🔤 Vocabulary Bank
Build your English vocabulary — one word at a time.
429 words found — page 6 of 9
obfuscation
Intermediate
/ˌɒb.fəˈskeɪ.ʃən/
The act of making something unclear or hard to understand deliberately
"The speaker used a lot of technical obfuscation instead of explaining things simply."
object
Elementary
/ˈɒbdʒɪkt/
The person or thing that receives the action from the verb
"In 'I eat an apple,' the object is 'an apple' because it receives the action of eating."
objective
Upper Intermediate
/əbˈdʒektɪv/
The noun that receives the action of a verb in active voice
"In active voice, the objective becomes the subject when converted to passive."
objectivity
Advanced
/ɒbdʒɛkˈtɪvɪti/
The quality of being based on facts and evidence rather than personal feelings or opinions
"Nominalisation helps writers maintain objectivity by removing personal pronouns and emotional language."
occupation
Beginner
/ˌɑːkjuˈpeɪʃən/
A person's job or profession.
"His occupation is a software engineer."
o'clock
Beginner
/əˈklɒk/
A word used to indicate the exact hour when telling time
"The meeting starts at **three o'clock** in the afternoon."
often
Beginner
/ˈɔːfən/
Many times; frequently; regularly but not always
"He often eats lunch at the same restaurant."
ordinal number
Beginner
/ˈɔːrdɪnəl ˈnʌmbər/
Numbers showing order or position: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.
"Her birthday is on the 15th of August."
originally
Beginner
/əˈrɪdʒənəli/
At first; where something or someone started.
"He is originally from Spain, but now he lives in Canada."
Out of stock
Beginner
/aʊt əv stɒk/
When a shop has sold all of something and doesn't have more
"I wanted to buy the blue shoes, but they were out of stock."
Oval
Beginner
/ˈoʊvəl/
A shape like an egg; rounded and elongated rather than circular
"This table has an oval shape, not a round one."
ownership
Beginner
/ˈoʊnərʃɪp/
The fact of owning or having something that belongs to you.
"My ownership of this car is shown on the certificate."
pace
Intermediate
/peɪs/
The speed at which someone speaks or something happens
"Educational podcasts have a slower pace than news broadcasts, making them easier to understand."
package
Beginner
/ˈpæk.ɪdʒ/
A container or wrapping that holds goods for sale
"We need a new package of rice for dinner."
particle
Intermediate
/ˈpɑːrtɪkəl/
A small word (preposition or adverb) that combines with a verb to form a phrasal verb
"In 'give up', the word 'up' is the particle that changes the meaning of 'give'."
passionate
Beginner
/ˈpæʃ.ən.ət/
Having very strong feelings or enthusiasm about something.
"I'm passionate about protecting the environment."
passive
Upper Intermediate
/ˈpæsɪv/
Not actively involved; just letting things happen without effort
"Passive listening is when you hear words but don't really engage with them."
past participle
Intermediate
/pɑːst pɑːˈtɪsɪpl/
The third form of a verb used in perfect tenses and passive voice, often ending in -ed for regular verbs
"The past participle of 'eat' is 'eaten.'"
past simple
Elementary
/pɑːst ˈsɪmpl/
The verb tense used to talk about actions that finished in the past
"I walked to school yesterday. That's past simple."
past tense
Elementary
/pɑːst tens/
The verb form used to describe actions that happened before now
"The past tense of 'go' is 'went' in the sentence 'I went to school yesterday.'"
patient
Elementary
/ˈpeɪʃənt/
Able to accept delays or difficulties without getting angry
"My grandmother is very patient when teaching me to cook."
pen
Beginner
/pen/
A writing tool that uses ink to make marks on paper
"I write my homework with a blue pen."
penny
Beginner
/ˈpeni/
The smallest unit of British money; one hundredth of a pound
"This costs five pounds and ninety-nine pence."
Persevere
Intermediate
/ˌpɜːsɪˈvɪə/
To continue doing something despite difficulty.
""You must persevere if you want to learn a new language.""
perspective
Upper Intermediate
/pərˈspektɪv/
A particular way of viewing things based on experience and attitude
"From an environmental perspective, the factory's expansion poses significant concerns."
persuasive technique
Upper Intermediate
/pərˈsweɪsɪv tekˈniːk/
A method or strategy used in writing to convince or influence readers to accept a particular viewpoint
"The author employed several persuasive techniques, including emotional appeals and expert testimony, to support her argument."
phrasal verb
Intermediate
/ˈfreɪzəl vɜːrb/
A verb combined with a preposition or adverb that has a meaning different from the individual words
"The phrasal verb 'put up with' means to tolerate something unpleasant."
pleased to meet you
Beginner
/pliːzd tə miːt juː/
A polite way to say you're happy to meet someone new
"When she introduced herself, I said, 'Pleased to meet you!'"
plural
Intermediate
/ˈplʊrəl/
Referring to more than one person or thing; the form of a noun used when talking about multiple items
"The plural form of the word cat is cats."
possessive adjective
Beginner
/pəˈzɛsɪv ˈædʒɪktɪv/
A word that shows who owns or is connected to something (my, your, his, her).
"The possessive adjective 'my' tells us that the bag belongs to me."
postcode
Beginner
/ˈpəʊstkəʊd/
A code of letters and numbers showing where you live (British English; ZIP code in US)
"What's your postcode for delivery?"
pragmatic
Advanced
/præɡˈmætɪk/
Dealing with things in a practical, realistic way based on actual circumstances rather than theory
"A pragmatic approach to the budget crisis involved both cost reduction and revenue increase."
precipitate
Advanced
/prɪˈsɪpɪteɪt/
To cause something to happen suddenly or unexpectedly; to bring about abruptly
"The assassination precipitated a chain of events that led to the outbreak of war."
prescription
Intermediate
/prɪˈskrɪpʃən/
A written order from a doctor for a specific medicine
"I need to fill my prescription at the pharmacy for the antibiotics."
present continuous
Elementary
/ˈprezənt kənˈtɪnjuəs/
A verb tense that describes actions happening right now or at this moment
"The present continuous is formed with am/is/are plus the -ing form of the verb."
presupposition
Advanced
/ˌprɛsəpəˈzɪʃən/
Information implied as true in reported speech without being explicitly stated
"'He mentioned he was late' presupposes that being late occurred — unlike 'he denied he was late'."
price
Beginner
/praɪs/
The amount of money you need to pay for something.
"The price of this coffee is five dollars."
professional
Beginner
/prəˈfeʃənəl/
Suitable for work or business; proper and serious
"I use professional language when emailing someone I don't know."
profile
Beginner
/ˈproʊfaɪl/
A short description of who someone is, their job, and their interests.
"She created a profile on LinkedIn to find a new job."
prohibited
Beginner
/prəˈhɪbɪtɪd/
Not allowed; forbidden by rule or law.
"Smoking is prohibited in this restaurant."
pronoun
Beginner
/ˈproʊnaʊn/
A word that replaces a noun (person's name) to avoid repetition
"Instead of saying 'John is happy. John works here,' we use a pronoun: 'He is happy. He works here.'"
pronounce
Beginner
/prəˈnaʊns/
To say a word or sound in a particular way.
"The letter 'V' is pronounced differently than 'B'."
pronunciation
Elementary
/ˌproʊnənsiˈeɪʃən/
The way a word is spoken or sounded out loud.
"The pronunciation of 'watched' is 'wotcht' with a 't' sound at the end."
proper noun
Beginner
/ˈprɒp.ər ˈnaʊn/
A specific name (person, place, day) that always starts with a capital letter.
"Paris, Monday, and Ahmed are proper nouns and need capitals."
punctuation
Elementary
/ˌpʌŋktʃuˈeɪʃn/
Marks like periods, commas, and question marks used in writing to organize sentences
"A period (.) is the most important punctuation mark for ending a simple sentence."
qualification
Advanced
/ˌkwɒlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
A limiting condition or statement that restricts the scope of a claim
"Without proper **qualification**, the statement seemed absolute and overstated."
qualify
Upper Intermediate
/ˈkwɑːlɪfaɪ/
To limit or modify a statement so it is less absolute or more accurate
"The expert qualified her statement by noting that the study applied only to urban populations."
quantifier
Intermediate
/ˈkwɒntɪfaɪər/
A word that shows amount or quantity, such as many, much, some, or a lot of
"We use the quantifier many with countable nouns and much with uncountable nouns."