| the act of thinking deeply and seriously about something | meditation,_,She found him sitting alone, deep in meditation. |
| a chemical substance produced by your body that influences its growth, development, and condition | hormone,_,Her condition has improved since she had hormone treatment. |
| a chemical in the body that helps carry messages from the brain and is believed to make you feel happy | serotonin,_,Successful students seem to have high levels of serotonin. |
| a long race of about 26 miles or 42 kilometres | marathon,_,Garcia ran the marathon in just under three hours. |
| a chemical produced by your body that reduces pain and can make you feel happier | endorphin,_,Exercises increases endorphins in the body and make you feel happier. |
| one of the small parts of the surface of your tongue with which you can taste things | taste bud,_,Some people's taste buds don't work very well and they find it difficult to taste the food they eat. |
| a small thin red or green pepper with a very strong hot taste | chilly,_,She puts chillies in everything when she cooks. |
| very severe pain | agony,_,He groaned in agony. |
| to gradually disappear | fade,_,Hopes of a peace settlement are beginning to fade. |
| to not allow someone or something to stay in a particular place | banish,_,I was banished to a distant corridor. |
| an illness that makes people feel sad and tired in winter, because there is not enough light from the sun | seasonal affective disorder,_,Those who suffer from seasonal affective disorder have a strong peak in the autumn and winter months. |
| a sudden strong movement of wind or air | blast,_,A blast of cold air swept through the hut. |
| someone who does not like other people and prefers to be alone | misanthrope,_,He can only be described as a misanthrope. He hates socialising. |
| to move so that you are lying or sitting with your arms and legs bent close to your body | curl up,_,I just wanted to curl up and go to sleep. |
| to lightly touch someone or something several times with your hand flat, especially to give comfort | pat,_,He patted the dog affectionately. |
| intended to be helpful but in fact making a situation worse | misguided,_,He described the government’s economic policy as misguided. |
| an idea which is wrong or untrue, but which people believe because they do not understand the subject properly | misconception,_,There is a popular misconception that too much exercise is bad for you. |
| likely to make someone believe something that is not true | misleading,_,The article was misleading, and the newspaper has apologized. |
| a feeling of doubt or fear about what might happen or about whether something is right | misgiving,_,Despite her misgivings about leaving the baby, she decided to accompany her husband. |
| the action of not understanding the correct meaning of something that someone says or does, or of facts that you are considering | misinterpretation,_,The problems were caused by a misinterpretation of the test results. |
| a small mistake, especially a spelling mistake, in a book, magazine etc | misprint,_,There are rather a lot of misprints in that book. |
| showing no desire to be noticed or given special treatment | unassuming,_,His unassuming manner was rather charming. |
| without realizing what you are doing | inadvertently,_,Robinson’s name was inadvertently omitted from the list. |
| food or drink that is insipid does not have much taste | insipid,_,Our meal consisted of a very insipid pasta dish followed by an even more insipid dessert. |
| someone or something that is nondescript looks very ordinary and is not at all interesting or unusual | nondescript,_,She was looking at an extremely nondescript suburban house. |
| in the style of 20th century art or literature in which the artist or writer connects unrelated images and objects in a strange way | surrealist,_,I find surrealist paintings very disturbing to look at. |
| a work of art, a piece of writing or music etc that is of very high quality or that is the best that a particular artist, writer etc has produced | masterpiece,_,Mary Shelley was just 18 when she wrote the horror masterpiece ‘Frankenstein’. |
| behaving calmly and not seeming interested in anything or worried about anything | nonchalant,_,‘Has he got a girlfriend?’ Jill asked, trying to sound nonchalant. |
| annoyed or disappointed, especially because things have not happened in the way that you wanted | disgruntled,_,The company has several disgruntled clients, which is not good for business. |
| used when talking about a situation in which the opposite of what you expected happens or is true | ironically,_,Ironically, his cold got better on the last day of his holiday. |
| oddly enough is used to say that something seems strange or surprising | oddly enough,_,Oddly enough, someone asked me the same question only yesterday. |
| strangely or unusually | curiously,_,Curiously, the results were better than we expected. |
| making you feel happier and more hopeful | uplifting,_,It was an amazingly uplifting show and we came home feeling much happier. |
| a person or situation that stops you feeling happy | downer,_,The weather was a bit of a downer. |
| the way you feel at a particular time | mood,_,There was a general mood of depression in the office. |
| completely and only | purely,_,The building was closed purely on the grounds of safety. |
| making you feel very sad | depressing,_,The whole experience was very depressing. |
| the parts of a town or city that are furthest from the centre | outskirts,_,They live on the outskirts of Paris. |
| disappointed because you have lost your belief that someone is good, or that an idea is right | disillusioned,_,As she grew older, Laura became increasingly disillusioned with politics. |
| a member of an all-male religious group that lives apart from other people in a monastery | monk,_,He left the world of high finance to become a monk. |
| a large number of people or things | a host of,_,A host of show business celebrities have pledged their support. |
| not working properly, or not made correctly | faulty,_,Customers may ask for a refund if the goods are faulty. |
| hard work | hard graft,_,Our success has been due to sheer hard graft. |
| consecutive numbers or periods of time follow one after the other without any interruptions | consecutive,_,It had rained for four consecutive days. |
| to make a great effort to achieve something | strive,_,I was still striving to be successful. |
| to make someone lose all hope, confidence etc | crush,_,Their hopes and ambitions were crushed by his harsh words. |
| something that encourages you to work harder, start a new activity etc | incentive,_,Awards provide an incentive for young people to improve their skills. |
| the upsetting or bad effect of a situation | sting,_,She smiled to take the sting out of her words. |
| a remark that shows you admire someone or something | compliment,_,All the guests paid her extravagant compliments. |
| an animal or plant that lived many thousands of years ago and that has been preserved, or the shape of one of these animals or plants that has been preserved in rock | fossil,_,The children picked up some tiny fossils from the beach. |
