IELTS Exam Vocabulary List - R
- rabid adj. Affected with rabies or hydrophobia.
- racy adj. Exciting or exhilarating to the mind.
- radiance n. Brilliant or sparkling luster.
- radiate v. To extend in all directions, as from a source or focus.
- radical n. One who holds extreme views or advocates extreme measures.
- radix n. That from or on which something is developed.
- raillery n. Good-humored satire.
- ramify v. To divide or subdivide into branches or subdivisions.
- ramose adj. Branch-like.
- rampant adj. Growing, climbing, or running without check or restraint.
- rampart n. A bulwark or construction to oppose assault or hostile entry.
- rancor n. Malice.
- rankle v. To produce irritation or festering.
- rapacious adj. Disposed to seize by violence or by unlawful or greedy methods.
- rapid adj. Having great speed.
- rapine n. The act of seizing and carrying off property by superior force, as in war.
- rapt adj. Enraptured.
- raptorial adj. Seizing and devouring living prey.
- ration v. To provide with a fixed allowance or portion, especially of food.
- rationalism n. The formation of opinions by relying upon reason alone, independently of authority.
- raucous adj. Harsh.
- ravage v. To lay waste by pillage, rapine, devouring, or other destructive methods.
- ravenous adj. Furiously voracious or hungry.
- ravine n. A deep gorge or hollow, especially one worn by a stream or flow of water.
- reaction n. Tendency towards a former, or opposite state of things, as after reform, revolution, or inflation.
- reactionary adj. Pertaining to, of the nature of, causing, or favoring reaction.
- readily adv. Without objection or reluctance.
- readjust v. To put in order after disarrangement.
- ready adj. In a state of preparedness for any given purpose or occasion.
- realism n. The principle and practice of depicting persons and scenes as they are believed really to exist.
- rearrange v. To arrange again or in a different order.
- reassure v. To give new confidence.
- rebellious adj. Insubordinate.
- rebuff n. A peremptory or unexpected rejection of advances or approaches.
- rebuild v. To build again or anew.
- rebut v. To oppose by argument or a sufficient answer.
- recant v. To withdraw formally one's belief (in something previously believed or maintained).
- recapitulate v. To repeat again the principal points of.
- recapture v. To capture again.
- recede v. To move back or away.
- receivable adj. Capable of being or fit to be received - often money.
- receptive adj. Having the capacity, quality, or ability of receiving, as truths or impressions.
- recessive adj. Having a tendency to go back.
- recidivist n. A confirmed criminal.
- reciprocal adj. Mutually interchangeable or convertible.
- reciprocate v. To give and take mutually.
- reciprocity n. Equal mutual rights and benefits granted and enjoyed.
- recitation n. The act of reciting or repeating, especially in public and from memory.
- reck v. To have a care or thought for.
- reckless adj. Foolishly headless of danger.
- reclaim v. To demand or to obtain the return or restoration of.
- recline v. To cause to assume a leaning or recumbent attitude or position.
- recluse n. One who lives in retirement or seclusion.
- reclusory n. A hermitage.
- recognizance n. An acknowledgment entered into before a court with condition to do some particular act.
- recognize v. To recall the identity of (a person or thing).
- recoil v. To start back as in dismay, loathing, or dread.
- recollect v. To recall the knowledge of.
- reconcilable adj. Capable of being adjusted or harmonized.
- reconnoiter v. To make a preliminary examination of for military, surveying, or geological purposes.
- reconsider v. To review with care, especially with a view to a reversal of previous action.
- reconstruct v. To rebuild.
- recourse n. Resort to or application for help in exigency or trouble.
- recover v. To regain.
- recreant n. A cowardly or faithless person.
- recreate v. To refresh after labor.
- recrudescence n. The state of becoming raw or sore again.
- recrudescent adj. Becoming raw or sore again.
- recruit v. To enlist men for military or naval service.
- rectify v. To correct.
- rectitude n. The quality of being upright in principles and conduct.
- recuperate v. To recover.
- recur v. To happen again or repeatedly, especially at regular intervals.
- recure v. To cure again.
- recurrent adj. Returning from time to time, especially at regular or stated intervals.
- redemption n. The recovery of what is mortgaged or pledged, by paying the debt.
- redolent adj. Smelling sweet and agreeable.
- redolence n. Smelling sweet and agreeable.
- redoubtable adj. Formidable.
- redound n. Rebound.
- redress v. To set right, as a wrong by compensation or the punishment of the wrong-doer.
- reducible adj. That may be reduced.
- redundance n. Excess.
- redundant adj. Constituting an excess.
- reestablish v. To restore.
- refer v. To direct or send for information or other purpose.
- referrer n. One who refers.
- referable adj. Ascribable.
- referee n. An umpire.
- refinery n. A place where some crude material, as sugar or petroleum, is purified.
- reflectible adj. Capable of being turned back.
- reflection n. The throwing off or back of light, heat, sound, or any form of energy that travels in waves.
- reflector n. A mirror, as of metal, for reflecting light, heat, or sound in a particular direction.
- reflexible adj. Capable of being reflected.
- reform n. Change for the better.
- reformer n. One who carries out a reform.
- refract v. To bend or turn from a direct course.
- refractory adj. Not amenable to control.
- refragable adj. Capable of being refuted.
- refringency n. Power to refract.
- refringent adj. Having the power to refract.
- refusal n. Denial of what is asked.
- refute v. To prove to be wrong.
- regale v. To give unusual pleasure.
- regalia n. pl. The emblems of royalty.
- regality n. Royalty.
- regenerate v. To reproduce.
- regent n. One who is lawfully deputized to administer the government for the time being in the name of the ruler.
- regicide n. The killing of a king or sovereign.
- regime n. Particular conduct or administration of affairs.
- regimen n. A systematized order or course of living with reference to food, clothing and personal habits.
- regiment n. A body of soldiers.
- regnant adj. Exercising royal authority in one's own right.
- regress v. To return to a former place or condition.
- regretful adj. Feeling, expressive of, or full of regret.
- rehabilitate v. To restore to a former status, capacity, right rank, or privilege.
- reign v. To hold and exercise sovereign power.
- reimburse v. To pay back as an equivalent of what has been expended.
- rein n. A step attached to the bit for controlling a horse or other draft-animal.
- reinstate v. To restore to a former state, station, or authority.
- reiterate v. To say or do again and again.
- rejoin v. To reunite after separation.
- rejuvenate v. To restore to youth.
- rejuvenescence n. A renewal of youth.
- relapse v. To suffer a return of a disease after partial recovery.
- relegate v. To send off or consign, as to an obscure position or remote destination.
- relent v. To yield.
- relevant adj. Bearing upon the matter in hand.
- reliance n. Dependence.
- reliant adj. Having confidence.
- relinquish v. To give up using or having.
- reliquary n. A casket, coffer, or repository in which relics are kept.
- relish v. To like the taste or savor of.
- reluctance n. Unwillingness.
- reluctant adj. Unwilling.
- remembrance n. Recollection.
- reminiscence n. The calling to mind of incidents within the range of personal knowledge or experience.
- reminiscent adj. Pertaining to the recollection of matters of personal interest.
- remiss adj. Negligent.
- remission n. Temporary diminution of a disease.
- remodel v. Reconstruct.
- remonstrance n. Reproof.
- remonstrant adj. Having the character of a reproof.
- remonstrate v. To present a verbal or written protest to those who have power to right or prevent a wrong.
- remunerate v. To pay or pay for.
- remuneration n. Compensation.
- Renaissance n. The revival of letters, and then of art, which marks the transition from medieval to modern time.
- rendezvous n. A prearranged place of meeting.
- rendition n. Interpretation.
- renovate v. To restore after deterioration, as a building.
- renunciation n. An explicit disclaimer of a right or privilege.
- reorganize v. To change to a more satisfactory form of organization.
- reparable adj. Capable of repair.
- reparation n. The act of making amends, as for an injury, loss, or wrong.
- repartee n. A ready, witty, or apt reply.
- repeal v. To render of no further effect.
- repel v. To force or keep back in a manner, physically or mentally.
- repellent adj. Having power to force back in a manner, physically or mentally.
- repentance n. Sorrow for something done or left undone, with desire to make things right by undoing the wrong.
- repertory n. A place where things are stored or gathered together.
- repetition n. The act of repeating.
- repine v. To indulge in fretfulness and faultfinding.
- replenish v. To fill again, as something that has been emptied.
- replete adj. Full to the uttermost.
- replica n. A duplicate executed by the artist himself, and regarded, equally with the first, as an original.
- repository n. A place in which goods are stored.
- reprehend v. To find fault with.
- reprehensible adj. Censurable.
- reprehension n. Expression of blame.
- repress v. To keep under restraint or control.
- repressible adj. Able to be kept under restraint or control.
- reprieve v. To grant a respite from punishment to.
- reprimand v. To chide or rebuke for a fault.
- reprisal n. Any infliction or act by way of retaliation on an enemy.
- reprobate n. One abandoned to depravity and sin.
- reproduce v. To make a copy of.
- reproduction n. The process by which an animal or plant gives rise to another of its kind.
- reproof n. An expression of disapproval or blame personally addressed to one censured.
- repudiate v. To refuse to have anything to do with.
- repugnance n. Thorough dislike.
- repugnant adj. Offensive to taste and feeling.
- repulse n. The act of beating or driving back, as an attacking or advancing enemy.
- repulsive adj. Grossly offensive.
- repute v. To hold in general opinion.
- requiem n. A solemn mass sung for the repose of the souls of the dead.
- requisite adj. Necessary.
- requital n. Adequate return for good or ill.
- requite v. To repay either good or evil to, as to a person.
- rescind v. To make void, as an act, by the enacting authority or a superior authority.
- reseat v. To place in position of office again.
- resemblance n. Similarity in quality or form.
- resent v. To be indignant at, as an injury or insult.
- reservoir n. A receptacle where a quantity of some material, especially of a liquid or gas, may be kept.
- residue n. A remainder or surplus after a part has been separated or otherwise treated.
- resilience n. The power of springing back to a former position
- resilient adj. Having the quality of springing back to a former position.
- resistance n. The exertion of opposite effort or effect.
- resistant adj. Offering or tending to produce resistance.
- resistive adj. Having or exercising the power of resistance.
- resistless adj. Powerless.
- resonance n. The quality of being able to reinforce sound by sympathetic vibrations.
- resonance adj. Able to reinforce sound by sympathetic vibrations.
- resonate v. To have or produce resonance.
- resource n. That which is restored to, relied upon, or made available for aid or support.
- respite n. Interval of rest.
- resplendent adj. Very bright.
- respondent adj. Answering.
- restitution n. Restoration of anything to the one to whom it properly belongs.
- resumption n. The act of taking back, or taking again.
- resurgent adj. Surging back or again.
- resurrection n. A return from death to life
- resuscitate v. To restore from apparent death.
- retaliate v. To repay evil with a similar evil.
- retch v. To make an effort to vomit.
- retention n. The keeping of a thing within one's power or possession.
- reticence n. The quality of habitually keeping silent or being reserved in utterance.
- reticent adj. Habitually keeping silent or being reserved in utterance.
- retinue n. The body of persons who attend a person of importance in travel or public appearance.
- retort n. A retaliatory speech.
- retouch v. To modify the details of.
- retrace v. To follow backward or toward the place of beginning, as a track or marking.
- retract v. To recall or take back (something that one has said).
- retrench v. To cut down or reduce in extent or quantity.
- retrieve v. To recover something by searching.
- retroactive adj. Operative on, affecting, or having reference to past events, transactions, responsibilities.
- retrograde v. To cause to deteriorate or to move backward.
- retrogression n. A going or moving backward or in a reverse direction.
- retrospect n. A view or contemplation of something past.
- retrospective adj. Looking back on the past.
- reunite v. To unite or join again, as after separation.
- revelation n. A disclosing, discovering, or making known of what was before secret, private, or unknown.
- revere v. To regard with worshipful veneration.
- reverent adj. Humble.
- reversion n. A return to or toward some former state or condition.
- revert v. To return, or turn or look back, as toward a former position or the like.
- revile v. To heap approach or abuse upon.
- revisal n. Revision.
- revise v. To examine for the correction of errors, or for the purpose of making changes.
- revocation n. Repeal.
- revoke v. To rescind.
- rhapsody n. Rapt or rapturous utterance.
- rhetoric n. The art of discourse.
- rhetorician n. A showy writer or speaker.
- ribald adj. Indulging in or manifesting coarse indecency or obscenity.
- riddance n. The act or ridding or delivering from something undesirable.
- ridicule n. Looks or acts expressing amused contempt.
- ridiculous adj. Laughable and contemptible.
- rife adj. Abundant.
- righteousness n. Rectitude.
- rightful adj. Conformed to a just claim according to established laws or usage.
- rigmarole n. Nonsense.
- rigor n. Inflexibility.
- rigorous adj. Uncompromising.
- ripplet n. A small ripple, as of water.
- risible adj. capable of exciting laughter.
- rivulet n. A small stream or brook.
- robust adj. Characterized by great strength or power of endurance.
- rondo n. A musical composition during which the first part or subject is repeated several times.
- rookery n. A place where crows congregate to breed.
- rotary adj. Turning around its axis, like a wheel, or so constructed as to turn thus.
- rotate v. To cause to turn on or as on its axis, as a wheel.
- rote n. Repetition of words or sounds as a means of learning them, with slight attention.
- rotund adj. Round from fullness or plumpness.
- rudimentary adj. Being in an initial, early, or incomplete stage of development.
- rue v. To regret extremely.
- ruffian adj. A lawless or recklessly brutal fellow.
- ruminant adj. Chewing the cud.
- ruminate v. To chew over again, as food previously swallowed and regurgitated.
- rupture v. To separate the parts of by violence.
- rustic adj. Characteristic of dwelling in the country.
- ruth n. Sorrow for another's misery.
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