4000 Essential English Words 6 Unit 1: The North Star
Word List
- alleviate [əˈliːvieit] v.
To alleviate pain or suffering means to make it less intense or severe.
→ She needed something to alleviate the pain in her back.
- astrology [əsˈtrɒlədʒi] n.
Astrology is the study of the stars in the belief that they influence people’s lives.
→ Jack, who studies astrology, believes that the stars can predict the future.
- differentiate [difəˈrenʃieit] v.
To differentiate things or people is to show the difference between them.
→ It was hard to differentiate between the identical twins.
- disrupt [disˈrʌpt] v.
To disrupt something or someone is to prevent them from working.
→ The loud crash disrupted the class lecture.
- equation [iˈkweiʒən] n.
An equation is a math operation to determine the value of something.
→ I used the Pythagorean theorem to solve the equation.
- err [əːr] v.
To err means to make a mistake.
→ The pilot erred in his estimate of the time it would take to make the trip.
- erroneous [iˈrouniəs] adj.
When something is erroneous, it is incorrect or only partly correct.
→ The child held the erroneous belief that time machines were real.
- frantic [ˈfræntik] adj.
If people or things are frantic, they behave in a wild way because they are frightened.
→ The cat became frantic when I tried to give it a bath.
- hull [hʌl] n.
The hull of a boat or tank is the main body of it.
→ Afterthe wreckatsea, the ship’s hull was the last part to sink.
- inadvertent [inədˈvəːrtənt] adj.
When an action is inadvertent, it is done without realizing what you are doing.
→ She made an inadvertent error when she knocked over the nail polish.
- improvise [ˈimprəvaiz] v.
To improvise something is to do it with whatever is available or without planning.
→ There was no meat for the pizza, so we improvised with what was in the fridge.
- latitude [ˈlӕtətjuːd] n.
The latitude of a place is its distance from the equator.
→ The device was able to tell the traveler his exact latitude.
- mariner [ˈmærənə:r] n.
A mariner is a sailor.
→ The old mariner used his telescope to find the shore.
- multitude [ˈmʌltitjuːd] n.
A multitude of things or people is a very large number of them.
→ A multitude of people were waiting at the airport.
- nuisance [ˈnjuːsəns] n.
A nuisance is a person or thing that is annoying or causes a lot of problems.
→ The teenager considered her noisy little brothers to be quite a nuisance.
- permanence [ˈpəːrmənəns] n.
The permanence of something is its ability to last forever.
→ Poor results will threaten the permanence of the new teaching system.
- revolve [riˈvɒlv] v.
To revolve around something is to keep it as the main feature or focus.
→ My life revolves around sports.
- soothe [suːð] v.
To soothe means to calm someone who is angry or upset.
→ The mother soothed her crying baby by rocking him in her arms.
- stranded [ˈstrændid] adj.
If someone is stranded, they are prevented from leaving a place.
→ When the plane left, my sister and I were stranded in China.
- volatile [ˈvɒlətil] adj.
When something is volatile, it is likely to change suddenly and unexpectedly.
→ The volatile volcano might explode at any moment.
