V

to wear or display

Sport something proudly

/spɔːt/ "Florence attended the meeting

sporting a new tattoo on her
neck, which got a few strange
looks from her colleagues."

to look at someone or
something closely (with desire).
Eye
"On his way to work, he always eyes the
/aɪ/
Aston Martin as he passes the car
showroom, knowing he’ll never afford it."
 V

to greatly surprise or

floor confuse someone

/flɔː/ "Jimmy’s boss was floored by his

request for a month’s holiday
leave just two days after joining
the company."

to get as much as possible

milk from a situation.

"The football player milked his injury to

/mɪlk/
waste more time as his team were
winning 1-0."
 V

to pay for something

(usually a bill, invoice, cost).
foot
/fʊt/ "The club members must foot the
bill for the refurbishments to the
club house, and the cucumber
sandwiches."

V
to harshly describe someone by
using and particular word or
label phrase.
"The tennis player was labelled a cheat
/ˈleɪ.bəl/
for accidentally taking a banned
substance when he was recovering from
an illness."
 V

to delay/ postpone
something (usually plans)
shelve
"Construction of the new park in
/ʃelv/
the city centre has been shelved
due to insufficient funds and bad
planning."

V
to express/think what someone
else has expressed/thought.
echo "I’d like to echo what Gavin has said and
/ˈˈek.əʊ/ express my sincere gratitude for your
hard work and dedication."
 V

to not do something

bottle due to fear.

"I was going to take the exam last
/ˈbɒt.əl/
month but I bottled it and cancelled.
I’ll try again next month."

to increase in size or amount

quickly.
balloon
"The cost of the wedding ballooned when
/bəˈluːn/
the bride and groom decided to invite
extended family... and Derek."
 Adj

Very happy (formal).

Elated "Jenny and Steve were elated to
/iˈleɪ.tɪd/ announce the birth of their first
child, Herman."

Adj

very happy (informal)

Made up "Sophie was made up when she realised

she had won the lottery. She spent the
/ˌmeɪd ˈʌp/
whole 5 pounds on a bottle of wine."
 Adj

very angry (formal)

irate "The shareholders are said to be
/aɪˈreɪt/ irate at the recent scandal and
resulting decrease in sales."

Adj
very angry (informal and
slightly offensive)
pissed off "Tony was pissed off when he found
/ˌpɪst ˈɒf/ out that his daughter had filled up
his petrol car with diesel."
 Adj

very surprised (formal)

astounded "Nobody was more astounded than
/əˈstaʊn.dɪd/ me by the news that the company
had gone bankrupt due to the
CEO’s erratic behaviour."

Adj

very surprised (informal)

flabbergasted "I will be flabbergasted if someone

proves that the Earth it actually
/ˈflæb.ə.ɡɑː.stɪd/ flat. But you never know!"
 Adj

tired (formal)

fatigued "The study found that the workers

were often fatigued and this
/fəˈtiːɡd/
prevented them from performing
tasks to an acceptable standard."

Adj
very tired (informal cockney
rhyming slang for “knackered”)
cream crackered "By the listening paper of the exam
/kriːm kræk.əd/ Pablo was cream crakered and could
barely focus on the audio."
 Adj

very afraid

petrified "Although William was petrified

before giving the best man’s speech,
/ˈpet.rə.faɪd/
he did it quite well, and one person
even laughed... a little."

Adj

very afraid (informal)

scared stiff "I was scared stiff when we walked

over the rope bridge, but I acted
/skeəd stɪf/ cool and my girlfriend didn’t notice.
I hope."