Word for wanting to change something

Sometimes, it’s good to use words that have a meaning close to what we’re trying to convey, but it’s difficult to come up with the right term. In this article, we’re looking at words we can use to call someone who loves to try new things. There are plenty out there, so let’s jump in.

What Do You Call Someone Who Loves To Try New Things?

Someone who loves to try new things is most commonly referred to as adventurous. There are plenty of words out there that can apply, like “uninhibited,” “venturesome,” “neophile,” or “audacious.” “Adventurous” is the closest related word meaning loving to try new things, though.

The meaning of “adventurous,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “willing to try new or difficult things.” This applies most obviously to somebody who loves to try new things.

The words we’ll cover in this article are:

• Adventurous
• Uninhibited
• Venturesome
• Neophile
• Audacious

Adventurous

We’ll start by looking at the best word used to describe someone who loves to try new things.

We’ve all heard about adventures before. They’re things that people go on to explore new places or new ideas that allow them to open up their worldview a little beyond their original scope.

Calling someone “adventurous” means that they’re always happy and willing to try new things. Often, the things that they’re willing to try are difficult or scary to the general population.

Let’s go over some examples of how we can use adventurous. It’s an adjective, so we’re going to use it mostly to describe the person:

• He is so adventurous, and he’s willing to try just about anything.
• I’ve never seen such an adventurous person eat so many new things!
• You’re so adventurous. I wish I had your attitude to new things!
• You love change, don’t you? That’s what makes you so adventurous.

Uninhibited

The next word we want to look at is “uninhibited,” which means that someone doesn’t have any inhibitions.

Inhibitions are something that most people have that stop them from doing things that either scare them or make them uncomfortable.

Being “uninhibited” means that someone doesn’t have the usual inhibitions you’d expect. They’re capable of trying new things, often things that other people might look down on or be too afraid to try for themselves.

According to The Cambridge Dictionary, “uninhibited” means “free and natural, without embarrassment or too much control.” It can apply to plenty of ideas in life and is a great thing to try and achieve for yourself.

• You are so uninhibited. I wish I could be as bold as you!
• She’s uninhibited and willing to try all sorts of things.
• What is it that makes you feel uninhibited when everyone else is embarrassed?
• I’m uninhibited and always looking for a new challenge to entertain myself.

Venturesome

The next word is similar in many ways to “adventurous.” It’s another adjective that’s closely linked to a life of adventure.

Venturesome is an adjective used to describe someone who looks to take risks. Usually, they won’t worry about the impact of those risks until after they’ve taken them, making them more than willing to try new things.

According to The Cambridge Dictionary, “venturesome” is “used to describe a person who is willing to take risks.”

A venturesome person generally leads a very pleasing and content life. When you’re constantly trying things to excite you, regardless of risk, you’re opening yourself up to a lifetime of happiness, finding new things that you might not have realized you would enjoy if you didn’t try.

• He is such a venturesome man; I wish I were more like him.
• You’re far too venturesome for me to keep up!
• I’m the venturesome one of this relationship, and she keeps me grounded.
• We love the venturesome lifestyle that we lead.

Neophile

Next, we have something known as “neophilia.” If a person has this phenomenon, it means they are a “neophile” and a lover of change.

A neophile is somebody who loves change. The “-phile” portion of the words is the opposite to “phobia” and means you love something. In this case, “neo-” means change, making “change” the thing that people love.

Change in this context is applied when we’re talking about trying new things. Many people are against trying new things, no matter how exciting they may be, simply because they don’t like change.

It’s the aim of the neophile to eradicate these thought processes and focus solely on enjoying themselves and welcoming any new changes that might present themselves as they go through life.

• I consider myself to be a neophile. I’ll try something new every weekend.
• I love to change up my routine; they say I’m quite the neophile.
• He’s a neophile and always has to be kept on his toes.
• I don’t understand why you have to be such a neophile! What’s wrong with a standard routine?

Audacious

Finally, we’ll look at audacious as a word used to describe someone willing to try new things.

“Audacious” is perhaps the furthest away from the original meaning. It still works well, but it’s much more specific and should only be used in particular contexts.

Audacious means that somebody is willing to take risks, even if those risks offend people. It’s usually related to what people say rather than what they do. If you’re happy offending people living your own life, then you may just be audacious.

According to The Cambridge Dictionary, “audacious” means “showing a willingness to take risks or offend people.”

We can apply this to a few situations, but in every case, it’s usually seen as more of a negative thing if someone is known as “audacious.” It mostly refers to what people say and the opinions they have, though it can extend out to what people do as well.

• I’m audacious, and I apologize now if I offend you.
• He’s really audacious, and I don’t think I can be around him when he goes against the grain all the time!
• You’re too audacious for my liking!
• Wow, I’ve never met someone as audacious as you are! You must be proud!

You will often need to describe change in IELTS both in writing and speaking. Very frequently you are asked to discuss

• what has changed from the past
• what changes you think will occur in the future
• what change you think should be made

To do this well, you need a variety of ways to discuss change and his lesson helps you out with some words and phrases to do just this. You will also find plenty of exercises to practise your skills in using change words and phrases.

Key words for change from the Academic Word List

The Academic Word List contains some of the most common words in English. These are exactly the sort of words you need for IELTS. These exercises are not intended to show you the meaning of the words, rather how they’re used. The idea is to focus on the word forms and families. One of the most efficient ways to learn language is to learn 3/4 words at a time and not just one. What do I mean? Don’t learn adjust learn 3 words

• adjust
• adjustment
• adjustable

Adjust

 Typically, if you adjust something you make a fairly small change to it – unless you say otherwise. You can still make a major adjustment! There are 3 common forms of this word. The verb is adjust, the noun adjustment and the adjective adjustable. See how they are used in this quick exercise:

Notes

• a common colocation is make an adjustment
• the most common preposition here is to. You adjust to something

Alter

The words you want here are alter (the verb), alteration (the noun), altering (a participle) and a related noun alternative.

Notes

Alternative is not strictly part of the AWL. It is though a very useful word and forms part of the alter word family. An alternative is something you have changed really.

You often make an alteration to something.

Amend

This is one of those words you need to be slightly careful using. It is often used in a quite specialist sense of making changes to a policy or a document. The two most common forms of the word are amend ( verb) and amendment ( a noun)

Notes

A common phrase is to make an amendment to something.

Evolve

Again this word has a fairly narrow use. It describes change but slow and gradual change. The common forms of the word are evolve (the verb), evolution (the noun) and evolved (a participle)

Notes

Things evolve from something into something else

Modify

If you modify something you change it but typically in a small way and the essence remains the same. The key forms of this word are modify (the verb), modification (the noun) and modified (a participle)

Some less common change words and idioms

It is always nice to be able to use some more advanced vocabulary. You do need though to be careful. These words are much less common and are often used only for specific types of change. You can use idioms when you speak but you have to be confident that you are using them accurately. You will get no reward for producing “learnt” language that is out of place.

refine/refinement

If you refine something you generally make it better often by looking at detail and/or by making a small change

One refinement to this idea would be to allow grandparents and not just parents be responsible for young people’s behaviour.

acclimatise/acclimatisation

If you acclimatise to something you get comfortable with a new situation. You can use this word when you move into a new culture or environment. It is broadly similar in meaning to get used to.

It took me some time to acclimatise to going back to work after having been a house husband!

overhaul

If you overhaul something you completely change it. It is properly used for engines but you can also overhaul systems.

The problems in primary education are so severe that the whole system needs to be overhauled.

tinker with

This one is idiomatic and so probably best used in speaking and not writing. If you tinker with something you typically spend quite a lot of time making small changes. Very often the changes are insignificant and perhaps a waste of time

I’m not a fan of DIY in technology. My brother spends ages tinkering with his computer. But I think he’s wasting his time as it never seems to work properly.

move with the times

This is an idiom you could use. If you move with the times, you keep up with new trends and ways of thinking.

My parents are fairly conservative. They haven’t really moved with the times and still have difficulty with technology such as smart phones.

turn things upside down

This is another idiom that could be useful in speaking. If you turn things upside down, you change them completely – often in a negative way.

Yes, I do think attitudes to exams and continuous assessment need to change but I think it’d be a mistake to turn things upside down. There’s a lot that is right in the current set up.

Types of change

When you write and speak about changes it helps to think how big that change is and/or how quickly it happens. If you do this, you get to use some more interesting vocabulary and also write more specifically. Both are these are good things!

Note here that you can still use the word change. It is a common word and not one you should avoid using. The idea is that when you do use it you think about the type of change.

Big changes

Beyond all recognition

Educational systems have changed beyond all recognition in the last 20 years.

Dramatic/ dramatically

The nature of communication has changed dramatically with the advent of computer technology.

Revolution/revolutionise

Smart phones have revolutionised the way we use the internet as we are now no longer reliant on computers.

Radical shift

In recent years there has been a radical shift in the way people think about the environment.

Transform/transformation

Science, and genetical modified crops in particular, have transformed farming practice.

Smaller changes

These phrases show smaller changes.

a slight shift

There has been a slight shift in attitudes towards immigration and more people are now willing to accept that it can help the economy.

a minor adjustment 

There is no need to completely change the way our children are educated, the curriculum only need a minor adjustment.

Speed of change

rate/pace of change

Not everyone is happy with this rate of change and many would prefer that there were fewer new developments built in town centres. 

an overnight change  

It is unrealistic to expect this change to occur overnight as first of all attitudes towards air travel need to change.

slow but steady/slowly but steadily

Slowly but steadily more and more people are doing their shopping in out of town supermarkets and this is changing town centres.

a gradual process

This change has been evolutionary and a gradual process as it has taken people some time to get used to the idea of shopping online.

Some exercises

Practice questions

It’s good to have words but you really learn them bye using them for yourself. Take a look at these possible speaking questions and try and answer them. Don’t be afraid to use the word change but do think about how big/small the change is and how fast it happened. Do that and you should use better vocabulary and speak about detail.

How has your home town changed in recent years?

Is there anything you would change about your home town?

Have attitudes to marriage changed in your country?

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