Useful C1 Expressions (C1) — English But Better

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Adjectives

Word	Definition	Example
scant	Barely enough; less than is needed.	The report gave scant detail about how the money was actually spent.
callous	Showing no concern for the feelings or suffering of others.	His callous remark about her illness left everyone speechless.
skewed	Not accurate or balanced, because it favors one particular view or result.	The survey results were skewed because only young people responded.
snotty	Informal: rude and behaving as if you think you're better than other people.	The waiter was surprisingly snotty considering how empty the restaurant was.
gaudy	Too brightly coloured or decorated in a way that looks cheap or tasteless.	She wore a gaudy necklace that clashed with everything else she had on.
murky	Dark and unclear, whether describing water or a confusing, possibly dishonest situation.	The details of the deal remain murky, even to the people involved.
convoluted	Extremely complicated and difficult to follow.	His explanation was so convoluted that nobody understood what had actually happened.
tepid	Only slightly warm, or showing little enthusiasm.	The critics gave the new film a tepid response.
ensuing	Happening immediately after another event, often as a result of it.	The company apologized for the ensuing confusion caused by the price change.
ominous	Suggesting that something bad is about to happen.	Dark clouds gathered on the horizon, an ominous sign for the picnic.

Word	Definition	Example
kindred	Having a similar nature, interests, or origin; closely related.	The two writers became close friends the moment they realized they were kindred spirits.
fraught	Full of something unpleasant, especially danger, difficulty, or tension.	The negotiations were fraught with tension from the very first meeting.
zealous	Showing great energy and enthusiasm in support of a cause or belief.	The new volunteer was almost too zealous, showing up an hour before everyone else.
gilded	Covered with a thin layer of gold, or having a falsely attractive, privileged appearance.	He grew up in a gilded world of private jets and country clubs.
puny	Small and weak.	The kitten looked puny next to its much bigger siblings.
akin	Similar to something, or of the same kind.	Her fear of public speaking is akin to stage fright before a performance.
strapped	Informal: having very little money.	We were pretty strapped for cash during our first year of university.
gallant	Brave, or showing polite, old-fashioned respect and attention, especially towards women.	The gallant knight offered to carry her bags without being asked.
slothful	Lazy and unwilling to work or make an effort.	He spent a slothful Sunday doing absolutely nothing but watching TV.
despondent	Feeling very sad and without much hope.	She became despondent after failing the exam for the second time.

Word	Definition	Example
gnawing	Describing a feeling, especially worry or doubt, that continues and slowly gets worse.	A gnawing sense of doubt kept her awake most of the night.
haughty	Behaving as though you think you're better and more important than other people.	The haughty waiter looked down at us for asking about the prices.
irksome	Annoying, especially in a way that continues for a long time.	The constant dripping of the tap was a minor but irksome problem.
sheer	Used to emphasize the size, degree, or amount of something; also completely vertical.	It was sheer luck that we found a parking spot right outside.

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Verbs

Word	Definition	Example
stoop	To bend your body forward and down; also, to lower your moral standards to do something bad.	I can't believe he'd stoop so low as to lie about it.
dupe	To trick or deceive someone.	The scammers duped several elderly residents out of their savings.
smite/smitten	To hit someone hard (literary); "smitten" means suddenly and strongly attracted to someone.	He was completely smitten the moment he saw her.
thwart	To prevent someone from succeeding in a plan or action.	Bad weather thwarted their attempt to reach the summit.
wallow	To lie or roll around in mud or water for pleasure; also, to remain in an unpleasant emotional state for too long.	He spent the whole weekend wallowing in self-pity.
hone	To improve a skill over time through practice.	She spent years honing her craft before opening her own studio.
ooze	To flow out slowly through a small opening; also, to clearly show a quality.	He walked into the room oozing confidence.
swamp	To overwhelm someone with too much of something.	The office was swamped with complaints after the announcement.
construe	To understand or interpret something in a particular way.	Her silence was construed as agreement.
lump	To put different things together into one group without much care, treating them as if they were the same.	It's unfair to lump all the students together based on one test.

Word	Definition	Example
warp	To bend or twist something out of its natural shape; also to badly affect someone's judgment.	Years of criticism had warped his self-confidence.
gawk (at)	To stare at someone or something in a rude, obvious way, often out of surprise.	Tourists stood gawking at the unusual street performance.
meddle	To interfere in someone else's business without being asked.	She always meddles in her children's relationships.
woo	To try to gain someone's affection or support.	The company is trying to woo younger customers with a new app.
dabble	To try an activity in a casual way, without much commitment.	He's dabbled in painting since he retired.
muster	To gather together, especially courage, strength, or support.	It took all the courage she could muster to give the speech.
relinquish	To give up a position, right, or possession, often unwillingly.	The king was forced to relinquish his throne.
deviate	To move away from a usual or expected course, plan, or standard.	The pilot had to deviate from the planned route because of the storm.
substantiate	To provide facts or evidence to support a claim.	The journalist couldn't substantiate the rumor, so she didn't publish it.
reconcile	To make two people friends again after an argument, or to make two ideas or facts consistent.	It took years for the two brothers to reconcile.

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Nouns

Word	Definition	Example
inkling	A slight suspicion or idea about something.	I had an inkling something was wrong the moment she walked in.
clincher	The final fact, argument, or event that settles or decides something.	The price was good, but the free delivery was the clincher.
scorn	A strong feeling that someone or something does not deserve any respect.	He looked at the offer with obvious scorn.
vermin	Small wild animals, like rats or insects, that damage crops or food, or are considered a pest.	The old barn was overrun with vermin.
liaison	Communication and cooperation between two people or groups, or the person who manages that connection.	She acts as the liaison between the design team and the client.
stalemate	A situation in which neither side in an argument or conflict can win or make progress.	The talks have reached a stalemate, with neither side willing to compromise.
aggro	Informal, British: aggressive behavior or trouble, often between groups.	There was a bit of aggro outside the club after closing time.
plaintiff	The person who brings a legal case against someone else in court.	The plaintiff claimed the company had ignored her complaints for years.
swine	A pig; also used as an insult for someone considered unpleasant or dishonest.	He called his ex-business partner an absolute swine.
cohort	A group of people who share a similar characteristic, or a person's group of close supporters.	The politician arrived at the event with several of his closest cohorts.

Word	Definition	Example
trepidation	A feeling of fear or anxiety about something that is about to happen.	She opened the exam results with a mix of excitement and trepidation.
codger	Informal, often affectionate: an old man, especially one seen as slightly odd.	The old codger down the street still rides his bike everywhere.
sneer	An expression or remark that shows you think someone or something is stupid or not worth respecting.	He gave a sneer when I mentioned my new job.
ire	Strong anger.	The decision drew the ire of local residents.
resilience	The ability to recover quickly from difficulties.	Her resilience after the accident amazed everyone who knew her.
ambiguity	The quality of having more than one possible meaning, causing confusion.	There was a lot of ambiguity in the contract's wording.
discrepancy	A difference between two things that should be the same.	There was a discrepancy between the two witnesses' accounts.
connotation	An idea or feeling that a word gives in addition to its main meaning.	The word 'cheap' has a more negative connotation than 'affordable'.
repercussion	An unwanted, often indirect result of an action, felt some time later.	Cutting the funding will have serious repercussions for the whole department.
integrity	The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.	Everyone respected her for her integrity, even under pressure.

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Phrasal Verbs

Word	Definition	Example
churn out sth	To produce a large quantity of something quickly, often without much care for quality.	The factory churns out thousands of these toys every day.
wuss out	Informal: to decide not to do something because you're too scared or nervous.	He was going to go skydiving, but he wussed out at the last minute.
be cooped/coop up	To be kept inside a small space for a long time.	The kids were cooped up indoors all week because of the rain.
badger someone into doing sth	To keep asking or pressuring someone until they agree to do something.	My sister badgered me into going to the party with her.
trample upon	To walk over something carelessly and damage it; also to disregard someone's rights or feelings.	The new policy tramples upon basic employee rights.
bawl out	Informal: to shout angrily at someone for something they did wrong.	The coach bawled out the team after they lost the match.
dote on someone	To show great, often excessive, love and attention to someone.	Grandma absolutely dotes on her grandchildren.
hold back	To stop yourself from expressing a feeling, or to prevent something from happening.	He could barely hold back his laughter during the ceremony.
bring about	To cause something to happen.	The invention of the internet brought about huge changes in how we communicate.
come up with	To think of or produce an idea, plan, or solution.	The team came up with a clever solution overnight.

Word	Definition	Example
fall through	To fail to happen after being planned.	Our holiday plans fell through when the flights got cancelled.
get away with	To do something wrong without being caught or punished for it.	I can't believe he got away with cheating on the test.
put up with	To accept or tolerate something unpleasant without complaining.	I don't know how she puts up with all that noise.
take after	To resemble an older relative in appearance or character.	He definitely takes after his father — same temper and everything.
look down on	To think you are better than someone, or to consider something inferior.	She never looks down on people who have less than her.
make up for	To compensate for something negative.	He brought flowers to make up for missing her birthday.
stand up for	To defend or support someone or something, especially when they are being criticized.	She always stands up for her younger brother at school.
go through with	To complete something you had planned, even though it might be difficult.	In the end, she decided to go through with the surgery.
keep up with	To move or progress at the same rate as someone or something else.	It's hard to keep up with all the new apps that come out.
run into	To meet someone by chance, or to experience an unexpected problem.	We ran into some unexpected costs during the renovation.

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Idioms & Phrases

Word	Definition	Example
keep a lid on sth	To control or limit something so it doesn't get worse or become public.	The company is trying to keep a lid on the scandal until the investigation ends.
playing for keeps	Treating a situation as serious and permanent, not as a game.	Once they signed the contract, everyone knew they were playing for keeps.
on my account	Because of me, or for my sake.	Please don't change your plans on my account.
out of left field	Completely unexpected, surprising.	His question came totally out of left field — nobody was ready for it.
be that as it may	Used to admit that something is true, before making a different or opposing point.	Be that as it may, we still need to finish the report by Friday.
at someone's beck and call	Always available and ready to do whatever someone asks.	As his assistant, she's at his beck and call from early morning to late at night.
skew towards something	To have a tendency or bias in a particular direction.	Our audience tends to skew towards a younger demographic.
leave a blotch on	To damage or spoil someone's reputation.	The scandal left a lasting blotch on the company's reputation.
back rent/taxes/pay	Money that is owed from an earlier period and has not yet been paid.	He finally settled his back rent after months of reminders.
wuss	Informal noun: a person who is not brave, often used to tease someone for being too cautious.	Don't be such a wuss, it's just a small spider!

Word	Definition	Example
read between the lines	To understand the real, hidden meaning of something, beyond what is literally said.	She didn't say she was unhappy, but if you read between the lines, it was obvious.
bite the bullet	To make yourself do something difficult or unpleasant that you have been avoiding.	I finally bit the bullet and booked the dentist appointment.
jump on the bandwagon	To start supporting or doing something only because it has suddenly become popular.	Once the trend took off, every brand jumped on the bandwagon.
go the extra mile	To make a special effort to achieve something or help someone.	The staff always go the extra mile to make guests feel welcome.
bend over backwards	To try extremely hard to help someone or achieve something.	They bent over backwards to make sure the wedding went perfectly.
food for thought	Something that makes you think seriously about a subject.	His speech gave the audience a lot of food for thought.
a blessing in disguise	Something that seems bad at first but turns out to have a good result.	Losing that job was a blessing in disguise — I found something much better.
add insult to injury	To make a bad situation even worse, especially by doing something unfair or hurtful.	They cancelled my flight and, to add insult to injury, lost my luggage too.
be in the same boat	To be in the same difficult situation as someone else.	Don't worry, we're all in the same boat with this deadline.
have the upper hand	To be in a stronger or more powerful position than someone else.	After the merger, the larger company clearly had the upper hand in negotiations.

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