Learning English vocabulary, especially abstract and academic words, has always been a big challenge for English learners because the majority of ESL learners simply memorize words out of context. Therefore, English learners cannot score high on standardized English tests, such as IELTS, TOEFL, GRE, SAT, etc. with relatively long passages and contextualized words.
Vocabulary learning should be integrated with listening comprehension to become a more natural process. For this reason, our students can select any word, phrase, passage or the entire article in order to listen to the selected text. That is to say, LELB Society is genuinely talking to and interacting with our students.
As mentioned earlier, it’s a wrong approach to learning vocabulary out of context. At LELB Society, we provide our students with this exceptional opportunity to build up and expand academic vocabulary in real or authentic context extracted from novels, books, websites, plays, scripts of movies, poems, and the like. What’s more, our students can master advanced vocabulary in organized themes and subjects by clicking on the tags or keywords located at the bottom of each lesson. To browse our most frequently-used tags and keywords, click here and study all lessons.
Abstract words should become tangible in your mind for a longer retention. One perfect way to make abstract words tangible is to make appropriate associations between them and corresponding visual concepts, and using images and illustrations can help you achieve this goal. At LELB Society, we have illustrated thousands of advanced English vocabulary found in best-selling vocabulary books, such as 504 Absolutely Essential Words, 1100 Words You Need to Know and 601 Words You Need to Know to Pass Your Exam.
The images and illustrations are accessible only to our students or members.
Debonair 601 Words You Need to Know /ˌdeb.əˈneəʳ/ (adj) Definition (especially of men) well-dressed and elegant, urbane, gentlemanly, charming and handsome, cultured, gallant, cultivated, genteel, confident, refined, suave, well-groomed, sophisticated, gracious, chivalrous, polished Example When I saw a friend’s Facebook post the other day about him being upset after he was abused by a woman …
Complaisant 601 Words You Need to Know /kəmˈpleɪ.zənt/ (adj) Definition tending to please others through politeness and submissiveness, accommodating, acquiescent, supportive, willing, obliging, docile, cooperative, obedient, compliant Example Both complacent and complaisant descend from Latin complacere, “to please, to be pleasant,” but they have acquired different meanings in English. Complacent (adjective): feeling or showing pleasure …
Churlish 601 Words You Need to Know /ˈtʃɜː.lɪʃ/ (adj) Definition unpleasant and unfriendly, rude and impolite, boorish, uncivil, discourteous, coarse, uncivilized, unmannerly, ill-mannered, truculent, ill-bred, uncouth, philistine, sullen, surly Example Impolite and churlish behavior means you have been rude to someone by violating accepted standards of courteous behavior within a culture. What is considered impolite …
Captious 601 Words You Need to Know Definition too critical and fault-finding especially over unimportant and trivial matters, censorious, caviling, quibbling, hair-splitting, nitpicking, hypercritical, pedantic Example Has this happened to you before? It has to me, and unfortunately, this behavior is quite typical of critical and captious people. No matter what you say, critical people …
Bumptious 601 Words You Need to Know /ˈbʌmp.ʃəs/ (adj) Definition self-important and overconfident, arrogant, megalomaniac, conceited, pompous, self-assertive, self-satisfied, pushy, bossy, bombastic, brash, egotistical, officious, smug, full of yourself, haughty, overbearing, prideful, cocky Example Pride is often driven by poor self-worth and shame. We feel so badly about ourselves that we compensate by feeling superior …
Bilious 601 Words You Need to Know /ˈbɪl.i.əs/ (adj) Definition bitter and unpleasant – (of a person) bad-tempered and grouchy, irascible, irritable, under the weather, ill-natured, unwell, ill-tempered, peevish, fractious, pettish – related to a disease in which the liver secretes too much bile causing vomiting, nauseated, nauseous Example Depression can be especially tricky, as …
Bellicose 601 Words You Need to Know /ˈbel.ɪ.kəʊs/ (adj) Definition tending to fight or initiate a war, warlike, aggressive, quarrelsome, antagonistic, belligerent, argumentative, hostile, confrontational, pugnacious, fierce, truculent, combative, militant Example The term “aggression” refers to a wide variety of behaviors that occur for a multitude of reasons in various circumstances. Virtually all wild animals …
Baleful 601 Words You Need to Know /ˈbeɪl.fəl/ (adj) Definition showing evil intentions, menacing, threatening, malign, unfriendly, noxious, malicious, pernicious, sinister, malignant, harmful, spiteful, malevolent, vindictive, hostile, antagonistic, injurious, inimical Example Talk about people’s baleful looks, stares, and glances. Or call someone’s eyes, face, or expression baleful. And you can talk about baleful words, such …
Spoonerism 601 Words You Need to Know /ˈspuː.nər.ɪ.zəm/ (noun) Definition an unintentional mistake in pronouncing two words in succession in which the first sounds of the two words are exchanged humorously, accidental verbal error, slip of the tongue, gaffe Example A spoonerism is an error in speech in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are …
Saturnine 601 Words You Need to Know /ˈsæt.ə.naɪn/ (adj) Definition morose and melancholy, gloomy, somber, unfriendly, dismal, austere, depressed, surly, dejected, lugubrious, sad, glum, sullen – dark and mysterious Example When your friend looks saturnine, all you want to do is lift their spirits. We’ve got tons of ideas for how to cheer someone up, …