IELTS vocabulary | Acquire and Accumulate

Accumulate (verbs)

To accumulate is to gather, amass, collect, gather together, hoard, aggregate and garner.

• My neighbour accumulated a fortune buying and selling land.
• He has accumulated large debts.
• Snow accumulated on the ground.
• We have accumulated a great deal of junk.
• He likes to accumulate antiques.

Accumulation (noun)

• I think we need to throw out the accumulation of junk.
• The accumulation of antique objects is his pastime.

Acquire

To acquire is to get, obtain, secure, achieve, earn and attain.

• While holidaying in Toronto, I acquired a strong Canadian accent.
• I acquired a working knowledge of German during my short stint in Germany.

Acquire antonyms: lose, forgo, give up, relinquish etc.

Acquisition (noun)

An acquisition is a possession, property, purchase, prize, acquirement, gain, procurement etc.

• His most recent acquisition is a luxury yacht.
• Sages devote their life to the acquisition of knowledge.

Acquisition and acquirement

These words have somewhat different meanings.

An acquisition is a material possession. An acquirement is a personal skill that one gains through practice.

• His biggest acquisition is a sea-facing apartment in Mumbai.
• Speaking French is one of her acquirements.

Acquisitive (adjective)

An acquisitive person is greedy, materialistic and avaricious.

• You are an acquisitive person, always wanting new things.