ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY

1. avoidvt to keep away from, as to avoid a person, speaking
to smb, meeting smb, mentioning smth, mistakes, bad company,
a quarrel, an argument, a scandal, a difficulty (difficulties), an
attack, danger, evil, a punishment, an accident, answering, etc.:
What have I done? Why are you avoiding me? We only just avoid­
ed an accident. The doctor told her to avoid fatty meat (eating much
fat).

avoidablea that can be avoided: I'm sure the quarrel was quite avoidable, your interference spoiled everything.

Ant. unavoidable: The accident was unavoidable, the man ran out into the street too suddenly for the driver to stop the car.

2. avertvt 1) to prevent, as to avert a blow, failure, controversy,
evil, the gathering storm (fig.), etc.: / did my best to avert the danger.
Wasn't it possible to avert the accident? War was averted by a timely
peace mission.

Syn. avoid

2) to turn away, as to avert one's gaze, face, thoughts, attention (from smth): She averted her eyes (gaze) from the terrible sight.

3. slighta 1) slender, slim: She is a slight girl. 2) not serious, not
important: / hardly felt that slight scratch. He has a slight cold. She had
a slight attack of fever.

not the slightestnot the least: / haven't the slightest idea (doubt) about it.

slightly adv somewhat; to a slight degree: The child is only slightly hurt.

slightvt to pay too little attention to smb; to treat disrespectfully: Mary felt slighted because she was not invited to the party. Although the author's work was slighted during his life time, he became quite pop­ular after his death. Aileen was slighted and insulted.

Syn. hurt

4. disgustn a very strong feeling of dislike: A great feeling of dis­
gust overwhelmed her. She turned away in disgust when she saw the
drunk man. He left the room in disgust over their petty quarrel.

disgustvt to cause disgust in smb: The smell of a bad egg disgusts most people. Your vulgar slang disgusts me. He was disgusted at (by) her answer. How could you say such a thing? I'm disgusted.

disgustinga causing disgust: What a disgusting smell. I find cruel treatment of animals disgusting. Look at the mess he has made of the place. It's disgusitng.

5. humiliatevt to lower the dignity or self-respect of smb; to put
to shame: That child who behaved badly when guests were present hu­
miliated hisparenis. We felt humiliated by our failure.

humiliationn humiliating or being humiliated: I shall never forget

that humiliation.

humiliatinga that humiliates: Such a humiliating experience was

good for his egoism.

6. conceitи too much pride in oneself: Her self-praising letter
seemed to be motivated more by conceit than a desire to communicate.
The braggart's letter was full of conceit.

conceiteda full of conceit: Many performers become conceit­ed after only modest success. The conceited man is rarely a happy man.

7. glarevi 1) to shine with a light so bright as to hurt the eyes. The
sun glared down on us all day. The frozen snow glared in the morning
sunlight. A single naked bulb glared pitilessly in the centre of the room.
2) to stare angrily or fiercely: He glared at me like a bull at a red rag. A

tiger glares at its prey.

glareи 1) a very bright light, so strong that it is unpleasant or blinding: The unshaded bulbs threw a yellow glare over the walls. We shielded our eyes from the glare of the sun on the water. She hates the glare of publicity. 2) an angry or fierce look or stare: He looked at me with an angry glare (gave me a glare) when I said he couldn't be trusted

with the job.

glaringa 1) unpleasantly bright: The glaring headlights of a car blinded me for a moment. There were glaring neon signs over the build­ing. 2) angry or fierce: Her glaring eyes were suggestive of her anger. 3) easily seen, obvious: How could you overlook it? It is a glaring mis­take (error). There are several glaring defects in your plan.

8. extravaganta 1) spending much more than is necessary or wise; wasteful: Dora was an extravagant wife and could never make both ends meet. She was extravagant in everything she bought.

2) excessively high, as extravagant expenses, claims, etc.: The price is extravagant, I shall never pay so much.

extravagancen wastefulness in spending money: That fur coat is an extravagance you can't afford. His wife' extravagance ruined him.

9. cunninga clever at deceiving people; sly: Be careful. He is as cunning as a fox.

Syn. sly

cunningn skill in deceiving people: The boy showed a great deal of cunning in getting what he wanted. He succeeded in his object by pure cunning.