Society & Institutions

36, 37, 40, 43, 45

adherent (of)

a person who supports a particular idea or party

convert (to)

someone who has taken on a new set of beliefs

fanatic

(disapproving) someone with a very strong belief that something is great

radical

someone who believes there should be extreme change, often political

reactionary

(disapproving) someone opposed to change or new ideas

seek to eradicate

abolish or get rid of

tenet

a principle on which a belief is based

proponents

person who publicly supports an opinion

derive from

have their origins in

civil disobedience

when a group of people express disapproval of laws by refusing to obey them

viewpoint, point of view

way of thinking about a situation

credible

believable, opp.=incredible

incredulous

not wanting or able to believe something

gullible

easily tricked into believing things that may not be true

subjective

influenced by beliefs or feelings rather than facts, opp.: objective

plausible

convincing, opp.: implausible

attribute to

consider something to be caused or created by

presume

believe something to be true although you are not totally certain

give her the benefit of the doubt

accept that someone is telling the truth even though it is not certain

take with a pinch of salt

do not totally believe what you are told

festival

special day/event

feast

big meal to celebrate something

superstitious

have illogical beliefs about hidden forces in nature

centenary/bi-centenary

100th / 200th anniversary

flamboyant

extremely colourful and exaggerated

raucous

very noisy

sombre

serious, heavy and sad

atmospheric

has a special feeling or atmosphere

traced back to pagan times

its origin may be found in, the times when people believed that nature had special powers

commemorates

respects and remembers officially, formal

Fundamentally

in a basic and important way

denial

not allowing people to have

violation

act that spoils or destroys something

dignity

worth

absolute poverty

being poor according to a fixed minimum standard, sometimes called the poverty line

relative poverty

being poor in relation to others around you

extreme poverty

living below the poverty line

human poverty

being poor in a range of ways, not only financial

social context

situation

penury

another word for poverty

shelter

having a place to live that is protected from the weather

nutrition

food that people take into their body

malnourished

suffering from ill health because of poor food

literacy

ability to read and write

illiterate

being unable to read and write

sanitation

systems for taking dirty water and waste from homes to ensure good hygiene

deprived

lacking in things considered necessary for a pleasant life

classed

categorised

affluence

wealth

affluent

wealthy

super-rich

people who are exceptionally rich

on or below the breadline

having the level of income of an extremely poor person

makes ends meet

have enough money to buy all you need

poverty-stricken

affected to poverty

impoverished

poor, without much money to live on

destitute

without money, food, home or possessions, noun=destitution

living from hand to mouth

having just enough money to live without suffering

money has been tight

there has not been much money

tighten our belts

spend less than before

income bracket

range of income with upper and lower levels

to bend the law/rules

to break the law/rules in a way that is considered not to be very harmful

to contravene a law / contravention

to break a law, noun?

to infringe a rule / infringement

to break a rule, noun?

to impeach a president/governor / impeachment

to make a formal statement saying that a person in public office has committed a serious offence, noun?

to lodge an appeal

to make an official request that a previous judgement should be changed

to uphold/overturn a verdict

to say that a previous decision in court was correct/inorrect

to pervert the course of justice / perversion

to make it difficult for justice to be done, noun?

to quash a conviction

to change a previous official decision that someone was guilty

to set a precedent

to establish a decision which must usually, in English law, be taken into account in future decisions

to award/grant custody to

to give one parent or adult the main responsibility for a child, especially after separation or divorce

to annul a(n) agreement/marraige/law / annulment

to declare that it no longer exists and never existed, noun?

to sue someone

to take legal action against someone

to allege / allegation

to say that someone has done something illegal without giving proof, noun?

to amend a law / amendment

to make changes to a law, noun?

discrimination, discriminate

unfair treatment on grounds of sex, race or nationality, verb?

embezzlement / embezzle / embezzler

stealing money that belongs to an organisation that you work for

harassment / harass

putting undue pressure on someone, e.g. for sexual reasons + verb?

insider trading/dealing / do, practise insider … / insider trader/dealer

illegal buying and selling of shares by someone who has specialist knowledge of a company + verb? +criminal?

money laundering / launder money / money launderer

moving money obtained illegally so that its origin cannot be traced + verb? + criminal?

perjury / commit perjury / perjurer

lying when under oath + verb? + criminal?

stalking / stalk / stalker

following someone or giving them unwanted or obsessive attention +verb? +criminal?

trespassing / trespass / trespasser

go onto someone else’s land without permission +verb? +criminal?

law-abiding

person who always obey the law

law-breaker

someone who often and deliberately doesn’t obey the law

take the law into your own hands

you do something illegal to punish someone because you feel the legal system will not punish that person

lay down the law

you say with great force what you think should happen

to be a law unto themselves

they behave in a way which is independent and the way in which most other people behave

sustainable development

development which can continue over a long time

taken root

started to be accepted

deep poverty

extreme poverty

allocating

giving to be used for a particular purpose

development grants

money to help development

eradicate

completely get rid of something bad

restrictive practices

the placing of unfair restrictions

sanctions

restrictions on what a country may import/export

embargoes

total prohibitions on importing/exporting certain goods

monetary union

having a single currency

double-dip

recession which ends and then begins again after a short time

slump in prices

serious fall/collapse in prices

boost the economy

give the economy a lift