IELTS Vocabulary

Arise – occur.

Sentence – The board acknowledges problems which arise from the newness of the approach.

Convention – conference.

Sentence – It’s an established convention that the part of the prince is played by a woman.

Uninjured – unhurt.

Sentence – Two teenage boys in the Rover car escaped uninjured and were helping police inquiries.

Mild – not violent, severe, or extreme.

Sentence – The flimsy structure of the vehicle could not withstand even mild impacts.

Earth – the planet third in order of distance from the sun, between Venus and Mars; the world on which we live.

Sentence – Mars and Earth have orbits which change with time.

Movie – a film shown in a cinema or on television and often telling a story.

Sentence – The movie is set in the future.

Beneficial – helpful, useful, or good.

Sentence – While a moderate amount of stress can be beneficial, too much stress can exhaust you.

To illustrate – to draw pictures for a book, magazine, etc.

Sentence – Ancient literature uses fictional characters to illustrate moral dilemmas.

Hazard – something that is dangerous and likely to cause damage.

Sentence – Growing levels of pollution represent a serious health hazard to the local population.

Worn – very tired, and seeming old.

Sentence – I’ve only worn this jumper twice, and it’s already begun to bobble.

Everlasting – lasting forever or for a long time.

Sentence – The boss gets on my wick with his everlasting complaints about timekeeping. And he thinks nothing of rolling up to the office at ten o’clock himself.

Enemy – a person who hates or opposes another person and tries to harm them or stop them from doing something.

Sentence – The greatest friend of truth is time, her greatest enemy is prejudice, and her constant companion is humility.

Modern – designed and made using the most recent ideas and methods.

Sentence – The compact disc is a miracle of modern technology.

Uncommon – not seen, happening, or experienced often.

Sentence – It is not uncommon that a sunny morning will turn out to be a cloudy day at this time of the year.

Pressing – urgent or needing to be dealt with immediately.

Sentence – There were two main political groupings pressing for independence.

Amateur – taking part in an activity for pleasure, not as a job.

Sentence – His success in amateur theatricals led him on to think he could tread the boards for a living.

To narrate – to tell a story, often by reading aloud from a text, or to describe events as they happen.

Sentence – One by one the witnesses narrated the sequence of events which led up to the disaster.

Possibility – a chance that something may happen or be true.

Sentence – He envisages the possibility of establishing direct diplomatic relations in the future.

Abandon – to leave a place, thing, or person, usually for ever.

Sentence – Dreams don’t abandon a painstaking pursuit of the people, as long as you never stop pursuing, you will bathe in the brilliance of the dream.

Contrary – opposite.

Sentence – Contrary to popular myth , the majority of accidents are not caused by speeding or drunkenness.

Famous – known and recognized by many people.

Sentence – There he met the famous Shoshone chieftain Washakie.

Militant – active, determined, and often willing to use force.

Sentence – Since his days as a militant student, he has cut his hair, put on a suit and is now the classic example of the poacher turned gamekeeper.