skillful, fearful, fair, dishonest, valuable: meanings and examples

Learn these 5 words from Intermediate set 94. Each entry includes a definition, example sentence, pronunciation, and synonyms. Use the interactive cards above to practice them.

1. skillful · adjective/ˈskɪlf(ə)l/

   able to do something very well because of training or experience

   The people who experienced food shortages during the war became very skillful in preparing food with few resources.

   Synonyms: capable, adept, talented

2. fearful · adjective/ˈfɪrf(ə)l/

   feeling afraid that a bad thing could happen

   The government was fearful of the spread of the unrest as the political situation was affecting the economy.

   Synonyms: afraid, frightened, scared

3. fair · adjective/fɛr/

   reasonable and treating people equally without favoring anyone

   The workers in the car factory asked for fair wages for their work.

   Synonyms: reasonable, impartial, just

   Origin: Old English fæger ‘pleasing, attractive’, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German fagar

4. dishonest · adjective/dɪsˈɑnəst/

   not truthful or willing to deceive or cheat

   The seller was being dishonest when he claimed the used phone had never been damaged.

   Synonyms: deceitful, untruthful, misleading

   Origin: late Middle English (in the sense ‘dishonorable, unchaste’): from Old French deshoneste, Latin dehonestus

5. valuable · adjective/ˈvælj(əw)əb(ə)l/

   worth a lot of money or extremely useful and important

   Due to the increase in burglary rates, some people prefer to put their valuable belongings in a bank vault.

   Synonyms: precious, useful, worthwhile