University entrance examinations, like many other standardized tests, leave very little room for error, particularly on the vocabulary and math testing sections. Either your answer is right – you’ve defined a word correctly, or solved an algebra problem – or it’s not. There’s no system that will look at your answers and say “oh, she picked the answer that was almost right, so we’ll give her a half credit for that one.” The computer-based scoring system does not have sympathy built into its circuits, and continues its implacable analysis of the choices you’ve made and the answers you’ve submitted.

How can you improve your chances of getting a high score in the vocabulary section of these tests? By improving your vocabulary, naturally. Pick at least one new word to learn each day, and you’ll gradually gain a comprehensive knowledge of the most useful and interesting parts of the English language. For today, let’s look at the word implacable (pronounced ihm-PLAH-kuh-buhl, with the second syllable rhyming with the word CAT). This adjective comes from the Latin root word placare (“to calm, to appease”) with the prefix im- (with the same meaning as the prefix in-, “not”). There are three definitions of implacable: (1) unable to be calmed / pleased / placated; (2) unstoppable or relentless; and (3) unmoving, adamant. All are similar in the sense of “being unchangeable” but have somewhat different uses.

Example 1: The media often portrayed the Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian residents of the former Yugoslavia as implacable enemies, but in reality many members of the three communities had lived in mutual harmony for generations.

Example 2: Her children were very upset when their sand castle was swept away by the implacable advance of the incoming tide.

Example 3: We begged him to give us another month to find the rent money but our landlord was implacable in his demands and evicted us last week.

Add one or more new words to your vocabulary every day, and you’ll be unstoppable!