56

hesitate verb

Synonyms: hesitate, pause, stumble, waver

hesitate

to be slow to speak or make a decision

He hesitated for a moment and then said ‘no’. She’s hesitating about whether to accept the job.

pause

to stop or rest for a short time before continuing

She paused for a second to look at her watch.

stumble

to make mistakes when reading aloud or speaking

She stumbled a little when she had to read the foreign words.

waver

to be unable to decide what to do

He is still wavering about whether or not to leave the company.

57

increase verb

Synonyms: increase, expand, enlarge, extend

Antonyms: decrease, drop

Synonyms:

increase

to make a level or amount higher

The boss increased her salary. The number of soldiers in the area has been increased to fifty thousand.

expand

to increase the size or extent of something

We have plans to expand our business.

enlarge

to make something bigger

We need to enlarge our house now that we have four children. Could you enlarge this photograph?

extend

to make something longer or bigger

We are planning to extend our stay in London. The company has extended my contract for another two years. We’re going to extend our kitchen.

Antonyms:

decrease

to become less

drop

to decrease

58

intelligent adjective

Synonyms: intelligent, bright, clever, able, talented, gifted Antonyms: stupid, unintelligent

Synonyms:

intelligent

able to understand and learn things very well

He’s the most intelligent child in his class.

bright

young and intelligent

Both children are very bright. She’s the brightest student we’ve had for many years.

clever

able to think and learn quickly

Clever children can usually do this by the time they are eight years old.

able

good at doing something, or good at doing many things

She’s a very able manager. There are special activities for able children.

talented

with a lot of artistic ability

He’s a very talented writer.

gifted

very clever at something

He was a gifted mathematician.

Antonyms:

stupid

not able to understand or consider things well

unintelligent

showing a lack of intelligence

59

job noun

Synonyms: job, assignment, task, chore, duty

job

a specific piece of work

The children help with little jobs around the house.

assignment

a piece of work that has to be done in a specific time

My literature assignment has to be finished by Wednesday. He was given the assignment of reporting on the war.

task

something, especially a piece of work, that has to be done

Once I had finished my regular tasks I went home. He was given the unpleasant task of telling his mother about it.

chore

a piece of routine work, for example cleaning in a house, that you have to do

household chores

duty

different jobs that have to be done as part of your official work

One of his duties is to lock the doors at night.