n. lacking restraint or control; feeling of extreme emotional intensity; unbounded enthusiasm
E.g. With her parents out of town, Kelly danced all night with abandon.
a. recklessly unrestrained; deserted; left to destruction
E.g. Here many of the skyscrapers are abandoned, leaving squatters, crime and urban decay.
n. giving up completely; freedom from constraint
E.g. The only way to apologize for your abandonment is your resignation.
v. endure; put up with; bear; tolerate
E.g. "Oh, don't bother ME," said the Duchess; "I could not abide figures!"
a. lasting for a long time; enduring; permanent
E.g. It's this which many see as the abiding legacy of Watergate.
n. ending; act of abolishing; act of doing away with
E.g. In particular the economists say that the proposed abolition of taxes on the dividends is not credible as a short term stimulus.
a. go away or leave ; missing; not present
E.g. They are absent themselves from time to time.
n. habitual not to appear, especially for work or other regular duty
E.g. But absenteeism has become a big problem in Britain, where the employment laws offer protection to sick workers.
ad. in great numbers; in a plentiful or sufficient degree; plentifully
E.g. With all respect, you have made yourself abundantly clear in an informed and articulate manner.
a. increasing in speed
E.g. The accelerating inflation was cause for great concern.
n. faster rate of improvement; rate of change of velocity with respect to time
E.g. She's not the only driver complaining; Other Prius drivers have filed reports with the Traffic Safety Administration concerning acceleration problems.
a. easily approached or entered; obtainable; easy to talk to or get along with
E.g. Simon and James will no longer be posting to The Hearing; however, all previous posts will remain accessible here.
n. event that takes place without one's foresight or expectation; sudden, and unexpected event
E.g. The finding and maintaining happiness is a definite achievement and not an accident.
ad. inadvertently; by chance; casually; fortuitously; not essentially or intrinsically
E.g. The Air Force led us to believe that Dad's plane crashed into a mountain accidentally and without warning.
v. do a favor or service for; provide for; supply with; make suitable; adapt; allow for
E.g. As for the stage in the public auditorium, it can easily be adjusted to accommodate from a full-scale musical production to one by a solo vocalist.
a. helpful in bringing about a harmonious adaptation
E.g. The warden was always accommodating in allowing visitors in.
v. succeed in doing; bring to pass; achieve; reach the end of; complete
E.g. No single space project will be more impressive to mankind, and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.
n. increase by natural growth or addition; concentration
E.g. That reservoir of frost and snow, the accumulation of centuries of winters, glazed in Alpine heights above heights.
n. indictment; charge of wrongdoing that is made against a person or other party
E.g. They are simply using the first rule in contemporary American politics: the accusation is the conviction.
a. habitual to; used to; frequently practiced, used, or experienced; customary
E.g. We are accustomed to taking cues from the outside world, filtering them, and writing our own novel inside our head.
v. gain with effort; accomplish; fulfill
E.g. Water, energy, health, agriculture, and biodiversity, require the world's scientific community to come up with the means to achieve sustainable development.
n. feat; accomplishment; award for completing a particular task or meeting an objective
E.g. Perhaps Ephron’s main achievement is that she has always had the talent and courage to say things that others writers can’t or don’t.
v. inform about; cause to come to know personally; make familiar
E.g. Please acquaint your colleagues of your plans to move faster.
a. known by or familiar with another; informed or familiar
E.g. Henri de Lubac and Karol Wojtyla, who later became Pope, were already acquainted from the days of the Second Vatican Council.
v. gain through experience or effort; gain possession of; locate with tracking system
E.g. As Norman Mailer once said to me, "One of the hardest things to acquire is a persona, and you've got one."
ad. energetically; vigorously; in an active manner; voluntarily, not passively
E.g. The beloved star - who worked actively from the 1960s up until an illness late last year - passed away Thursday morning.
a. flexible; becoming or being made suitable to particular situation or use
E.g. This sofa has a two tone finish which makes it not only functional but also adaptable to any contemporary interior design.
a. having a capacity for adaptation; capable of adapting
E.g. In psychology, a behavior or trait is adaptive when it helps an individual adjust within a changing social environment.
a. further; extra; supplemental or added to
E.g. They will need months of therapy and additional reconstructive surgery in the coming years to help them recover.
a. expert at; very skilled; having or showing knowledge and skill and aptitude
E.g. Mr. Williams was known as an adept improviser who effortlessly switched between classical, jazz and pop styles.
n. glue; paste ; substance that unites or bonds surfaces together
E.g. Painting before the adhesive is applied will keep the color on much longer.
v. govern; supervise; give or apply medications
E.g. It's led to major disagreement about how best to administer development funds among some government departments.
n. favorable judgment; feeling of pleasure, wonder, and approval
E.g. He received years of praise and admiration from the public that he did not deserve, and now he is exposed as a fraud.
ad. doubtlessly; in an acknowledged manner; confessedly
E.g. Malkin admittedly wore down a year ago, during an NHL season that's twice as long as the one he played in Russia the year before.
v. enhance or decorate with or as if with ornaments
E.g. This small icon indicates that the plastic yard sign they adorn is either recyclable.
n. embellishment; decoration; something that beautifies or adorns; ornament
E.g. On close examination, the boy can be seen to have a woven strand of some sort around his left ankle, possibly adornment, spiritual or medicinal.
v. proceed; move forward; improve; moving forward
E.g. WHO said that court action needed to be handled cautiously, discipline and litigation could awaken public outrage, and advance both justice and health.
a. improved; highly developed or complex; ahead of the times; progressive
E.g. This is a new technology for playing a more advanced sort of DVD.
a. in opposing direction; harmful or unfavorable; acting or serving to oppose
E.g. The recession had a highly adverse effect on father's investment portfolio: he lost so much money that he could no longer afford the house.
a. elegant or tasteful; of or concerning appreciation of beauty or good taste
E.g. Kenneth Cole, the American designer known for his modern, urban aesthetic, is hawking $35 T-shirts.