Vocab 70

1.       Insist (v): To insist on something is to demand or swear to it. You can insist that you didn’t eat the last piece of cake, and then insist that your brother show your mom the bits of frosting on his fingers.

To insist that you never met that man before in your life – even though there’s a picture of the two of you together – is to claim that you’re telling the truth.

2.       Embrace (v): To embrace something is to welcome it open arms, hold, hug, and accept completely. You might embrace your sweetheart, or even changes in technology.

You embrace someone by giving her a giant hug, and when you embrace a new idea, it’s like your brain gives it a hug. In short, you accept it enthusiastically.

E.g: This was an opportunity that he would embrace.

3.       Fondle (v): To touch gently and in a loving way, or to touch in a sexual way.

E.g: She accused him of fondling her (= touching her in a sexual way) in the back of taxi).

4.       Pathologist (n): An expert in the study of diseases, especially someone who examines a dead person’s body and cuts it open to discover how they died.

5.       Formerly (adv): Use the adverb formerly to describe something that happened earlier. A history teacher might explain you that the European Union was formerly called the European Community.

6.       Notion (n): If you have a notion that you can swim across the ocean, you are probably wrong. A notion is an idea, often vague and sometimes fanciful.

You might have a notion that you can slow global warming by taking public transportation and reusing plastic bags. If you share a far-fetched idea with others, someone might respond with a “Where’d you get that notion?!”

7.       Vulnerable (adj)l: It is used to describe something or someone open to being physically or emotionally wounded, like a newborn chick or an overly sensitive teenager.

It has come to be more often used for someone who is easily hurt or likely to succumb to temptation. It’s best used for a person whose feelings are so delicate that they can’t withstand any criticism or pressure: “Don’t speak so harshly to her, she’s very vulnerable today.

8.       Poignant (adj): Causing or having a very sharp feeling of sadness.

E.g: The photograph awakens poignant memories of happier days.

9.       Shun (v): If you purposefully stay away from someone, you shun that a person. A sensitive baker may ask why you are shunning her cookies.

The word may also be used in more casual group settings. After many attempts at being polite, you and your friends began to shun the obnoxious women who never let get a word in edgewise.

10.   Respiratory (adj): It describes anything related to respiration: how we breathe.

In addition to nervous, muscular, and skeletal systems, the body has a respiratory system: this is how we get and use oxygen, which we need to survive. The respiratory system also expels carbon dioxide, which we don’t use. The main respiratory organs are the lungs. Asthma and bronchitis are respiratory diseases, because they make breathing difficult. When you see the word respiratory, just take a deep breathe and you’ll remember the meaning.

E.g: Smoking can cause respiratory diseases.

11.   Regiment (n): Use the word regiment to describe a military unit that is smaller than a division.

Most often used as a noun to describe a military unit made up of several battalions.

12.   Combat (n): It is a fighting between two groups of armed forces. When you engage in combat, typically this means you engage in fighting that involves weapons. For example, combat zone is an area where fighting is taking place. The word combat can also be used to refer to the action of fighting against something to prevent it.

E.g: No one knew how many troops had died in combat.

13.   Intensive (adj): It means having high intensity. An intensive chemistry course meets six days a week for five hours a day. If you’re in intensive care, you’re getting close medical scrutiny, 24/7.

Intense means extreme – intense runners run marathons. Intense people have strong opinions, which they express forcefully.

14.   Sustain (v): It means to support something or keep it going. If you get hungry in the mid-afternoon, you might try snacking to sustain your energy through dinner.

E.g: He seems to find it difficult to sustain relationships with women.

15.   Campaign (n): It is a series of actions or events that are meant to achieve a particular result, like an advertising campaign of television commercials and Internet ads that tries to convince kids to buy bubble gum-flavored toothpaste.

Compiled By: Chaudhary Amit V.

Source: MacMillan Dictionary, Cambridge Dictionary, Vocabulary.com