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Vocabulary > 100 Words Every High School Grad Should Know > Flashcards

100 Words Every High School Grad Should Know Flashcards

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1
Q

Abjure (v)

A

To recant solemnly, renounce or repudiate; to renounce under oath; foreswear

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2
Q

Abrogate (v)

A

To abolish, do away with, or annul, especially by authority

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3
Q

Abstemious (adj)

A

Eating and drinking in moderation; characterized by abstinence or moderation

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4
Q

Acumen (n)

A

Quickness and keenness of judgment or insight

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5
Q

Antebellum (adj)

A

Belonging to the period before a war, especially the American Civil War

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6
Q

Auspicious (adj)

A

Attended by favorable circumstances, propitious; marked by success, proserous

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7
Q

Belie (v)

A

To give a false representation to; misrepresent; to show to be false; contradict

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8
Q

Bellicose (adj)

A

Warlike or hostile in manner or temprement

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9
Q

Bowdlerize (v)

A

To remove material that is considered objectionable or offensive from (a book, for example); expurgate

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10
Q

Chicanery (n)

A

Deception by trickery or sophistry

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11
Q

Chromosome (n)

A

A threadlike linear strand of DNA and associated proteins in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells that carries the genes and functions in the transmission of hereditary information; a circular strand of DNA in bacteria that contains the hereditary information of the cell

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12
Q

Churlish (adj)

A

Of, like, or befitting a churl; boorish or vulgar; having a bad disposition; surly

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13
Q

Circumlocution (n)

A

The use of unnecessarily wordy and indirect language; avasiveness in speech or writing; a roundabout expression

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14
Q

Circumnavigate (v)

A

To proceed completely around; to go around; circumvent

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15
Q

Deciduous (adj)

A

Shedding or losing foliage at the end of the growing season; falling off or shed at a specific season or stage of growth; not lasting; ephemeral

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16
Q

Deleterious (adJ0

A

Having a harmful effect; injurious

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17
Q

Diffident (adj)

A

Lacking or marked by a lack of self-confidence; shy and timid

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18
Q

Enervate (v)

A

To weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of

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19
Q

Enfranchise (v)

A

To endow with the rights of citizenship, especially the right to vote; to free from slavery or bondage

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20
Q

Epiphany (n)

A

A Christian feast celebrating the manifestation of the divine nature of Jesus to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi; January 6, on which date this feast is traditionally observed; a revelatory manifestation of a divine being; a sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something; a revelation

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21
Q

Equinox (n)

A

Either of the two times during a year when the sun crosses the celestial equator and when the length of day and night are approximately equal; either of two points on the celestial sphere at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator

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22
Q

Euro (n)

A

The basic unit of currency among members of the European Monetary Union

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23
Q

Evanescent (adj)

A

Vanishing or likely to vanish like vapor

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24
Q

Expurgate (v)

A

To remove erroneous, vulgar, obscene, or otherwise objectionable material from (a book, for example) before publication

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25
Q

Facetious (adj)

A

Playfully jocular, humorous

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26
Q

Fatuous (adj)

A

Foolish or silly, especially in a smug or self-satisfied way

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27
Q

Feckless (adj)

A

Lacking purpose or vitality; feeble or ineffective; careless and irresponsible

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28
Q

Fiduciary (adj)

A

Of or relating to a holding of something in trust for another; of or being a trustee or trusteeship; held in trust; of or consisting of legal tender, especially paper currency, authorized by a government but not based on or convertible into gold or silver

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29
Q

Filibuster (n)

A

The use of obstructionist tactics, especially prolonged speechmaking, for the purpose of delaying legislative action; an instance of the use of such tactics

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30
Q

Gamete (n)

A

A reproductive cell having the haploid number of chromosomes, especially a mature sperm or egg capable of fusing with a gamete of the opposite sex to produce the fertilized egg

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31
Q

Gauche (adj)

A

Lacking grace or social polish; awkward or tactless

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32
Q

Gerrymander (v)

A

To divide (a geographic area) into voting districts so as to give unfair advantage to one part in election

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33
Q

Hegemony (n)

A

The predominant influence of a state, region, or group, over others

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34
Q

Hemoglobin (n)

A

The iron-containing pigment in red blood cells of vertebrates, consisting of about 6 percent heme and 94 percent globin. In vertebrates, hemoglobin caries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues of the body and carried carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs

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35
Q

Homogeneous (adj)

A

Uniform in structure or composition; of the same of similar nature or kind; consisting of terms of the same degree or elements of the same dimension

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36
Q

Hubris (n)

A

Overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance

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37
Q

Hypotenuse (n)

A

The side of a right triangle opposite the right andle

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38
Q

Impeach (v)

A

To make an accusation against (a person); to charge (a public official) with improper conduct in office before a proper tribunal; to challenge the validity of; try to discredit

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39
Q

Incognito (adj)/(advb)

A

With one’s identity disguised or concealed

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40
Q

Incontrovertible (adj)

A

Impossible to dispute; unquestionable

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41
Q

Inculcate (v)

A

To impress (something) upon the mind of another by frequent instruction or repetition; instill; to teach (others) by frequent instruction or repetition; indoctrine

42
Q

Infrastructure (n)

A

The basic facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society, such as transportation and communications systems, water an power lines, and public institutions including schools, post offices, and prisons; the basic system or underlying structure of an organization

43
Q

Interpolate (v)

A

To insert or introduce between other elements or parts; to insert (material) into a text; to insert into a conversation; to change or falsify with new or incorrect material; to estimate a value of (a function or a series) between two known values

44
Q

Irony (n)

A

The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning; an expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning; a literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect; incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs; an occurrence, result, or circumstance notable for such incongruity; the dramatic effect achieved by leading an audience to understand an incongruity between a situation and the accompanying speeches, while the characters in the play remain unaware of the incongruity; dramatic irony

45
Q

Jejune (adj)

A

Not interesting; dull; lacking maturity; lacking in nutrition

46
Q

Kinetic (adj)

A

Of, relating to, or produced by motion; relating to or exhibiting kinesis (movement or activity of an organism in response to a stimulus such as light)

47
Q

Kowtow (v)

A

To kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in expression of deep respect, worship, or submission, as formerly done in China; to show servile deference

48
Q

Laissez faire (n)

A

An economic doctrine that opposes governmental regulation of or interference in commerce beyond the minimum necessary for a free-enterprise system to operate according to its own economic laws; noninterference in the affairs of others

49
Q

Lexicon (n)

A

A dictionary; a stock of terms used in a particular profession, subject, or style; a vocabulary

50
Q

Loquacious (adj)

A

Very talkative; garrulous

51
Q

Lugubrious (adj)

A

Mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially to an exaggerated or ludicrous degree

52
Q

Metamorphosis (n)

A

A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function; a transformation; change in the form and often habits of an animal during normal development after the embryonic stage. Metamorphosis includes, in insects, the transformation of a maggot into an adult fly and a caterpillar into a butterfly, and, in anphibians, the changing of a tadpole into a frog

53
Q

Mitosis (n)

A

The process in cell division by which the nucleus divides, typically consisting of four stages, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase, and normally resulting in to new nuclei, each of which contains a complete copy of the parental chromosomes. Division of the cytoplasm follows the division of the nucleus, resulting in the formation of two distinct cells

54
Q

Moiety (n)

A

A half; a part, portion, or share; either of two kinship groups based on unilateral descent that together make up a tribe or society

55
Q

Nanotechnology (n)

A

The science and technology of building devices, such as electronic circuits, from individual atoms and molecules

56
Q

Nihilism (n)

A

An extreme form of skepticism that denies that existence is real; the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated; the rejection of all distinctions in moral or religious value and a willingness to repudiate all previous theories of morality or religious belief; the belief that destruction of existing political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement; a movement of mid-19th-century Russia that scorned authority and believed in reason, materialism, and radical change in society through terrorism and assassination; a delusion that the world or one’s mind, body, or self does not exist

57
Q

Nomenclature (n)

A

A system of names used in an art or science; the procedure of assigning names to organisms listed in a taxonomic classification

58
Q

Nonsectarian (adj)

A

Not limited to or associated with a particular religious denomination

59
Q

Notarize (v)

A

To certify or attest (the validity of a signature on a document, for example) as a notary public

60
Q

Obsequious (adj)

A

Full of or exhibiting servile compliance; fawning

61
Q

Oligarchy (n)

A

Government by a few, especially by a small faction of persons or families; those making up such a government; a state governed by a few persons

62
Q

Omnipotent (adj)

A

Having unlimited or universal power, authority, or force; all-powerful

63
Q

Orthography (n)

A

The art or study of correct spelling according to established usage; the aspect of language study concerned with letters and their sequences in words; a method of representing a language or the sounds of language by written symbols; spelling

64
Q

Oxidize (v)

A

To combine with oxygen; make into an oxide; to increase the positive charge of valence of (an element) by removing electrons; to coat with oxide

65
Q

Parabola (n)

A

A plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone and a plane parallel to an element of the cone or by the locus of points equidistant from a fixed line and a fixed point not on the line

66
Q

Paradigm (n)

A

One that serves as pattern or model; a set or list of all the inflectional forms of a word or one of its grammatical categories; a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline

67
Q

Parameter (n)

A

A constant in an equation that varies in other equations of the same general form, especially such a constant in the equation of a curve or surface that can be varied to represent a family of curves or surfaces; one of a set of independent variables that express the coordinates of a point; one of a set of measurable factors, such as temperature and pressure, that define a system and determine its behavior and are varied in an experiment; a factor that restricts what is possible or what results; a factor that determines a range of variations; a boundary; a quantity, such as a mean, that is calculated from data and describes a population; a distinguishing characteristic or feature

68
Q

Pecuniary (adj)

A

Of or relating to money; requiring payment of money

69
Q

Photosynthesis (n)

A

The process by which green plants and certain other organisms synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy source. Most forms oh photosynthesis release oxygen as a byproduct

70
Q

Plagiarize (v)

A

To use and pass off (the ideas or writings of another) as one’s own; to appropriate for use as one’s own passages or ideas from (another)

71
Q

Plasma (n)

A

The clear yellowish fluid portion of blood or lymph in which cells are suspended. It differs from serum in that it contains fibrin and other soluble clotting elements. Blood plasma that has been sterilized and from which all cells have been removed, used in transfusions; the protoplasm or cytoplasm of a cell; the fluid portion of milk from which the curd has been separated by coagulation; whey; an electrically neutral sate of matter similar to a gas but consisting of positively charged ions with most or all of their detached electrons moving freely about. Plasmas are produced by the ionization resulting from exposure to an electric current, as in a neon sign. Plasmas are distinct from solids, liquids, and normal gases

72
Q

Plolymer (n)

A

Any of numerous or synthetic compounds of usually high molecular weight consisting of repeated linked units, each a relatively light and simple molecule

73
Q

Precipitous (adj)

A

Resembling a precipice; extremely steep; having several precipices; extremely rapid or abrupt; precipitate

74
Q

Quasar (n)

A

An extremely distant, and thus old, celestial object whose power output is several thousand times that of the entire Milky Way galaxy. Some quasars are more than ten billion light years away from earth.

75
Q

Quotidian (adj)

A

Commonplace or ordinary, as from everyday experience

76
Q

Recapitulate (v)

A

To repeat in concise form; to appear to repeat (the evolutionary stages of the species) during the embryonic development of the individual organism

77
Q

Reciprocal (adj)

A

Existing, done, or experienced on both sides; done, given, felt, or owed in return; interchangeable; complementary; expressing mutual action of relationship. Used of some verbs and compound pronouns; of or relating to the reciprocal of a quantity; of or relating to a neuromuscular phenomenon in which the inhibition of one group of muscles accompanies the excitation of another; of or being a pair of genetic crosses in which the male or female parent in one cross is of the same genotype or phenotype as the complementary female or male parent in the other cross

78
Q

Reparation (n)

A

The act or process of making amends for a wrong; something done or money paid to compensate or make amends for a wrong; compensation or remuneration required from a defeated nation as indemnity for damage or injury during a war; the act or process of reparing or the condition of being repaired

79
Q

Respiration (n)

A

The act or process of inhaling and exhaling; breathing; the act of process by which an organism without lungs, such as a fish or a plant, exchanges gases with its environment; the oxidative process in living cells by which the chemical energy of organic molecules is released in metabolic steps involving the consumption of oxygen and the liberation of carbon dioxide and water; any of various analogous metabolic processes by which certain organisms, such as fungi and anaerobic bacteria, obtain energy from organic molecules

80
Q

Sanguine (adj)

A

Cheerfully confident; optimistic; in medieval physiology, having blood as the dominant humor; having the temperament and ruddy complexion once though to be the characteristic of this humor; passionate

81
Q

Soliloquy (n)

A

A dramatic or literary form of discourse in which a character talks to himself or herself or reveals his or her thoughts when alone or unaware of the presence of other characters; a specific speech or piece of writing in this form of discourse

82
Q

Subjugate (v)

A

To bring under control; conquer; to make subservient or submissive; subdue

83
Q

Suffragist (n)

A

An advocate of the extension of political voting rights, especially to women

84
Q

Supercilious (adj)

A

Feeling or showing haughty disdain

85
Q

Tautology (n)

A

Needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy; an instance of such repetition; an empty or vacuous statement composed of simpler statements in a fashion that makes it logically true whether the simpler statements are factually true or false; for example: “either it will rain tomorrow or it will not rain tomorrow”

86
Q

Taxonomy (n)

A

The classification of organisms in an ordered system that indicates natural relationships; the science, laws, or principles of classification; systematics; division into ordered groups or categories

87
Q

Tectonic (adj)

A

Of or relating to the forces involved in forming the geological features, such as mountains, continents, and oceans, of the earth’s lithosphere. The processes of plate tectonics, such as mountain building, are tectonic events; relating to construction of building; architectural

88
Q

Tempestuous (adj)

A

Of, relating to, or resembling a tempest; characterized by violent emotions or actions; tumulttous; stormy

89
Q

Thermodynamics (n)

A

The branch of physics that deals with the relationships and conversions between heat and other forms of energy; thermodynamic phenomena and pocesses

90
Q

Totalitarian (adj)

A

Of, relating to, being, or imposing a form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed

91
Q

Unctuous (adj)

A

Characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness; having the quality or characteristics of oil or ointment; slippery; containing or composed of oil or fat

92
Q

Usurp (v)

A

To seize and hold (the power or rights of another, for example) by force and without legal authority; to take over or occupy without right

93
Q

Vacuous (adj)

A

Lacking intelligence; stupid; devoid of substance or meaning; inane; devoid of expression; vacant; devoid of matter; empty

94
Q

Vehement (adj)

A

Forceful or intense in expression, emotion, or conviction; fervid

95
Q

Vortex (n)

A

A spiral motion of fluid, especially a whirling mass of water or air that sucks everything near it toward its center. Eddies and whirlpools are examples of vortexes; a place or situation regarded as drawing into its center all that surrounds it

96
Q

Winnow (v)

A

To separate the chaff from (grain) by means of a current of air; to blow (chaff) off or away; to examine closely in order to separate the good from the bad; sift; to separate or get rid of (an undesirable part); eliminate; to sort of select (a desirable part); extract; to blow on; fan

97
Q

Wrought (v)/(adj)

A

A past tense and a past participle of work; put together; created; shaped by hammering with tools; used chiefly of metals or metalwork

98
Q

Xenophobe (n)

A

A person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples

99
Q

Yeoman (n)

A

An attendant, servant, or lesser official in a royal or noble household; a yeoman of the guard; a petty officer performing chiefly clerical duties in the US Navy; an assistant or other subordinate, as of a sheriff; a diligent, dependable worker; a farmer who cultivates his own land, especially a member of a former class of small freeholders in England

100
Q

Ziggurat (n)

A

A temple tower of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, having the form of a terraced pyramid with successively receding stories

Vocabulary (1 decks)

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