400 Words for Vocabulary

Food Crops
1. Abandon To leave; to give up
2. adversely In a harmful way; negatively
3. aggregate Gathered into or amounting to a whole
4. cultivation Preparing the land to grow crops; improvement for agricultural purposes
5. fertilize To supply with nourishment for plants by adding helpful substances to the soil
6. intensify To increase in power; to act with increased strength
7. irrigation The supplying of water to dry land
8. obtain To gain possession of; to get
9. photosynthesis The process by which green plants make their own food by combining water, salts,

and carbon dioxide in the presence of light.

10. precipitation Water that falls to the Earths surface

Disaster
1. anticipate To expect; to sense something before it happens
2. catastrophic Extremely harmful; causing financial or physical ruin
3. collide To come together with great or violent force
4. eruption A sudden, often violent, outburst
5. famine Severe hunger; a drastic food shortage
6. flood An overflowing of water; an excessive amount
7. impact A strong influence
8. persevere To keep going, despite obstacles or discouragement; to
9. plunge To go down suddenly; to decrease by a great amount in a short time
10. unleash To release a thing or an emotion

Evolution and Migration

1. adapt To adjust to the circumstances; to make suitable
2. diverse Various; showing a lot of differences within a group
3. evolve To develop; to come forth
4. feature Part, characteristic
5. generation A group of people born at about the same time
6. inherent Naturally characteristic; always found within something, because its a basic part of that thing
7. migration Movement from one place to another by a group of people or animals
8. physical Related to the body; related to materials that can be seen or felt
9. process A series of steps leading to a result
10. survive To continue living (despite some danger or illness)

Petroleum Alternatives
1. constraint Something that restricts thought or action
2. contamination Being made less clean by a germ or hazardous substance
3. deplete To greatly decrease the supply of a resource or material
4. dispose of To throw away; to get rid of; to kill
5. elementally In terms of elements; basically
6. emission Sending out from a small space into the general environment; a substance discharged into the

air
7. extinction Complete disappearance; the end of existence
8. reservoir A place where a liquid is collected and stored
9. shrink To become reduced in size, amount, or value
10. stable Firm and dependable; showing little change

Time Efficiency
1. adjust To change; to get accustomed to something
2. arbitrary Chosen simply by whim or chance, not for any specific reason
3. denominator The number written below the line in a fraction
4. exponentially At a very fast rate
5. infinitesimal Immeasurably small
6. maximize To increase or make as great as possible
7. parallel Being an equal distance apart everywhere
8. proportion A part in relation to the whole
9. rate The cost per unit of a good or service; the motion or change that happens in a certain time.
10. sequence To organize or arrange in succession

Ancient Life
1. accuracy Precision; exactness
2. adjacent Next to
3. compress To press together
4. feasibly Practically; in a way that can work
5. gut To empty or hollow out
6. integrally In a whole or complete manner
7. overlap To lie over part of something; to have elements in common
8. retain To keep or hold
9. seep To pass slowly for a long time, as a liquid or gas might
10. structure Something constructed, such as a building

Computers
2. corrode To be slowly weakened by chemical reactions
3. derive To come from, usually through a long, slow process
4. detection Discovering something that cannot easily be found
5. expeditiously Quickly and efficiently
6. implement To make use of; to carry out
7. innovative Ahead of the times; novel
8. installation Setting something into position for use
9. maintenance The act of keeping something in good condition
10. simulation An imitation or representation

Energy
1. combustion The process of burning
2. component One part of a system or whole
3. convey To transport from one place to another
4. discretely Separately; distinctly
5. nucleus A central or essential part around which other parts are gathered; a core
6. permeate To spread or flow throughout; to pass through or penetrate
7. rotate To turn around; to take turns in sequence
8. solar Of, or relating to, the sun
9. source The point of origin or creation
10. trigger To set off or initiate

Memory
1. acquisition The act of taking possession of something
2. anomaly Something unusual
3. consciously With awareness of ones actions
4. degrade To reduce in value or strength
5. gap Opening; a big difference in amount or quality
6. indisputable Beyond doubt; unquestionable
7. intervene To come between
8. intuitively By means of a natural sense about things that are hard to observe
9. recede To move back or away from
10. retrieve To bring or get back

Spirituality
1. agnostic Believing that humans cannot know whether there is a god
2. animism The belief that natural objects, such as trees, have souls
3. atheist One who does not believe in the existence of a supreme being
4. be inclined to To favor an opinion or a course of action
5. contemplate To consider thoughtfully
6. deify To worship as a god
7. ecclesiastical Relating to a church
8. exalt To praise or honor
9. pious Having or exhibiting religious reverence
10. sacrifice Anything offered to a deity as a religious thanksgiving; giving up something in order to have

something more valuable later on

Illness
1. aggravate To make worse; to anger or intensify
2. decrepit Weakened or worn out because of age, illness, or excessive use
3. disease An unhealthful condition caused by an infection or a long term physical problem
4. fatally Causing death or disaster
5. forensics The use of science and technology to investigate facts in criminal cases
6. persist To continue to exist; to hold to a purpose, despite any obstacle
7. prognosis An educated guess of how something will develop, especially a disease
8. terminal Located at an end; approaching death
9. vein Any of the tubes that form a branching system, especially those that carry blood to the heart
10. wound To inflict an injury on

Surgery
1. anesthesia Techniques for reducing sensation and feeling, especially to control pain
2. augment To make bigger or better by adding to
3. certifiably In a manner that is officially recognized
4. complication A factor that makes something more difficult or complex
5. cure To restore to health
6. implant To set in firmly; to insert in the body surgically
7. inject To insert a liquid by means of a syringe
8. obese Excessively overweight
9. procedure A specific way of performing or doing something
10. scar A mark on the skin left after a wound has healed; a lasting sign

Ghosts
1. astrological Related to the study of the position of stars, the sun, and the planets in the belief that they

influence earthly events

2. divination Foretelling the future by finding patterns in physical objects
3. haunt To continually appear (in the form of a ghost) in the same place or to the same person
4. horror Strong fear mixed with disgust
5. intermediary Acting as an agent between people or things
6. invoke To call on for support
7. meditate To reflect; to think quietly and deeply for a long time
8. phantom A dimly visible form, usually thought to be the spirit of a dead person, a sunken ship, etc.
9. psychic Relating to the supposed ability of the human mind to
10. self-perpetuating Having the power to renew oneself for an indefinite period of time

Anthropology
1. assimilate To consume and incorporate; to become similar
2. cremation The act of burning the dead
3. domesticate To make something suitable for being in a home
4. folklore Traditional myths of a people transmitted orally
5. fossilize To become preserved in clay or stone or ash after death, so that a natural record is left of the

original organism; to become rigid and stuck in old ways

6. relic Something left from a long-ago culture, time period, or person
7. rite A ceremony meant to achieve a certain purpose
8. ritually As part of a traditional ceremony or habit
9. saga A long story about important events long ago
10. vestige A visible trace that something once existed

Social Inequality
1. amend To change for the better
2. biased Leaning unfairly in one direction
3. burden Something that is carried; a source of stress or worry
4. counter To act in opposition to; to offer in response
5. de facto Truly doing a job, even if not officially
6. discriminate To choose carefully among options
7. notion A belief; a fanciful impulse
8. oppress To keep down by force; to weigh heavily on
9. paradigm A pattern or model; a set of assumptions
10. prejudiced Causing to judge prematurely and unfairly

Expertise
1. curriculum The courses of study offered by an educational institution
2. distinctly Clearly
3. erudite Highly educated
4. fortify To strengthen
5. implicitly Without being stated; unquestioningly
6. parochial Restricted in outlook; relating to the local parish
7. rigor Strictness; difficult situations that come from following rules strictly
8. roster A list, especially of names
9. secular Worldly rather than spiritual; not related to religion
10. suspend To cause to stop for a period; to hang as to allow free Movement

Military Operations
1. allegiance Loyalty
2. artillery Large guns that shoot powerful shells; army units that handle such guns
3. battle To fight against
4. cease Stop
5. hierarchy A system of levels that places people high or low according to their importance
6. in the trenches In the middle of the hardest fighting or work
8. rank To put into a many-leveled order, depending on importance or achievement
9. ratio The relationship of one number or amount to another
10. strategic Related to long-term plans for achieving a goal

War and Conquest

1. annex To make something (usually land) part of another unit
2. apex The highest point
3. collapse To fall down, usually because of weakness
4. conquest A takeover by force or continued effort
5. devise To find an original way to make an object or a plan
6. invasive Aggressively entering into someone elses territory
7. prevailing Strongest or most common
8. resist To refuse to give in to a strong force or desire
9. severely Harshly; extremely
10. violation An action that breaks a law or agreement; mistreatment of something that deserves respect

History
1. chronologically In order according to time
2. coincide Happen or exist at the same time
3. consequence A result, often one much later in time than the cause
4. core an area or object at the center
5. deny Say that something is not true
6. diminish Make something smaller or weaker; become smaller or weaker
7. longitude A system of imaginary lines running from north to south along the Earths surface, where
each line is numbered from 0 to 180west or east
8. milieu General environment or surroundings
9. Orwellian Frightening and over controlled by a government that interferes in nearly every aspect of

personal life
10. reconciliation Coming back together peacefully after having been Enemies

Financial Systems
1. allocate To give out different amounts for different purposes
2. commodity A thing that can be bought and sold, such as grain, oil, or wood
3. decline To decrease in power or amount
4. equity The value of ones share in an investment
5. inflation A situation in which prices for many items rise quite fast
6. net After all costs have been subtracted from an amount
7. per capita For each person
8. regulate Control according to a set of rules
9. subsidy Money given by a government or other organization to support an activity
10. tangible Obviously real because it can be seen, touched, or otherwise Observed

Wealth and Social Class

1. accumulate To build up a large amount of something
2. affluence Wealth and the style of life that goes with it
3. elite Belonging to a special, honored group
4. impoverish To make a person or group poor
5. luxury Extreme comfort, beyond what anyone needs
6. nobility A group of socially prominent people with special titles given by a king or queen, such as

dukeor countess
7. prestige Honor and respect for being better than the average
8. privileged Able to enjoy special advantages because of ones position (usually because of being born
into a wealthy or powerful family)
Despite his privileged position in one of Americas most powerful
9. prosper To do very well in ones business or personal life
10. working class People with low-paying (often unskilled) jobs who are not poor but who are not
securely in the middle class

Personal Property
1. acquire To get something, usually something with special value or meaning
2. assess To estimate the value of something
3. asset A possession that has positive value
4. hazardous Dangerous
5. jointly Together with one or more other parties
6. lease To rent something for a long time (several months or years)
7. liability Legal responsibility for harming a person or property; a disadvantage
8. proprietor Owner, usually of a business or a building
9. safeguard To protect
10. sole Only

Employment
1. compensate To give an employee money or other things in exchange for the work he or she does
2. dynamic Full of energy
3. enterprising Creative in thinking of ways to make money
4. exploit To take advantage of; to treat inconsiderately in order to profit
5. incentive A possible benefit that motivates a person to do a certain thing
6. industrious Willing to work hard
7. marginal Not very significant or effective
8. merit Value; success based on ones work, not on luck
9. promote To move someone to a higher position in a company
10. resign To quit ones job

International Trade
1. distill to remove one liquid from a mixture of liquids by boiling; to get something valuable from a

confusing mix of ideas

2. entrepreneurial Able to create business opportunities from a wide

variety of circumstances
3. extract To take out
4. haggle To argue back and forth about a price
5. intrepid Fearless
6. merchant A person who makes a living by selling things
7. proportionately In an amount appropriate to each of several recipients
8. prototype The first one made of a machine or system
9. reward Something one gets for having done well
10. shuttle To move back and forth often between two places

Politics
1. advocate To speak out in favor of something
2. authority The power to make decisions, to tell others what to do.
3. bitterly Strongly and with a lot of bad feelings
4. candidate Someone who wants to be chosen, especially in an election, for a position
5. coalition A group of several different groups or countries that are working together to achieve a certain

goal.
6. contest To challenge
7. election A process in which people choose officials
8. inaugurate To bring into public office; to start formally
9. policy An approved way for approaching a certain kind of situation
10. poll To find out a small groups opinion so that you can guess what a much larger group thinks

A Reasonable Doubt
1. accuse To say that someone did something wrong (e.g., committed a crime)
2. allegedly According to what people say
3. civil Involving a dispute between two citizens, not a criminal charge
4. convict To decide that someone is guilty of a crime
5. guilty Responsible for doing something bad
6. offense A specific act that breaks the law
7. peer A person who is ones social equal
8. suspect Someone who, in the opinion of the police, might have committed a certain crime
9. verdict A judgment in a court case
10. witness To see something, especially a crime, happen

The Police
1. apprehend To capture
2. ascertain To make sure of
3. bureaucratic Related to a large organization with a lot of complicated procedures
4. condemn To speak out against something in very strong terms
5. evidence Something that makes the truth of a statement seem more likely
6. implicate To suggest that someone was involved in a crime or other wrong behavior
7. inquiry An investigation
8. intrusively In a way that brings an unwanted person or thing into someone elses affairs
9. seize To take something against its owners will
10. surveillance A process of watching something or someone for a long time, usually because the

person is suspected of something

Investigating Crimes
1. analyze To examine something by looking at its parts
2. assail To attack or criticize forcefully
3. contrary Opposite
4. hypothesize To make a guess, the correctness of which will eventually be investigated systematically.
5. impair To make something less effective than usual
6. inference A conclusion drawn from evidence
7. objectively Based on unbiased standards, not on personal opinion
8. suspicious Believing that something is wrong; acting in a way that makes people believe you have

done something wrong

9. tolerate To avoid getting upset about something
10. versus Against

Government Corruption
1. bribery Giving money or other gifts to a government official or other person in authority in order to get

special privileges
2. cynically Disrespectfully; emphasizing the weaknesses of otherwise respected things
3. erode To wear away and become smaller
4. evade To get away from something that tries to catch you
5. grotesque Extremely unattractive, in a way that catches a lot of attention.
6. integrity Personal honesty and good character
7. prevalent Common; easy to find because it exists in great amounts
8. reform To make big improvements
9. scandal A case of wrongdoing that hurts someones reputation
10. unmask Reveal; expose something that is hidden

Crimes at Sea
1. abduction Kidnapping
2. coerce To force; to put pressure on someone to do something
3. detain To prevent someone, for a relatively short time, from going on their way
4. deviant In a style that is not normal and is offensive to many
5. distort To twist or misrepresent; to make something seem different from what it really is
6. intentionally On purpose, not by accident
7. piracy Stealing a ship or taking the ships cargo; the unlawful copying of books, CDs, etc.
8. predicament A difficult situation, one that is hard to get out of
9. smuggle To illegally bring things into a country
10. villainy Exceptional badness, as demonstrated by many serious evil Deeds

The War on Drugs

1. addictive Making someone want it so much that the person feels ill without it
2. cartel A small group controlling a certain area of business
3. concentrated Strong because large amounts are in a certain space
4. interdict To keep something from reaching a certain place
5. juxtapose Place next to one another
6. misconception A mistaken belief
7. modify Make small changes in order to get a certain result
8. potent Powerful
9. residual Left behind after most of a thing has gone
10. subtly In a quiet, hard-to-notice way

Family Relationships
1. ancestral Relating to family members from earlier generations
2. cohesion Ability to stay together as a unit
3. descendant A direct relative in a later generation (such as ones son, daughter, or grandchild)
4. inheritance Things passed down to you from your ancestors
5. kin Relatives
6. legitimate True and respectable; in the context of family, born of a mother and father who were married

to each other
7. paternal Relating to a father
8. proximity Nearness
9. sentiment Feelings; opinion based on feelings
10. sibling Brother or sister

Friendship
1. affection An emotional closeness or warmth
2. associate To regularly spend time together
3. bond A close connection
4. clique A small group of friends who are unfriendly to people outside the group
5. confide To tell very personal things
6. exclusive Keeping out all but a few people
7. fluctuate To change often, from one condition to another
8. in common As a shared characteristic
9. solidarity Standing together despite pressure to move apart
10. willing Agreeable and ready to do something

Passion
1. complex Not simple; involving many parts that work together
2. despondent Extremely sad and without hope for the future
3. devotion A willingness to keep supporting someone you admire
4. dilemma A difficult choice between two things
5. engender To bring into being; to cause to exist
6. loyal Faithful
7. passion An extremely strong emotion, like love or anger
8. proliferation An increase in the number of something and in the number of places it can be found
9. reciprocity Doing as much for another as he or she has done for you
10. vanish To disappear suddenly

Negative Emotions
1. antipathy A strong, long-lasting negative feeling
2. arrogantly In a way that shows a high opinion of oneself and a low opinion of others
3. berate To say insulting and disrespectful things
4. contemptuous Having no respect
5. despise Hate very much
6. humiliation An event that causes someone to feel that she or he has lost the respect of others
7. obnoxious Bothersome; doing small things that others dont like
8. shame Dishonor because one has done something wrong
9. stigmatize To mark with a visible feature that makes other people think, perhaps incorrectly, that

someone or something is wrong

10. vitriolic Showing an extreme, hateful anger

Social Rebels
1. adolescent Characteristic of a teenager; not fully grown up
2. cause A political or social goal that one believes is right and works to achieve
3. conflict To fit so poorly together that the differences cause a problem
4. delinquency Serious misbehavior; not doing what one should do
5. fringe Edge; in social contexts, parts of society that look or act very different from most people
6. hedonistic Excessively interested in seeking pleasure
7. hypocritically In a way that accuses other people of weaknesses that the speaker also possesses
8. manipulation Quietly moving or influencing people or things in order to get what you want
9. rebel To go against an established system or authority
10. status quo The systems and conditions that exist now

Painting and Sculpture

1. abstract Not concrete and realistic; not obviously related to everyday experience
2. context A larger environment that something fits into
3. depict To show in pictures
4. dimension A direction or surface along which something can be measured; an aspect
5. esthetically In a way that relates to beauty or appearance
6. intrinsic Being part of the basic nature of something
7. perspective A way of seeing from a particular location; a way of thinking about something
8. portrayal A description or drawing that reflects a certain point of view
9. realism A technique that tries to picture something as it really looks
10. spectrum A range of different things, usually colors

The Written Word

1. advent Coming; arrival
2. ambiguous Having more than one possible meaning
3. connotation A meaning implied, not stated directly
4. decipher To figure out the meaning, even though it is written in a code or an unknown language
5. denote To mean something clearly and directly
6. illiterate Unable to read
7. ingenious Very clever and imaginative
8. inscription Something written into a piece of rock or metal
9. phonetic Related to the sounds in a language
10. symbolic Acting as a sign for some other thing or idea

Entertainment
1. amateurish Not good enough to be the work of professionals
2. cast The group of actors in a play, movie, television show, etc.
3. charismatic Extremely attractive and charming
4. gala Expensive, elaborately arranged, and full of celebration
5. hilarious Very funny
6. improvisation Inventing a solution to an unexpected problem
7. incompetent Unskilled; lacking the ability to perform a task
8. medium A channel or way for a meaning to be expressed
9. skit A short, informal play
10. zeal Enthusiasm; a deep determination to do well

Risky Fashions
1. bulk Largeness and a heavy appearance
2. capricious Moving unpredictably from one thing to another
3. cumbersome Difficult to wear or carry because of weight or shape
4. exotic Interesting or unusual because of coming from a faraway place
5. inhibit To discourage or to slow down
6. minimum The smallest possible amount or level
7. striking Very noticeable; easily attracting attention
8. trend A movement in one direction or a widespread change in fashion
9. vanity An excessive concern for ones appearance
10. vulnerable Exposed to possible harm