< V > TOEFL Vocabulary (192)

Suicidal (adjective) 

having the tendency to take one’s own life voluntarily and intentionally

People with Multiple Personality Disorder may experience any of the following:

depression, mood swings, suicidal tendencies, and sleep disorders. 

Sum up (verb) 

to recapitulate the salient facts of

There are four types of politeness strategies, described by Brown and Levinson,  that

sum up human "politeness" behavior: Bald On Record, Negative Politeness, Positive

Politeness, and Off-Record-Indirect Strategy. 

Summon (verb) 

to demand to appear, come, or assemble 

Summoned by von Colloredo to Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed after a series of

arguments.

Superimpose (verb) 

to place or lay over or above something

With conventional two-dimensional X-ray pictures, things at different depths are

superimposed, causing potential confusion to the viewer.

Supernatural (adjective)

of or relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe; especially of 

or relating to God or a god, demigod, spirit, or devil 

But in spite of their supernatural powers, many gods, goddesses, and heroes of 

mythology have human characteristics. 

Supersonic (adjective) 

of, being, or relating to speeds from one to five times the speed of sound in air  

The idea of a supersonic passenger plane gained momentum in the 1950s, after Chuck

Yeager's 1947 blast through the sound barrier. 

Superstition (noun) 

irrational fear of the unknown

Due to events which sometimes cannot be explained, communities have developed

superstitions which have been passed from one generation to the next.

Suppress (verb) 

to hold something in check

If fires are always suppressed, dense underbrush soon becomes so abundant that a

simple spark can start a fire within minutes. 

Supremacy (noun) 

the condition or fact of being dominant 

After Admiral Nelson won a victory at Trafalgar, Spain in 1805, England established a

naval supremacy that would last for 100 hundred years.

Surpass (verb) 

to be greater or better than; to go beyond the limits of

The Grand Canyon, a long narrow gorge in Arizona, surpasses in its enormity and

beauty any other geological wonder in the United States.