Everyday English Words and Idioms

Useful English Vocabulary List

• To Take After: To resemble a parent or relative in appearance or character. Example: She takes after her mother in her love of music.
• To See Eye to Eye: To agree fully with someone. Example: We see eye to eye on most important issues.
• To Scold: To rebuke or reprimand someone angrily. Example: She scolded John because of his bad behavior.
• To Speak Your Mind: To say exactly what you think, even if it is not polite or popular. Example: She is not afraid to speak her mind, even if it upsets people.
• To Kill Time: To do something to make time pass while waiting for something else. Example: I'm going to kill time doing some math exercises.
• To Give Someone a Hard Time: To criticize or trouble someone. Example: Josh's pals were giving him a hard time about his girlfriend.
• To Stick to Your Guns: To refuse to change your beliefs or actions despite pressure to do so. Example: David's family was against him becoming an actor, but he stuck to his guns.
• To Get Rid Of: To remove or dispose of something unwanted. Example: Now let's get rid of all this stuff.
• To Be Off Work: To be absent from work, typically due to illness or leave. Example: She was off work because her relatives came from Belgium.
• To Slurp: To eat or drink with a loud sucking sound. Example: Please stop slurping your coffee. It's a bit annoying.
• To Drip: To fall in drops. Example: Water is dripping from that leaky faucet.
• To Groan: To make a deep, inarticulate sound in response to pain or despair. Example: While she was at church, she started to groan.
• To Yell: To shout in a loud, sharp way. Example: She was so sad, so she started to yell.
• To Slam: To shut a door, window, or lid forcefully and loudly, or to collide forcefully. Example: The bus slammed into a truck.
• To Commute: To reduce a judicial sentence. Example: His penalty was commuted to three years.
• To Nickname: To give someone or something a descriptive name instead of or in addition to the real name. Example: She is a bit overweight, so her friends nicknamed her 'the whale'.
• To Afford: To have enough money to pay for something. Example: We can't afford to buy that expensive car.
• To Overthrow: To remove forcibly from power. Example: During recent years, there have been some military coups that attempted to overthrow the king.
• To Withdraw: To pull or take back or away. Example: Ruth withdrew her hand from the fire.
• To Besiege: To surround a place with armed forces in order to capture it or force its surrender. Example: The army continued to besiege other major cities to the north.
• To Release: To allow or enable to escape from confinement; set free. Example: The army boss decided to release all the prisoners.
• To Moan: To make a long, low sound expressing physical or mental suffering. Example: I can't bear it when he starts to moan.
• To Come Round: To visit someone's house. Example: When your friends come round, they want to do it too, but you can't let them.
• To Wreck: To destroy or severely damage. Example: He was drowned when his ship was wrecked.
• To Cross Your Mind: If something crosses your mind, you think of it. Example: Does the thought of having a panic attack ever cross your mind?
• To Juggle: To continuously toss into the air and catch a number of objects. Example: When they dropped one club out of reach, they continued juggling with the remaining five.
• To Dump: To deposit or leave something in a careless or unwanted place. Example: Some trucks have dumped 1,900 tons of refuse here.
• To Seek: To attempt to find something. Example: They came here to seek a warmer place.
• Alike: Similar to each other. Example: The brothers were very much alike.
• Budget: An estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time. Example: We can't build the house because of the high budget from the agency.
• Breadwinner: A person who earns money to support their family. Example: I also employ about half a dozen workers, some of whom are the sole breadwinners of their families.
• Compulsive: Resulting from or relating to an irresistible urge. Example: He used to eat compulsively, but now he has changed his way of eating.
• Challenging: Testing one's abilities; demanding. Example: My boss told me that I need to do challenging work.
• Edgy: Tense, nervous, or irritable. Example: Instead of being edgy, you should relax.
• Frenzy: A state or period of uncontrolled excitement or wild behavior. Example: Jenny worked herself into a frenzy of rage.
• Gripping: Firmly holding the attention or interest; exciting. Example: His knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel.
• Neatly: In a neat and tidy manner. Example: She is always very neatly dressed.
• Loan: A thing that is borrowed, especially a sum of money that is expected to be paid back with interest. Example: We can't pay for the car unless we receive a loan.
• Harmless: Not able or likely to cause harm. Example: The venom of most spiders is harmless to humans.
• Skinny: Unattractively thin. Example: He doesn't eat enough, so he is skinny.