Here is a list of my favorite words from Memrise that I studied in January! During this period I also started using vocabulary.com (which I dearly love) to practice new words. Its main advantage is that it provides you with a sentence to guess the context and a definition right after you select an option, which perfectly explains the word. Like, I’m seriously obsessed with the definitions they give. They promote themselves as a tool that will help you remember new words forever (so far, I can attest it has been true). In this post, I will provide definitions/explanations the way they are given on this website (their shortened versions).
- patchy
If you describe something as patchy, you mean it’s uneven or irregular, like your patchy front lawn with brown spots scattered among the green tufts of grass.
The varnish is a little patchy on this table.
2. circumference
The distance around a circle is called the circumference, and although circumference is often used when talking about round things, it can mean a boundary of any shape that completely surrounds something.
We walked the circumference of the field so we wouldn’t interrupt the game.
3. rig
When you rig something, you connect parts in a way that’s so crazy it just might work. You could rig your jeans by using a paper clip to replace a button that pops. + a large structure that is used for removing oil or gas from the ground or the bottom of the sea
Safety precautions on oil rigs are designed to cope with fires and small-scale explosions.
4. tendril
Plants don’t have arms or tentacles, but they have something a tiny bit similar: tendrils. Tendrils are thin organs of plants that wrap around other objects for support.
The rising sun was burning off the drifting tendrils of fog as Tyrion led them off.
5. carcass
In the aftermath of Thanksgiving, after turkey sandwiches and turkey noodle soup and picking all the meat off, you’re left with nothing more than turkey bones — or the carcass of your holiday bird.
Vultures flew around in the sky waiting to pick at the rotting carcass of the deer.
6. to scarper (UK slang)
to leave very quickly, often to avoid getting into trouble; flee; take to one’s heels; cut and run
The police are coming! We’d better scarper.
7. to bear down on smb
to move in a threatening way towards someone or something
I looked up to see the car bearing down on me.
8. whiff
A whiff can mean the hint of something you smell. When you drive past the sewage treatment plant and suddenly roll up your car windows, it’s usually because you’ve gotten a whiff of the plant’s special odor.
He leaned towards me and I got a whiff of garlic.
9. to screen out smb/smth
to prevent something or someone undesirable from coming in
Home water filtration systems are supposed to screen out toxins and other contaminants.
10. olfactory
Something olfactory has to do with the sense of smell. The odor from that factory is a symphony of olfactory delights. Not.
This happened often enough that it interrupted the proper workings of Mig’s olfactory senses.
11. ensuing
If you go snowboarding in a leotard, prepare for an ensuing cold. Ensuing means “coming right after, or as a result of something that happened.”
An argument broke out and in the ensuing fight, a gun went off.
12. to swivel
A swivel is a device that allows something to turn freely. Desk chairs are often designed so the seat can swivel atop the base. In the hospital, the TV is usually mounted on a swivel so that patients can adjust it.
She swiveled round to look out of the window.
13. propulsion
The act of moving something forward is called propulsion. Propulsion is the force that pushes a rocket into space, that sends a football spiraling toward a receiver’s hands, and that moves a strongly kicking swimmer through the water.
“You know what I like about driving? The forward motion of it, the propulsion of it, like you might go anywhere.”
14. glitz
Glitz is a cheap or gaudy flashiness. A sparkly, sequined dress that’s really shiny but not very well made has glitz, but it may not be the most tasteful outfit for your grandparents’ anniversary party.
The party’s electoral message may be obscured by the glitz and glamour of its presentation.
15. fillip
A fillip is something that boosts, promotes, or energizes. Giving away one free candy bar with every dozen purchased might give a fillip to your candy-selling business.
The athletics win provided a much-needed fillip to national pride.
16. to construe
If you interpret something or make sense of it, you construe its meaning. If the new girl in your class asks to sit with you at lunch, you could construe that she wants to be friends. You can never have too many friends!
Any changes to the plan would be construed as indecision.
