Vocabulary Notes

Charater and
personality
adjectives
absent-minded /
b.sntman.dd/

Topic: Charater and personality

Meanings

Examples

Notes

likely to forget things,

especially because you
are thinking about
something else =
forgetful l ng
thch phiu lu, mo
him
liu lnh
funny or entertaining
vui v

Grandad's been getting rather

absent-minded lately.

>absent-mindedly adv
>absent-mindedness n
[U]

Many teachers would like to be

more adventurous and creative.

Antonym:
UNADVENTUROUS

He had a terrific sense of humour

and could be very amusing

aggressive /
gres.v/

hay gy s, gy g

Men tend to be more aggressive

than women.

articulate /
tk.j.lt/

able to talk easily and

effectively about things,
especially difficult
subjects
easily embarrassed in
social situations: rt r,
bn ln
talking too proudly
about yourself thch
khoe khoang, khoc
lc
(of a person) clever and
quick to learn: sng d,
thng minh

a highly articulate speaker

mildly/vaguely amusing
(=a little amusing, but not
very)
very determined to
succeed or get what you
want
inarticulate

broad-minded /
brdmandd US
brd-/
bigoted /bg..td/

c t tng rng ri,

khong t

Her parents were broadminded,

tolerant, and liberal.

tin m qung

blunt /blnt/

l mng, khng gi
t
bnh tnh, im tnh

She's so bigoted that she refuses to

accept anyone who doesn't think
like her.
I'll be blunt - that last piece of
work you did was terrible.
Glen was calm and composed at
the funeral.
Don't be so cheeky!

adventurous /d
ven.tr.s/
amusing
/ `mjuz/

bashful /b.fl/

boastful / `bostfl /

bright /brat/

calm /km/
cheeky /ti.ki/
conceited /kn
si.td/
confident /
kn.f.dnt/
creative /krie.tv/

charismatic /kr.z
mt.k/
competitive
/kmpettv/

Page 1 of 4

rude or disrespectful to
tn, c gan
t ph, kiu ngo, t
cao t i
having confidence t
tin
producing or using
original and unusual
ideas sng to
having charisma thuyt
phc, li cun
trying very hard to be
better than others ua

He was too bashful to talk about

sex.
I don't want to sound boastful but I
always finish everything on time.

They were bright children, always

asking questions.

You're the most conceited, selfish

person I've ever known.
I'm confident of his skills as a
manager.
a creative
person/artist/designer/programme
r
Few were able to resist this
charismatic and persuasive leader.
You have to be highly competitive
to do well in sport these days.

Copyright 2014 Quang De Huynh Le

bashfully adverb: She

smiled bashfully.
bashfulness noun [U]
>boastfully adv
>boastfulness n [U]

She was enthusiastic and

full of bright ideas (=
clever ideas) and
suggestions.
= TOLERANT
NARROW-MINDED
broad-mindedness (n) [U]
bigotry /bg..tri/
(n) [U]
religious/racial bigotry
bluntly /blnt.li/
adverb
remain/stay/keep calm
cheekily adv
He grinned cheekily.
>conceitedly adv
>conceitedness n [U]
self-confident
>creatively adv
>creativeness n [U]

highly/fiercely/intensely
etc competitive

Vocabulary Notes
considerate /kn
sd.r.t/
courageous /k
re.ds/
cocky /kk.i/
conscientious /
kn.tient.s/
callous /kl.s/

cynical /sn..kl/

domineering /
dm.n.r/
down-to-earth /
dan.tu/

Topic: Charater and personality

tranh
kind and helpful n cn,
chu o
having or showing
courage can m, dng
cm
t ph, t mn, vnh
vo
putting a lot of effort
into your work tn tm,
chu o, t m
unkind or cruel; without
sympathy nhn tm
hay ch trch cay c;
hay nho bng, hay
giu ct
p bc, p ch, h
hip, bo ngc
thc t, khng vin
vng

determined /d
t.mnd/
emotional /
m.n.l/
enthusiastic /n
ju.zis.tk/
extravagant /k
strv..gnt/
fussy /fs.i/

nht nh, nht quyt,

qu quyt; kin quyt
d cm ng, d xc
ng
hng hi, nhit tnh;
say m
phung ph

gullible /gl..b/

kh di, c tin

hospitable /hs
pt..b/

friendly and welcoming

to guests and visitors:
mn khch
ht sc cng thng,
nhy cm
khim tn, nhn
nhng
thiu kin nhn, khng
kin tm, nng vi,
nn nng; hay st rut
d xc cm, nhy cm
d b nh hng
dt nt, m ch, tht
hc
unable to make
decisions do d, lng
l
calm and able to deal
easily with difficult
situations bnh tnh,
im m

highly-strung /
ha.listr/
humble /hm.b/
impatient /m
pe.nt/
impressionable /m
pre.n..b/
illiterate /lt.r.t/
indecisive /n.d
sa.sv/
level-headed /lev.l
hed.d/

Page 2 of 4

cu k, kiu cch

It wasn't very considerate of you to

drink all the milk.
He was wrong, and courageous
enough to admit it.

The opposite is
inconsiderate.
Synonym: BRAVE

He's a cocky little man and I don't

like him.
A conscientious teacher may feel
inclined to take work home.

syn.: conceited

It might sound callous, but I don't

care if he's homeless. He's not
living with me!
I know that some of you are very
cynical about the proposals.

>callously adv
>callousness n [U]

He was brought up by a cold and

domineering father.
She's a down-to-earth sort of
woman with no pretensions

>domineer v [I]

Gwen is a very determined

woman.
felt quite emotional during the
wedding ceremony.
All the staff are enthusiastic about
the project.
He rarely used taxis, which he
regarded as extravagant.
Leonora was fussy about her
looks.
I'm so gullible I would have
believed him.
The villagers were very hospitable
to/towards anyone who passed
through.
a highly-strung young woman

= painstaking

cynical about

Syn. hard-headed,
sensible, sober,
pragmatic.
determined to do sth
He was in a very
emotional state.
enthusiastic about
(doing) sth
extravagant with
fussy about
>gullibility /glblti/ n
[U]
The opposite is
inhospitable.
= sensitive

Be humble enough to learn from

your mistakes.
He's a good teacher, but inclined
to be a bit impatient with slow
learners.
The kids are at an impressionable
age .
A large percentage of the rural
population was illiterate.
He is widely thought to be an
indecisive leader.

= unpretending,
unpretentious
calm.

Simon is level-headed and

practical

= sensible

Copyright 2014 Quang De Huynh Le

syn.: impressible
Antonym: LITERATE
= vacillating, hesitant,
wavering

Vocabulary Notes
loyal /l.l/

malicious /ml.s/
modest /mdst/

narrow-minded /
nr.man.dd/
naive /naiv/
neurotic /nj
rt.k/
obstinate /
b.st.nt/
open-minded /
.pnman.dd/

pompous /pm.ps/

prejudiced /
pred..dst/

practical /
prk.t.kl/
pushy /pui/

possessive /p
zes.v/

rash /r/

ruthless /ru.ls/

self-centered /self
sen.td/

self-confident /self
kn.f.dnt/
sensible /sent.s.b/

Page 3 of 4

Topic: Charater and personality

always supporting your

friends, principles,
country etc trung thnh
him c, c c tm
c him th
not talking much about
your own abilities or
possessions khim tn
having or showing a
prejudiced mind hp
hi, nh nhen
ngy th, cht phc
d b kch thch thn
kinh
bng bnh, cng u
willing to consider and
accept other people's
ideas and opinions rng
ri, phng khong
vnh vang, t cao, t
i
showing an
unreasonable dislike for
something or someone
c thnh kin, biu l
thnh kin
sensible and realistic
thc t
trying hard to get what
you want, especially in a
way that seems rude
mt dn my dy
not liking to lend things
or share things with
others: kh kh gi
ca
careless or unwise,
without thought for
what might happen or
result hp tp, vi vng
hard and cruel tn
nhn, nhn tm
only interested in
yourself and your own
activities t cho mnh
l trung tm
t tin

khn ngoan, hp l,
ng n

She's very loyal to her friends.

The opposite is disloyal.

He gave a faintly malicious smile

at her furious expression.
She's very modest about her
success.

malicious gossip/rumors

His attitude is narrow-minded and

insensitive.

= prejudiced
OPEN-MINDED
broadminded
= innocent

Jim can be so naive sometimes.

She's neurotic about her weight she weighs herself three times a
day.
He can be very obstinate at times.

Antonym: IMMODEST

= stubborn

She's quite open-minded about

sex.

narrow-minded
open-minded
about/towards

He can sometimes sound a bit

pompous when he talks about
acting.
Some officers were racially
prejudiced .

Syn. pretentious

Let's be practical and work out the

cost first.
a pushy salesman

Antonym:
IMPRACTICAL
= brazen

Jimmy's very possessive about his

toys.

~ (of / about sth)

It was rather rash of you to lend

them your car.

rashness /r.ns/

We'll have to be ruthless if we

want to make this company more
efficient.
Robert is a self-centred, ambitious
and bigoted man.

Syn. unrelenting,
adamant, relentless.

At school he was popular and selfconfident, and we weren't

surprised at his later success.
She seems very sensible.

shy

Copyright 2014 Quang De Huynh Le

prejudiced against

= selfish

= intelligent, sagacious,
rational, reasonable

Vocabulary Notes
strong-willed /str
wld/
secretive /
si.kr.tv/
shrewd /rud/

single-minded /
s.gman.dd/

smug /smg/
softheaded /'sft'hedid/
spiteful /spat.fl/

strict /strkt/
superstitious /
su.pst.s/
talented /tl.n.td/

two-faced /tufest/
thrifty /rf.ti/

Topic: Charater and personality

cng ci, kin quyt

hay giu gim, hay gi
k
good at judging what
people or situations are
really like khn ngoan;
sc, sc so
very determined to
achieve something ch
theo ui mt mc
ch duy nht
t mn
kh kho, ng nghch
deliberately nasty to
someone in order to hurt
or upset them
y hn th; hn hc
nghim ngt, nghim
khc; nghim chnh
believing in
superstitions m tn
having a natural ability
to do something well c
ti
l mt l tri, khng
ng tin cy
tit kim, tn tin

understanding /
n.dstn.d/
unreliable /n.r
la.b/

hiu bit

versatile /
v.s.tal/

nhiu ti, uyn bc;

linh hot

well-mannered /
welmn.d/
witty /wt.i/

behaving in a pleasant
and polite way lch s
using words in a clever
and funny way d dm,
t nh
having or showing a
want of firmness of will

weak-willed /wik
wld/

Page 4 of 4

unable to be trusted or
depended on khng tin
cy c

He is a very determined and

strong-willed person.
He's being very secretive about his
new girlfriend.
He was shrewd enough not to take
the job when there was the
possibility of getting a better one a
few months later.
She had a single-minded will to
win.

= headstrong
weak-willed

He's been unbearably smug since

he gave up smoking.
He s so soft-headed

smug about

She was spiteful and unkind, both

to Isabel and to her son.

= vicious

My parents were very strict with

me when I was young.
Some people are superstitious
about spilling salt on the table.
Some of these young musicians are
hugely talented.

= stringent

I don't trust her - I suspect she's a

bit two-faced.
They have plenty of money now,
but they still tend to be thrifty.
She has very understanding
parents.
He's totally unreliable as a source
of information.

Synonym:
HYPOCRITICAL
= sparing

He's a very versatile young actor

who's as happy in horror films as
he is in TV comedies.
The other visitors were too wellmannered to complain.
She tried to think of something
original and witty to say.
My diets are never successful - I'm
just too weak-willed.

Copyright 2014 Quang De Huynh Le

Synonym: ASTUTE

= determined,
persevering, inflexible,
firm.

= foolish; stupid.

superstitious beliefs /
fears / practices
= gifted.

Synonym:
SYMPATHETIC
Antonym: RELIABLE
Syn. undependable,
irresponsible,
untrustworthy.
= all-around

Syn. polite; courteous.

= humorous