IELTS WORDLIST 06
1. Intransigent
(refusing to compromise ; inflexibility; narrow-mindedness )
Owing to their intransigent attitude we were unable to
reach an agreement.
2. Intrinsic
( basic; essential; inherent; core; innate; deep-rooted)
Flexibility is intrinsic to creative management..
3. Plethora
(excessive amount or number; excess; abundance)
The plethora of rules and regulations is both contradictory
and confusing.
4. Ossify
(become inflexible, petrify, fossilize, harden, solidify, fix)
My father’s opinion has started to ossify so I know he won’t
change his mind.
5. Vindicate
(acquit, clear , exonerate, exculpate, absolve/defend ; justify)
These discoveries vindicate their theory.
6. Speculate
(guess/consider possibilities/take risk)
She could only speculate about her friend's motives.
7. Commensurate
( equal in extent or size ; appropriately proportionate ;
corresponding ; matching)
His job is commensurate with his qualifications, leadership
& interpersonal skills.
8. Ephemeral
( short-lived; transient, passing, fleeting, momentary,
transitory, evanescent )
Her success as a popular singer was ephemeral.
9. Insipid
(dull ; flavorless; inane ; banal ; trite; wishy-washy )
On the surface she seemed meek, rather insipid.
10. Parochial
(narrow-minded; insular; close-minded ;unsophisticated)
John’s view of life is parochial and does not include
anything outside of his own happiness.
11. Degenerate
(become worse; debased, decadent, immoral, debauched,
corrupt, perverted, wicked )
Will too much freedom make them degenerate?
12. Rudimentary
( basic; developing; primary )
His understanding of the language is very rudimentary.
13. Condone
(overlook, excuse, disregard, forgive, ignore, pardon,
tolerate, make allowances/disparagement; derision )
The company does not condone using illegal software.
14. Disdain
( n. extreme scorn / look down on somebody or something)
She expressed disdain at the adulation the industry gives to
beauty over talent.
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15. Cliché
(overused expression ; corny, hackneyed, passé, old,
unoriginal, stereotypical, timeworn, dull, overused, lifeless,
trite, unimaginative)
''Don't cry over spilt milk" was among her favorites clichés.
16. Repertoire
(materials available for performance/the entire body of
artistic work in a specific area/range of resources that
somebody has)
A chef's repertoire is what she knows how to cook.
17. Unnerve
( upset, discomfit, take aback, unsettle, disquiet, jolt, startle,
fluster, agitate, shake, ruffle)
While Claire and the Deans were unnerved, poor Effie
looked on the verge of fainting
18. Pervasive
(universal, inescapable, prevalent, persistent, omnipresent,
ubiquitous, general, widespread, extensive, rife)
The influence of Freud is pervasive in her books..
19. Rendition
(an interpretation or performance of a piece of music or
drama / a translation of a literary work/ version,
interpretation, rendering, execution, delivery, performance)
He gave a moving rendition of Lennon's 'Imagine'.
20. Wobble
(shake, tremble, quiver)
The boy was wobbling along on his bicycle..
21. Altruistic
( unselfishly generous; concerned for others; humane,
philanthropic, noble, self-sacrificing )
It was an entirely altruistic act.
22. Defamation
(libel, slander, character assassination, calumny, vilification,
traducement , obloquy, scandal, backbiting, aspersions,
muckraking, denigration)
She sued him for defamation.
23. Loath
(unwilling or reluctant to do something /disinclined, wary,
chary, against, opposed, averse )
She was loath to admit her mistakes.
24. Disabuse
( to tell somebody or make somebody realize that an idea is
not true; enlighten, set straight, correct)
He quickly disabused me of my fanciful notions.
25. Eschew ( to avoid doing or using something on principle;
abstain from; avoid ; shun )
A civilised leader must eschew violence.
26. Disenchantment
(disappointment, dissatisfaction, discontent)
There is growing disenchantment with the educational
system.
PIE | Aslam Khayer
 IELTS WORDLIST 06
27. Gullible
( tending to trust and believe people, and therefore easily
tricked or deceived; susceptible; naïve ; trusting; credulous )
He preyed upon gullible people, who believed his stories of
easy wealth.
28. Exodus
(departure; mass migration; hegira)
A massive exodus of doctors is forcing the government to
recruit from abroad.
29. Engross
(occupy somebody's attention / absorb, captivate, occupy,
engage, involve, enthrall, mesmerize )
He was examining the plan, evidently engrossed in his own
ideas.
30. Cavort
( jump or dance around excitedly / frolic, prance, caper,
gambol, romp, horse around, dance )
They were spotted cavorting beside the swimming pool.
31. Cognitive
(connected with thinking or conscious mental processes /
mental, intellectual, cerebral, perceptive, rational, thinking,
thought)
Patients who have locked-in syndrome are conscious and
aware, with no loss of cognitive function.
32. Cower
( to cringe or move backward defensively in fear ; quivering as
from fear; wince ; flinch ; recoil )
The frightened child cowered in the corner of the room.
33. Squishy
( soft and moist / soggy, spongy, mushy, squidgy, slimy, wet,
damp )
The ground was soft and squishy, and she felt mud oozing
over the top of her shoes.
34. Entreat
( v. plead desperately ; ask earnestly ; beseech )
She entreated her father to let her stay out till midnight.
35. Extrapolate
(infer / generalize, reason, deduce, conclude, draw
conclusions)
Look closely, you can extrapolate a lot more from these
numbers..
36. Plausible
( believable and appearing likely to be true, usually in the
absence of proof; reasonable / having a persuasive manner in
speech or writing, often combined with an intention to
deceive)
Even though your argument is plausible, I still would like to
have more proof.
37. Slurp
(drink or eat (something) with a loud sucking noise/ gulp)
Kyle finished his drink with a big slurp, and wiped his mouth
with the back of his hand..
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38. Toady
( a person who behaves in a servile sycophantic manner ;
sycophant, groveled, creep, crawler)
Never tell the boss anything he doesn't wish to hear: he
doesn't want an independent adviser, he just wants a toady.
39. Elicit
( provoke a reaction/ draw out something hidden )
What were their chances of eliciting any worthwhile
information from such an obstinately uncooperative
witness?
40. Bigot
( somebody with strong opinions, especially on politics,
religion, or ethnicity, who refuses to accept different views;
extremist, dogmatist, racist, chauvinist, hypocrite)
James was not a mere tyrant and bigot, as the popular
imagination speedily assumed him to be.
41. Waggle
(move back and forth/wobbling motion)
Bonnie waggles her pen at the class to get their attention.
42. Frivolous
( lacking in intellectual substance and not worth serious
consideration; silly and trivial; playful, frolicsome, perky,
lighthearted, dizzy , flippant )
Though Nancy enjoyed Bill's frivolous, lighthearted
companionship, she sometimes wondered whether he could
ever be serious.
43. Corpus
( body of writing, compilation, anthology)
I've got the corpus of Shakespeare's works.
44. Pensive
( thinking deeply about something, especially in a sad or
serious manner; meditative, brooding, pondering,
contemplative, reflective)
The pensive youth gazed at the painting for a long time and
then sighed.
45. Sniff
( breathe in through nose/ suspect something)
She sniffed and wiped her nose with a tissue./ The dog
sniffed the carpet.
46. Quintessential
( something in its purest and most perfect form; exemplary;
typical )
He was the quintessential professional, dignified and
gracious.
47. Exhaustible
( capable of being used up; capable of being exhausted.)
People on earth should be fully aware that water resource is
limited and exhaustible.
PIE | Aslam Khayer
IELTS WORDLIST 06
48. Slapdash
( careless, hasty, and unskillful ; haphazard ; sloppy; hurried ;
shoddy )
From the number of typos and misspellings I've found on it,
it's clear that Mario proofread the report in a remarkably
slapdash fashion.
49. Trenchant
( direct, incisive and deliberately hurtful ; scathing ; biting ;
caustic /effective in the pursuit of a goal ; energetic ;
penetrating)
I am afraid of his trenchant wit for it is so often sarcastic.
50. Contrived
( not natural and spontaneous ; unrealistic and unconvincing ;
forced; artificial; affected )
Feeling ill at ease with his new in-laws; James made a few
contrived attempts at conversation and then retreated into
silence.
51. Vociferous
( shouting in a noisy and determined way; full of noisy
shouting ; clamorous; vocal, loud, voluble)
The crowd grew vociferous in its anger and threatened
to take the law into its own hands.
52. Cardinal
( fundamentally important ; chief; core)
If you want to increase your word power, the cardinal rule
of vocabulary building is to read.
53. Cynical
( doubting or contemptuous of human nature or the motives,
goodness, or sincerity of others / mocking, scornful, or
sneering )
Cynical at all times, he was suspicious of all altruistic
actions of others.
54. Encroach
( to intrude gradually or stealthily, often taking away
somebody's authority, rights, or property / impinge, infringe,
invade, trespass, make inroads into, violate )
The encroachment of the factories upon the neighborhood
lowered the value of the real estate.
55. Pursuit
(the action of pursuing someone or something./ an activity of
a specified kind, especially a recreational or sporting one.)
The cat crouched in the grass in pursuit of a bird /A whole
range of leisure pursuits.
56. Enervate
( to weaken somebody's physical, mental, or moral vitality;
debilitate, sap one’s strength, drain, fatigue, exhaust, weary,
wear out, deplete, enfeeble )
I was feeling quite enervated by the strain of moving.
Pg 03
57. Meddlesome
( tending to interfere in other people's concerns unnecessarily;
intrusive ; officious ; prying ; snoopy)
He felt his marriage was suffering because of his
meddlesome mother-in-law.
58. Pandemonium
( wild uproar and chaos; a place or situation that is noisy and
chaotic; mayhem, bedlam, racket, hubbub )
When the ships collided in the harbor, pandemonium broke
out among the passengers.
59. Promulgate
( to proclaim or declare something officially, especially to
publicize formally that a law or decree is in effect; to make
something widely known; propagate ; disseminate )
As soon as the Civil Service Commission promulgates the
names of the successful candidates, we shall begin to hire
members of our staff.
60. Quirk
( a strange and unexpected turn of events; coincidence,
chance, accident, twist / a peculiar habit, or aspect of
somebody's character; idiosyncrasy, peculiarity, foible )
By a quirk of fate, he found himself working for the man
whom he had discharged years before.
61. Reprisal
( a violent military action, e.g. the killing of prisoners or
civilians, carried out in retaliation for an enemy's action;
payback, act of vengeance, punishment, revenge )
I am confident that we are ready for any reprisals the
enemy may undertake.
62. Sever
( to cut through something or cut something off, or be cut
through or off; to break off a relationship or tie with
somebody, or become broken off; to separate or put things or
people apart, or become separated or put apart)
He severed the lowest tree limbs.
63. Sordid
( demonstrating the worst aspects of human nature such as
immorality, selfishness, and greed / dirty and depressing)
The social worker was angered by the sordid housing
provided for the homeless.
64. Sway
( to swing back and forth, or cause something to do this;
waver between opinions; to persuade or influence somebody
to believe or do something ; dominance )
He has come under the sway of terrorists.
PIE | Aslam Khayer