It seems incredible that no one foresaw the crisis.
adjective EXTREME
2. informal extremely good
Yeah, it was an incredible performance.
What an incredible motorbike!
471.
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unthinkable
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/ʌnˈθɪŋ.kə.bl ̩/ adjective
too shocking or unlikely to be imagined as possible
You can't imagine what it would be like to have your child die - it's quite unthinkable.
noun [ S ]
the unthinkable
an unthinkable event or situation
The unthinkable had happened - his secret activities had been discovered by the press.
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472.
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halve /
double /
treble / quadruple
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/hɑːv/ verb
1. [ T ] to reduce something by half or divide something into two equal pieces
In the past eight years, the elephant population in Africa has been halved. /ˈdʌb.l ̩/ adjective
1. twice the size, amount, price, etc., or consisting of two similar things together
I ordered a double espresso (= two standard amounts in one cup) .
/ˈtreb.l ̩/ predeterminer
three times greater in amount, number or size
He earns almost treble the amount that I do.
/kwɒdˈruː.pl ̩/ verb [ I or T ]
to become four times as big, or to multiply a number or amount by four
The number of students at the college has quadrupled in the last ten years.
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473.
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fortify
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/ˈfɔː.tɪ.faɪ/ verb [ T ]
to strengthen something, especially in order to protect it
a fortified town
They hurriedly fortified the village with barricades of carts.
The argument had fortified her resolve to prove she was right.
He fortified himself with a drink and a sandwich before driving on.
a fruit drink fortified with vitamin C (= with vitamin C added)
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474.
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precious
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/ˈpreʃ.əs/ adjective VALUABLE
1. of great value because of being rare, expensive or important
a precious moment/memory/gift
Clean water is a precious commodity in many parts of the world.
adjective NOT NATURAL
2. mainly UK disapproving behaving in a very formal and unnatural way by giving too much attention to details that are not important and trying too hard to be perfect
He's so precious about his work that he never gets anything done.
adjective DISLIKE
3. [ before noun ] informal used to express dislike and/or anger
You and your precious car - it's all you're interested in!
adverb informal
very
A lot of people will start, but precious few will finish.
Be careful - you'll be precious little help if you come back injured.
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475.
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beyond
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/biˈjɒnd/ preposition , adverb FURTHER AWAY
1. further away in the distance (than something)
In the distance, beyond the river, was a small town.
preposition , adverb OUTSIDE A LIMIT
2. outside or after (a stated limit)
Few people live beyond the age of a hundred.
We cannot allow the work to continue beyond the end of the year.
preposition , adverb NOT UNDERSTAND
3. informal If something is beyond you, you are unable to understand it
I'm afraid physics is completely beyond me.
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476.
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Trivial
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/ˈtrɪv.i.əl/ adjective
having little value or importance
I don't know why he gets so upset about something that is utterly trivial.
2. describes a problem that is easy to solve
Getting computers to understand human language is not a trivial problem.
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477.
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discernible
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US also discernable /dɪˈsɜː.nɪ.bl ̩/ adjective formal
able to be seen or understood
The influence of Rodin is discernible in the younger artist.
There is no discernible reason why this should be the case.
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