Magoosh GMAT

1) the state of being insane
SYN = madness
e.g. He was found not guilty, by reason of insanity

2) actions that are very stupid and possibly dangerous
SYN = madness
SYN = lunacy
e.g. It would be sheer insanity to attempt the trip in such bad weather

= Geisteskrankheit
= Wahnsinn
= Irsinn

erleichtern, entlasten, befreien, mildern, ablösen, ...

1) the act of introducing sth such as a new law or rule, or a new tax:
e.g. the imposition of martial law
e.g. the imposition of tax on domestic fuel
= Auferlegung

2) an unfair or unreasonable thing that sb expects or asks you to do:
e.g. I’d like to stay if it’s not too much of an imposition
= Zumutung
= lästige Pflicht

1) the state of having a normal healthy mind:
e.g. His behaviour was so strange that I began to doubt his sanity
e.g. to keep / preserve your sanity
= Verstand
= Zurechnungsfähigkeit

2) the state of being sensible and reasonable:
e.g. After a series of road accidents the police pleaded for sanity among drivers
= Zurechnungsfähigkeit

to officially end a law, a system or an institution:

e.g. This tax should be abolished
= abschaffen
= beseitigen
= aufheben
= verwerfen

(formal) happening by chance, especially a lucky chance that brings a good result

= zufällig

1) an aspect of sb’s personality or behaviour that is a little strange
SYN = peculiarity
= Eigenart

2) a strange thing that happens, especially by accident:
e.g. By a strange quirk of fate they had booked into the same hotel

1) the process of forming a special relationship with sb or with a group of people:
e.g. mother-child bonding
e.g. The bonding of female bonobos with other females establishes their level of influence with the group
= Verbindung
= Bindung

2) (chemistry) the process of atoms joining together:
e.g. hydrogen bonding

1) that does not stop holding sth or give up sth easily; determined:
e.g. a tenacious grip
e.g. She’s a tenacious woman. She never gives up.
e.g. The party has kept its tenacious hold on power for more than twenty years
= hartnäckig
= beharrlich
= zäh

2) continuing to exist, have influence, etc. for longer than you might expect
SYN = persistent
e.g. a tenacious illness

= vertraut
= intim
= ...

1) (often used as an adjective) a person who leaves one political, religious, etc. group to join another that has very different views

2) a person who opposes and lives outside a group or society that they used to belong to
SYN = outlaw

= Überläufer
= Abtrünniger
= Deserteur

the meat of wild animals used as food, for example African animals

= Wildfleisch

= unterstreichen
= hervorheben

= Tierreich
= Tierwelt

(often disapproving) to interest or excite sb, especially in a sexual way:
e.g. titillating pictures
e.g. a story intended to titillate the imagination of the public

1) a worker who is in charge of a group of other factory or building workers

2) a person who acts as the leader of a jury in court

a skilled person, especially one who makes beautiful things by hand:
e.g. rugs handmade by local craftsmen
e.g. It is clearly the work of a master craftsman
= Handwerker

1) if sth is customary, it is what people usually do in a particular place or situation
SYN = usual
e.g. Is it customary to tip hairdressers in this country?

2) typical of a particular person
SYN = habitual
e.g. She arranged everything with her customary efficiency

= Eifer
= Bestreben
= Verlangen
= Strebsamkeit

adjective = eager (for sth / to do sth)
e.g. very interested and excited by sth that is going to happen or about sth that you want to do
SYN = keen
e.g. eager crowds outside the stadium
e.g. She is eager for (= wants very much to get) her parents' approval
e.g. Everyone in the class seemed eager to learn

adjective:

1) (formal) in a vertical position
SYN = straight
e.g. Stand with your arms by your side and your head erect

2) (of the penis or nipples) larger than usual, stiff and standing up because of sexual excitement

verb (formal):

1) to build sth:
e.g. The church was erected in 1582
= bauen

2) to put sth in position and make it stand vertical
SYN = to put sth up
e.g. Police had to erect barriers to keep crowds back
e.g. to erect a tent
= aufstellen

3) to create or establish sth:
e.g. to erect trade barriers
= errichten

1) to make it difficult for sb to do sth or for sth to happen:
e.g. The police operation was encumbered by crowds of reporters

2) to be large and/or heavy and make it difficult for sb to move:
e.g. The frogmen were encumbered by their diving equipment

= belasten
= behindern
= erschweren

= Gewerkschaft

[only before noun] most important or noticeable:

e.g. She pointed out the salient features of the new design
e.g. He summarized the salient points

(approving) complete and enthusiastic:
e.g. The plan was given wholehearted support
= ernsthaft
= von ganzem Herze

encouragement (to sb) (to do sth) the act of encouraging sb to do sth; something that encourages sb:
e.g. a few words of encouragement
e.g. He needs all the support and encouragement he can get
= Ermutigung
= Unterstützung

1) a public statement or action showing that you support sb/sth:
e.g. The election victory is a clear endorsement of their policies
e.g. a letter of endorsement
= Befürwortung
= Bestätigung
= Unterstützung

2) a statement made in an advertisement, usually by sb famous or important, saying that they use and like a particular product

3) (BrE) details of a driving offence written on sb’s driving licence

1) needing great effort and energy
SYN = arduous
e.g. a strenuous climb
e.g. Avoid strenuous exercise immediately after a meal
= anstrengend

2) showing great energy and determination:
e.g. The ship went down although strenuous efforts were made to save it
= tüchtig
= unermüdlich

showing no interest or enthusiasm:
e.g. The illness made her apathetic and unwilling to meet people
= gleichgültig

= Eogismus
= Selbstsucht

adjective = selfish
caring only about yourself rather than about other people:
e.g. selfish behaviour
OPP = unselfish
OPP = selfless

1) facilities [pl.] buildings, services, equipment, etc. that are provided for a particular purpose:
e.g. sports / leisure facilities

2) a special feature of a machine, service, etc. that makes it possible to do sth extra:
e.g. a bank account with an overdraft facility

3) a place, usually including buildings, used for a particular purpose or activity:
e.g. the world’s largest nuclear waste facility

4) facility (for sth) a natural ability to learn or do sth easily:
e.g. She has a facility for languages
= Fähigkeit

intrinsic (to sth) belonging to or part of the real nature of sth/sb:
e.g. the intrinsic value of education
e.g. These tasks were repetitive, lengthy and lacking any intrinsic interest
e.g. Small local shops are intrinsic to the town’s character
= zugehörig
= wesentlich
= intrinsisch

notion (that … ) | notion (of sth) an idea, a belief or an understanding of sth:

e.g. a political system based on the notions of equality and liberty
e.g. Language-using apes have eroded that earlier notion, and also exposed uncertainty over the proper definition of human intellectual abilities

1) false, although seeming to be genuine:
e.g. He had managed to create the entirely spurious impression that the company was thriving
= falsch
= gefälscht
= unecht

2) based on false ideas or ways of thinking:
e.g. a spurious argument
= fadenscheinig
= zweifelhaft

1) [not before noun] inclined (to do sth) wanting to do sth:
e.g. She was inclined to trust him

2) inclined to do sth tending to do sth; likely to do sth:
e.g. He’s inclined to be lazy

3) inclined to agree, believe, think, etc. used when you are expressing an opinion but do not want to express it very strongly:
e.g. I’m inclined to agree with you.

4) (used with particular adverbs) having a natural ability for sth; preferring to do sth:
e.g. musically / academically inclined children

5) sloping; at an angle

= geneigt
= tendiert

= Gemeinsamkeit

e.g. Darwin sowed the seeds of a perspective on humankind and nature that improved the climate for consideration of the communalities of human and animal

1) to make sb less friendly or sympathetic towards you:
e.g. His comments have alienated a lot of young voters
= verstimmen

2) alienate sb (from sth/sb) to make sb feel that they do not belong in a particular group:
e.g. Very talented children may feel alienated from the others in their class
= verfremden

noun = alienation
= Entfremdung
= Verstimmung
= Distanzierung

1) to provide sb with a room or place to sleep, live or sit:
e.g. The hotel can accommodate up to 500 guests

2) to provide enough space for sb/sth:
e.g. Over 70 minutes of music can be accommodated on one CD

3) (formal) to consider sth, such as sb’s opinion or a fact, and be influenced by it when you are deciding what to do or explaining sth:
e.g. Our proposal tries to accommodate the special needs of minority groups
= berücksichtigen
= einfliessen lassen

4) accommodate sb (with sth) (formal) to help sb by doing what they want
SYN = to oblige

5) accommodate to sth | accommodate sth / yourself to sth (formal) to change your behaviour so that you can deal with a new situation better:
e.g. I needed to accommodate to the new schedule
= anpassen

[not before noun] (BrE, informal) extremely sad or disappointed:
e.g. Disappointed? I was gutted!

= enttäuscht

beautiful, sad or frightening in a way that cannot be forgotten:
e.g. a haunting melody / experience / image
= unvergesslich

adjective:

1) possessive (of / about sb/sth) demanding total attention or love; not wanting sb to be independent:
e.g. Some parents are too possessive of their children

2) possessive (of / about sth) not liking to lend things or share things with others:
e.g. Jimmy’s very possessive about his toys

3) (grammar) showing that sth belongs to sb/sth:
e.g. possessive pronouns (= yours, his, etc.)

1) the process of forming an idea or a plan:
e.g. The plan was brilliant in its conception but failed because of lack of money
= Konzeption

2) conception (of sth) | conception (that … ) an understanding or a belief of what sth is or what sth should be:
e.g. Marx’s conception of social justice
e.g. He has no conception of how difficult life is if you’re unemployed
= Auffassung
= Vorstellung
= Anschauung

3) the process of an egg being fertilized inside a woman’s body so that she becomes pregnant:
e.g. the moment of conception
= Zeugung

1) shared by, or for the use of, a number of people, especially people who live together
SYN = shared
e.g. a communal kitchen / garden, etc.
e.g. As a student he tried communal living for a few years

2) involving different groups of people in a community:
e.g. communal violence between religious groups

verb:

(rather formal) to not like sb/sth:
e.g. Why do you dislike him so much?

noun:

1) [U, sing.] dislike (of / for sb/sth) a feeling of not liking sb/sth:
e.g. He did not try to hide his dislike of his boss
e.g. She took an instant dislike to the house and the neighbourhood
= Abneigung

2) [C, usually pl.] a thing that you do not like:
= Abneigung

noun:

1) (formal) a long and serious treatment or discussion of a subject in speech or writing:
e.g. a discourse on issues of gender and sexuality
e.g. He was hoping for some lively political discourse at the meeting
= Rede
= Vortrag
= Abhandlung
= Diskurs

2) (linguistics) the use of language in speech and writing in order to produce meaning; language that is studied, usually in order to see how the different parts of a text are connected:
e.g. spoken / written discourse

verb:

PRHASAL VERBS
dis'course on / upon
= (formal) to talk or give a long speech about sth that you know a lot about

= objektiv

OPP = subjective

invented by sb rather than true:
e.g. All the places and characters in my novel are fictitious (= they do not exist in real life)
e.g. A recent series of newspaper articles revealed that passengers who file fictitious injury claims against public transportation entities have become a serious menace to metropolitan areas and add a huge monetary burden to the city’s budget

1) menace (to sb/sth) a person or thing that causes, or may cause, serious damage, harm or danger
SYN = threat
e.g. a new initiative aimed at beating the menace of illegal drugs
= Bedrohung
= Gefahr

2) an atmosphere that makes you feel threatened or frightened:
e.g. a sense / an air / a hint of menace in his voice

3) (informal) a person or thing that is annoying or causes trouble
SYN = nuisance

4) menaces [pl.] (BrE, law) threats that sb will cause harm if they do not get what they are asking for:
e.g. to demand money with menaces
= Drohung

verb:

(formal) to be a possible danger to sth/sb
SYN = to threaten
e.g. The forests are being menaced by major development projects
= bedrohen
= gefährden

(law) a person who makes a formal complaint against sb in court
e.g. The fraudulent plaintiffs in these law cases are often backed by personal injury attorneys and less than scrupulous medical doctors who conspire to defraud by feigning injuries, fabricating medical reports, and exaggerating legal complaints arising from alleged bus and train (mostly slip-and-fall) accidents

= Kläger

(formal) to make sth better:
e.g. Steps have been taken to ameliorate the situation
= verbessern

1) to make sb calmer or less angry by giving them what they want:
e.g. The move was widely seen as an attempt to appease critics of the regime
= besänftigen
= beschwichtigen
= beruhigen

2) to give a country what it wants in order to avoid war
= Zugeständnisse machen

1) (formal) behaving in a very good and moral way
SYN = irreproachable
e.g. a wise and virtuous man
e.g. She lived an entirely virtuous life
= züchtig
= brav
= keusch

2) (disapproving or humorous) claiming to behave better or have higher moral standards than other people:
e.g. He was feeling virtuous because he had finished and they hadn’t
= vortrefflich
= tugendsam

not caring about other people’s feelings or suffering

SYN = cruel
SYN = unfeeling

e.g. a callous killer / attitude / act
e.g. a callous disregard for the feelings of others

= herzlos
= gefühllos
= gleichgültig

caring only about yourself rather than about other people:
e.g. selfish behaviour
e.g. Do you think I’m being selfish by not letting her go?
e.g. What a selfish thing to do!
e.g. It was selfish of him to leave all the work to you
OPP = unselfish
OPP = selfless

= egoistisch
= selbstsüchtig

= Bürger
= Stadtbewohner

1) a person who believes in and follows the teachings of a religious or political leader
SYN = follower
e.g. a disciple of the economist John Maynard Keynes
= Anhänger
= Schüler
= Nachfolger

2) (according to the Bible) one of the people who followed Jesus Christ and his teachings when he was living on earth, especially one of the twelve Apostles
= Jünger

impossible to imagine or believe
SYN = unthinkable
e.g. It is inconceivable that the minister was not aware of the problem
OPP = conceivable

= undenkbar

1) (technical) (of a country or an organization) consisting of a number of areas or groups that are joined together and are controlled by one government or group:
e.g. a single unitary state
e.g. (BrE) a unitary authority (= a type of local council, introduced in some areas from 1995 to replace existing local governments which consisted of county and district councils)
= zentralistisch

2) (formal) single; forming one unit
= einheitlich

1) used to refer to sth that has just been mentioned:
e.g. the foregoing discussion

2) the foregoing noun [sing.+ sing./pl. v.] what has just been mentioned
OPP = following

(disapproving) a comment or statement that has been made very often before and is therefore not interesting

auch = Binsenweisheit
e.g. Live each day as if it were your last

= streitsüchtig

1) (of a person) not happy or smiling:
e.g. Her face grew solemn
e.g. a solemn expression
SYN = serious
OPP = cheerful
= ernst

2) done, said, etc. in a very serious and sincere way:
e.g. a solemn oath / undertaking / vow, etc.
= ernst

3) (of a religious ceremony or formal occasion) performed in a serious way:
e.g. a solemn ritual

= grimmig
= trostlos
= düster
= etc.

sanguine (about sth) (formal) cheerful and confident about the future
SYN = optimistic
e.g. They are less sanguine about the company’s long-term prospects
e.g. He tends to take a sanguine view of the problems involved
= zuversichtlich
= optimistisch
= heiter

1) if a person is unyielding, they are not easily influenced and they are unlikely to change their mind
SYN = inflexible
= unnachgiebig

2) an unyielding substance or object does not bend or break when pressure is put on it
= unbiegsam

1) having a sharp end:
e.g. a pointed chin
e.g. pointed teeth
e.g. a pointed instrument

2) aimed in a clear and often critical way against a particular person or their behaviour:
e.g. a pointed comment / remark
e.g. His words were a pointed reminder of her position
= zugespitzt
= pointiert

1) a situation when people do not have much money to spend because there are bad economic conditions:
e.g. War was followed by many years of austerity
= Sparsamkeit
= Einschränkung

2) the quality of being austere:
e.g. the austerity of the monks' life
= streng
= enthaltsam
= eingeschränkt

3) something that is part of an austere way of life:
e.g. the austerities of wartime Europe

1) if the value, amount or level of sth soars, it rises very quickly
SYN = to rocket
e.g. soaring costs / prices / temperatures
e.g. Unemployment has soared to 18%

2) soar (up) (into sth) to rise quickly and smoothly up into the air:
e.g. The rocket soared (up) into the air
e.g. (figurative) Her spirits soared (= she became very happy and excited)

3) to fly very high in the air or remain high in the air:
e.g. an eagle soaring high above the cliffs

4) to be very high or tall:
e.g. soaring mountains
e.g. The building soared above us

5) when music soars, it becomes higher or louder:
e.g. soaring strings

[usually pl.] a hill or low mountain at the base of a higher mountain or range of mountains:
e.g. the foothills of the Himalayas
= Vorberg
= Gebirgsausläufer

soft leather with a surface like velvet on one side, used especially for making clothes and shoes:
e.g. a suede jacket
= Wildleder

a large bird of the vulture family, that lives mainly in S America

vulture = Geier

1) a large bird, usually without feathers on its head or neck, that eats the flesh of animals that are already dead:
e.g. vultures circling / wheeling overhead
= Geier

2) a person who hopes to gain from the troubles or sufferings of other people

= Würfel

e.g. to roll / throw / shake the dice (figurative)

the quality that sb/sth has that makes people believe or trust them:
e.g. to gain / lack / lose credibility
e.g. The prosecution did its best to undermine the credibility of the witness
= Glaubwürdigkeit
= Plausibilität

(formal) a particular point or stage in an activity or a series of events:
e.g. The battle had reached a crucial juncture
e.g. At this juncture, I would like to make an important announcement
= kritischer Augenblick
= kritischer Moment
= kritischer Zeitpunkt

at this juncture = an diesem Punkt, an dieser Stelle, in diesem Augenblick, ...

1) (of a person) the fact of being in a particular place:
e.g. He hardly seemed to notice my presence
e.g. Her presence during the crisis had a calming effect
OPP = absence

2) (of a thing or a substance) the fact of being in a particular place or thing:
e.g. The test can identify the presence of abnormalities in the unborn child
OPP = absence

3) a group of people, especially soldiers, who have been sent to a place to deal with a particular situation:
e.g. The government is maintaining a heavy police presence in the area
e.g. a military presence

4) (literary) a person or spirit that you cannot see but that you feel is near:
e.g. She felt a presence behind her

5) (approving) the quality of making a strong impression on other people by the way you talk or behave:
e.g. a man of great presence
= Ausstrahlung
= Präsenz

noun:

1) a weapon with a long wooden handle and a sharp metal point used for fighting, hunting and fishing in the past
= Speer

2) the long pointed stem of some plants

verb:

to throw or push a spear or other pointed object through sth/sb:
e.g. They were standing in the river spearing fish
e.g. She speared an olive with her fork
= aufspiessen
= durchbohren

1) embed sth (in sth) to fix sth firmly into a substance or solid object:
e.g. an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg
e.g. The bullet embedded itself in the wall
e.g. (figurative) These attitudes are deeply embedded in our society (= felt very strongly and difficult to change)
= einschliessen
= einbringen
= einlagern
= einbetten

2) to send a journalist, photographer, etc. to an area where there is fighting, so that he or she can travel with the army and report what is happening:
e.g. embedded reporters in the war zone

3) (linguistics) to place a sentence inside another sentence. In the sentence ‘I’m aware that she knows’, she knows is an embedded sentence.

= Hüftbein
= Hüftknochen

e.g. A single spear point was found embedded in the hip bone of a mammoth presumably killed by a band of hunters

an animal like a large seal (= a sea animal with thick fur, that eats fish and lives around coasts), that has two long outer teeth called tusks and lives in Arctic regions

= Walross

1) (BrE) [C] frontier (between A and B) | frontier (with sth) a line that separates two countries, etc.; the land near this line:
e.g. the frontier between the land of the Saxons and that of the Danes
e.g. a customs post on the frontier with Italy
= Landesgrenze
= Grenze

2) the frontier [sing.] the edge of land where people live and have built towns, beyond which the country is wild and unknown, especially in the western US in the 19th century:
e.g. e remote frontier settlement
= Grenzgebiet

3) [C, usually pl.] frontier (of sth) the limit of sth, especially the limit of what is known about a particular subject or activity:
e.g. to push back the frontiers of science (= to increase knowledge of science)
e.g. to roll back the frontiers of government (= to limit the powers of the government)

= grenzüberschreitend

1) (formal) thinking deeply about things
SYN = thoughtful
e.g. a quiet and reflective man
= nachdenklich

2) reflective surfaces send back light or heat:
e.g. reflective car number plates
e.g. On dark nights children should wear reflective clothing
= reflektierend

3) reflective of sth typical of a particular situation or thing; showing the state or nature of sth:
e.g. His abilities are not reflective of the team as a whole
e.g. Everything you do or say is reflective of your personality
= wiederspiegeln

(disapproving) showing that you think that you are better than other people and do not take them seriously
SYN = mocking
e.g. a sardonic smile
= sarkastisch

interesting or pleasant in a way that attracts your attention:
e.g. an engaging smile

[not usually before noun] (formal) not sincere, especially when you pretend to know less about sth than you really do:
e.g. It would be disingenuous of me to claim I had never seen it
= unaufrichtig
= hinterhältig
= arglistig

dissuade sb (from sth / from doing sth) to persuade sb not to do sth:
e.g. I tried to dissuade him from giving up his job
= abbringen
= jmd etwas ausreden

1) distil sth (from sth) to make a liquid pure by heating it until it becomes a gas, then cooling it and collecting the drops of liquid that form:
e.g. to distil fresh water from sea water
e.g. distilled water
= destillieren

2) to make sth such as a strong alcoholic drink in this way:
e.g. The factory distils and bottles whisky

3) distil sth (from / into sth) (formal) to get the essential meaning or ideas from thoughts, information, experiences, etc.:
e.g. The notes I made on my travels were distilled into a book
= ableiten
= zusammenfassen

noun = distillation
e.g. the distillation process

verb:

to make it difficult to see, hear or understand sth:
e.g. The view was obscured by fog
e.g. We mustn’t let these minor details obscure the main issue
= verschleiern
= verdecken
= verbergen

adjective:

1) not well known
SYN = unknown
e.g. an obscure German poet
= unbekannt

2) difficult to understand:
e.g. I found her lecture very obscure
e.g. For some obscure reason, he failed to turn up
= kompliziert
= merkwürdig
= unklar

verb:

to make it difficult to see, hear or understand sth:
e.g. The view was obscured by fog
e.g. We mustn’t let these minor details obscure the main issue
= verschleiern
= verdecken
= verbergen

adjective:

1) not well known
SYN = unknown
e.g. an obscure German poet
= unbekannt

2) difficult to understand:
e.g. I found her lecture very obscure
e.g. For some obscure reason, he failed to turn up
= kompliziert
= merkwürdig
= unklar

(of a fact or a situation) that you cannot avoid or ignore
SYN = unavoidable
e.g. an inescapable fact
e.g. This leads to the inescapable conclusion that the two things are connected
= zwangsläufig
= unausweichlich
= unvermeidbar

1) to cause a particular reaction or have a particular effect:
e.g. The announcement provoked a storm of protest
e.g. The article was intended to provoke discussion
= provozieren
= verursachen
= hervorrufen

2) provoke sb (into sth / into doing sth) to say or do sth that you know will annoy sb so that they react in an angry way
SYN = to goad
e.g. The lawyer claimed his client was provoked into acts of violence by the defendant
= provozieren

a doctor who studies and treats skin diseases

= Hautarzt

noun:

1) a swelling on the surface of the skin that is filled with liquid and is caused, for example, by rubbing or burning
see also fever blister
= Blater
= Blase

2) a similar swelling, filled with air or liquid, on metal, painted wood or another surface

verb:

1) to form blisters; to make sth form blisters:
e.g. His skin was beginning to blister


2) when a surface blisters or sth blisters it, it swells and cracks

3) (NAmE) to criticize sb strongly
= scharf kritisieren

= einstimmig

1) not having much distance between the top or surface and the bottom:
e.g. a shallow dish (=Platte)
e.g. They were playing in the shallow end (= of the swimming pool)
e.g. These fish are found in shallow waters around the coast
OPP = deep

2) (disapproving) (of a person, an idea, a comment, etc.) not showing serious thought, feelings, etc. about sth
SYN = superficial

3) shallow breathing involves taking in only a small amount of air each time

noun = shalowness

= Fallschirmspringer

1) to some extent but in a way that you cannot easily describe:
e.g. She sort of pretends that she doesn’t really care
e.g. ‘Do you understand?’ ‘Sort of.’

2) (also sort of like) (BrE, informal) used when you cannot think of a good word to use to describe sth, or what to say next:
e.g. We’re sort of doing it the wrong way

(pl. -ies) (formal) a power or a quality that exists and is capable of being developed:
e.g. We often underestimate our potentialities
= Potenzial
= Möglichkeit

adjective:

1) that cannot be clearly seen, heard or smelt:
e.g. a faint glow / glimmer / light
e.g. a faint smell of perfume

2) very small; possible but unlikely
SYN = slight
e.g. There is still a faint hope that she may be cured

3) not enthusiastic:
e.g. a faint show of resistance

4) [not before noun] feeling weak and tired and likely to become unconscious:
e.g. She suddenly felt faint

IDIOMS
not have the 'faintest (idea)
(informal) to not know anything at all about sth:
e.g. I didn’t have the faintest idea what you meant

verb:

to become unconscious when not enough blood is going to your brain, usually because of the heat, a shock, etc.
SYN = to pass out
e.g. to faint from hunger
e.g. Suddenly the woman in front of me fainted
= ohnmächtig werden
= umkippen

noun:

the state of becoming unconscious:
e.g. He fell to the ground in a dead faint
= Ohnmacht

[usually before noun] connected with the Middle Ages (about AD 1000 to AD 1450):
e.g. medieval architecture / castles / manuscripts
e.g. the literature of the late medieval period
= mittelalterlich

[sing.] (literary) Jesus Christ

= Erlöser

e.g. The full interest centered upon humankind—supernatural origins, the drama of our fall from the deathless garden, the coming of our redeemer, and the new day of our Judgment

1) an area of activity, interest, or knowledge:
e.g. in the realm of literature
e.g. At the end of the speech he seemed to be moving into the realms of fantasy
= Bereich

2) (formal) a country ruled by a king or queen
SYN = kingdom
e.g. the defence of the realm
= Königreich

noun:

a mark on the skin or on an object that spoils it and makes it look less beautiful or perfect:
e.g. make-up to cover blemishes
e.g. (figurative) His reputation is without a blemish
= Schönheitsfehler
= Makel
= Flecken
= Mangel

verb:

[usually passive] (formal) to spoil sth that is beautiful or perfect in all other ways
= verunstalten
= beflecken

(of a person) believing strongly in a particular religion and obeying its laws and practices:
e.g. a devout Christian / Muslim
= gläubig
= religiös
= fromm

a person who is guilty of heresy (=Ketzerei)
= andersgläubig

1) intended as punishment:
e.g. There are calls for more punitive measures against people who drink and drive
e.g. (NAmE) He was awarded punitive damages (= in a court of law)

2) very severe and that people find very difficult to pay:
e.g. punitive taxes

1) grief (over / at sth) a feeling of great sadness, especially when sb dies:
e.g. She was overcome with grief when her husband died
e.g. They were able to share their common joys and griefs
= Trauer
= Kummer
= Leid

2) something that causes great sadness:
e.g. It was a grief to them that they had no children

3) (informal) problems and worry:
e.g. He caused his parents a lot of grief

1) to end in total failure

2) to be harmed in an accident:
e.g. Several pedestrians came to grief on the icy pavement

noun:

1) something that you do in order to make sb suffer because they have made you suffer:
e.g. He swore to take (his) revenge on his political enemies
e.g. She is seeking revenge for the murder of her husband
e.g. The bombing was in revenge for the assassination
= Rache
= Vergeltung

2) (sport) the defeat of a person or team that defeated you in a previous game:
e.g. The team wanted to get revenge for their defeat earlier in the season
= Revanche

a person who commits a crime or does sth that is wrong or evil:
e.g. the perpetrators of the crime
e.g. In “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1842), Poe introduces private detective C. Auguste Dupin, who places himself in the perpetrator’s mind
= Täter
= Verursacher

(formal) severe pain, mental suffering or unhappiness:

e.g. He groaned in anguish
e.g. Tears of anguish filled her eyes

= Qual
= Kummer
= Leid

adjective = anguished
e.g. an anguished letter from her prison cell

very interesting because of being unusual or not having an obvious answer:
e.g. These discoveries raise intriguing questions
e.g. an intriguing possibility
e.g. He found her intriguing
= faszinierend
= verblüffend

noun:

1) contract (with sb) | contract (between A and B) | contract (for sth / to do sth) an official written agreement:
e.g. to enter into / make / sign a contract with the supplier
e.g. a contract for the supply of vehicles

2) contract (on sb) (informal) an agreement to kill sb for money:
e.g. to take out a contract on sb

verb:

1) to become less or smaller; to make sth become less or smaller:
e.g. Glass contracts as it cools
e.g. a contracting market
e.g. The heart muscles contract to expel the blood
= schrumpfen
= einengen
= zusammenziehen

2) (medical) to get an illness:
e.g. to contract AIDS / a virus / a disease
e.g. Eight percent of adults over age 70 who contract the Australian flu suffer from life-threatening symptoms

3) contract sb (to sth) to make a legal agreement with sb for them to work for you or provide you with a service:
e.g. The player is contracted to play until August

4) to make a legal agreement to work for sb or provide them with a service:
e.g. She has contracted to work 20 hours a week

5) contract a marriage / an alliance (with sb) (formal) to formally agree to marry sb / form an alliance with sb

noun:

a false spoken statement intended to damage the good opinion people have of sb; the legal offence of making this kind of statement:
e.g. a vicious slander on the company’s good name
e.g. He’s suing them for slander
= Verleumdung
= Beleidigung
= Beschimpfung

verb:

to make a false spoken statement about sb that is intended to damage the good opinion that people have of them:
e.g. He angrily accused the investigators of slandering both him and his family
= verleumden
= beschuldigen

1) connected with the relationship that exists between people or groups that share the same ideas or interests:
e.g. a fraternal organization / society

2) connected with the relationship that exists between brothers:
e.g. fraternal rivalry

verb:

1) to care for and protect sb/sth while they are growing and developing:
e.g. These delicate plants need careful nurturing
e.g. children nurtured by loving parents

2) to help sb/sth to develop and be successful
SYN = to foster

3) to have a feeling, an idea, a plan, etc. for a long time and encourage it to develop:
e.g. She secretly nurtured a hope of becoming famous

noun:

(formal) care, encouragement and support given to sb/sth while they are growing
= Erziehung
= Pflege

1) susceptibility (to sth) the state of being very likely to be influenced, harmed or affected by sth:
e.g. susceptibility to disease

2) susceptibilities [pl.] a person’s feelings which are likely to be easily hurt
SYN = sensibilities
e.g. It was all carried out without any consideration for the susceptibilities of the bereaved family

aptitude (for sth) | aptitude (for doing sth) natural ability or skill at doing sth
SYN = talent

e.g. She showed a natural aptitude for the work
e.g. His aptitude for dealing with children got him the job
e.g. an aptitude test (= one designed to show whether sb has the natural ability for a particular job or course of education)

(especially NAmE) = antenatal—compare post-natal

= vor der Geburt

e.g. prenatal classes = Schwangerschaftskurs

e.g. Twins Research Dashes Widely Held Theories on Environmental Factors

zernichte machen

auslöschen

etc.

...

= Darstellung
= Schilderung
= Beschreibung
= Abbildung

e.g. They object to the movie’s depiction of gay people

(technical or formal) copying the behaviour or appearance of sb/sth else

= nachahmend

[usually before noun] (formal) becoming stronger or more popular again

= wiederauflebend

e.g. Although modern feminism has been with us since Mary Wollstonecraft, feminist literary criticism is a product of the resurgent women’s movement of the late 1960s

1) to officially make sb leave a school or an organization:
e.g. She was expelled from school at 15
e.g. Olympic athletes expelled for drug-taking
= ausschliessen
= verbannen
= rauswerfen

2) to force sb to leave a country:
e.g. Foreign journalists are being expelled
= verstossen
= verbannen
= vertreiben

3) (technical) to force air or water out of a part of the body or from a container:
e.g. to expel air from the lungs
= ausstossen
= emittieren

(NAmE or old-fashioned, law) the act of committing a serious crime such as murder or rape; a crime of this type:
e.g. a charge of felony
= Verbrechen

adjective:

(technical) using two eyes to see:
e.g. binocular vision
= beidäugig

binoculars (n):
an instrument, like two small telescopes fixed together, that makes objects that are far away seem nearer when you look through it:
e.g. We looked at the birds through binoculars
= Feldstecher

= Anpassungsfähigkeit

e.g. relationship between age level and adaptiveness in language

1) the act of expressing sth in words:
e.g. to give utterance to your thoughts
= Äusserung
= Aussprache

2) something that you say:
e.g. one of her few recorded public utterances
= Äusserung
= Bemerkung

= Anpassungsfähigkeit

recount sth (to sb) (formal) to tell sb about sth, especially sth that you have experienced:
e.g. She was asked to recount the details of the conversation to the court
e.g. They recounted what had happened during those years
= erzählen
= nacherzählen

1) denounce sb/sth (as sth) to strongly criticize sb/sth that you think is wrong, illegal, etc.:
e.g. She publicly denounced the government’s handling of the crisis
e.g. The project was denounced as a scandalous waste of public money
= beschuldigen
= verurteilen
= kritisieren

2) denounce sb (as sth) to tell the police, the authorities, etc. about sb’s illegal political activities:
e.g. They were denounced as spies
e.g. Many people denounced their neighbours to the secret police
= anzeigen

verb:

(especially NAmE) = underline
= unterstreichen
= hervorheben
e.g. to underscore the similarity of the consequences of Manifest Destiny over 200 years of American policy

noun:

(computing) the symbol (_) that is used to draw a line under a letter or word and used in computer commands and in Internet addresses

adjective:

1) inferior (to sb/sth) not good or not as good as sb/sth else:
e.g. of inferior quality
e.g. inferior goods
e.g. to make sb feel inferior
e.g. Modern music is often considered inferior to that of the past
= minderwertig
= schlechter
= unterlegen

2) [usually before noun] (formal) of lower rank; lower:
e.g. an inferior officer
= untergeben
= tiefer gestellt
= untergeordnet

OPP = superior

noun:

a person who is not as good as sb else; a person who is lower in rank or status
= Untergebener

1) something that is thought to be true or probable:
e.g. There is a general presumption that the doctor knows best
= Annahme
= Vermutung

2) (formal) behaviour that is too confident and shows a lack of respect for other people
= Anmassung

3) (law) the act of supposing that sth is true, although it has not yet been proved or is not certain:
e.g. Everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence until they are proved to be guilty
= Vermutung
= Annahme

a small insect that lives in highly organized groups. There are many types of ant:
e.g. an ants' nest
e.g. an ant colony

= Ameise

= Kinderkrippe
= Kinderzimmer

= Unterkiefer

= Ameisenhaufen

= Nachkommen
= Sprössling

a machine or creature that looks and behaves like a human

= menschenähnlich

an organ in a person’s or an animal’s body that produces a substance for the body to use. There are many different glands in the body:
e.g. a snake’s poison glands
e.g. Her glands are swollen
= Drüse

(formal) deserving praise
SYN = praiseworthy
= lobenswert
= rühmenswert

very similar:
e.g. My sister and I do not look alike.

(formal) deserving to be praised or admired, even if not really successful
SYN = commendable
e.g. a laudable aim / attempt
= lobenswert
= rühmenswert

= sich selbst widersprechend

(disapproving) (of people) enjoying getting involved in situations that do not concern them
SYN = interfering
= aufdringlich
= lästig

1) used to emphasize the size, degree or amount of sth:
e.g. The area is under threat from the sheer number of tourists using it

2) complete and not mixed with anything else
SYN = utter
e.g. The concert was sheer delight
e.g. I only agreed out of sheer desperation

3) very steep:
e.g. sheer cliffs / slopes
e.g. Outside there was a sheer drop down to the sea below

4) (of cloth, etc.) thin, light and almost transparent:
e.g. sheer nylon

1) concede sth (to sb) | concede sb sth to admit that sth is true, logical, etc.:
e.g. ‘Not bad,’ she conceded grudgingly
e.g. (that)] He was forced to concede (that) there might be difficulties
= zugestehen
= einräumen
= Zugeständnisse machen

2) concede sth (to sb) | concede sb sth to give sth away, especially unwillingly; to allow sb to have sth:
e.g. The President was obliged to concede power to the army
= abgeben
= gewähren
= nachgeben

3) concede (defeat) to admit that you have lost a game, an election, etc.:
e.g. After losing this decisive battle, the general was forced to concede
e.g. njury forced Hicks to concede defeat
= zugeben
= einräumen

1) in·tri·ca·cies [pl.] the ~ of sth the complicated parts or details of sth:
e.g. the intricacies of economic policy
= Komplexität
= Schwierigkeit

2) the fact of having complicated parts, details or patterns:
e.g. the intricacy of the design
= Kompliziertheit

1) to express or represent an idea or a quality
e.g. a politician who embodied the hopes of black youth
SYN = to represent
= verkörpern
= darstellen

2) (formal) to include or contain sth:
e.g. This model embodies many new features
= enthalten

noun:

(pl. -ies) levy (on sth) an extra amount of money that has to be paid, especially as a tax to the government:
e.g. to put / impose a levy on oil imports
= Steuer
= Abgabe
= Gebühr

verb:

(lev·ies, levy·ing, lev·ied, lev·ied) [vn] levy sth (on sb/sth) to use official authority to demand and collect a payment, tax, etc.:
e.g. a tax levied by the government on excess company profits
= erheben
= einziehen

1) meinen, glauben, vermuten
e.g. I reckon (that) I’m going to get that job

2) berechnen, schätzen
e.g. The age of the earth is reckoned at about 4 600 million years

3) erwarten
e.g. We reckon to finish by ten

4) annehmen, vermuten
e.g. Children are reckoned to be more sophisticated nowadays

1) a young bird that has just learnt to fly

2) (usually before another noun) a person, an organization or a system that is new and without experience:
e.g. fledgling democracies

(approving) expressed clearly and in a few words
SYN = concise
e.g. Keep your answers as succinct as possible
e.g. a succinct explanation
= kurz und bündig
= kurz
= knapp
= prägnant