Vocabulary Weekly

Week 18
Crucial
If you describe something as crucial, you mean it is extremely important

Ex. He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself.
Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.

The authorities proved unyielding on one crucial opposition demand.

The negotiations with the company had reached a crucial stage.

Racial

Racial describes things relating to people's race.

Ex. The city is being sundered by racial tension.

The city had faced racial crisis and come through it.

His speech did nothing for racial concord.

We don't believe the myth that racial discrimination was imposed by God.

Many children suffer racial abuse at school.

Specialization

If you specialize in a thing, you know a lot about it and concentrate a great dealof your time
and energy on it, especially in your work or when you are studying or training.
You also use specialize to talk about a restaurant which concentrates on a particular type of food.

Ex. The production line involves a high degree of specialization of labour.

His specialization is too narrow to be of interest to more than a handful of students.

Her degree is in French, with specialization in seventeenth-century literature.

There has been increased economic specialization throughout the country.

Commercial

Commercial means involving or relating to the buying and selling of goods.

Ex. Docklands in its heyday was a major centre of industrial and commercial activity.

Attacks were reported on police, vehicles and commercial premises.

She is developing the commercial side of the organization.

Partial
You use partial to refer to something that is not complete or whole.

Ex. He managed to reach a partial agreement with both republics.

The research project was only a partial success.

The reporting in the papers is entirely partial and makes no attempt to be objective.

But corruption is only a partial explanation of some of the key strategic decisions taken by
the governments.

Substantial

Substantial means large in amount or degree.

Ex. The party has just lost office and with it a substantial number of seats.

That is a very substantial improvement in the present situation.

There is a substantial payback in terms of employee and union relations.

Workers in big firms receive a substantial part of their pay in the form of bonuses and
overtime.

Fragile

If you describe a situation as fragile, you mean that it is weak or uncertain, and unlikely to be
able to resist strong pressure or attack.

Ex. Be careful with that vase - it's very fragile.

The oil spill caused terrible damage to the fragile ecology of the coast.

The flow of assistance to Vietnam's fragile economy from its ideological allies has virtually
halted.

The nurse was handling his fragile emotions very carefully.

Tragedy

A tragedy is an extremely sad event or situation.

Ex. The tragedy of the world is that those who are imaginative have but slight experience, and
those who are experienced have feeble imaginations.

A tragedy was narrowly averted when a lorry crashed into a crowded restaurant.

Life is a comedy to him who thinks and a tragedy to him who feels.

Register

A register is an official list or record of people or things.

Ex. He signed the register at the hotel.

She calls the register for her class of thirty 12 year olds.
 You must register with the police when you come to a foreign country.

A register indicated the number of people who had gone through.

The sample of people questioned was drawn from the university's student register and
stratified by age and gender.

Privilege

A privilege is a special right or advantage that only one person or group has.

Ex. The Russian Federation has issued a decree abolishing special privileges for government
officials.

Men of privilege without power are waste material, Men of enlightenment without
influence are the poorest kind of rubbish.

Education should not be considered to be a privilege in a modern society.

Of course, no country has the privilege of fishing in our coastal water.

Submerged

If something is submerged, it is below the surface of some water.

Ex. My right toe struck against a submerged rock.

Most of the mouth of the cave was submerged in the lake.

The submarine submerged to avoid enemy ships.

The tunnel entrance was submerged by rising sea water.

Weep

If someone weeps, they cry.

Ex. She wanted to laugh and weep all at once.

The weeping family hugged and comforted each other.

She wept tears of joy.

Fleet

A fleet is a group of ships organized to do something together, for example to fight battles or
to catch fish.

Ex. The damage inflicted upon the British fleet was devastating.

The fleet was mobilized and the country prepared for war.

Seize

If you seize something, you take hold of it quickly, firmly, and forcefully.
Ex. The crew tried to seize control of the ship, and were shot for mutiny.

Don't be disappointed on the journey of life. There are friends in the world. Seize your
chance and value your opportunities. May our friendship be everlasting.

Politicians need to seize the initiative from the terrorists.

Leisure

Leisure is the time when you are not working and you can relax and do things that you enjoy.

Ex. The secret of being miserable is to have leisure to bother about whether you are happy or
not.

Most people only have a limited amount of leisure time

You will be able to stroll at leisure through the gardens.

These days we have more money and more leisure to enjoy it.

Briefly

Something that happens or is done briefly happens or is done for a very short period of time.

Ex. He smiled briefly.

Guerillas captured and briefly held an important provincial capital.

He was briefly famous in his twenties but then sank into obscurity.

He glanced briefly towards her but there was no sign of recognition.

Leadership

You refer to people who are in control of a group or organization as the leadership.

Ex. The leadership has been unwilling to follow through the implications of these ideas.

The leadership want to present a single slate of candidates to be approved in an open vote.

Many voters feel that the country would gain from a change of leadership.

Racism

Racism is the belief that people of some races are inferior to others, and the behaviour which is
the result of this belief.

Ex. Racism is a deeply rooted prejudice which has existed for thousands of years.

She fought against racism all her life and died a martyr to the cause.

Groups like ours are committed to eradicating homophobia racism and sexism.
 The Government should give industry a lead in tackling racism.

Legacy

A legacy is money or property which someone leaves to you when they die.

Ex. You could make a real difference to someone's life by leaving them a generous legacy.

The two brothers split on inheriting the legacy of their parents.

He received a large legacy from his uncle.

He dropped casual references to the legacy of his great work.

Centennial

Relating to, lasting for, or completing a period of 100 years

Ex. 1982 was the centennial of Charles Darwin's death.

The year 1889 was the centennial of the inauguration of George Washington.

Now the 26th Centennial World Olympic Games are in full swing in Altanda.

Cyanide

Cyanide is a highly poisonous substance.

Ex. Someone had fed him a lethal dose of cyanide.

The police say he swallowed a cyanide capsule to avoid arrest.

Cemetery

A cemetery is a place where dead people's bodies or their ashes are buried.

Ex. His father is buried in the cemetery on the hill.

He was buried in Highgate Cemetery.

His remains have been exhumed from a cemetery in Queens, New York City.

The martyr lies in the cemetery.

Gunmen guarded homes near the cemetery with shotguns.