ONSLAUGHT A fierce or destructive attack
PRECEDENCE Priority in importance, order, or rank.
RECKLESS Acting or done with a lack of care or
caution; careless or irresponsible.
RESTRAIN Prevent (someone or something) from
doing something; keep under control or
within limits.
ACCORD A formal agreement.
BESTOW To give something as an honor or present.
COMPLIANCE The act of obeying an order, rule, or
request.
DE FACTO Existing in fact, although perhaps not
intended, legal, or accepted.
ENDORSEMENT The act of saying that you approve of or
support something or someone
FORESTALL To prevent something from happening by
acting first.
GRIEVANCE A complaint or a strong feeling that you
have been treated unfairly.
HELM The handle or wheel which controls the
direction in which a ship or boat travels.
INSURGENCY The action or an instance of rebellion; an
insurrection.
A series of ONSLAUGHTS left the city in ruins
PRECEDENCE must be given to the injured in the
evacuation plans.
He was charged with RECKLESS driving and failing to
report an accident.
Leg cuffs are used for RESTRAINING and transporting
violent criminals.
Diplomats worked through the night in an attempt to
forge an ACCORD that would resolve the crisis.
The George Cross is a decoration that is BESTOWED
upon/on British civilians for acts of great bravery.
The company said that it had always acted in
COMPLIANCE with environmental laws.
The city is rapidly becoming the DE FACTO centre of
the financial world.
The campaign hasn't received any political
ENDORSEMENT.
The company executives FORESTALLED criticism by
inviting union leaders to meet.
The closure of the railway is still a GRIEVANCE for
many in the area.
After 20 years at the HELM, she intends to retire in
September.
The state has experienced INSURGENCY as well as
inter-ethnic conflict, since the 1950s.
JEOPARDIZE To put something such as a plan or system
in danger of being harmed or damaged.
MERCURIAL Changing suddenly and often.
MOUNTING Gradually increasing.
OBSEQUIOUS Too eager to praise or obey someone.
DEFUSE To make a difficult or dangerous situation
calmer by reducing or removing its cause.
HINTERLAND A region in the middle part of a country,
esp. a large country, that is far from cities
or the coast.
APPEASE To prevent further disagreement in
arguments or war by giving to the other
side an advantage that they have
demanded
BROKER To arrange something such as a deal,
agreement, etc. between two or more
groups or countries.
MEDDLE To try to change or have an influence on
things that are not your responsibility.
INTERCESSION The act of using your influence to make
someone in authority forgive someone
else or save them from punishment.
COUNTERPART A person or thing that has the same
purpose as another one in a different place
or organization.
Any delay in implementation could seriously
JEOPARDIZE the financial position of our farmers.
Our boss is known for her MERCURIAL temperament.
In the end, all the MOUNTING debts bankrupted the
company.
I hate Makayla’s OBSEQUIOUS behavior in front of
international clients
The two groups will meet next week to try to DEFUSE
the crisis.
While the series garnered high ratings in urban areas, it
fared poorly in the HINTERLAND and was canceled
after fourteen episodes.
She claimed that the government had only changed the
law in order to APPEASE their critics.
The diplomats have failed in their attempts to BROKER
a ceasefire.
Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial
that Russia MEDDLED in the 2016 U.S. presidential
election.
Several political prisoners have been released through
the INTERCESSION of Amnesty International.
The prime minister is to meet his European
COUNTERPART to discuss the war against drugs.
ABROGATE To abolish or annul by formal or official
means; repeal.
EMBOLDEN To make someone brave or willing to take
more risks.
BARTER To trade goods or services without the
exchange of money.
COVERT Hidden or secret.
FOE An enemy.
PENCHANT A liking for, an enjoyment of, or a habit of
doing something, especially something
that other people might not like.
FORESIGHT The ability to judge correctly what is
going to happen in the future and plan
your actions based on this knowledge.
HINDSIGHT The ability to understand an event or
situation only after it has happened
DISPLACE To force something or someone out of its
usual or original position.
MOLLIFY to make someone less angry or upset.
SWAY to persuade someone to believe or do one
thing rather than another.
RECONNAISSANCE : the process of getting information about
enemy forces or positions by sending out
The treaty was signed in 1901 but then ABROGATED
in 1920.
White extremist groups feel EMBOLDENED by the
Trump presidency.
We spent a whole hour BARTERING with stallholders
for souvenirs.
The government was accused of COVERT military
operations against the regime.
The two countries have united against their common
FOE.
One of his main characteristics as a filmmaker is his
PENCHANT for breaking the fourth wall.
Some people had the FORESIGHT to sell their bitcoins
when it was at its peak.
In HINDSIGHT, it would have been better negotiate a
little more before signing the deal.
The building of a new dam will DISPLACE thousands
of people who live in this area.
The ethics advisory group does not inform the public; on
the contrary, it tries to MOLLIFY public opinion so
everything remains quiet.
Her speech failed to SWAY her colleagues into
supporting the plan.
Aerial RECONNAISSANCE of the enemy position
showed they were ready to attack.
 small groups of soldiers or by using
aircraft, etc.

BREACH an act of breaking a law, promise, They felt that our discussions with other companies
constituted a BREACH of/in our agreement.
agreement, or relationship.

DEFLECT to (cause to) change direction, or to The Prime Minister DEFLECTED mounting criticism
today by announcing tax cuts.
prevent something from being directed at
you.
BEGRUDGINGLY done or performed with reluctance. After comparing this year’s profits to last year’s, the
board had no other choice but to BEGRUDGINDLY
renew our sales manager’s contract.
SANCTION to formally give permission for After deliberating for weeks, the UN SANCTIONED
intervention in the humanitarian crisis.
something.

OVERRIDE (of a person who has the necessary The president used his veto to OVERRIDE the
committee's decision.
authority) to decide against or refuse to
accept a previous decision, an order, a
person, etc.

REBUFF to refuse to accept a helpful suggestion or Our request for assistance has been REBUFFED by the
congress. We’ll need to look for alternatives now.
offer from someone, often by answering
in an unfriendly way.

ADEPT having a natural ability to do something Good politicians need to be assertive and ADEPT at
dealing with the media.
that needs skill.

UPHEAVAL a great change, especially causing or Yesterday's coup brought further UPHEAVAL to a
country already struggling with famine.
involving much difficulty, activity, or
trouble.

PUNITIVE intended as a punishment. The company will not take PUNITIVE action against
the striking workers.
STALEMATE a situation in which neither group
involved in an argument can win or get an
advantage and no action can be taken.
THWART to stop something from happening or
someone from doing something.
TACT the ability to say or do the right thing
without making anyone unhappy or angry.
RELENTLESS continuing in a severe or extreme way
ENVOY someone who is sent as a representative
from one government or organization to
another.
RESILIENCE the quality of being able to return quickly
to a previous good condition after
problems.
COME TO TERMS WITH to gradually accept a sad situation.
MISSTEPS A mistake
DEMEANOR a way of looking and behaving.
SEVERED to end a connection with someone or
something.
Tomorrow's meeting between the two leaders is
expected to break a diplomatic STALEMATE that has
lasted for ten years.
In many countries, the war efforts THWART any form
of economic and social development.
The ambassador showed admirable TACT in dealing
with the difficult problem he was called upon to face.
The RELENTLESS criticism he got from the media
played a key role in his defeat in the elections.
Loyalty and knowledge of the region are
therefore the most highly valued traits in a
prospective ENVOY.
Our business showed extraordinary
RESILIENCE after the country’s
economic crisis.
He is still trying to COME TO TERMS
WITH with his wife’s death, so I do not
think it is the right time to talk to him
about dating someone new.
Most fortunately, and despite a few
MISSTEPS, the investigation has been
carried out quite successfully.
Meeting in person also gives the reporter
the ability to judge the source's credibility
based on his DEMEANOR.
The company has SEVERED its ties with
its previous partners hoping to gain more
financial freedom.
SOVERIGNTY the power of a country to control its own Satisfied minorities are the firmest
government. foundation for a country's security,
SOVEREINGTY and economic
development.
HURDLES a problem that you have to deal with Inevitably, with the advent of streaming
before you can make progress. services, television will have to confront
the same HURDLES that cinema has had
to in order to survive.
POISE calm confidence in a person's way of The Prime Minister has been praised for
behaving. showing extraordinary POISE, and
having the attitude and technique required
of a leading player.
DÉMARCHE a course of action, especially a political Whether such a diplomatic DÉMARCHE
one. would reduce the killing in the area is
pure guesswork.