Character Qualities: Virtues & Flaws — C1 Essential Words
Ten essential C1 words (Personality) with the complete apparatus: pronunciation, simple definitions, natural American examples, collocations, family, the common mistake and spoken usage — plus a 15-question practice quiz. Mark your status on every word.
diligence /ˈdɪlɪdʒəns/ noun C1 Personality
Meaning: Careful, steady, and serious effort in work — doing a job thoroughly and persistently, with attention to detail.
Example: Her diligence impressed the examiners.
Another example: Success came through diligence, not luck.
Collocations: diligence in · with diligence · diligence and care
Synonyms: carefulness, thoroughness, industriousness
Antonyms: carelessness, laziness
Word family: diligent (adj) · diligently (adv)
⚠ Common mistake: Investors borrow it for homework on companies ('due diligence') — its most-quoted modern phrase. Stagecoaches once wore its French name on their sides.
🗣 In spoken American English: Report cards praise it when talent forgets to show up.
Register: Formal — character essential.
perseverance /ˌpɜːrsɪˈvɪərəns/ noun C1 Personality
Meaning: Continuing to try to do something difficult despite problems and failures, over a long period of time; refusal to give up.
Example: Perseverance finally brought success.
Another example: The climb demanded strength and perseverance.
Collocations: perseverance in · through perseverance · perseverance pays
Synonyms: persistence, determination, endurance
Antonyms: giving up
Word family: persevere (v) · persevering (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: NASA named its Mars rover Perseverance (2021) — the quality, driving on another planet. Say per-se-VEER-ance; the middle is the hill.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its portrait is every inventor's hundredth attempt.
Register: Formal — character essential.
modesty /ˈmɒdɪsti/ noun C1 Personality
Meaning: The quality of not talking proudly about your own abilities or achievements; also dressing and behaving in a way that avoids attracting improper attention.
Example: Despite fame, his modesty remained.
Another example: She accepted with modesty.
Collocations: modesty about · with modesty · natural modesty
Synonyms: humility, reserve, simplicity
Antonyms: arrogance, boasting
Word family: modest (adj) · modestly (adv)
⚠ Common mistake: Its adjective prices houses too ('a modest home' = small, unpretentious). False modesty is its theatrical counterfeit — audiences detect it instantly.
🗣 In spoken American English: Champions wearing it are fans' favorite paradox.
Register: Formal — character essential.
hypocrisy /hɪˈpɒkrəsi/ noun C1 Personality
Meaning: Pretending to have moral standards or beliefs that your behavior shows you do not really have; criticizing in others what you do yourself.
Example: The speech was pure hypocrisy.
Another example: Voters punished the hypocrisy.
Collocations: hypocrisy of · accused of hypocrisy · sheer hypocrisy
Synonyms: double standards, pretense, insincerity
Antonyms: sincerity, honesty
Word family: hypocrite (n) · hypocritical (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Greek actors (hypokrites = stage actor) gave it the mask at its root. It is the charge every generation throws at the previous one with fresh evidence.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its detection is the internet's full-time hobby.
Register: Formal — character essential.
contempt /kənˈtempt/ noun C1 Personality
Meaning: A strong feeling that someone or something is worthless and beneath respect; also breaking a court's rules (contempt of court).
Example: He treated the warning with contempt.
Another example: Her voice was full of contempt.
Collocations: contempt for · with contempt · contempt of court
Synonyms: scorn, disdain, disrespect
Antonyms: respect, admiration
Word family: contemptuous (adj) · contemptible (adj — deserving it)
⚠ Common mistake: Relationship researchers call it the single best predictor of divorce — stronger than anger. Courts jail for its legal sense without a trial of its own.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its eyebrow (one raised) is body language's coldest signal.
Register: Formal — character essential.
candor /ˈkændər/ noun C1 Personality
Meaning: The quality of being honest, open, and direct in speech, even when the truth is uncomfortable. (British spelling: candour.)
Example: I appreciate your candor.
Another example: She spoke with refreshing candor.
Collocations: candor about · with candor · appreciate the candor
Synonyms: frankness, honesty, openness
Antonyms: evasion, deceit
Word family: candid (adj) · candidly (adv)
⚠ Common mistake: Its adjective CANDID also names unposed photographs (candid shots) — honesty in both frames. Performance reviews request it and flinch at it in equal measure.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its root is whiteness (Latin candidus — white, pure) — truth as a clean surface.
Register: Formal — character depth.
discretion /dɪˈskreʃən/ noun C1 Personality
Meaning: The quality of behaving carefully with sensitive information — keeping secrets and avoiding embarrassment; also the freedom to decide ('at your discretion').
Example: A lawyer must use discretion.
Another example: The bonus is at the manager's discretion.
Collocations: discretion in · use discretion · at your discretion
Synonyms: tact, care, judgment
Antonyms: indiscretion
Word family: discreet (adj) · discretionary (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Caution — its twin DISCRETE (separate) sounds the same and spells one letter apart. 'Viewer discretion advised' warns television audiences in its name.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its adjective on résumés promises bosses sleep at night.
Register: Formal — character essential.
tenacity /təˈnæsəti/ noun C1 Personality
Meaning: The quality of holding firmly to a purpose and not giving up easily; determined persistence, like a strong grip.
Example: Her tenacity won the scholarship.
Another example: The reporter showed great tenacity.
Collocations: tenacity in · with tenacity · tenacity of
Synonyms: doggedness, perseverance, grip
Antonyms: weakness, surrender
Word family: tenacious (adj) · tenaciously (adv)
⚠ Common mistake: Bulldogs are its logo animal (the grip that doesn't release). Coaches list it above talent on their recruiting sheets.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its root is holding (Latin tenere) — the hand inside the character trait.
Register: Formal — character essential.
resolve /rɪˈzɒlv/ noun / verb C1 Personality
Meaning: Strong determination to achieve something or to act in a certain way; also to solve a problem, or to decide firmly (verb).
Example: His resolve never wavered.
Another example: New Year resolves fill January gyms.
Collocations: resolve to · the resolve · resolve the issue
Synonyms: determination, will, decision
Antonyms: doubt, wavering
Word family: resolves (v) · resolution (n) · resolute (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Its noun for January is the RESOLUTION — the promise form. Cameras borrow 'resolve' for separating detail (resolution again) — firmness in pixels and people alike.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its verb settles disputes on paper ('the committee resolved that...').
Register: Formal — character essential.
virtue /ˈvɜːrtʃuː/ noun C1 Personality
Meaning: A good moral quality in a person (honesty, patience, courage), or behavior showing high moral standards; also an advantage of something ('the virtue of this plan is its price').
Example: Patience is a virtue.
Another example: Honesty was his greatest virtue.
Collocations: a virtue · virtue of · by virtue of (because of)
Synonyms: goodness, merit, strength
Antonyms: vice, flaw
Word family: virtues (n pl) · virtuous (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Its opposite VICE completes the moral pair (virtues and vices). 'By virtue of' in documents means 'because of the power of' — law's polite formula.
🗣 In spoken American English: Aristotle's list of them is philosophy's oldest character curriculum.
Register: Formal — character essential.
Practice — Character Qualities: Virtues & Flaws
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