IELTS Speaking Vocabulary – Books and Films

On this page we’ve gathered useful IELTS speaking vocabulary for Books & Films topic. It can be used to answer various questions about music on IELTS Speaking test and will help you achieve a high IELTS score.

Adjectives to describe books and films

  • action-packed: full of action.

    My brother loves action-packed movies. Probably that’s why his favorite film is “Terminator”.

  • addictive: a book or film that you quickly become addicted to.

    “Harry Potter” series by Joanne Rowling are so addictive! I couldn’t stop after the first book and read all volumes.

  • creepy: producing a sensation of uneasiness or fear, scary.

    Noah finds Stephen King’s stories creepy.

  • dreary: gloomy or depressing.

    I can’t stand dramas, thrillers and other dreary movies.

  • entertaining: funny and enjoyable.

    Comedies are very entertaining.

  • futuristic: telling about the future.

    “Star Wars” movie is futuristic and dynamic.

  • heartbreaking: that breaks your heart and evokes sad emotions.

    When my aunt watched “Titanic” she cried all day! It’s such a heartbreaking film.

  • inspirational: evoking inspiration.

    It was an inspirational score and the students began to enjoy their best spell.

  • intense: a book or film loaded with actions and emotions that evokes strong feelings.

    The play’s plot was very intense. Just a minute after a couple had a quarrel in the forest, the secret lover appeared and started a fire-fight.

  • tear-jerking: tragic, making you cry.

    My sister is very emotional. I would rather watch a comedy with her than a tear-jerking movie!

  • thought-provoking: a book or film that makes you think of new ideas or that changes your attitude to something.

    Ray Bradbury’s novel “Fahrenheit 451” is deeply thought-provoking. I had to rethink my attitude to legislation and censorship after I read it.

Advanced vocabulary

  • action movie: film with fast moving scenes, often containing violence.

    Last week I saw a great action movie with my brother at our local movie theater.

  • bedtime reading: a book you read in your bed before going to sleep.

    I’m really addicted to books! I can’t even fall asleep without an hour of bedtime reading.

  • box office hit: a very successful movie, in terms of money.

    The new movie might be a box office hit, but I didn’t like it at all.

  • e-reader: a gadget for reading books.

    My e-reader broke a few days ago, so now I’ll need to fix it or buy a new one.

  • from cover to cover: from the first page to the last.

    I am a slow reader so it takes me a lot of time to read a book from cover to cover.

  • hardcover: a book with hard cover. Opposite to softcover.

    My friend gave me a hardcover book as a present for my birthday.

  • page turner: a book which is so good that you cannot stop reading it.

    My sister recommended me a great book. It was such a page turner that I read it in one day!

  • plot: a story line of a book or film.

    Some believe that the whole plot was a government conspiracy to convince James that Catholics could not be trusted.

    • intricate plot: a very complex, labyrinthine plot.

      The famous Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” has a very intricate plot. It tells a story of five different families and comprises of 4 volumes.

    • subordinate plot (subplot): a plot that is related to, but less important than the main plot of a story.

      Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Sun Also Rises” tells a love story of a man and a woman. However, the book involves many subordinate plots that raise questions about physical and spiritual affinity, trans-racial relationships and antisemitism.

    • threadbare plot: a simple, primitive plot.

      The movie’s plot was threadbare, but cutely disarming in its own way.

  • unraveling of the plot: the way in which a story develops over time.

    I first thought Jack London’s novel “Martin Eden” to be pretty straightforward. However, the plot unraveled in a very unpredicted way.

Useful idioms

  • don’t judge a book by its cover: a metaphorical phrase which means “you shouldn’t judge someone or something by its appearance alone”.

    When I first met Sam I didn’t find him handsome. But, as people say, don’t judge a book by its cover. He turned out to be the most interesting person I’ve ever met and we married soon!

  • to catch the latest movie: to see a movie that has just come out.

    We need to hurry up if we want to catch the latest movie.

  • to flick through: to look quickly through a book.

    I flicked through my notes to prepare for the exam as didn’t have time to study properly.

  • to know like a book: to know something extremely well.

    I live in this city for my whole life and I know it like a book.

  • to read between the lines: to understand the hidden meaning about something.

    When I broke up with my girlfriend, I didn’t want anyone to know that. But Tom saw us in the different corners of the classroom and read everything between the lines. He’s very discerning.

Related IELTS Resources

Take a practice test to find out what is your current weakness in terms of IELTS scale and allow more time to improve your weak spots. The following IELTS resources will help you to develop your skills faster:

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