leading, faithful, ignorant, judgemental, permissive: meanings and examples

Learn these 5 words from Upper-Intermediate set 83. Each entry includes a definition, example sentence, pronunciation, and synonyms. Use the interactive cards above to practice them.

1. leading · adjective/ˈlidɪŋ/

   the most important or successful

   Ministry of Health in a country plays a leading role in preventing a contagious disease to spread exponentially.

   Synonyms: chief, superior, best

2. faithful · adjective/ˈfeɪθfəl/

   continuing to be loyal to a person, organization or belief

   People in many companies are rewarded for their faithful service after working at the same company for 10 or more years.

   Synonyms: loyal, reliable, trustworthy

3. ignorant · adjective/ˈɪɡnərənt/

   not being knowledgeable about the things that you need to know

   Many teenagers nowadays are ignorant about political issues and they even do not know the major changes that are happening in their own countries.

   Synonyms: uneducated, illiterate, oblivious

   Origin: late Middle English: via Old French from Latin ignorant- ‘not knowing’, from the verb ignorare (see ignore)

4. judgemental · adjective/ˌdʒədʒˈmɛn(t)l/

   too quick to criticize or form negative opinions about others

   Interestingly enough, judgemental people are the ones who cannot stand being criticized by others as if they were not doing such things.

   Synonyms: unreasonable, subjective

5. permissive · adjective/pərˈmɪsɪv/

   allowing people to behave freely with few rules or restrictions

   Parents who make relatively few demands on their children and so have really low expectations on them are called permissive parents.

   Synonyms: tolerant, indulgent, lenient

   Origin: late 15th century (in the sense ‘tolerated, allowed’): from Old French, or from medieval Latin permissivus, from permiss- ‘allowed’, from the verb permittere (see permit)