Higher Level Vocab for Natives
Verb
make something more noticeable
The colossal nature of the Magnitude 9.0 earthquake was accentuated by data recording a 20m (65ft) sideways shift in the ocean floor.
Noun
comparison of two things that are similar in some way
De Vinci believed the workings of the human body to be an analogy for the workings of the universe.
Verb
direct one's hopes or ambitions toward achieving something
A chameleon that aspires to be a swashbuckling hero finds himself in a Western town plagued by bandits and is forced to literally play the role in order to protect it.
Adjective
very strange or unusual, esp. so as to cause interest or amusement
Those used to solemn funerary rights may find the coffins of the Ga-Adangbe in Ghana to be bizarre. The specialized caskets are carved to symbolize the deceased.
Adjective
noisy, energetic, and cheerful
Mr. Cosby is the boisterous veteran comedian who has spent the last few years hammering home some brutal truths about self-destructive behavior within the African-American community.
Verb
hide by covering up or making harder to see
camouflage
To camouflage themselves, red-eyed tree frogs cover their blue sides with their back legs, tuck their bright orange feet under their belly, and keep their bulging red eyes shut.
To camouflage themselves, red-eyed tree frogs cover their blue sides with their back legs, tuck their bright orange feet under their belly, and keep their bulging red eyes shut.
Verb
honor the memory of something
George Washington created the Purple Heart Award in 1782 to recognize meritorious service. It now commemorates bravery and recognizes those wounded in service.
Verb
force into service
A secretive renegade counter-terrorist co-opts the world's greatest hacker (who is trying to stay clean) to steal billions in US Government dirty money.
Noun
suitable behavior for the occasion or circumstances
Rumour spread that the wild boy had, in breach of all civilised decorum, seized the Lord Chamberlain's staff and put his hat on before the king.
Noun
conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie
L.A. Noire, the new video game by Rockstar Games where you play as a L.A. detective in the 1940's, is being praised for its engrossing dialogue and slow, deliberate pace.
Adjective
made up of elements from different sources
Christopher Brosius creates scents that are diverse and eclectic. His store, "I Hate Perfume," is at the vanguard of anti-perfume movement.
Noun
intense and eager enjoyment and interest
The relevancy of the monarchy is once again brought into question as the royal wedding looms. Reactions of Britons have ranged from unalloyed enthusiasm to slogans of abolition.
Verb
be strong and healthy or grow well
Are sea otters the new global warming warriors? By preying on urchins - which themselves devour kelp forests - sea otters help the plants to flourish. A kelp forest protected by otters absorbs 12 times as much CO2.
Adjective
extremely impressive in strength or excellence
Serena and Venus Starr Williams took the tennis world by storm when they became the most formidable singles and doubles players to take to the sporting stage in the late 1990's.
Noun
strange or ugly human or animal figure that sticks out from the roof of a building
Milan's main cathedral has put 135 gargoyles, grotesque figures used in Gothic architecture, up for adoption. The campaign seeks protagonists to make good a shortfall caused by cuts to the Italian culture budget.
Noun
member of a small independent group taking part in irregular fighting
This mysterious martial arts is used by Japanese guerrilla fighters. Ninjitsu teaches a variety of ways to surprise and beat your opponent, with the direction to kill.
Noun
recognized leader in some field or of some movement
Howard Bragman is known in Hollywood as the 'Gay Guru,' the go-to publicist for helping celebrities come out of the closet.
Noun
country's history and sites considered to be of value to present generations
The Great Pyramid is part of Egypt's rich heritage. Constructed some 4,500 years ago, this colossal structure was the tallest in the world for thousands of years.
Noun
three-dimensional representation in photographic form
Japan’s newest and biggest pop star differs from most of her peers in one crucial aspect: she is a hologram.
Noun
behavior of people who do things that they tell other people not to do
"I never believed a woman has to fall in love with a guy just because they're having sex. I hated the hypocrisy of it. Men can do whatever, and it's acceptable."
Adjective
not affected or influenced by something
The American message to the Saudis is no one can be immune. The glacial pace of reforms that Saudi Arabia has been engaged in since 2003 must speed up.
Adjective
not showing proper respect
She was known for her breathtaking looks, but fame and beauty has not made Brigitte Bardot happy. 'I am shocking, impertinent and insolent', she said.
Noun
a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning
You may think your toddler is just playing in the sand box, but she may really be conducting a sophisticated scientific experiment and making inferences every time she pours out another scoop of sand.
Noun
a metric unit of length equal to 1000 meters (or 0.621371 miles)
With a little luck and a crack team behind him, Felix Baumgartner plans to skydive into the record books. Climbing to roughly 23 miles (37 kilometers), he'd be the first human to achieve supersonic speed with just his body.
Noun
complex system of paths or tunnels in which it is easy to get lost
These Austrian ice caves are some of the largest known to man. Only a small portion of the labyrinth is open to tourists, but it's enough to feed one's palate for Mother Nature.
Noun
plant forming a low crust or leaf-like growth on rocks, walls, and trees
The green-eyed tree frog has a brownish-green body with rust-colored blotches that allow it blend with the lichen-covered rocks lining the creeks and streams they live near.
Noun
the distance that light travels in a vacuum in 1 year
A US-British team of astronomers discovered a planet 1,200 light years away with ultra-high concentrations of carbon. This supports the idea that it could have mountains made up of diamonds.
Noun
mammal whose young develop in a pouch on the mother's abdomen
The German tabloid Bild has ‘discovered’ a darling cross-eyed opossum named Heidi in the Leipzig Zoo and launched her to marsupial stardom in just a few short weeks.
Noun
something used to represent something else
The sport directly pits two teams against each other in a test of strength. As a metaphor, it describes rivalry between two opposing sides --on the job, in politics, and family dynamics too.
Adjective
composed of a combination of diverse elements
This mosaic image of the Crab Nebula, one of the largest ever taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, is a six-light-year-wide expanding remnant of a star's supernova explosion.
Noun
change in a gene resulting in a new trait
The Munchkin is a relatively new breed of cat created by a naturally occurring genetic mutation that results in cats with abnormally short legs.
Noun
a cloud of gas and dust in outer space
The peculiar Boomerang Nebula is a young planetary nebula and the coldest place found in the Universe so far, with a temperature of -272 Celsius.
Noun
poison that acts on the nervous system
Among the most venomous of snakes, the king cobra can deliver enough neurotoxin in a single bite to kill 20 people, or even an elephant!
Adjective
belonging to or active during the night
The Cuban Solenodon has venomous saliva. It is a nocturnal burrower, living underground, and thus is very rarely seen. They move with an unsteady gait on the surface.
Noun
person, thing, or circumstance causing inconvenience or annoyance
The turkeys of La Conner, Washington, once adored and named official town birds, have become a nuisance and are being rounded up.
Noun
an animal or person that eats both plants and other animals
The blue crab is so named because of its sapphire-tinted claws. These bottom-dwelling omnivores have a prickly disposition and are quick to use their sharp front pincers.
Noun
a form of oxygen that is found in a layer high in the earth's atmosphere
Venezuela's mysterious "Relampago del Catatumbo" is cloud-to-cloud lightning. The frequency of electric discharge makes it a great generator of ozone.
Noun
animal or plant that lives in and feeds off another animal or plant
Anopheles mosquitoes carry the malaria parasite. The blood-seeking females inject these microscopic invaders, each bite acting like an infected hypodermic needle.
Noun
main character in a novel, play, movie, etc.
Kermit the Frog, director and host of the Muppet Show, served as the main protagonist of the series for 120 episodes.
Verb
destroy or defeat (someone or something) completely
Real Madred defender Sergio Ramos lost his grip while hoisting the 33-pound Copa del Rey trophy from atop the team bus, pulverizing the King's Cup under the bus wheels.
Noun
enforced isolation
Though its Twitter page had the Bronx Zoo cobra attending the Yankees game, the zoo's director has announced that the escapee has been recovered and is now in quarantine.
Noun
proportional share of something that somebody should contribute
Chinese prisoners have been forced to complete monotonous tasks in online games that gather virtual currency, and have faced very real punishments for not meeting their quota.
Noun
tropical forest that receives a lot of rain and that has very tall trees
With their disproportionately long limbs and prehensile tail, spider monkeys live in the upper layers of the rainforest and forage in the high canopy.
Noun
lacking any definite plan or order or purpose
Yarn bombing has been described as warm and fuzzy defiant art. Those who engage in the street graffiti delight in creating random acts of art on urban architecture.
Verb
pull back or move away or backward
Perce Rock is one of the most spectacular natural arches in the world. For four hours during low tide, when the water recedes from a wide spit, you can visit the rock too.
Noun
cultural rebirth from the 14th through the middle of the 17th centuries
When sketches of the horse were found among Leonardo Da Vinci's "lost notebooks," Charles Dent, a collector of Renaissance art, decided to complete the story.
Noun
person who rejects the traditional or lawful way of doing things
A secretive renegade counter-terrorist co-opts the world's greatest hacker (who is trying to stay clean) to steal billions in US Government dirty money.
Verb
give up something important for the sake of another thing
"If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married."
Noun
outline or general shape of something
The photographer has wisely gotten very low and captured the perfect story-telling moment of fish and figures in silhouette.
Noun
one of two times in the year when the sun is farthest north or south of the equator
More than 18,000 revelers shouted and banged drums and tambourines at the Stonehenge circle, a group of giant stones in the middle of an English field, to celebrate the dawn of the summer solstice.
Verb
view according to widely held but simplistic generalizations about a group
Malaysia has a new image. The sleepy tropical backwater stereotyped in the novels of Anthony Burgess and Somerset Maugham's short stories has been superseded by Malaysia the high-tech urbanized regional powerbroker.
Noun
carefully devised plan of action to achieve a goal
The acquisition of brands4friends is clearly the California corporation’s strategy to develop a fashion wing that the world will take seriously as such.
Noun
the relation between two different kinds of living things that depend on each other
Commenting on his unique installation, Mr. Taylor said: "It's a symbiosis of humans and nature living in this cycle in harmony with each other."
Noun
government tax on imports or exports
In response to a shortage of napa cabbage, essential to making kimchi, South Korea has temporarily suspended tariffs on Chinese-imported cabbage.
Noun
procedure, skill, or art used in a specific task
The Maya peoples flourished in part because of clever farming techniques, including terracing, forest gardens, managed fallows, and wild harvesting.
Noun
rate or rhythm of activity
The paper version of Newsweek is the latest casualty of a changing world where readers get more of their information from the Internet. The tempo of the news and the Web is just too fast to keep up with.
Adjective
marked by disturbance and uproar
After more than 90 tumultuous years of history, the National Palace in Haiti, which was heavily damaged by the January 2010 earthquake, ended up as little more than a potent symbol of the stalled recovery.
Adjective
relating to light past the violet end of the visible light spectrum
To humans, male and female butterflies may look the same, but butterflies are able to identify each other easily because of ultraviolet markings on their wings.
Adjective
fully in agreement
After a shaky start, Floyd Mayweather Jr. went on to dominate Shane Mosley in a unanimous decision win at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Verb
move with a smooth, wavelike motion
The snakes flatten their bodies in the air and undulate from side to side at high speed creating an aerodynamic effect that allows them to 'fly' hundreds of feet from tops of trees.
Verb
waver between opinions or actions
"If we are going to solve the challenges we face, we can't vacillate, we can't shift depending on our politics."
Noun
someone who displays dazzling skill
Tired of the traditional patterns of jazz, virtuoso Dave Brubeck innovated odd time signatures that steered away from normal, more comfortable riffs.
Adjective
wanting or eating food in great quantities
Camel spiders have been painted as large, venomous predators, with a voracious appetite for large mammals. However, the myths are untrue.
Adjective
feeling very unhappy or ill
"He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it."