ielts | Task 2 | Synonyms for 20 most common adjectives | ielts writing

	Common adjective	Synonym	Definition	Example
1	Excellent	World-class State of the art	as good as the best in the world using the most modern or advanced techniques or methods; as good as it can be at the present time	world-class museum The system was state of the art (a state-of-the art system)
		Outstanding	extremely good; excellent	an outstanding achievement/success
2	Interesting	Compelling	so interesting or exciting that it holds your attention	Her latest book makes compelling reading
		Fascinating	extremely interesting or attractive	The exhibition tells the fascinating story of the steam age.
3	New	Modern Up-to-date	1)           of the present time or recent times. 2)           using the latest technology, designs, materials, etc. modern; having or including the most recent information	Stress is a major problem of modern life. A modern computer system. Up-to-date equipment. We are keeping up to date with the latest developments.
		Fresh	new or different in a way that adds to or replaces something	I think it's time we tried a fresh approach.
4	Old	Outdated	no longer useful because of being old-fashioned	It is an outdated and inefficient system.
		Old-fashioned	not modern; no longer fashionable	old-fashioned clothes/styles/methods/equipment
5	Easy, simple	Straightforward	easy to do or to understand; not complicated	a straightforward process
		Uncomplicated	simple; without any difficulty or confusion	Why can't I have an uncomplicated life?
6	Difficult	Challenging	difficult in an interesting way that tests your ability	challenging work/questions/problems
		Tough	having or causing problems or difficulties	It was a tough decision to make.
7	Many	Numerous	existing in large numbers	The advantages of this system are too numerous to mention. Numerous studies have shown this to be true.
8	Bad	Harmful Detrimental	causing damage or injury to somebody/something, especially to a person’s health or to the environment (formal) harmful	The harmful effects of alcohol are well established. The policy will be detrimental to the peace process.
		Inappropriate	not suitable or appropriate in a particular situation	The existing practice is totally inappropriate to the needs of modern society.
		Substantial	large in amount, value or importance	There are substantial differences between the two groups.
9	Big	Sizable	fairly large	Income from tourism accounts for a sizeable proportion of the area’s total income.
10	Fast	Rapid	happening in a short period of time	rapid change/expansion/growth; a rapid rise/decline in sales
11	Good	Suitable   Acceptable	right or appropriate for a particular purpose or occasion that somebody agrees is of a good enough standard or allowed	This Programme is not suitable for children. We want a political solution that is acceptable to all parties.
		Satisfactory	good enough for a particular purpose	a satisfactory explanation/answer/solution/conclusion
12	Important	Necessary Vital	that is needed for a purpose or a reason necessary or essential in order for something to succeed or exist	Changes can easily be made where necessary. The police play a vital role in our society.
		Crucial	extremely important, because it will affect other things	a crucial factor/issue/decision; topics of crucial importance It is crucial that we get this right.
		Essential	completely necessary; extremely important in a particular situation or for a particular activity	Money is not essential to happiness.
13	Wrong	Incorrect	not accurate or true	incorrect information/spelling
		Inaccurate	not exact or accurate; with mistakes	These figures are somewhat inaccurate.
14	Same	Equivalent Extensive	equal in value, amount, meaning, importance, etc. including or dealing with a wide range of information	The new regulation was seen as equivalent to censorship. Extensive research has been done into this disease.
		Lengthy	very long, and often too long, in time or size	lengthy delays; the lengthy process of obtaining a visa

All definitions and examples are taken from Oxford Learner’s dictionaries