VOCABULARY TO DECORATE YOUR LANGUAGE

        

 

If you are a student writing an essay…. if you are in business and need inspiration on how to express yourself in a report or want to coax colleagues to adopt your proposal….if you are a team leader needing to motivate your staff…if you are a voluntary worker writing a fundraising bid….if you are applying for a job and are preparing your CV ….if you are negotiating terms for a contract…if you are writing publicity material…then in each of these settings you need to use words convincingly. In such situations, you may find yourself unable to think of words that would be positive and effective. These words will be helpful.

a       autonomy                           Schools have gained greater autonomy from government

control.

·         awe-inspiring                     We were mesmerized by awe-inspiring scenery.

·         bespoke                              It is a bespoke computer program (adapted for a specific user)

·         blueprint                             The government has recently unveiled a blueprint for an

integrated transport system.

·         budding                               I am glad to know about their budding relationship.

·         buoyant                               Sales have remained buoyant even during the recession.

(financial success)

·         charm                                   He charmed his mother into letting him have his own way.

·         compliment                        She blushed at the unexpected compliment.  

·         consummate                     He is a consummate actor. (extremely skilled at something)

·         cosmopolitan                     She liked the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city. (containing

people from different countries)

·         creative                                                Change unleashes people’s creative energy.

·         dimension                           He job added a new dimension to her life. ( a way of looking at

something)

·         discern                                                 It is possible to discern a number of different techniques in her

work.(recognize something that is not obvious)

·         eloquent                             She was an eloquent speaker with a beautiful voice.

·         emerge                                                No new evidence emerged during the interview.

·         endear                                 Flora’s spirit and character endeared her to everyone who met

her.

·         enhance                              The images can be enhanced using digital technology.

·         examine                              Students will be examined in all subjects at the end of term. (test

of ability)

·         explore                                                They took advantage of the opportunity to explore the stunning

scenery all around them.

·         expound                              He was expounding a powerful argument. (present or explain

ideas in detail)

·         exuberant                           She gave an exuberant performance. (full of excitement)

·         facelift                                  The railway station has undergone a major multimillion pound

facelift. (a procedure carried out to improve appearance of something)

·         galvanize                             The urgency of the task galvanized them into action.

(encouraged or forced to do sth)

·         go-ahead                             That man is a go-ahead managing director. (receptive)

·         harvest                                 The successful expedition brought the company a rich harvest of

favourable publicity.

·         immaculate                        She always looks immaculate. (so clean and neat)

·         intrepid                                                I read a story about an intrepid traveller. (not afraid of danger)

·         intrigue                                                There was something about him that intrigued her. (make sb

very interested)

·         lavish                                     She lavishes most of her attention on her youngest son. (to give

a lot of something)

·         measure                              School results are only one measure of a school’s success.

·         mellow                                 Eight years had done nothing to mellow him. (make mature)

·         model yourself on           As a politician, he modeled himself on Churchill. (to copy

behavior)

·         momentum                        The investigation gathered momentum. (driving force)

·         mosaic                                  The painting is a rich mosaic of light, colour, and form.

(combination)

·         nestle                                   A delightful little village nestling on the banks of the river by the

castle.

·         nucleus                                These paintings will form the nucleus of a new collection. ( the

(centre)

·         nurture                                                For a long time she had nurtured the dream of buying a shop.

·         opportune                          The offer couldn’t have come at a more opportune moment.

(of a time at which a particular action  occurs)

·         organizational                    We are seeking a more effective organizational framework in

which decisions can be made.

·         outdo                                    The men tried to outdo each other in their generosity.

·         parameter                          We had to work within the parameters that had been

established. (limit)

·         par excellence                   She turned out to be an organizer par excellence. (better than

others)

·         pathos                                  The actor injects his customary humour and pathos into the role.

power of performance, description to produce feelings)

·         personable                         His assistant seemed a very personable young  man. (of a man,

pleasant in appearance, character)

·         platform                              She campaigned on a platform of zero tolerance towards racist

behavior.

·         plethora                               The plethora of choices available is enough to make you wish

you were colour-blind.

·         portray                                 The article examines the portrayal of gay men in the media.

·         pragmatic                            We take a pragmatic approach to management problems.

·         premise                               The reforms were premised on our findings.

·         prodigy                                 A Russian pianist who was a child prodigy in his day.

·         project                                 He strives to project an image of youth.

·         quantify                               It is impossible to quantify the extent of the black economy.

·         realm                                    At the end of the speech he seemed to be moving into the

realms of fantasy.

·         reinforce                             The actions of the leaders reinforced fears and suspicions so that

war became unavoidable.

·         resilient                                He’ll get over it—young people are amazingly resilient.

·         resonate                              The words resonate with so many different meanings. (suggest

imagery)

·         sanctuary                            They fled to Kabul where they were offered sanctuary.

·         savour                                  Come and savour the amazing diversity and ingenuity of artistic

talent.

·         seminal                                Reward them for their seminal contribution to cancer research.

(influencing later developments)

·         single-minded                   She is very single-minded about her career. (thinking about one

particular goal)

·         specialism                           He is doing a business degree with a specialism in computing.

·         stimulus                               Books provide children with ideas and a stimulus for play.

·         stirring                                  It was a stirring performance of Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony.

(causing strong feelings)

·         strand                                   The author draws the different strands of the plot together in

the final chapter. (one of different parts of something in a plan)

·         succinct                                Try to keep your answers as succinct as possible. (clear but

few words)

·         symbiosis                            Western society’s failure to recognize the symbiosis between

population growth and environmental degradation.

(benficial relationship)

·         tailor                                      Most travel agents are prepared to tailor travel arrangements to

meet individual requirements. (adapt for a purpose)

·         track record                        The UK has a poor track record in foreign-language teaching.

(record of past success or failures)

·         typify                                    These are clothes that typify the 1960s. (to be a feature or an

example)

·         underpin                             The theme of honour underpins his two books. (to justify, form

the basis for)

·         unflagging                           His apparently unflagging enthusiasm impressed her. (tireless)

·         unflinching                          He has shown unflinching determination throughout the

campaign. (not showing fear or hesitation while danger)

·         unleash                                                The failure of the talks could unleash more fighting. (to release,

let emotion affect)

·         vibrant                                  Thailand is at its most vibrant during the New Year celebrations.

(full of excitement)

·         vista                                       There is a marvelous vista from the hotel balcony. ( a pleasing

view)

·         weigh                                    You need to weigh benefit against risk.

·         well founded                     Their apprehensions were well founded. (based on good

reasons)

·         window                                                Television is a window on the world.