B2 English vocabulary list

Work and business (25)

From the work word of the day: each word has a page with notes, mistakes and five questions once it is out.

• acknowledge verb To accept or admit that something is true. He acknowledged that he had made a mistake.
• agenda noun A list of the things to be discussed at a meeting, in the order you will discuss them. Please send the agenda before the meeting starts.
• applicant noun A person who formally asks for a job, a place on a course or something else, usually in writing. There were over a hundred applicants for the job.
• brainstorm verb To think of many ideas quickly, often in a group, before you decide which ones are good. Let’s brainstorm some names for the new café.
• clarify verb To make something easier to understand by giving more detail or by explaining it again. Could you clarify what you mean by next week?
• competitor noun A person or company that tries to win the same customers or prizes as you. Our main competitor just lowered its prices.
• compromise noun An agreement in which each side gives up something it wanted so that both can accept the result. We found a compromise on the price.
• deadline noun The latest time or date by which you must finish something. The deadline for applications is 30 November.
• expense noun Money that you spend on something, especially for your job, your home or your business. Hotel and food are on the company’s expense.
• feedback noun Comments about someone’s work or actions that tell them what was good and what could be better. Thanks for the feedback on my presentation.
• follow up phrasal verb To do something more after a first step, for example to contact someone again about an email, a meeting or a job application. I’ll follow up with an email after the call.
• freelance adjective Working for yourself and being paid by the job, instead of working for one company all the time. She works as a freelance photographer.
• internship noun A short job, often unpaid or low-paid, that a student or new graduate does to gain experience. She did a three-month internship at a design studio.
• invoice noun A document that lists the goods or services you provided and the money the customer must pay. I’ll send you the invoice by the end of the week.
• negotiate verb To talk with someone to reach an agreement, for example about a price, a salary or a deal. We negotiated a better price for the flat.
• overtime noun Time you work after your normal hours, or the extra pay you get for it. I worked overtime every day before the launch.
• postpone verb To move an event or a task to a later time than planned. The match was postponed because of heavy rain.
• prioritise verb To decide which things are most important and deal with them first. I need to prioritise my work this week.
• productivity noun How much good work a person, a team or a machine can do in a given time. Our productivity went up when we changed the schedule.
• punctual adjective Arriving or doing something at exactly the time agreed, neither late nor early. She is always punctual for meetings.
• reschedule verb To change the time or date of something that was planned, to a new one. Can we reschedule our meeting to Thursday?
• resign verb To tell your employer officially that you are leaving your job. He resigned last week to start his own company.
• revenue noun The money a company earns from selling its goods or services, before costs are taken away. The shop’s revenue rose by ten percent last year.
• thorough adjective Done carefully and completely, with attention to every detail. The police carried out a thorough search of the house.
• workload noun The amount of work a person or a team has to do. My workload has doubled since Anna left.

Travel (31)

From the travel word of the day: each word has a page with notes, mistakes and five questions once it is out.

• accommodation noun A place to stay while you travel, such as a hotel, a hostel or an apartment. The price includes flights and accommodation.
• backpacker noun A person who travels cheaply, carrying a rucksack and staying in simple places. The hostel was full of young backpackers.
• baggage claim noun The area in an airport where you collect your bags after a flight. Meet me at baggage claim after you land.
• commute verb To travel regularly between your home and your work or school. I commute to the city by train every day.
• currency noun The money used in a country, such as the euro, the dollar or the yen. What is the local currency in Thailand?
• customs noun The place at a border or airport where officers check what you are bringing into the country. We went through customs and picked up our bags.
• delay noun A period of time when something happens later than planned. There was a two-hour delay at the airport.
• destination noun The place where a person or thing is going, especially at the end of a journey. Our final destination is Lisbon.
• exchange rate noun The value of one country’s money compared with another’s. The exchange rate is good for tourists this month.
• expire verb To stop being valid because the date for using it has passed. My passport expires next month.
• hike noun A long walk in the countryside or in the mountains. We went on a hike up the hill.
• hostel noun A cheap place to stay where you often share a room with other travellers. We stayed in a youth hostel near the beach.
• immigration noun The place where officers check your passport when you enter a country, and also the process of moving to live in a new country. The queue for immigration was very long.
• insurance noun An arrangement where you pay regular money to a company, and it pays you if something bad happens, such as an accident or a lost bag. Do you have travel insurance for your trip?
• itinerary noun A detailed plan of a journey: where you will go, when, and how you will travel. The travel agent emailed us the full itinerary.
• jet lag noun The tired, confused feeling you get after a long flight across time zones, because your body clock has not caught up. I had terrible jet lag for three days after flying to Tokyo.
• landmark noun A building or place that is easy to see and recognise, often a famous one. The Eiffel Tower is the most famous landmark in Paris.
• layover noun A stop between two flights on the same journey, when you wait at an airport for your next plane. We have a three-hour layover in Doha.
• queue noun A line of people waiting for something, one behind the other. There was a long queue at the passport desk.
• refund noun Money that is given back to you when you return something or cancel a service. The airline gave us a full refund.
• remote adjective Far away from towns and other people. We stayed in a remote village in the mountains.
• reservation noun An arrangement to keep a hotel room, a table or a seat for you. I made a reservation for two at eight o’clock.
• route noun The way you go from one place to another. Which route do you take to work?
• sightseeing noun Visiting interesting places in a town or country as a tourist. We spent the whole day sightseeing in Prague.
• souvenir noun Something you buy or keep to remember a place or a trip. I bought a small teapot as a souvenir.
• stranded adjective Left in a place and unable to leave, for example because transport has stopped or you have no money. We were stranded at the airport for two days.
• timetable noun A list that shows the times when buses, trains or planes leave and arrive. According to the timetable, the next bus is at nine.
• tourism noun The business of providing services for people who travel for pleasure, such as hotels, tours and transport. Tourism is the main source of income on the island.
• vacancy noun A room in a hotel or a job that is free and available. The sign in the window said “No vacancies”.
• valid adjective Officially acceptable and still allowed to be used, for example a passport or a ticket. Is your passport valid for six more months?
• wander verb To walk slowly around a place without a plan or a fixed destination. We wandered through the old town all afternoon.

Tech and the internet (29)

From the tech word of the day: each word has a page with notes, mistakes and five questions once it is out.

• attachment noun A file that you send with an email. I’ve sent the contract as an attachment.
• back up phrasal verb To make an extra copy of your files or data, so you do not lose them if something goes wrong. Back up your phone before you update it.
• bookmark noun A saved link to a web page that lets you return to it quickly. I made a bookmark of the recipe page.
• buffering noun The short stops in a video or song while your device waits for more data to load. The video keeps buffering, so I’ll watch it later.
• bug noun A mistake in a program that makes it behave in the wrong way. The update fixed a bug in the login screen.
• crash verb When a program or a computer suddenly stops working and closes. The app crashed when I opened the file.
• emoji noun A small picture, like a smiling face, that you add to a message to show a feeling or an idea. She ended her text with a smiley emoji.
• feature noun A useful or interesting part of a product, such as a camera on a phone or a search tool in an app. The new feature lets you edit a message after sending it.
• freeze verb When a screen or program stops moving and does not respond to anything you do. My laptop keeps freezing when I type.
• gadget noun A small electronic or mechanical device that does a useful job. He loves new gadgets like smart watches.
• glitch noun A small fault that stops something, usually a machine or an app, from working properly for a short time. A glitch in the app logged everyone out.
• hacker noun A person who gets into other people’s computers or accounts without permission. A hacker stole thousands of passwords.
• hashtag noun A word or phrase with the # sign in front of it, used on social media to group posts about one topic. She added a hashtag to her photo.
• install verb To put a program or app on a device so that you can use it. I installed the new game last night.
• notification noun A short message that appears on your phone or computer to tell you something new has happened. I got a notification from my bank.
• offline adjective Not connected to the internet. You can read these articles offline.
• patch noun A small piece of code added to a program to fix a problem or close a security hole. The company released a patch to fix the crash.
• pop-up noun A small window that suddenly appears on a screen, often with an advert or a question. A pop-up asked me to subscribe to the newsletter.
• privacy noun The right to keep your personal information and your private life away from other people. I care about my online privacy.
• refresh verb To load a web page again so that it shows the newest information. Refresh the page if it doesn’t load.
• router noun A small device at home that connects your computers and phones to the internet. Unplug the router and plug it in again.
• settings noun The options on a phone, app or computer that let you choose how it works. Open the settings and turn on dark mode.
• shortcut noun A quicker way to do something on a computer or to get somewhere. Ctrl+C is a keyboard shortcut for copying.
• spam noun Unwanted emails or messages, usually advertising, sent to many people. My inbox is full of spam.
• storage noun The space on a device or online where files, photos and apps are kept. My phone has almost no storage left.
• stream verb To watch or listen to something on the internet as it plays, without saving it first. I stream music on my phone every day.
• subscription noun Money you pay regularly to use a service, such as a streaming site or a magazine. I cancelled my subscription to the music app.
• upload verb To send a file from your phone or computer to the internet, for example to a website. I uploaded my photos to the shared album.
• wearable noun A small electronic device that you wear, such as a smartwatch or a fitness band. Wearables can count your steps and sleep.

Health and body (19)

From the health word of the day: each word has a page with notes, mistakes and five questions once it is out.

• bleed verb To lose blood from the body. My finger is bleeding. Do you have a plaster?
• cope verb To deal successfully with something difficult. How do you cope with stress?
• dizzy adjective Feeling as if everything is spinning, and that you might fall. I felt dizzy when I stood up too fast.
• fever noun A body temperature that is higher than normal, usually because of an infection. She has a high fever and needs rest.
• heal verb To become healthy again, or to make something healthy again, when talking about a wound, a bone or a feeling. The cut will heal in a few days.
• injury noun Damage to a part of your body, for example from an accident or a fall. He missed the match because of a knee injury.
• mental health noun The state of your thoughts and feelings, and how well you are coping with life. Mental health is as important as physical health.
• painkiller noun A medicine that reduces pain. I took a painkiller for my headache.
• prescription noun A doctor’s written instruction that lets you get a particular medicine from a pharmacy. The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics.
• recover verb To get well again after an illness or an injury. She is recovering from the flu.
• side effect noun An unwanted result of a medicine, in addition to the way it helps you. One side effect of this medicine is sleepiness.
• sneeze verb To suddenly blow air out of your nose and mouth, because something irritates your nose. I always sneeze when it’s dusty.
• sore adjective Painful, especially after exercise or when something is irritated. My legs are sore after the run.
• sprain verb To hurt a joint, such as your ankle or wrist, by twisting it suddenly, so it swells and hurts but is not broken. I sprained my ankle playing football.
• stress noun A feeling of pressure or worry caused by problems in your life. I’m under a lot of stress at work.
• stretch verb To pull your muscles or limbs out to make them longer and looser. I stretch for ten minutes before I run.
• sweat verb To produce water on your skin because of heat, exercise or nerves. I sweat a lot when I run.
• treatment noun Medical care given to a person to cure an illness or reduce pain. She is receiving treatment for a back problem.
• workout noun A session of physical exercise to keep fit. I do a thirty-minute workout every morning.

Everyday life and home (26)

From the home word of the day: each word has a page with notes, mistakes and five questions once it is out.

• bargain noun Something you buy for less than its normal price. At ten euros, the jacket was a bargain.
• brunch noun A meal in the late morning that replaces both breakfast and lunch. Let’s meet for brunch on Sunday.
• cosy adjective Warm, comfortable and relaxing, especially a small place. We spent a cosy evening by the fire.
• craving noun A very strong wish for a particular food or thing. I have a craving for chocolate.
• delivery noun Bringing goods to a person’s home or workplace. The delivery will arrive between nine and noon.
• deposit noun Money you pay at the start, to keep a flat, a hotel room or a product, which you may get back later. I paid a month’s rent as a deposit.
• discount noun A reduction in the usual price of something. Students get a ten percent discount.
• DIY noun Making or repairing things in your home yourself, instead of paying a professional. He loves DIY and built the shelves himself.
• errand noun A short trip to do a small job, such as posting a letter or buying milk. I have a few errands to run this afternoon.
• flatmate noun A person you share a flat or apartment with, who is not your family. My flatmate and I split the rent.
• groceries noun The food and other things you buy in a supermarket for your home. I put the groceries on the kitchen table.
• ingredient noun One of the foods that you use to make a dish. Flour, eggs and sugar are the main ingredients.
• landlord noun A person who owns a house or flat and rents it to someone else. My landlord is fixing the heating this week.
• laundry noun Clothes that need to be washed, or that have just been washed. I do the laundry every Sunday.
• neighbourhood noun The part of a town where you live and the people who live there. It’s a quiet neighbourhood with a small park.
• owe verb To have to pay money back to someone, or to be in debt to someone. I owe my brother twenty euros.
• parcel noun Something wrapped in paper or put in a box, to be sent by post. A parcel arrived for you this morning.
• plumber noun A person whose job is to fit and repair pipes, taps and toilets. We called a plumber to fix the leak.
• receipt noun A piece of paper that shows you have paid for something. Keep the receipt in case you want to return it.
• recycle verb To process used things such as paper, glass or plastic so they can be used again. We recycle glass and paper at home.
• routine noun The things you do regularly in the same order every day or week. My morning routine is the same every day.
• savings noun Money that you keep in a bank for the future, not spend now. I’m using my savings to buy a car.
• second-hand adjective Used before by someone else, not new. I bought a second-hand bike for forty euros.
• stain noun A mark that is difficult to remove, made by something like coffee, wine or grease. I can’t get this coffee stain out of my shirt.
• takeaway noun Hot food that you buy in a restaurant and take home to eat, or the shop that sells it. Let’s get a takeaway tonight.
• vacuum verb To clean a floor or carpet with a machine that sucks up dust. I vacuum the living room on Saturdays.

Feelings and people (20)

From the feelings word of the day: each word has a page with notes, mistakes and five questions once it is out.

• apologise verb To say sorry for something you did wrong. I apologised to her for being late.
• awkward adjective Making you feel uncomfortable or embarrassed. There was an awkward silence after his joke.
• embarrassed adjective Feeling shy, awkward or ashamed because of something that happened in front of other people. I was so embarrassed when I forgot his name.
• forgive verb To stop being angry with someone who has done something wrong. I’ll never forgive him for what he said.
• frustrated adjective Annoyed because you cannot do or change what you want. I’m frustrated because the website keeps crashing.
• genuine adjective Real and true, not fake. Is this genuine leather?
• guilty adjective Feeling bad because you think you have done something wrong. I feel guilty about forgetting her birthday.
• homesick adjective Sad because you are away from home and miss your family, friends and familiar places. I felt homesick during my first week abroad.
• impatient adjective Annoyed because you have to wait or because something is slow. The customers got impatient in the long queue.
• jealous adjective Feeling unhappy because someone has something you want, or because you are afraid of losing someone’s love. I’m jealous of your new bike.
• optimistic adjective Expecting good things to happen in the future. I’m optimistic about the interview.
• outgoing adjective Friendly, open and enjoying meeting people. She’s outgoing and makes friends easily.
• overwhelmed adjective Feeling that you have too much to deal with, or feeling an emotion so strongly that it is hard to control. I felt overwhelmed in my first week at the new job.
• regret verb To feel sorry or sad about something that you did or did not do. I regret not studying harder at school.
• relieved adjective Feeling calmer and happier because something bad or worrying did not happen or has ended. I was so relieved when I heard the good news.
• reluctant adjective Not wanting to do something, so you do it slowly or only because you have to. He was reluctant to admit he was wrong.
• sensitive adjective Easily upset or hurt, or quick to notice and understand other people’s feelings. He is very sensitive about his weight.
• stubborn adjective Refusing to change your mind or way of doing things, even when other people ask you to. My father is too stubborn to see a doctor.
• thrilled adjective Extremely happy and excited. I’m thrilled to see you again.
• vivid adjective Very clear, bright and full of detail, so it seems real. I have a vivid memory of my first day at school.

Kitchen (2)

From the kitchen word list.

• chop verb Kitchen · Cooking actions
• tap noun Kitchen · Appliances and fixtures

Fruits and vegetables (1)

From the fruits and vegetables word list.

• raw adjective Fruits and vegetables · Taste, texture and freshness

Clothes (1)

From the clothes word list.

• loose adjective Clothes · Wear, fit and look after

Body (8)

From the body word list.

• cheek noun Body · Head and face
• elbow noun Body · Arms and hands
• heel noun Body · Legs and feet
• hip noun Body · The body and what is inside
• lung noun Body · The body and what is inside
• palm noun Body · Arms and hands
• thumb noun Body · Arms and hands
• wrist noun Body · Arms and hands