studio with acoustic properties suitable for the recording of sound, typically used to record dialogue.

plié

A movement in which a dancer bends the knees and straightens them again, usually with the feet turned out and heels firmly on the ground.

pirouette

Act of spinning on one foot, typically with the raised foot touching the knee of the supporting leg.

pas de deux

A dance for two people, usually a man and a woman.

(en) pointe

A style of dancing done on the tips of the toes, wearing special pointe shoes.

sauté

A simple jump.

tutu

A short skirt worn by female ballet dancers made of many layers of thin, stiff material.

leotard

A tight piece of clothing that covers the body but not the legs, usually worn by female dancers or women during exercise.

dynamics (Dance)

The intensity or force of movements, often describing how a dancer expresses emotions.

proscenium

The line that separates the stage and the audience.

dramaturg

A literary adviser or editor in a theatre.

downstage

The front half of the stage.

cyclorama

A curved curtain or wall used as a background of a stage set to suggest unlimited space.

aria

A solo vocal piece, typically within an opera.

libretto

The text or the script of the opera.

overture

An instrumental introduction to the opera.

maestro

The conductor or leader of the orchestra in opera.

cadence

A sequence of notes or chords that signifies the end of a musical phrase.

rehabilitation

The action of restoring someone to health or normal life through training and therapy after imprisonment, addiction, or illness.

irrigation

The supply of water to land or crops to help growth, typically by means of channels.

degradation

Situation or condition that makes someone feel ashamed and makes people lose respect for them; the process of changing into worse conditions.

untapped

Untouched, unused.

to harness

To use to your own advantage.

the last stand

You can describe someone's last attempt to defend themselves before they are defeated as their last stand.

to ravage

To destroy something or damage it very badly -.

uncontacted

Not contacted; (anthropology, of a tribal society) completely isolated from other cultures.

wan

(Of person's complexion or appearance) pale and giving the impression of illness or exhaustion; (HERE) (of light) pale, weak.

clamour

A loud and confused noise, especially that of people shouting.

to step back

To mentally withdraw from a situation in order to consider it objectively.

tributary

A river or stream flowing into a larger river or lake.