Vocabulary from Upstream Proficiency units 1-3

dignified (adj)

someone who is dignified behaves in a calm way that people respect

Academic transcript (n)

is a copy of a student’s permanent academic record which usually means all course taken, all grades received

Amplify (v)

to increase the size or effect of something; to make something louder

Anthology (n)

a collection of artistic works which have a similar form or subject, often those considered to be the best

Applicant (n)

a person who formally requests something, especially a job, or a place at college or university

Applied (adj)

relating to a subject of study, especially a science, that has a practical use

Arbitrator (n)

a person who has been officially chosen to make a decision between two people or groups who do not agree

Assessor (n)

sb who judges or decides the amount, value, quality or importance of sth

Avid (adj)

extremely eager or interested

Begrudge (v)

to allow or give unwillingly

Bleeper (n)

a small device that you carry or wear, which moves or makes a noise to tell you that someone wants you to telephone them

Boarding school (n)

a school where students live and study

Boisterous (adj)

noisy, energetic and rough

Bombardment (n)

to attack a place with continuous shooting or bombs

Bursary (n)

a sum of money given to a person by an organization, such as a university, to pay for them to study

Clique (n)

a small group of people who spend their time together and do not welcome other people into that group

Come to grips with sth

to make an effort to understand and deal with a problem or situation

Confrontation (n)

a fight or argument

Conspicuous (adj)

very noticeable or attracting attention, often in a way that is not wanted

Corporal punishment (n)

the physical punishment of people, especially of children, by hitting them

Cram (v)

to try to learn a lot very quickly before an examination

Cream of sth

the best of a particular group of things or people

Dean (n)

a high-ranking official in a college or university who is responsible for the organization of a department or departments

Demeanor (n)

a way of looking and behaving

Deter (v)

to prevent from doing sth or to make sb less enthusiastic about doing sth by making it difficult for them to do it or by threatening bad results if they do it

Diminutive (adj)

very small

Disintegration (n)

to become weaker or be destroyed by breaking into small pieces

Dispense (v)

to give out things, especially products, services or amounts of money, to people

Dissertation (n)

a long piece of writing on a particular subject, especially one that is done as a part of a course at college or university

Dismiss (v)

to decide that something or someone is not important and not worth considering

Ditty (n)

a short simple song

Don (n)

a lecturer (= college teacher) especially at Oxford or Cambridge University in UK

Efficacy (n)

an ability, especially of a medicine or a method of achieving something, to produce the intended result; effectiveness

Extracurricular (adj)

describes an activity or subject that is not part of the usual school or college course

Flawed (adj)

not perfect, or containing mistakes

Fugitive (n)

a person who is running away or hiding from the police or a dangerous situation

GCSE

General Certificate of Secondary Education: the British system of public examinations taken in various subjects from the age of about 16

Grader (n)

sb who gives a score to a student's piece of work

Grant (n)

a sum of money given especially by the government to a person or organization for a special purpose

Hall of residence (n)

a college building where students live

Inadequacy (n)

when sth is not good enough or too small in amount; a lack of confidence which makes you feel unable to deal with a situation

Inadvertently (adv)

not intentionally

Introspective (adj)

examining and considering your own ideas, thoughts and feelings, instead of talking to other people about them

Novice (n)

a person who is not experienced in a job or situation; a person who is still training to be a monk or a nun

Obstinately (adv)

unreasonably determined, especially to act in a particular way and not to change at all, despite what anyone else says

Opt (for) (v)

to make a choice, especially for one thing or possibility in preference to any others

Overseer (n)

a person whose job it is to make certain that employees are working or that an activity is being done correctly

Philistine (n)

a person who refuses to see the beauty or the value of art, literature, music or culture in any form

Postgraduate (n)

a student who has already got one degree and is studying at a university for a more advanced qualification

Primatologist (n)

study both living and extinct primates in their natural habitats and in laboratories by conducting field studies and experiments in order to understand aspects of their evolution and behaviour

Revocable (adj)

a revocable agreement can be made no longer effective if a situation changes (law)

Ricochet (v)

If a ball or bullet ricochets, it hits a surface and moves away from it at an angle

Scorn (v, n)

showing a very strong feeling of no respect for sb or sth that you think is stupid or has no value

Shepherd (v)

to make a group of people move to where you want them to go, especially in a kind, helpful and careful way

Sneering (adj)

rude and not showing respect

Squeal (v)

to make a long very high sound or cry

Substandard (adj)

below a satisfactory standard

Sullen (adj)

angry and unwilling to smile or be pleasant to people

Swagger (v)

to walk, especially with a swinging movement, in a way that shows that you are very confident and think that you are important, or to act in that way

Swap (v)

to give something and be given something else instead; to exchange

Tantalize (v)

to make sb feel excited or attracted by an offer or a suggestion of sth which is, in fact, unlikely to happen

Truant (n)

a child who is regularly absent from school without permission

Tutor (n)

teacher who works with one student or a small group, either at a British college or university or in the home of a child

Undergraduate (n)

a student who is studying for their first degree at college or university

Untapped (adj)

a valuable supply of sth that is not yet used or taken advantage of

Unversed (adj)

not knowing a lot about a particular thing or having experience of it

Vulnerable (adj)

able to be easily physically, emotionally, or mentally hurt, influenced or attacked

Wade (v)

to walk through water with difficulty

Wobble (v)

to (cause sth to) shake or move from side to side in a way that shows poor balance

Abhorrent (adj)

morally very bad

Acute (adj)

(of the senses, intelligence, etc.) very good, accurate and able to notice very small differences; clever

Allude to (v)

to mention someone or something without talking about them directly

Aspiring (adj)

someone who is trying to become a successful actor, politician, writer, etc.

Bashful (adj)

often feeling uncomfortable with other people and easily embarrassed; shy

Bogey (n)

something that causes fear among a lot of people, often without reason

Breadwinner (n)

the member of a family who earns the money that the family needs

Cajole (v)

to persuade someone to do something they might not want to do, by pleasant talk and (sometimes false) promises

Circulation (n)

the number of people that a newspaper or magazine is regularly sold to

Classified ad (n)

a small advertisement that you put in a newspaper or a magazine, usually because you want to sell or buy something or to find or offer a job

Contribution (n)

something that you do or give to help produce or achieve something together with other people, or to help make something successful

Coverage (n)

the reporting of a particular important event or subject

Demise (n)

the end of something that was previously considered to be powerful, such as a business, industry or system

Depraved (adj)

morally bad or evil

Deprive (v)

to take something, especially sth necessary or pleasant, away from someone

Dismissive (adj)

showing that you do not think something is worth considering

Dominate (v)

to control something or someone, often in a negative way, because you have more power or influence

Dormitory (n)

UK a large room containing many beds, especially in a boarding school or university

Endeavour (n)

an attempt to do something

Extol (v)

to praise something or someone very much

Fanzine (n)

a magazine written by people who admire a sports team, musicians, etc., for other people with the same special interest

Fortnightly (adv)

happening every two weeks

Frogmarch (v)

to force someone who is unwilling to move forward by holding the person's arms behind their back and then pushing them forward

Galvanise (v)

to cause someone to suddenly take action, especially by shocking or exciting them in some way

Gloss (n)

a smooth shiny appearance on the surface of something, or paint or a similar substance which produces this appearance

Grating (adj)

describes a sound which is unpleasant and annoying

Gritty (adj)

sandy; brave and determined; showing all the unpleasant but true details of a situation

Grump (v)

being easily annoyed and complaining a lot

Harbour (v)

to think about or feel something, usually over a long period

Highbrow (adj)

(of books, plays, etc.) involving serious and complicated or artistic ideas, or (of people) interested in serious and complicated subjects

Implication (n; pl)

the effect that an action or decision will have on sth else in the future

Inaugural (adj)

is the first event in a series of planned events

Incisive (adj)

expressing an idea or opinion in a clear and direct way which shows good understanding of what is important

Inception (n)

the beginning of an organization or official activity

Indifferent (adj)

not thinking about or interested in someone or something

Inhibited (adj)

not confident enough to say or do what you wan

Jerky (adj)

quick and sudden

Evasive (adj)

answering questions in a way that is not direct or clear, especially because you do not want to give an honest answer

Obituary (n)

report, especially in a newspaper, which gives the news of someone's death and details about their life

Officious (adj)

too eager to tell people what to do and having too high an opinion of your own importance

Outlandish (adj)

strange and unusual and difficult to accept or like

Paramount (adj)

more important than anything else

Perplex (v)

to confuse and worry someone slightly by being difficult to understand or solve

Persist (v)

sth continues to exist; to try to do or continue doing something in a determined but often unreasonable way

Platitude (n)

a remark or statement that may be true but is boring and has no meaning because it has been said so many times before

Pledge (v)

a serious or formal promise, especially one to give money or to be a friend, or something that you give as a sign that you will keep a promise

Plunge (v)

to (cause someone or something to) move or fall suddenly and often a long way forward, down or into something

Profound (adj)

felt or experienced very strongly or in an extreme way

Proprietor (n)

a person who owns a particular type of business, especially a hotel, a shop or a company that makes newspapers

Pundit (n)

a person who knows a lot about a particular subject and is therefore often asked to give an opinion about it

Recap (v)

to repeat the main points of an explanation or description

Recession (n)

a period when the economy of a country is not successful and conditions for business are bad

Recklessly (adv)

doing something dangerous and not worrying about the risks and the possible results

Repel (v)

to force something or someone to move away or stop attacking you

Reshuffle (n)

when the positions of people or things within a particular group are changed

Resilient (adj)

able to quickly return to a previous good condition

Scrutiny (n)

the careful and detailed examination of sth in order to get information about it

Spool forward

fast forward

Spur (v)

to encourage an activity or development or make it happen faster

Stilted (adj)

(of a person's behaviour or way of speaking or writing) too formal and not smooth or natural

Subsequent (adj)

happening after sth else

Supplement (n)

a part of a magazine or newspaper, either produced separately or as part of the magazine or newspaper

Tabloid (n)

a newspaper which contains reports about famous people's private lives, or other things that have happened which are often hard to believe

Talent scout (n)

a person employed to look for people with particular skills, especially in sport or entertainment

Trivial (adj)

having little value or importance

Unforthcoming (adj)

not friendly, not willing to give information or to talk

Unrestrained (adj)

not limited or controlled

Vested interest (n)

a strong personal interest in something because you could get an advantage from it

Grim (adj)

grim news, situations, or events are unpleasant and make you feel upset and worried

Node (n)

a point on a computer network where a message can be created or received

Tedious (adj)

boring and continuing for too long

Skilled (adj)

having the ability and experience to do something well

Reliable (adj)

a reliable person is someone who you can trust to behave well, work hard, or do what you expect them to do

Distinctive (adj)

easy to recognize because of being different from other people or things of the same type

Virtually (adv)

used for emphasizing that a statement is almost completely true

Take over (v)

to begin to do something that someone else was doing

Peck (v)

when a bird pecks, it moves its beak quickly forward to hit or bite something

Strenuous (adj)

a strenuous activity is one in which it is necessary for you to use a lot of effort, energy, or strength