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500 IELTS Vocabulary (AWL,HK Univ.) 1

View all words of the list        
abandon
abstract
academy
access
accommodate
accompany
accumulate
accurate
achieve
acknowledge
acquire
adapt
adequate
adjacent
adjust
administrate
adult
advocate
affect
aggregate
aid
albeit
allocate
alter
alternative
ambiguous
amend
analogy
analyse
analysis
annual
anticipate
apparent
append
appreciate
approach
appropriate
approximate
arbitrary
area
aspect
assemble
assess
assign
assist
assume
assure
attach
attain
attitude
attribute
author
authority
automate
available
aware
behalf
benefit
bias
bond
brief
bulk
capable
capacity
category
cease
challenge
channel
chapter
chart
circumstance
cite
civil
clarify
classic
clause
code
coherent
coincide
collapse
colleague
commence
comment
commission
commit
commodity
communicate
community
compatible
compensate
compile
complement
complex
component
compound
comprehensive
comprise
compute
conceive
concentrate

Word and Definition List
abandon   Speak
/ə'bændən/ n. Syn. relinquish
lacking restraint or control; feeling of extreme emotional intensity; unbounded enthusiasm
With her parents out of town, Kelly danced all night with abandon.
abstract   Speak
/'æbstrækt/ a. Syn. theoretical; abstruse
theoretical; not concrete; not applied or practical; difficult to understand
To him, hunger was an abstract concept; he had never missed a meal.
academy   Speak
/ə'kædəmɪ/ n.
school for special instruction; society of scholars, scientists, or artists
The mission of our academy is actually to ensure the health and the well-being of all children.
access   Speak
/'æksɛs/ n. Syn. approach
approach; entry; entrance
It remains to be seen whether the multinationals like Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and BP will give in to Mr Chavez's brinksmanship as they know he needs them as much as they need access to his oil.
accommodate   Speak
/ə'kɒmədeɪt/ v. Syn. adapt; oblige
do a favor or service for; provide for; supply with; make suitable; adapt; allow for
As for the stage in the public auditorium, it can easily be adjusted to accommodate from a full-scale musical production to one by a solo vocalist.
accompany   Speak
/ə'kʌmpənɪ/ v.
travel with; be associated with
But the night being wet and inclement, Mr. Rochester did not accompany them.
accumulate   Speak
/ə'kju:mjʊleɪt/ v. Syn. collect
pile up; collect; mount up; increase
The tendency of Capital to accumulate is a big threat to the free market.
accurate   Speak
/'ækjʊrət/ a. Syn. precise; correct
capable of providing a correct reading or measurement; performing with care and precision
Very Interesting, can anyone tell me, how accurate is the English translation in the posted clip?
achieve   Speak
/ə'tʃi:v/ v. Syn. accomplish; fulfill
gain with effort; accomplish; fulfill
Water, energy, health, agriculture, and biodiversity, require the world's scientific community to come up with the means to achieve sustainable development.
acknowledge   Speak
/ək'nɒlɪdʒ/ v. Syn. recognize; admit
declare to be true or admit; express obligation, thanks
Although I acknowledge that the Beatles' tunes sound pretty dated today, I still prefer them to the songs my brothers play.
acquire   Speak
/ə'kwaɪə(r)/ v. Syn. obtain; gain
gain through experience or effort; gain possession of; locate with tracking system
As Norman Mailer once said to me, "One of the hardest things to acquire is a persona, and you've got one."
adapt   Speak
/ə'dæpt/ v. Syn. alter; modify
make fit for; change to suit a new purpose
One way to adapt is to become smaller, generation by generation.
adequate   Speak
/'ædɪkwət/ a. Syn. sufficient; enough
sufficient; enough to meet a purpose
England missed key players through injury, lacked adequate preparation and was unable to match Australia's skill.
adjacent   Speak
/ə'dʒeɪsənt/ a. Syn. adjoining; neighboring
adjoining; neighboring; close to; lying near
Philip's best friend Jason lived only four houses down the block, close but not immediately adjacent.
adjust   Speak
/ə'dʒʌst/ v. Syn. adapt; regulate
adapt; regulate
The opera house was handed over by the builders nearly a year ago, but it's taken many months to install new stage machinery and to adjust the acoustics.
administrate   Speak
/əd'mɪnɪstreɪt/ v.
administer; supply; supervise or be in charge of
Remember that Democrats want to increase spending and create more laws which in turn create more government to administrate and enforce.
adult   Speak
/'ædʌlt/ n.
one who has attained maturity or legal age; fully grown
Not clear from the video if the adult is a man or woman, but he or she is facing charges of endangering the welfare of a child.
advocate   Speak
/'ædvəkət/ v. Syn. urge; support
speak, plead, or argue in favour of; plead for; push for something
The some doctors advocate a smoking ban in the entire house.
affect   Speak
/ə'fɛkt/ v.
have an emotional or cognitive impact upon
The move is likely to affect women and girls all over the world as international brands such as Mango and Zara have signed up to the agreement.
aggregate   Speak
/'ægrɪgət/ v. Syn. gather; accumulate
gather into a mass, sum, or whole; amount to
Before the Wall Street scandals, dealers managed to aggregate great wealth in short periods of time.
aid   Speak
/eɪd/ n.
person or thing that promotes or helps in something done; helper; assistant
The company has also asked for an additional 3.50 billion dollars in aid from the government.
albeit   Speak
/ɔ:l'bi:ɪt/ ad.
even though; although; notwithstanding
This question bothers me, albeit from a different perspective.
allocate   Speak
/'æləkeɪt/ v. Syn. assign
assign; distribute according to plan
Even though the Red Cross did allocate a large sum for the relief of the sufferers of the disaster, many people perished.
alter   Speak
/'ɔ:ltə(r)/ v. Syn. modify; change; convert
modify; cause to change; make different; convert
In public neither Mr. Blair's visit nor the regional summit in Nepal has done anything to alter India's position on dialogue with Pakistan.
alternative   Speak
/ɔ:l'tɜrnətɪv/ a.
one of two or more things, ideas or courses of action that may be used; option; choice
Electron Instruments believed its desktop SEM was vastly superior to the next best alternative from a Japanese competitor.
ambiguous   Speak
/æm'bɪgjʊəs/ a.
unclear or doubtful in meaning
His ambiguous instructions misled us; we did not know which road to take.
amend   Speak
/ə'mɛnd/ v. Syn. correct; improve
change for the better; improve; remove faults or errors
Would McCain amend executive orders to ensure that communications between persons outside government and White House staff are disclosed to the public?
analogy   Speak
/ə'nælədʒɪ/ n. Syn. similarity; parallelism
similarity in some respects; comparison based on similarity
This analogy is almost always noted without further comment, although in fact it may be taken further.
analyse   Speak
/'ænəlaɪz/ v.
resolve anything complex into its elements; separate into parts for purpose of examination of each separately
Don't spend all day calling agents about fees - pick three in your locality and analyse which is the best one.
analysis   Speak
/ə'næləsɪs/ n. Syn. study; investigation
study; investigation; process of breaking down a substance into its constituent parts
You can read more about those studies here, and my analysis is here.
annual   Speak
/'ænjʊəl/ a.
occurring or payable every year
It says that the Queen's role in the annual state opening of parliament should be changed.
anticipate   Speak
/æn'tɪsɪpeɪt/ v. Syn. expect; predict
act in advance of; deal with ahead of time; predict
Nature seemed to me benign and good; I thought she loved me, outcast as I was; and I, who from man could anticipate only mistrust, rejection, insult, clung to her with filial fondness.
apparent   Speak
/ə'pærənt/ a. Syn. visible
capable of being seen, or easily seen; open to view; visible to eye
It is apparent to all that he was guilty; do you think anyone still trusts him now?
append   Speak
/ə'pɛnd/ v. Syn. attach
attach; add as supplement or appendix
When you append a bibliography to a text, you have just created an supplementary material.
appreciate   Speak
/ə'pri:ʃɪeɪt/ v. Syn. admire; value
be thankful for; increase in worth; be thoroughly conscious of
I am truly thankful for the stocks, which would appreciate in value considerably in future years.
approach   Speak
/ə'proʊtʃ/ n. Syn. access; method
access; method
Faced with an increasingly competitive jobs market and frequent bad publicity over pay and conditions, the army is getting ever more sophisticated and corporate in its approach to recruitment.
appropriate   Speak
/ə'proʊprɪət/ v. Syn. acquire; allocate
acquire; take possession of for one's own use; set apart for specific use
The ranch owners appropriate the lands that have originally been set aside for the Indians' use.
approximate   Speak
/ə'prɒksɪmət/ v. Syn. approach
approach; come near
The conclusions of yours both approximate to the truth.
arbitrary   Speak
/'ɑrbɪtrərɪ/;/'ɑrrbɪtrɛrɪ/ a. Syn. capricious; impulse
randomly chosen; determined by chance or impulse, and not by reason or principle
He threw an arbitrary assortment of clothes into his suitcase and headed off, not caring where he went.
area   Speak
/'ɛərɪə/ n.
plane surface, as of the floor of a room; open space in a building; the enclosed space; extent; scope; range
His special interest lies in the area of literature.
aspect   Speak
/'æspɛkt/ n. Syn. respect; facet
distinct feature or element in a problem; a way in which something can be viewed by the mind
And I guess as his coming back, the education aspect is more on display than the others.
assemble   Speak
/ə'sɛmb(ə)l/ v. Syn. gather
put together; bring or call together into a group or whole
Washington announced its decision to dissolve the core group of nations, the US, India, Japan and Australia, it would assemble to deliver aid.
assess   Speak
/ə'sɛs/ v. Syn. estimate; judge
estimate value; judge worth of something
They say that they lack both the money and the resources to deploy officials across the country to assess the safety of each and every ferry.
assign   Speak
/ə'saɪn/ v. Syn. appoint; allot
appoint; allot; make over; point out authoritatively or exactly
Never underrate the difficulties which your pupils will have to encounter, or try to persuade them that what you assign is easy.
assist   Speak
/ə'sɪst/ v. Syn. help
give help or support to, especially as a subordinate
A good way to assist is to bring entrepreneurial and business skills to them.
assume   Speak
/ə'sju:m/;/ə'su:m/ v. Syn. suppose; presume
suppose; presume; take on; bear
He looked at me long and hard: I turned my eyes from him, fixed them on the fire, and tried to assume and maintain a quiet.
assure   Speak
/ə'ʃʊə(r)/;/ə'ʃʊər/ v. Syn. solidify; guarantee; convince
solidify; guarantee; convince
I know it, and I don't wish to palliate them, I assure you.
attach   Speak
/ə'tætʃ/ v. Syn. fasten; annex
fasten; annex; be in contact with
The anti-nuclear campaigners used concrete blocks and chains to attach themselves to the rails.
attain   Speak
/ə'teɪn/ v. Syn. gain
achieve or accomplish; gain
The scarecrow sought to attain one goal: he wished to obtain a brain.
attitude   Speak
/'ætɪtju:d/;/'ætɪtud/ n.
posture, action, or disposition of a figure or a statue
One of the major reasons for this change in attitude is that there's more money around.
attribute   Speak
/ə'trɪbju:t/ n. Syn. trait
essential quality; reputation; honor
His outstanding attribute was his kindness.
author   Speak
/'ɔ:θə(r)/ n.
beginner, former, or first mover of anything; creator; originator; one who composes or writes book or composer
The mayor of the village, in delivering the prize to the author of it, made a warm speech.
authority   Speak
/ɔ:'θɒrɪtɪ/ n. Syn. jurisdiction; power
jurisdiction; power to enforce laws, exact obedience, command, determine, or judge; government
The laws will reinforce Australia's authority to turn boats away from Australia.
automate   Speak
/'ɔ:təmeɪt/ v.
replace or enhance human labor with machines
The other reason to automate is to get people out of the dangerous circumstance.
available   Speak
/ə'veɪləb(ə)l/ a. Syn. free
convenient for use or disposal; not busy, free; obtainable; accessible
Vaccines are available but are costly and only offer relatively short-term protection so the animals need regular booster vaccinations.
aware   Speak
/ə'wɛə(r)/ a.
knowing; having knowledge or cognizance
BPA, as you're likely aware, is a chemical commonly found in plastics, food cans, and water bottles.
behalf   Speak
/bɪ'hɑrf/ n. Syn. represent
represent; advantage, benefit, interest of someone
And I'm going to work to assure that that voice that is heard on their behalf is a roar and not a whisper.
benefit   Speak
/'bɛnɪfɪt/ n. Syn. welfare; gain
advantage; something that aids or promotes well-being ; welfare; gain
Another benefit for business is the elimination of currency risk in the Euro area - the possibility that you might lose money in cross border trade because of exchange rate movements.
bias   Speak
/'baɪəs/ n. Syn. prejudice; preference
preference or inclination, especially one that inhibits impartial judgment; influence in unfair way
Now that I can daily watch their news reports on Star Choice, I can tell you that the bias is as deep there as anywhere.
bond   Speak
/bɒnd/ n. Syn. link; tie; connection
link; connection; uniting force or tie; binding agreement; duty
Last year, the average short-term bond fund gained about 9%, according to Morningstar.
brief   Speak
/bri:f/ a.
short in time, duration, length, or extent; concise
When my brief career as a pop star ended, I found I had done fairly well.
bulk   Speak
/bʌlk/ n. Syn. majority; mass
majority; main part; volume; mass
Canada's largest bulk food retailer, it has more than 112 stores.
capable   Speak
/'keɪpəb(ə)l/ a. Syn. competent
having the ability required for a specific task
Canadian politicians have been in capable of ending this primitive practice.
capacity   Speak
/kə'pæsɪtɪ/ n. Syn. volume; ability; capability
mental or physical ability; ability to accommodate
Mike had the capacity to handle several jobs at once.
category   Speak
/'kætɪgərɪ/ n. Syn. group
group; class; collection of things sharing a common attribute
Remember, all cars are priced, booked and controlled by car category, not by car maker or model.
cease   Speak
/si:s/ v. Syn. stop; terminate
stop; terminate; put an end to; discontinue
We must not only cease from the acts of sin, but we must get the vicious habits and inclinations weakened and destroyed.
challenge   Speak
/'tʃælɪndʒ/ v.
assert a right; raise a formal objection; take exception to
Nowadays no one will challenge the fact that the earth is round.
channel   Speak
/'tʃæn(ə)l/ n.
passage for water or other fluids to flow through; bed of a stream or river; route of communication or access
You should take her request through official channel, there is no private room for her issue.
chapter   Speak
/'tʃæptə(r)/ n.
division of a book or treatise; assembly of monks; bishop's council; organized branch of some society
A new chapter in a novel is something like a new scene in a play.
chart   Speak
/tʃɑrt/ n. Syn. graph; diagram
graph; diagram; map showing coastlines, water depths, or other information of use to navigators
A fisherman's chart may be the crucial evidence which finally help to put to rest the mystery of what happened to Roald Amundsen.
circumstance   Speak
/'sɜrkəmstəns/ n. Syn. situation; condition
situation; condition; detail accompanying or surrounding an event
Her heart is broken, but then a change in circumstance forces them to be together every day.
cite   Speak
/saɪt/ v. Syn. quote
quote; adduce as an instance
She could cite passages in the Bible from memory.
civil   Speak
/'sɪv(ə)l/ a. Syn. civic
having to do with citizens or the state; courteous and polite
Although Internal Revenue Service agents are civil servants, they are not always courteous to suspected tax cheats.
clarify   Speak
/'klærɪfaɪ/ v. Syn. illuminate; elucidate
make clear and comprehensible; elucidate
A Japanese delegation has started talks in North Korea to try to clarify the fate of at least ten Japanese citizens who were abducted by the communist state.
classic   Speak
/'klæsɪk/ n.
work of acknowledged excellence and authority, or its author; creation of the highest excellence
His face was like a Greek face, very pure in outline: quite a straight, classic nose; quite an Athenian mouth and chin.
clause   Speak
/klɔ:z/ n. Syn. sentence; phrase
sentence; phrase; distinct article, stipulation, or provision in a document
Congress insisted on an exclusion clause for seventeen-year-olds.
code   Speak
/koʊd/ n.
body of law; system of rules or regulations relating to one subject; system of symbols, letters, or words
Do you know the postal code of this postal district?
coherent   Speak
/koʊ'hɪərənt/ a. Syn. adhesive; cohesive
adhesive; cohesive; sticking together ; logical; sound; capable of thinking and expressing yourself in a clear and consistent manner
If the EU is to form any kind of coherent common foreign policy, it needs France and Britain singing from the same song sheet.
coincide   Speak
/koʊɪn'saɪd/ v. Syn. correspond
occur at the same time as; correspond
To coincide with World AIDS Day, the World Health Organization and UN AIDS are launching a campaign to treat three million HIV sufferers by the year 2005.
collapse   Speak
/kə'læps/ v.
breakdown; failure
The streets of Baghdad are littered with putrefying mounds of rubbish that have been accumulating since the collapse of municipal services in March, with the arrival of coalition forces.
colleague   Speak
/'kɒli:g/ n. Syn. associate
fellow worker; associate; co-worker
The abduction of the Italians, along with one Iraqi colleague, was claimed by several organizations.
commence   Speak
/kə'mɛns/ v. Syn. originate; start; begin
have a beginning or origin; originate; start; begin
Mrs. Fairfax swallowed her breakfast and hastened away to commence operations.
comment   Speak
/'kɒmɛnt/ v. Syn. remark; judgment
express an opinion; remark
She refused to comment about David Beckham's eye injury.
commission   Speak
/kə'mɪʃ(ə)n/ n.
fee for services; group of people appointed to find out about something; authorize
China has hit back, its foreign ministry urging the Congressional commission to wipe out its prejudice, respect the truth.
commit   Speak
/kə'mɪt/ v.
do something that cannot be changed; cause to be admitted
And small bands of extremists may again commit heinous crimes in the name of faith.
commodity   Speak
/kə'mɒdɪtɪ/ n. Syn. goods
goods; article of trade; advantage; benefit.
While some world stock and commodity markets show signs of calming down, China is usually an exception.
communicate   Speak
/kə'mju:nɪkeɪt/ v. Syn. convey; inform; correspond
send information about; make known; impart; reveal clearly
Well, it came to me that the best way to communicate is to have direct, personal contact with people.
community   Speak
/kə'mju:nɪtɪ/ n. Syn. society; district
society; a group of people living in the same locality and under the same government
Where governments manage public life, human freedom in community is compromised.
compatible   Speak
/kəm'pætɪb(ə)l/ a. Syn. harmonious
harmonious; having similar disposition and tastes
They were compatible neighbors, never quarreling over unimportant matters.
compensate   Speak
/'kɒmpɛnseɪt/ v. Syn. make up; reimburse
make amends for; reimburse
He said improved trade would compensate for the jobs lost to competition from India's world beating out-sourcing and computer software industries.
compile   Speak
/kəm'paɪl/ v. Syn. assemble; gather; accumulate
put together or compose from materials gathered from several sources
We planned to compile a list of the words most frequently used on these examinations.
complement   Speak
/'kɒmpləmənt/ v. Syn. complete; consummate
complete; consummate; make perfect
The waiter recommended a glass of port to complement the cheese.
complex   Speak
/'kɒmplɛks/ a. Syn. intricate; compound
complicated in structure; a whole structure, as a building, made up of interconnected or related structures
Prescott's speech comes as ministers from around the world struggle to overcome complex arguments about how the Kyoto agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions should work.
component   Speak
/kəm'poʊnənt/ n. Syn. element; ingredient
element; ingredient; abstract part of something
I wish this component like all others of my stereo system is working at the same time.
compound   Speak
/kɒm'paʊnd/ v. Syn. combine; constitute
combine; mix; constitute; pay interest; increase
The makers compound the ingredients by design.
comprehensive   Speak
/kɒmprɪ'hɛnsɪv/ a. Syn. thorough; inclusive
thorough; including all or everything; broad in scope
Mr. Skubel has since completed what he describes as a comprehensive two-week training program and is now setting up his franchise in his hometown.
comprise   Speak
/kəm'praɪz/ v. Syn. include
include; consist of; be composed of
If the District of Columbia were to be granted statehood, the United States of America would comprise fifty-one states, not just fifty.
compute   Speak
/kəm'pju:t/ v. Syn. reckon; calculate
reckon; make mathematical calculation
He failed to compute the interest, so his bank balance was not accurate.
conceive   Speak
/kən'si:v/ v. Syn. design; consider
form or develop in the mind; devise; become pregnant with; begin or originate in a specific way
I asked was it a mere nervous impression--a delusion? I could not conceive or believe: it was more like an inspiration.
concentrate   Speak
/'kɒnsəntreɪt/ v.
bring to or direct toward a common center; unite more closely; gather into one body
I was now able to concentrate my attention on the group by the fire.