My Vocabulary 8

Front 1

futile / futility

Back 1

having no purpose because there is no chance of success (pointless): a futile attempt / exercise / gesture Their efforts to revive him were futile. It would be futile to protest. My appeal proved futile.
a sense of futility, the futility of war

Front 2

wad

Back 2

1 a thick pile of pieces of paper, paper money, etc. folded or rolled together: He pulled a thick wad of £10 notes out of his pocket. She came in with tears streaming down her face, clutching a wad of tissues.
2 a mass of soft material, used for blocking sth or keeping sth in place: The nurse used a wad of cotton wool to stop the bleeding.

Front 3

slump (noun)

Back 3

1 ~ (in sth) a sudden fall in sales, prices, the value of sth, etc: a slump in sales / profits This is the worst slump in property prices since the 1980s.
2 a period when a country's economy or a business is doing very badly: the slump of the 1930s Housing sales are finally coming out of a three-month slump. The toy industry is in a slump.

Front 4

encompass

Back 4

1 to include a large number or range of things: The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. The group encompasses all ages.
2 to surround or cover sth completely: The fog soon encompassed the whole valley.
(all-encompassing)

Front 5

jester (jester hat)

Back 5

a man employed in the past at the court of a king or queen to amuse people by telling jokes and funny stories: the court jester

Front 6

judicious

Back 6

careful and sensible; showing good judgement: It is curable with judicious use of antibiotics. Some dishes would be very bland without the judicious use of spices and other seasonings. (opp.injudicious)
The letter was judiciously worded.

Front 7

procrastine

Back 7

to delay doing sth that you should do, usually because you do not want to do it: People were dying of starvation while governments procrastinated.

Front 8

iffy

Back 8

1 not in perfect condition; bad in some way: That meat smells a bit iffy to me.
2 not certain: The weather looks slightly iffy.

Front 9

cringe

Back 9

1 to move back and/or away from sb because you are afraid (cower): a child cringing in terror
2 to feel very embarrassed and uncomfortable about sth: I cringe when I think of the poems I wrote then. She felt herself cringe with embarrassment at the memory.

Front 10

slump (verb)

Back 10

1 ~ (by sth)| ~ (from sth) (to sth) to fall in price, value, number, etc., suddenly and by a large amount: Sales have slumped this year. Profits slumped by over 50%. The paper's circulation has slumped to 90 000.
2 [+adv. / prep.] to sit or fall down heavily: The old man slumped down in his chair. She slumped to her knees.

Front 11

batter (noun)

Back 11

1 a mixture of eggs, milk and flour used in cooking to cover food such as fish or chicken before you fry it, or to make pancakes
2 a mixture of eggs, milk, flour, etc. used for making cakes

Front 12

wade into sth

Back 12

to enter a fight, a discussion or an argument in a forceful or not very sensitive way: The police waded into the crowd with batons. You shouldn't have waded in with all those unpleasant accusations.

Front 13

curb

Back 13

to control or limit sth, especially sth bad (check): He needs to learn to curb his temper. A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation.

Front 14

scruffy

Back 14

dirty or untidy: He looked a little scruffy. She was wearing a scruffy pair of jeans.

Front 15

frantic

Back 15

1 done quickly and with a lot of activity, but in a way that is not very well organized: a frantic search / struggle They made frantic attempts to revive him. Things are frantic in the office right now. They worked with frantic haste.
2 unable to control your emotions because you are extremely frightened or worried about sth: frantic with worry Let's go back. Your parents must be getting frantic by now. The children are driving me frantic (= making me very annoyed).

Front 16

taunt ~ sb (with sth)

Back 16

to try to make sb angry or upset by saying unkind things about them, laughing at their failures, etc: The other kids continually taunted him about his size.
noun - an insulting or unkind remark that is intended to make sb angry or upset: Black players often had to endure racist taunts. She ignored his taunt.

Front 17

wade through sth

Back 17

to deal with or read sth that is boring and takes a lot of time: I spent the whole day wading through the paperwork on my desk.

Front 18

fickle

Back 18

1 changing often and suddenly: The weather here is notoriously fickle. the fickle world of fashion The latest downturn in sales shows just what a fickle business this is. the fickle finger of fate
2 (of a person) often changing their mind in an unreasonable way so that you cannot rely on them: a fickle friend another example of his fickle behavior

Front 19

snooty

Back 19

treating people as if they are not as good or as important as you

Front 20

make a fuss of / over sb

Back 20

to pay a lot of attention to sb, usually to show how much you like them: They made a great fuss of the new baby. The dog loves being made a fuss of.

Front 21

heed

Back 21

to pay careful attention to sb's advice or warning: They failed to heed the lessons of history. If only they had heeded his warnings! Calls for more legislation to protect tenants were not heeded.

Front 22

bring sth off

Back 22

to succeed in doing sth difficult: It was a difficult task but we brought it off. The goalie brought off a superb save.

Front 23

fraidy cat

Back 23

a children's word for a person who is easily frightened

Front 24

crag

Back 24

a high steep rough mass of rock: a castle set on a crag above the village

Front 25

slowpoke

Back 25

a person who moves, acts or works too slowly

Front 26

give / pay heed (to sb/sth) | take heed (of sb/sth)

Back 26

to pay careful attention to sb/sth: They gave little heed to the rumours. I paid no heed at the time but later I had cause to remember what he'd said. Small businesses would be wise to take heed of the warnings contained in the Chancellor's speech.

Front 27

wade into sb

Back 27

to attack sb with words in a forceful angry way: She waded into him as soon as he got home.

Front 28

copycat

Back 28

(noun) used especially by children about and to a person who copies what sb else does because they have no ideas of their own
(adj.) (of crimes) similar to and seen as copying an earlier well-known crime: copycat crimes The copycat phenomenon is a danger to which the media may be contributing.

Front 29

by the same token

Back 29

for the same reasons: The penalty for failure will be high. But, by the same token, the rewards for success will be great.

Front 30

wade

Back 30

1 to walk with an effort through sth, especially water or mud: He waded into the water to push the boat out. Sometimes they had to wade waist-deep through mud. They waded the river at a shallow point.

Front 31

edifying

Back 31

likely to improve your mind or your character: edifying literature Watching soccer fans howling racist remarks was not an edifying sight.

Front 32

craggy

Back 32

1 having many crags: a craggy coastline
2 (of a man's face) having strong features and deep lines