8 T3 S2
Prodigy (noun) Synonym: Genius
A young person who is unusually intelligent or skilful for their age
· A child/an infant prodigy
· A musical prodigy
· Mozart was an infant prodigy, composing music at the age of four.
· The 12-year-old prodigy will play America’s eigning chess champion next week.
Cult(noun) Synonym: Faith
[usually singular] cult (of something) a way of life, an attitude, an idea, etc. that has become very popular
· The cult of physical fitness
· An extraordinary personality cult had been created around the leader.
A small group of people who have extreme religious beliefs and who are not part of any established religion
· Their son ran away from home and joined a cult.
(formal) a system of religious beliefs and practices
· The Chinese cult of ancestor worship
Divinity(Noun) Synonym: Theology
[uncountable] the quality of being a god or like God
· The divinity of Christ
[countable] a god or goddess
· Roman/Greek/Egyptian divinities
[uncountable] the study of the nature of God and religious belief
· A doctor of Divinity
Paterfamilias (noun) Synonym: Male
The man who is the head of a family
· Khalid is the paterfamilias of his family.
Exceptional (adjective) Synonym: Outstanding
Unusually good
· At the age of five he showed exceptional talent as a musician.
· The quality of the recording is quite exceptional.
Very unusual
· This deadline will be extended only in exceptional circumstances.
Ambivalent (adjective) Synonym: Conflicting
Ambivalent (about/towards somebody/something) having or showing both good and bad feelings about somebody/something
· She seems to feel ambivalent about her new job.
· He has an ambivalent attitude towards her.
Envy(Noun) Synonym: Jealousy
[uncountable] the feeling of wanting to be in the same situation as somebody else; the feeling of wanting something that somebody else has
Envy (of somebody)
· He couldn't conceal his envy of me.
Envy (at/of something)
· She felt a pang of envy at the thought of his success.
· They looked with envy at her latest purchase.
· Her colleagues were green with envy (= they had very strong feelings of envy).
Defective (adjective) Synonym: Faulty
Having a fault or faults; not perfect or complete
· Defective goods
· Her hearing was found to be slightly defective.
Eccentric (Noun) Synonym: Bizzare
A person who is considered by other people to be strange or unusual
· Most people considered him a harmless eccentric.
· Aunt Matilda was something of an eccentric.
Enrich Verb Synonym: Embellish
To improve the quality of something, often by adding something to it
Enrich something
· The study of science has enriched all our lives.
Enrich something with something
· Most breakfast cereals are enriched with vitamins.
Enrich somebody/something to make somebody/something rich or richer
· A nation enriched by oil revenues
· He used his position to enrich himself.
Denigration (Noun) Synonym: Belittlement
Unfair criticism of somebody/something; the act of saying that somebody/something does not have any value or is not important
· The denigration of people who are not like themselves
Anecdote (Noun) Synonym: Episode
A short, interesting or amusing story about a real person or event
· Amusing anecdotes about his brief career as an actor
· The book is a rich store of anecdote.
A personal account of an event
· This research is based on anecdote, not fact.
Mortality (Noun) Synonym: Fatality
[uncountable] the state of being human and not living for ever
· After her mother's death, she became acutely aware of her own mortality.
[uncountable] the number of deaths in a particular situation or period of time
· The infant mortality rate (= the number of babies that die at or just after birth)
· Mortality from lung cancer is still increasing.
[countable] (specialist) a death
· Hospital mortalities (= deaths in hospital)
Corporal (noun) Synonym: Army Man
A member of one of the lower ranks in the army, the marines or the British air force
· Corporal Smith
Pediatrics noun Synonym: Doctor
Branch of medicine concerned with children and their diseases
· Pediatrics expert
Mist (Noun) Synonym: Vapour
[uncountable, countable] a cloud of very small drops of water in the air just above the ground, that make it difficult to see
· The hills were shrouded in mist.
· Early morning mist patches will soon clear.
· The origins of the story are lost in the mists of time (= forgotten because it happened such a long time ago).
· (figurative) She gazed at the scene through a mist of tears.
[singular] a fine spray of liquid, for example from an aerosol can
· Mist of Jasmine
Continuum (noun) Synonym: Continuity
A series of similar items in which each is almost the same as the ones next to it but the last is very different from the first
· This research is a continuum of the previous one.
Mundane (Adjective) Synonym: Dull
Not interesting or exciting
· A mundane task/job
· I lead a pretty mundane existence.
· On a more mundane level, can we talk about the timetable for next week?
Manifestation (Noun) Synonym: Exhibition
[countable, uncountable] manifestation (of something) an event, action or thing that is a sign that something exists or is happening; the act of appearing as a sign that something exists or is happening
· The riots are a clear manifestation of the people's discontent.
· Some manifestation of your concern would have been appreciated.
[countable] an appearance of a ghost or spirit
· `The church is the site of a number of supernatural manifestations.
Outrageous (Adjective) Synonym: Scandalous
Very shocking and unacceptable
· Outrageous behavior
· ‘That's outrageous!’ he protested.
Very unusual and slightly shocking
· She says the most outrageous things sometimes.
· Coutrageous clothes
Emulate (Verb) Synonym: Imitate
Emulate somebody/something (formal) to try to do something as well as somebody else because you admire them
· She hopes to emulate her sister's sporting achievements.
Emulate something (computing) (of a computer program, etc.) to work in the same way as another computer, etc. and perform the same tasks
· Open source word programsemulate Microsoft Word.
Unpalatable (adjective) Synonym: Distasteful
(of facts, ideas, etc.) unpleasant and not easy to accept
· Only then did I learn the unpalatable truth.
Not pleasant to taste
Unpalatable food
The insects store this chemical in their bodies in order to make themselves unpalatable to predators.
Envy (Noun) Synonym: Jealousy
[uncountable] the feeling of wanting to be in the same situation as somebody else; the feeling of wanting something that somebody else has
Envy (of somebody)
· He couldn't conceal his envy of me.
Envy (at/of something)
· She felt a pang of envy at the thought of his success.
· They looked with envy at her latest purchase.
· Her colleagues were green with envy (= they had very strong feelings of envy).
Preserve (Verb) Synonym: Conserve
Preserve something to keep a particular quality, feature, etc.; to make sure that something is kept
· He was anxious to preserve his reputation.
· Efforts to preserve the peace have failed.
· She managed to preserve her sense of humour under very trying circumstances.
[often passive] to keep something in its original state in good condition
Preserve something/somebody
· A perfectly preserved 14th century house
· (humorous) Is he really 60? He's remarkably well preserved.
Preserve something + adj.
· This vase has been preserved intact.
Preserve something to prevent something, especially food, from decaying by treating it in a particular way
· Olives preserved in brine
· Wax polish preserves wood and leather.
Preserve somebody/something (from something) to keep somebody/something alive, or safe from harm or danger
· Please preserve my leather jacket from direct sun light
Delude Verb Synonym: Deceive
To make somebody believe something that is not true
Delude somebody
· You poor deluded creature.
Delude yourself
· He's deluding himself if he thinks it's going to be easy.
Delude somebody/yourself into doing something
· Don't be deluded into thinking that we are out of danger yet.
Delude yourself that…
· She had been deluding herself that he loved her.