English Vocabulary in Use Advanced » Unit 13: Emotions and reactions
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Pregnant women crave / have a craving for strange things like tuna and banana pizza! [want very strongly]
Young children often seem to thirst / have a thirst for knowledge. [feel very strongly that you want]
Sometimes my cousin just yearns to be on her own with no family responsibilities. [if you yearn to do / yearn for / have a yearning for something, it means that you want something that you do not have and, often, can never have]
An Olympic gold medal is probably the most coveted sporting prize. [to covet something means to want to possess it very much]
Lottie tried to defuse the tension by changing the subject. [make a dangerous or tense situation calmer]
Tim was very angry with his daughter and it took her a long time to placate him. [stop someone feeling angry]
An independent advisor has been brought in to conciliate between the unions and the employer. [end a disagreement between two people or groups by acting in a friendly way towards both sides; formal]
Although appeasing the enemy postponed the war for another year, it did not ultimately prevent it from happening. [end a disagreement by giving the other side an advantage that they are demanding (normally used in a disapproving way); formal]
A useful adjective from placate is implacable. It is used about someone’s opinions and feelings and means that they cannot be changed, e.g. I cannot understand the implacable hatred that he still feels for his old rival. (Note: placable doesn’t exist.)
exultant: feeling great pleasure and happiness, usually because of a success (more formal than ecstatic) Sarah was in an exultant mood / was ecstatic after her great exam results.
to rejoice: be extremely happy; formal Everyone rejoiced at the news of her recovery.
jubilant: expressing great happiness, especially at a victory; formal There were jubilant shouts as the results of the referendum were announced.
bliss: perfect happiness (often collocates with utter and sheer; adjective = blissful; the adverb blissfully often collocates with happy, ignorant and unaware) We had a fabulous holiday on a beautiful island – seven days of utter/sheer bliss. They are blissfully happy even though they’re poor.
There are a number of informal expressions which mean to be very happy:
You look full of the joys of spring today. Why are you smiling all the time?
My daughter’s just had a baby girl. We’re thrilled to bits at the news.
I feel on top of the world. It’s great to have a job again.
I’ve been floating/walking on air ever since I heard I got into drama school.
A: How did you feel when you scored the winning goal?
B: I was over the moon!
The words you need to communicate with confidence. Vocabulary explanations and practice for elementary level (A2) learners of English. Perfect for both self-study and classroom activities. Quickly expand your vocabulary with 60 units of easy to understand explanations and practice exercises.
The words you need to communicate with confidence. Vocabulary explanations and practice for pre-intermediate and intermediate level (B1) learners of English. Perfect for both self-study and classroom activities. Quickly expand your vocabulary with 100 units of easy to understand explanations and practice exercises.
The words you need to communicate with confidence. Vocabulary explanations and practice for Upper-intermediate level (B2) learners of English. Perfect for both self-study and classroom activities. Quickly expand your vocabulary with over 100 units of easy to understand explanations and practice exercises.