ADVANCED Vocabulary—Quiz Included! (High Level Words You Need) | Learn English for Free

Today we’re taking three of my popular GRE  level vocabulary shorts and we’re expanding  

them with more example sentences so you have a fuller idea of how to use these words to

advance your English writing or conversation  skills. There will be a quiz at the end.

First, you’ll see the whole short that introduces  three new words. These are high level English  

words. Words you might see on the GRE which is  the test we take in the US to get into graduate  

school. Then, you’ll see the short again but  this time, after you learn a word. I’ll give  

you more examples from real life so we’ll  learn nine new words this way reviewing as  

we go and at the end, I’ll give you a quiz.  Okay, here’s the first set of three words:

What is it called when you make an  unpleasant feeling less intense?

Assuage. I need a neck massage to assuage  the tension in my shoulders and back.

What word describes something you cannot  

see through or something or  someone not easily understood?

Opaque. The textbook from my new history class is

really opaque. There are a lot  of words in there I don’t know.

What do you call a person or situation that is  mysterious, puzzling or difficult to understand?

An enigma. They’ve discovered a new tomb in Egypt  

but they don’t know the story of who  was buried there. It’s a total enigma.

Let’s review.

To make an unpleasant feeling less intense. That’s  assuage. You know the word assuage kind of reminds  

me of the word ‘sausage’ and I know sausage  in the past or maybe still is sometimes made  

with the intestines of other animals as the  casing and intestines reminds me of the word  

‘intense’. I’m going to remember that. Assuage  – to make an unpleasant feeling less intense.

This meeting, I mean considering all of that,  

it was a brief meeting. Did it do anything  to assuage any of those deep concerns?

In the last few months of his life, the only  thing that could assuage his pain was pot.

It can also make it even easier if we already  know we have something in common like they  

enjoy coffee too, or like practicing yoga,  or we do the same thing for work. You name  

it. Finding just a little thread of  similarity can give us something to  

talk about and hopefully assuage any of  those anxious feelings we may be having.

What is it called when you make an  unpleasant feeling less intense?

Assuage. I need a neck massage to assuage  the tension in my shoulders and back.

Opaque. This is something that you cannot  see through. I’m thinking of a glass of  

water and a glass of milk. Water, you can  see through. Milk, no. It is opaque. Opaque,  

something you cannot see through or  something or someone not easily understood.

That’s a little bit similar to enigma where we  said, a person or situation that’s mysterious,  

puzzling or difficult to understand. So  enigma, describing a person difficulty to  

understand is similar from opaque,  someone not easily understood.

Other than execution, incarceration is the most  intrusive power of the state. The deprivation of  

citizen’s liberty. But no government institution  is more opaque and less accountable than prison.

There’s a giant opaque thick dust cloud  around this star and it’s very uneven  

and people wonder if maybe two planets  have recently collided. Maybe two planets  

collided and threw up this giant cloud of  dust that’s still kind of settling down.

So I talked about introducing reading on  social media and the reason I do this is  

because the reason for the reading is  usually opaque to students. Like you’ve  

assigned me chapter four of this textbook  or you want me to read this dead white guy,  

you know why, I don’t get it.  So make that reason obvious.

What word describes something you cannot  

see through or something or  someone not easily understood?

Opaque. The textbook from my new history class is  

really opaque. There are a lot  of words in there I don’t know.

Enigma. This word when you think of if,  think of puzzle. A person or situation  

that’s mysterious, puzzling  or difficult to understand.

I mean, at the center of most of Edward’s plays  is an enigma, and but it is the driving center  

of the play whether it’s the baby or goat or  in delicate balance, the terror, you know.

While 2015 has been a huge year  for advances in LGBT rights,  

bisexuality still remains an  enigma to much of America.

I came back to the US and realized I  needed more education so that I could  

explain this thing that is somehow  an enigma for a lot of people.

What do you call a person or situation that is  mysterious, puzzling or difficult to understand?

An enigma. They’ve discovered a new tomb in Egypt  

but they don’t know the story of who  was buried there. It’s a total enigma.

Here’s the next set of three.

What word is used when you confirm  or make something more certain?

Corroborate. I believed his story because  several other witnesses could corroborate it.

How can you describe something  that lasts for a very short time?

Ephemeral. Some plants in the desert live  only a few hours or bloom only a few hours,  

those flowers are very ephemeral.

What word describes someone who  dislikes humankind and avoids society?

Misanthrope. Honestly, my aunt is a little  bit of a misanthrope. She lives alone,  

hardly ever leaves her house and really  barely communicates with the rest of us.

To confirm or make something more certain.  This is corroborate. Corroborate, to confirm.

That was his buddy, his sidekick so I wanted  to see how you could corroborate this idea  

of friendship so I went to the archives  to see like what he was basing that on.

I’ve seen those reports and obviously our  intelligence community has seen them as  

well. At this point those are reports that  we are not able to corroborate at this time.

Little things that tell you about  Jefferson that tell you about the  

lives that you can check that  can be corroborated from outside  

information so you know that this  person isn’t just making stuff up.

What word is used when you confirm  or make something more certain?

Corroborate. I believed his story because  several other witnesses could corroborate it.

Ephemeral. Something that lasts for a  very short time. We often think of this  

with something that is beautiful. It’s  beautiful but then it’s gone. There’s  

just so much unexpected life in this extreme  environment and the sheer diversity continues  

to challenge our perceptions of where and how  living things can exist, but researchers will  

have to study all of it as quickly as they can  because this underwater world is ephemeral.

And there’s a street artist name De La Vega  who’s really well known. He sells pieces at  

Christie’s and Sellerbies, but he’ll also  do ephemeral art so he’ll tag a chalk in  

the street or you know, pieces of graffiti that  are going to get taken away the next morning.

All of a sudden all the shops are  closed like where is everybody? Why?  

And they’re off gathering het-top because  het-top gets 200 baht a kilo or more so,  

and you go get them for free out of the forest.

Right.

So they’re really highly prized, but they only  come up for about a month, month and a half out  

of the year. And when they come up, they make  some dishes using that particular mushroom.

Amazing.

And so that was the way that I  first connected with the idea  

that there was something  regional, local, seasonal,

Ephemeral.

Yeah, like just like regional American  food or Spanish food or Italian food or  

French food or anywhere where there’s  a regional, seasonal type cuisine.

How can you describe something  that lasts for a very short time?

Ephemeral. Some plants in the desert live  only a few hours or bloom only a few hours,  

those flowers are very ephemeral.

Misanthrope. If you know the suffix  ‘mis’, then you know that is means  

badly or wrongly or misbehave to behave badly.  Misanthrope. Maybe you know that anthropology is  

something you can study in college, the study  of humans, misanthrope. Then it might be easy  

to remember that a misanthrope is someone  who dislikes humankind and avoids society.

But in the movie, you get to know him, he is the  ultimate misanthrope. He does not like people.  

He doesn’t like the weather. He doesn’t like the  way the concrete feels on his shoe leather. I mean  

there’s just nothing he likes. J Paul Getty  was in his day the world’s richest man. Uhm,  

Getty was something of a miser, he was a  misanthrope, uhm, and he was a thoroughly  

unpleasant person to most people who knew  him. Uhm, but he was a passionate collector.

Do you know that your friends have more  friends than you do? Your friends have  

more friends than you do and this is known  as the friendship paradox. Imagine a popular  

person in the social network like a party  host who has hundreds of friends and a  

misanthrope who has just one friend. And you  pick someone at random from the population,  

they were much more likely to know the party host.

What word describes someone who  dislikes humankind and avoids society?

Misanthrope. Honestly, my aunt is a little  bit of a misanthrope. She lives alone,  

hardly ever leaves her house and really  barely communicates with the rest of us.

Here’s the final set of three vocabulary words.

State a noun that describes using every situation  to try to gain power or get an advantage.

Opportunism. Politics is full  of greed and opportunism rather  

than people who actually want to improve society.

What’s a word that means a person subject to  sudden unpredictable changes of mood, fickle?

Mercurial. I had a roommate once that was so  mercurial she was really difficult to live with.

Give a term for irritable, testy, touchy.

Irascible. Unfortunately, my grandfather is  becoming more and more irascible as he ages.

Opportunism. Using a situation to try to  gain power or get an advantage. This is  

similar to the word opportunity. You  see an opportunity and you take it.  

I do want to say that opportunism is used  for someone as a negative trait. It’s like  

they are unfairly taking advantage  of a situation just for themselves.

Opportunism—using a situation to try  to gain power or get an advantage.

We’ll we’ve heard about political confusion and  opportunism in Kansas, we’ve heard about a bungled  

property tax in Jackson County, a troubled school  district in Kansas City and the test, uh for all  

of them is going to be whether they can overcome  the mistrust, the deep sectarian divisions,  

in some cases just political opportunism  and say this is bigger than any one of us.

The middle line is just compromised  with no principle which is opportunism.

State a noun that describes using every situation  to try to gain power or get an advantage.

Opportunism. Politics is full  of greed and opportunism rather  

than people who actually want to improve society.

Mercurial – a person subject to sudden  unpredictable changes of mood or mind, fickle.

When I see the word mercurial, I think of the  word mercury and I know that that’s the smallest  

planet that moves the fastest so I can think  of somebody quickly, changing between moods.

Unpredictable changes of mood or  mind, fickle. That’s mercurial.

Horace Greeley was not the biggest  newspaper man in New York but uh,  

in ways the most influential highly  mercurial figure who would go from  

despair to elation at the drop of a  hat about the progress of the war.

I mean this is sort of the challenge for  Facebook where it’s, you’re dealing with  

all these mercurial teenagers and sort  of you know, the greatest minds of our  

generation are sort of staring intently at  all this data trying to figure out you know,  

what the millennials want  but that’s very difficult.

Born to an absent father and a mercurial mother,  

Byron had a brilliant mind but had a very deep  complex about being born with a misshapen foot.

What’s a word that means  a person subject to sudden  

unpredictable changes of mood or mind, fickle?

Mercurial. I had a roommate once that was so  mercurial, she was really difficult to live with.

Irascible. This means irritable,  testy, touchy. That sounds like me  

if I haven’t had enough sleep several  nights in a row. I’m very irritable,  

I’m very touchy. I might lash out at  you if you annoy me. I am irascible.

It does not vibrate as much, speak slowly,  

the instrument is temperamental, some might  say irascible. And it’s difficult to play.

The reasons why I wanted to do a Happiness  Project was that I felt like I would behave  

myself better if I were happier. And I find  that definitely to be true. I’m more patient,  

I’m more forgiving, I’m less irascible.  Uh, I’m more generous when I’m happier.

When your body stops getting the nicotine,  you lose the pleasurable effects, you become  

irascible, you have anxiety, you become irritable,  you become cranky and is difficult to function.

Give a term for irritable, testy, touchy.

Irascible. Unfortunately, my grandfather is  becoming more and more irascible as he ages.

Now it’s time for the quiz. Keep track of your  score and put it in the comments. Alright,  

let’s quiz you. Four definitions,  four words, you match them.

Make an unpleasant feeling less intense.

Number 1: Make and unpleasant  feeling less intense,

That's assuage, C

Number 2: Confirm or make something more certain

Confirm or make something more certain

That’s corroborate, D.

Number 3: Irritable, testy, touchy

Irritable, testy, touchy. Remember,  

this is like me if I haven’t gotten  enough sleep. That’s irascible.

Number 4: Using a situation to try  to gain power or get at advantage

Using a situation to try to  gain power or get at advantage

That’s A, opportunism.

We’ll do one more section of  matching then we’ll move into  

complete this sentence. So here we  have five definitions, five words.

Number 5: A person or  situation that is mysterious,  

puzzling or difficult or difficult to understand.

A person or situation that is mysterious,  puzzling or difficult or difficult to understand.

E, enigma.

Number 6: Someone who dislikes  humankind and avoids society

Someone who dislikes humankind and avoids society

H, misanthrope.

Number 7: A person subject to sudden  unpredictable changes of mood or mind, fickle.

A person subject to sudden unpredictable  changes of mood or mind, fickle.

F, mercurial.

Number 8: Something you cannot see through  or something or someone not easily understood

Something you cannot see through or  something or someone not easily understood

I, that’s opaque.

Number 9: Something that  lasts for a very short time

Something that lasts for a very short time

G, ephemeral

Here’s a sentence: Which of  the three words works the best?

I knew him my whole life but I never  felt I could guess what he was really  

thinking or what he might say  next. He was a bit of a ___.

Now, what works here, mercurial, that’s  someone who has unpredictable mood swings  

that sort of works but we’re talking  here about what is the person thinking,  

we’re talking about understanding the person.

So for that, enigma is the best choice.  An enigma – a person or situation that’s  

mysterious, puzzling or difficult to understand.

Sentence #2: There was a bogus story  circulating the news in social media a  

couple years ago about kids identifying as  animals and parents demanding that schools  

put litter boxes in the restrooms.  It upsets so many people. I searched  

for legitimate sources for hours but  never found anything to the fake story.

Opaque – means hard to  understand or can’t see through.

Assuage – means to make an unpleasant feeling  less intense. We’re talking about looking for  

information to try to see if this story  is true. We want to corroborate a fake  

story. We we’re unable to corroborate  it, unable to confirm make something  

more certain. This was misinformation. This  was not true. We could not corroborate it.

The cathedral’s windows are made  of beautifully colored ____ glass.

Mercurial. We’ll this doesn’t really describe an  

object because it has to do  with changing mood quickly.

Irascible. Also we know this to  define a person, irritable, testy.

Opaque, can describe a person but it can  also describe an object, something you  

can’t see through. Opaque glass, different from  translucent glass which you can see through.

Opaque. Something that you cannot see  through or something or someone not  

easily understood. In this case, it’s the  part of the definition something that you  

cannot see through. That fits with this sentence.

A guy at work was recently fired for  making personal business deals with  

some of the clients that he had met through the  

company. His ___ shocked the rest of  us; we had all signed non-competes.

A non-compete is something you sign when  you work with a company that says you will  

not compete with the company or you will  not leave that company and immediately go  

work for someone or a company that does  the same thing. So this person was making  

personal business deals with the clients  he met through the company. Not allowed.

So the answer is opportunism. Taking  advantage of a situation. And remember  

I said this is a negative thing. It’s  something that someone does selfishly.

Opportunism. His opportunism  shocked the rest of us.

Okay, last sentence.

My ___ neighbor is always looking to  pick a fight – I had to stop following  

her on social media; her posts  were just too negative and angry.

Okay, so all three words here, opaque,  

that can describe a person difficult to  understand but we’re not talking about  

her being difficult to understand. We’re talking  about her being negative and angry, mercurial,  

this person could be negative and angry but  someone who is mercurial changes their moods  

a lot and this sentence has really only talked  about one thing: Negative and angry, therefore,  

it’s irascible. That means remember, irritable,  testy, touchy, all of these things can feel like  

negative and angry. Someone who’s cranky  or grouchy can be described as erasable.

By the way, the place where I get a lot  of my examples is Youglish.com. When you  

learn a new word, go there and type it in  to see many, sometimes hundreds of examples  

so you can hear how people use the words in  context and get a better idea of the meaning.

Keep your learning going now with this  video and don’t forget to subscribe with  

notifications on so you never miss a  new video. I love being your English  

teacher. That’s it and thanks so  much for using Rachel’s English.