IELTS vocabulary for media and advertising: 25 useful words and phrases
Learn useful IELTS media and advertising vocabulary for Writing Task 2 and Speaking Part 3, with meanings and example sentences.
By English Grader study guides · AI-assisted educational content · Official sources linked below
The short answer
Learn media vocabulary in short phrases you can actually use—such as 'targeted advertising' and 'media literacy'—not isolated words.
Why media vocabulary matters
Media and advertising appear regularly in Task 2 essays and Part 3 discussions—questions about news, social media, celebrity culture, and consumerism all need precise topic language.
Related guide: Practise Task 2 vocabulary
Useful words and phrases
Group words by function so you can use them naturally: describing advertising, discussing news, and evaluating influence.
- targeted advertising — ads shown to specific groups
- advertising campaign — an organised series of ads
- media literacy — the skill of evaluating what you read or watch
- sensationalist headlines — exaggerated titles designed to attract clicks
- to shape public opinion — to influence what people think
- consumer culture — a society focused on buying goods
In a Task 2 sentence
Targeted advertising can manipulate vulnerable groups, so governments should require greater transparency about how campaigns use personal data.
Learn them actively
Read the list, cover the meanings, and test yourself. Then write one sentence of your own with each phrase—production fixes vocabulary in memory far better than re-reading.
Open the vocabulary practice →Put this into practice
Open the media and advertising topic list, review the words and translations, then test yourself with the matching game.
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Official sources and further reading
Practice examples and study routines are illustrative advice, not official band-scored answers or predictions of exam questions.