Ielts Vocabulary For Academic Or General
1. affectation
noun a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display
The guy at your local coffee shop who’s never left the state but speaks as though he’s lived in London all his life? His British accent is an affectation.
Never confuse affectation with affection — which means “love” or “tenderness.”
While affection might not always be genuine,affectation is never the real thing. In fact, affectation is all about faking it. Do you believe the politician cares about poor people, or do you think his concern is an affectation?
He is admired for his elegance, immaculate technique, sterling tone and lack of affectation on stage or interpretative.
Decades later, her speech is still festooned with quotations from the Bard, an affectation that makes her even more eccentric.
To a vast majority, fountain pens are an affectation.
2. complacent
self-satisfied
adj contented to a fault with oneself or one’s actions
Someone who is complacent has become overly content — the junk-food-eating couch potato might be feeling complacent about his health.
The literal meaning of this word’s Latin root is “very pleased,” but even though complacent people may seem pleased with themselves, we are rarely pleased with them. They are unconcerned by things that should concern them, and they may neglect their duties. A complacent person might be heard saying, “Ehh, don’t worry about it!” — when there really is something to worry about.
He said his state was prepared for future hurricanes: “Our levies are stronger than they’ve ever been before, but we must not become complacent.”
School board members said that they are not complacent.
Paul believes the medical advances made in treating HIV over the past decade have led to people becoming more complacent and taking more risks.
With the disaster still unfolding, the comments made the president seem out of touch and complacent to many.
3. concomitant
co-occurrence
subsequent
adj following or accompanying as a consequence
Concomitant means accompanying. If you run into someone that you have a crush on you might feel nervousness with a concomitant forgetfulness.
Concomitant is one of those Latin-based words you can break down into little pieces: con means with, and comit means companion. So something that is concomitant is like the companion of the main event. If you start training really hard at the gym, the main effect is that you become stronger, but there are concomitant effects, like better circulation, or a rosy glow, or getting happy from all those endorphins you’re releasing.
