50 Difficult Words, Meanings And Examples That Are Essential For International English Exams. (B2 to C2)

Belie – To give a false representation to; misrepresent
Example – The smile on his lips belies the pain he’s been feeling 

Arrant – Complete and wholly
Example – You are an arrant fool

Untoward – Inconvenient
Example – I find attending lectures on Zoom untoward as it does not make me feel included in the class

Byzantine – Complex and intricate
Example – You can’t just end a marriage like that, you have to complete the byzantine procedures of filing a divorce case in the courts

Conciliate – To make peace with
Example – All attempts at conciliation have failed and civil war seems inevitable

Equivocate – To speak vaguely, with the intention of misleading someone
Example – Politicians often say that they will work on the issue of climate change, but they are just equivocating to get the votes

Truculent – Have a fierce, savage nature
Example – The truculent attitude of farmers to cheaper imports is inspiring

Diatribe – A verbal attack against a person
Example – Because Sheila was unhappy with the administration, she launched a lengthy diatribe against the board during lunch.

Quisling – A traitor
Example – He had the quisling owner of the factory arrested

Artless – without cunning or deceit
Example – My artless comment was mistaken for rudeness

Blinkered – To have a limited perspective
Example – They’ve got a very blinkered view of life

Maudlin – Overly emotional
Example – You didn’t invite me out here to listen to my maudlin rambling.

Invective – Abusive language
Example – A woman had hurled racist invective at the family.

Remonstrate – To make objections while pleading
Example – Whenever I refuse my young daughter anything, she likes to remonstrate by stomping her feet on the floor

Sartorial – Related to fashion
Example – The wedding party arrived in sartorial splendor.

Sybarite – A person who indulges in luxury
Example – A Sybarite on an inadequate income, was ever the man of action.

Inundate – Flooded
Example – Her office was inundated with requests for tickets.

Curmudgeon – A surly person
Example – Clearly, I only play a curmudgeon in the newspaper. 

Anodyne – Something that soothes or relieves pain
Example – Morphine is the greatest anodyne we possess, and no drug yet discovered equals it in pain-relieving power. 

Gaffe – A socially awkward act
Example – He didn’t realize what a gaffe he’d made.

Vie – Compete for something
Example – They are both vying for the same managerial position.

Decimation – Killing a large part of the population
Example – It is likely the category five hurricane will decimate the small beach town.

Garrulous – Talking too much
Example – He was so garrulous that he could not keep a secret.

Hubris – Overbearing pride
Example – Her humble attitude was refreshing in a society to be saturated by hubris:

Dovetail – To fit together tightly
Example – I’m following up on a few things that might dovetail.

Impetuous – Characterized by undue haste and lack of thought
Example – In the past, impetuous young men would drop out of college and run off to join the army.

Circumlocution – Expressing someone in an indirect way
Example – His admission came after years of circumlocution.

Surreptitious – Taking pains not to be caught or detected
Example – He made a surreptitious recording with a concealed hand-held machine. 

Peripatetic – Traveling by foot
Example – He had a peripatetic career as a salesman.

Magisterial – Someone who exercises unwarranted power
Example – Their jurisdictions coincide for the most part with the magisterial and fiscal boundaries.

Asperity – Harsh in manner 
Example – There was a touch of asperity in his tone.

Decry – Express strong disapproval of 
Example – He is impatient with those who decry the scheme.

Puerile – Displaying a lack of maturity 
Example – Since my son is thirty-three years of age, I do not find his puerile behavior amusing.

Incontrovertible – Impossible to deny
Example – We have incontrovertible evidence of what took place.

Inviolate – Something that must be kept sacred 
Example – The constitution proclaims that public property shall be inviolate.

Puissant – Powerful
Example – The young man has a puissant body.

Cosset – Excessive indulgence
Example – He cosseted her with flowers and champagne.

Eclectic – Deriving the best ideas and styles from a diverse range of sources
Example – My universities offer an eclectic mix of courses.

Iconoclast – Someone who criticizes or attacks cherished ideas and beliefs
Example – His son Gegnesius 722 was taken to Constantinople, where he won over to his opinions the iconoclast emperor, Leo the Isaurian. 

Anachronism – Something that is inappropriate for the given time period
Example – In today’s computer world, a floppy disk is an anachronism.

Enormity – An act of extreme wickedness
Example – She stared at the fire, shocked by the enormity of what she had done.

Dolorous – Showing sorrow
Example – Sally stopped. Then she uttered a dolorous phrase that we could all understand. My dog is dead, she said, as tears filled her eyes.

Solicitous – Showing hovering attentiveness
Example – I appreciated his solicitous inquiry about my health.

Impugn – Attack as false or wrong
Example – Her motives have been scrutinized and impugned.

Despot – A cruel and oppressive dictator
Example – The despot claimed to be the chosen instrument of divine providence.

Splenetic – Very irritable
Example – Next in line for the splenetic outburst of a disaffected supporter: Martin Chuffing Edwards.

Abrogate – To revoke 
Example – The Supreme Court can abrogate laws deemed unconstitutional.

Inveterate – Habitual
Example – She is an inveterate gambler.

Officious – Intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner
Example – ‘I’ll see,’ the nurse said, with an officious toss of her head.

Pillory – Ridicule or expose to public scorn
Example – The offensive thing is that he has been so widely pilloried for doing so.