Academic Word of the Day Set 19

2025-11-07

19

implicateAWL

VERB TRANSITIVE 1. to show or suggest that someone is involved in a crime or misdeed. 2. to suggest a cause and effect connection

Although still under investigation, the company responsible for production recalled the implicated product as a precaution. (Cowie and Romero 2018) Feral cats also eat many threatened species in Australia, and have been implicated in the decline of many species including the bilby, numbat, and western ground parrot. (Doherty 2015) While evidence clearly implicates El Niño, we found this climate cycle had a very large accomplice: the Moon. (Saintilan 2022) So several genes are implicatin the immune system, for example - and it's telling us there's something different about the immune system of people who go on to develop Alzheimer's disease. (Science X Network :: Phys.Org, Medical Xpress, Tech Xplore n.d.) Their findings implicate the protein in triggering a cascade of molecular processes in response to kidney injury that leads to inflammation, fibrosis (scarring) and loss of function. (Graciano n.d.) Word Family: implicate (verb), implication (noun)Synonyms: involve, associate, connect 07/11/2025 - Set 19

2025-11-06

19

internalAWL AKL OPAL NGSL

ADJECTIVE CLASSIFIER located inside something

Like people, fish have an internal clock that tells them when to do things like sleep and eat. (Brown 2019) But without the Earth’s internal heat, the plates would not have been moving. (Huang 2023) Our eyes don’t turn off in the dark, but instead they create very weak internal signals that mimic light. (Schmid 2021) Bacteria and archaea are single-celled creatures that lack internal membrane-enclosed structures, like a nucleus to hold their genetic material. (Noll 2023) Electric and hybrid gas/electric cars emit very low sounds at low speeds because they don’t have internal combustion engines producing noise and vibrations. (Walker 2022) Common collocates for this word:

internal

market
affairs
security
structure
audit
organs
organization
control
divisions
politics
management
power
injuries
quality
organisation

Word Family: internal (adjective), internally (adverb)Synonyms: inside, interior, domestic 06/11/2025 - Set 19

2025-11-05

19

investigationAWL AKL OPAL NGSL

NOUN COUNTABLE a careful search for information about a specific issue

But all good scientific questions have something in common: they will point scientists towards some sort of investigation they can do to try and find out an answer. (Parke 2022) Our investigation revealed that heatwaves have damaged many (but not all) reef communities over the past decade. (Edgar 2023) These findings are driving exciting investigations into animals' inner lives and their capacity for joy and spontaneity. (Craciun 2023) The strength of the relationship between periodontal disease and general health varies with the medical condition under investigation. (Roberts-Thomson 2012) Common collocates for this word:

investigation

detailed
full
scientific
thorough
empirical
formal
preliminary
criminal
independent
special
official
internal
experimental
subsequent
environmental

Word Family: investigation (noun), investigate (verb)Synonyms: search, inquiry 05/11/2025 - Set 19

2025-11-04

19

obvious  AWL AKL NGSL

ADJECTIVE DESCRIPTOR easy to see and understand

Planting trees to create shade is an obvious response to hot weather. (Croeser 2023) In the old days, autocrats often came to or retained power through military coups and violent crackdowns. Now the shift from democracy to autocracy is slower and less obvious. (Inglis 2019) The most obvious difference wasn’t the working memory capacity – that is, the ability to keep track of a series of events – but the search strategies that were used. (Völter 2019) Is there a way to define placebos that clearly distinguishes them from drugs? This is not obvious, since defining placebos is also quite hard. (Dixon et al. 2025) It seems obvious that some people know more than others about birds or cars. (Gauthier 2024) Common collocates for this word:

obvious

reasons
way
example
choice
reason
examples
question
thing
answer
solution
point
signs
advantages
candidate
explanation

Word Family: obvious (adjective)Synonyms: clear, plain, evident 04/11/2025 - Set 19

2025-11-03

19

output  AWL AKL OPAL NGSL

NOUN the result, product or amount of a particular process

You could argue that rich countries simply have more resources so their companies are bound to be more productive – or have higher levels of output per worker. (Teal 2016) Whereas in South Korea the median worker produces US$193,000 of output a year, the comparable number in Ghana is US$10,000. (Teal 2016) A nonlinear system is one whose output does not vary in direct proportion to the input. (Palmer 2022) Research outputs – mostly publications – also increased dramatically. (Norton 2023) Through a mix of design and muddling through, the period from the 1980s to 2019 successfully delivered much higher enrolments and research outputs. (Norton 2023) Common collocates for this word:

output

real
industrial
total
agricultural
final
annual
cardiac
optimal
current
national
literary
efficient
lexical
increased
high

Word Family: output (noun)Synonyms: production, yield, product 03/11/2025 - Set 19

2025-10-31

19

phase  AWL OPAL NGSL

NOUN COUNTABLE 1. a particular part of a process or cycle; 2. a particular form of a substance (e.g. solid, liquid, gas)

Ice sheets and glaciers melt during warmer phases, which are called interglacials, and expand during colder phases, which are called glacials. (Su 2022) So the Universities Accord review panel has an unenviable task. It wants to see a radical new phase of “growth for skills.” (Norton 2023) The phases of the Moon do not exactly coincide with the solar calendar. (Heineman 2020) The technique is known as simulated annealing because early on – like hot metal in the early phase of cooling – the system is pliable and changeable. (Palmer 2022) Most things come in three phases: solid, liquid or gas. (Bosi 2021) During the main-sequence phase, a star fuses all the hydrogen in its core to helium. (Jeeson-Daniel 2013) Common collocates for this word:

phase

new
final
acute
early
solid
critical
aqueous
stationary
transitional
contracting
passing
total
active
current
cephalic

Word Family: phase (noun)Synonyms: stage, period 31/10/2025 - Set 19

2025-10-30

19

projected  AWL

ADJECTIVE PARTICIPIAL something planned or expected to happen in the future

Tanzania, for its part, has had a good harvest with an estimated 4 million tonnes of excess maize this year. This is seven times the projected import requirements for Malawi in 2024 and is enough to cover the region’s overall deficit. (Mahuma and Landani 2024) If future increases in groundwater use for irrigation and other needs are also considered, the projected reduction in water storage and increase in drought could be even more severe. (Pokhrel 2021) Opinion polls during an election tend to tell you one, or both, of two things: the projected vote share for each political party, and the projected number of seats each party will get. (Bunting 2024) The projected decline in atmospheric oxygen, even in the worst-case scenarios with massive fossil fuel burning and deforestation, will be very small relative to the very large atmospheric reservoir. (Duarte et al. 2021) In the face of widespread retreat of polar glaciers and the projected deglaciation of large areas of the Arctic, it is essential to understand how, and how quickly, areas change after ice disappears. (Pazo, Oliva, and Pérez 2025) Common collocates for this word:

projected

deficit
increase
growth
sales
spending
expenditure
cost
demand
images
budget
costs
figures
fall
image
campaign

Word Family: projected (adjective), project (verb)Synonyms: anticipated, impending 30/10/2025 - Set 19

2025-10-29

19

resolve  AWL AKL OPAL NGSL

VERB TRANSITIVE to bring a problem or medical issue to a satisfactory conclusion

The common cold is normally a mild illness that resolves without treatment in a few days. (Barlow 2019) This sort of conflict can feel impossible to resolve. (Carr 2023) Though not a very satisfying answer, most coughs really will eventually resolv on their own. (Enfield 2023) Usually, our inflammatory response resolves quite quickly, but some people may develop chronic inflammation throughout their body. (Hoffman 2022) One of the primary challenges of Ethiopian federalism lies in its inability to entirely resolve conflicts. (Yimenu 2023) Common collocates for this word:

resolve

itself
problems
disputes
conflicts
differences
matters
issues
complaints
conflict
difficulties
themselves
uncertainty
family
ambiguities
cases

Word Family: resolve (verb), resolution (noun)Synonyms: settle, finalise 29/10/2025 - Set 19

2025-10-28

19

status  AWL OPAL NGSL

NOUN UNCOUNTABLE the condition, rank, official position of a person or thing

A human being’s very sense of self is intimately tied up with his or her identity group’s status and beliefs. (Bardon 2020) Adults reach their peak career earnings and status in their late 40s and 50s. (Arnett 2022) Apart from their authority to possess firearms, individual police officers have no special status in law when it comes to the use of such force. (Clapham 2017) While earlier studies defined a family’s socioeconomic status by one or two factors, such as income, we looked at 11 different elements. (Hu and Morgan 2024) We found that students from families with lower socioeconomic status did worse than kids from families with higher status. (Hu and Morgan 2024) Common collocates for this word:

status

social
marital
legal
low
high
special
equal
professional
current
economic
new
financial
political
independent
nutritional

Word Family: status (noun)Synonyms: condition, class, grade, rank 28/10/2025 - Set 19

2025-10-27

19

summarise  AWL AKL OPAL

VERB TRANSITIVE to create a short form of a text containing only the most important information

Bar charts summarise data across different categories, but present them next to each other. This makes it easier to compare several categories at once. (White 2025) Cochrane reviews summarise the results in a multitude of studies, and are regularly updated to absorb new research. (Mar and Collignon 2018)As biologist E O Wilson summarized, “All animals, while capable of some degree of specialized learning, are instinct driven, guided by simple cues from the environment that trigger complex behavior patterns.”(Craciun 2023) For example, millions of people now use the technology to summarise lengthy documents, draft emails and increase their productivity at work.(Dezuanni et al. 2024) While scatterplots summarise trends, they sometimes show unusual results that would go unnoticed if measurements were charted separately. (White 2025) Word Family: summarise (verb), summary (noun)Synonyms: condense, abridge, abstract, outline 27/10/2025 - Set 19