Informal English vocabulary

about to	Peggy is about to leave.
in advance	We booked the tickets in advance.
alive and kicking	I love Berlin. It's alive and kicking.
all of a sudden	I went out in the sun. Then, all of a sudden, it started to rain.
all over the place	There are environmental problems all over the place.
B
to go from bad to worse	My marks went from bad to worse last term.
to bag sth.	Tom bagged this special offer at an online-shop.
beat-up	Mark is too beat-up to play tennis this evening.
to do the best	He always does his best.
blabber	Don't listen to him, he's a blabber.
to blag sth.	Once in a while young Tim blags his father's cigarettes.
bloody	What a bloody day!
to be blue	She's been feeling blue all day.
bouncer	A bouncer's task is to keep out those who might cause trouble.
be broke	I can't go to the cinema with you, I'm broke.
to brush up on sth.	I have to brush up on my Spanish.
buck	You can buy a DVD player for less than 100 bucks (dollars).
butt	You're a pain in the butt.
buzz	Parachuting gives me a real buzz.
Buzz off!	Buzz off! I have told you not to come to my place anymore.
C
a close call	I had a close call. A stone almost hit me!
to catch sth.	Sorry, I didn't quite catch your telephone number.
to catch (a) cold	I walked out in the rain, so I caught (a) cold.
not to have a clue	I don't have a clue about repairing the faucet.
Come off it!	Come off it! This isn't the truth.
as far as I'm concerned	As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to watch the film.
cop	A big crowd of cops gathered in front of the Bank of England.
corner shop	Mother really liked corner shops when she was a child.
cram school	Many pupils have to go to a cram school in the afternoon.
on credit	I'd not buy the new TV on credit.
cut	Mr Brown made big cuts of $500 million.
D
damned	I hate going through that damned rush hour.
to dig in one's heels	If you take or express an opinion and refuse to change it, you dig in your heels.
to disrespect sb.	Poor people shouldn't be disrespected.
to do one's best	He does his best to fix the car.
to do someone good	Let's go on a holiday. The sun will do us good.
to do without	If there's no milk for the tea, it'll do without.
down under	Down under will be my next destination.
E
to be up to one's ears	Sorry, I can't go out with you. I'm up to my ears in work.
every now and then	Every now and then I play the piano.
every other	He comes to me every other week.
to see eye to eye	World Bank and IMF see eye to eye on Asia
F
fair enough	Fair enough! Let's go out for dinner tonight.
fiddle	Especially fiddles are necessary to play folk music.
to keep the fingers crossed	I have to see the doctor for a checkup. - I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
flutter	The old lady loves a flutter on the slot machine.
folk	We all are fond of the Irish folk.
for free	I was lucky. I got this CD for free.
freak out	Ron freaked out when he heard that Peter had broken his car.
fridge	Butter must be kept in the fridge.
G
to get a lot of stick	In his new job Jack gets a lot of stick.
to get cold feet	He wanted to speak to the boss, but he didn't. He got cold feet.
to get fed up with sth.	They get fed up with their neighbour's parties.
to get rid of sth.	We have to get rid of that old car.
to get sth.	Jason, did you finally get your exercise?
to take sth. for granted	I took it for granted the meeting was on Tuesday.
greasy spoon	I'd rather starve instead of eating at a greasy spoon.
groovy	This cocktail tastes groovy.
guy	Jennifer fell in love with the guy from the supermarket.
H
had better	You'd better go now.
on the other hand	Sue likes pop music, on the other hand she doesn't like discos.
to give a hand	Can you give me a hand with the cupboard?
hard graft	Building our house has been a hard graft.
by heart	My brother has to learn the poem by heart.
hip	Molly always knows what's hip.
to hold s.o.'s horses	"Hold your horses," I said when John began to leave the room.
to be hooked on sth.	Bill is hooked on car racing.
J
to jump down sb.'s throat	The boss jumped down my throat because I was late for work.
K
knackered	What has happened? You look so knackered.
to keep an eye on sth./sb.	Will you keep an eye on my baby?
L
little by little	Andrew had an accident while playing ice-hockey. Little by little he begins to walk.
to look forward to sb.	I look forward to my holidays in Rome.
M
to make ends meet	She's been out of work for years. How can she make ends meet with four children?
to make friends easily	Chris makes friends easily.
to make oneself at home	Come in, please. Make yourself at home.
to make the most	Let's make the most of the last day of our holidays.
to make up one's mind	Did you make up your mind to buy a new computer?
mash	I love Grandma's homemade mash.
What's the matter?	You look sad. What's the matter with you?
to be mean	Grandfather is mean with money.
to meet sb. halfway	I don't like his ideas, but I can imagine that we should meet halfway.
to mess around	The clown messed around to make the children laugh.
to mess up	Sandy has really messed up this time.

Synonym and Antonym List

Word	Synonym	Synonym
abandon	discard	vacate
accord	agree	grant
adversity	difficulty	misfortune
affluent	plentiful	rich
aggravate	annoy	infuriate
alleviate	lighten	mitigate
amenable	agreeable	favorable
anguish	distress	sorrow
apathetic	dispirited	lifeless
arrogant	disdainful	imperious
astonish	confound	overwhelm
atrocious	appalling	detestable
augment	add	enlarge
avoid	ignore	shun
awkward	graceless	inept
baffle	confuse	deceive
banal	common	plain
barren	desolate	sterile
berate	criticize	disapprove
betray	deceive	fool
bias	inclination	predisposition
bitter	acrid	sour
blend	combine	mix
bliss	happiness	joy
bluff	boast	feign
bold	daring	fearless
bonus	award	gift
bother	annoy	irritate
brief	concise	short
brilliant	clever	intelligent
brisk	fast	swift
budget	allot	plan
candid	honest	truthful
caricature	cartoon	imitation
casual	informal	natural
category	classification	division
cease	desist	stop
chaotic	disordered	messy
cherish	esteem	love
circumvent	avoid	go around
commemorate	celebrate	honor
compensate	balance	recompense
competent	able	capable
conceive	design	plan
confirmation	acknowledgement	proof
contradict	deny	oppose
contribution	donation	grant
courteous	polite	well-mannered
craving	desire	longing
credulous	confident	trustful
damp	moist	wet
dare	challenge	defy
decay	decline	rot
decent	honorable	pure
dense	filled	packed
designate	name	select
detain	hold	keep
disclose	announce	reveal
dogma	belief	view
durable	constant	lasting
dwindle	abate	diminish
eager	earnest	keen
eccentric	abnormal	idiosyncratic
elaborate	embellish	enhance
emanate	arise	radiate
embezzle	purloin	steal
eminent	distinguished	prominent
encourage	foster	induce
endure	last	persist
essential	cultured	learned
essential	basic	necessary
estimate	guess	predict
evaluate	appraise	judge
exhaust	deplete	empty
exhilarated	cheerful	zestful
explicit	definite	specific
fastidious	exacting	particular
federation	alliance	band
feeble	helpless	infirm
fervor	intensity	passion
feud	argument	dispute
filth	dirt	squalor
flatter	compliment	praise
fleet	nimble	swift
frivolous	inconsequential	trivial
frugal	prudent	saving
furious	angry	outraged
generous	benevolent	unselfish
genuine	actual	real
glare	gleam	glisten
gloomy	cheerless	dim
goad	provoke	badger
grasp	grab	hold
greed	avarice	longing
guarantee	assure	pledge
guile	cunning	deceit
gullible	credulous	unsuspicious
habitual	accustomed	regular
handicap	disability	disadvantage
harass	annoy	disturb
harmless	innocuous	inoffensive
harsh	hard	coarse
hasty	abrupt	hurried
haughty	arrogant	pretentious
humiliate	humble	shame
hygiene	cleanliness	sanitation
hypocrisy	duplicity	falseness
ideal	goal	perfection
idle	lazy	unoccupied
ignorant	stupid	unintelligent
illogical	incongruent	rambling
illustrious	eminent	famous
imitate	copy	reflect
immense	huge	mammoth
impartial	candid	impersonal
impatient	anxious	eager
implicate	accuse	insinuate
importune	beg	solicit
inadvertent	accidental	unintentional
indifferent	apathetic	disinterested
isolate	detach	quarantine
jargon	argot	slang
jovial	genial	merry
judge	estimate	referee
justification	excuse	reason
juvenile	adolescent	immature
keen	clever	observant
label	brand	classify
labor	toil	work
lead	direct	proceed
lean	slim	thin
leave	abandon	desert
liberal	copious	unrestrained
liberal	lenient	open-minded
limitation	boundary	constraint
lucid	clear	understandable
lucky	auspicious	fortunate
mad	furious	irate
manage	administer	control
manipulate	control	shape
marginal	borderline	limited
match	agree	correspond
maze	complexity	labyrinth
meditate	ponder	think
memorial	commemoration	monument
mention	allude	refer to
merge	blend	fuse
narrow	confined	restricted
nature	aspect	character
necessary	mandatory	requisite
negate	contradict	refute
negligent	careless	remiss
negotiate	bargain	deal
nice	affable	benign
noble	aristocratic	distinguished
novice	beginner	nonprofessional
nuisance	annoyance	offense
obedient	faithful	loyal
objection	disapproval	protest
obligatory	compulsory	required
observe	notice	watch
obvious	conspicuous	definite
offend	anger	irritate
offer	bid	proposal
omen	premonition	sign
omit	exclude	remove
opportune	advantageous	auspicious
pacify	appease	placate
pain	ache	discomfort
paramount	chief	leading
partisan	biased	dogmatic
passive	inactive	lethargic
pause	break	cease
permeate	diffuse	disseminate
perpetuate	endure	preserve
perplex	astonish	baffle
persecute	afflict	harass
radiate	effuse	emanate
radical	basic	fundamental
range	anger	furor
rank	arrange	classify
realize	accomplish	fulfill
recalcitrant	obstinate	stubborn
receptacle	container	repository
reconcile	atone	conciliate
regret	deplore	grieve
reliable	dependable	trustworthy
sanction	approval	permit
scope	aim	extent
section	division	portion
settle	adjust	compromise
shallow	superficial	trivial
shrewd	careful	calculating
significant	distinctive	important
slight	delicate	slender
spontaneous	impromptu	unplanned
spread	announce	broadcast
stabilize	balance	steady
tame	domesticate	subdue
tangle	intertwine	twist
temper	mood	nature
tendency	inclination	trend
term	cycle	duration
thrift	conservation	prudence
tough	aggressive	unyielding
transfer	convey	exchange
tumult	agitation	commotion
turbulent	disordered	violent
vain	boastful	inflated
valid	authorized	legitimate
variety	assortment	diversify
verify	authenticate	substantiate