shift, diagnosis, awareness, outcome, indicator: meanings and examples

Learn these 5 words from Upper-Intermediate set 27. Each entry includes a definition, example sentence, pronunciation, and synonyms. Use the interactive cards above to practice them.

1. shift · noun/ʃɪft/

   a change in focus or direction

   The sudden shift in the company's marketing strategy caught its competitors by surprise.

   Synonyms: alteration, change, transition

   Origin: Old English sciftan ‘arrange, divide, apportion’, of Germanic origin; related to German schichten ‘to layer, stratify’. A common Middle English sense ‘change, replace’ gave rise to shift (via the notion of changing one's clothes) and shift (via the concept of relays of workers)

2. diagnosis · noun/ˌdaɪəɡˈnoʊsəs/

   detection of an illness by a doctor or another health professional

   Early diagnosis of a life-threatening illness might be much more important than you think since time is a critical factor in such illnesses.

   Synonyms: identification,detection, recognition, discovery

   Origin: late 17th century: modern Latin, from Greek, from diagignōskein ‘distinguish, discern’, from dia ‘apart’ + gignōskein ‘recognize, know’

3. awareness · noun/əˈwɛrnəs/

   the state of knowing or being conscious of something

   While there is significant global awareness of cyberbullying, a quarter of adults have never even heard of it.

   Synonyms: knowledge, consciousness, perception

4. outcome · noun/ˈaʊtˌkəm/

   the final result of an action, process, or event

   The study tries to answer whether group therapy or individual therapy produces better outcomes.

   Synonyms: consequence, conclusion

5. indicator · noun/ˈɪndəˌkeɪdər/

   something that shows or points to another thing

   Negative economic profits is an indicator of poor management of money.

   Synonyms: sign, measure, pointer, index