#13 autonomous ~ axiom

Question 1

autonomous

/ɔˈtɒnəməs/

Answer 1

adj. acting independently
- The West Coast office of the law firm was quite autonomous; it never asked the East Coast office for permission before it did anything.
- An autonomous nation is one that is independent - it governs itself. It is said to have autonomy.
- To act autonomously is to act on your own authority. If sth. happens autonomously, it happens all by itself.

Question 2

avarice

/ˈævərɪs/

Answer 2

n. greed; excessive love of riches
- The rich man’s avarice was annoying to above all else and not to share it with other people.
Avarice is the opposite of generosity or philanthropy.

Question 3

avaricious

/ˌævəˈrɪʃəs/

Answer 3

adj. greedy

- To be avaricious is to love wealth above all else and not to share it with other people.

Question 4

avow

/əˈvaʊ/

Answer 4

v. to claim; to declare boldly; to admit
- At the age of twenty-five, Louis finally avowed that he couldn’t stand his mother’s apple pie.
To avow sth. is to declare or admit sth. that most people are reluctant to declare or admit.
- Mr. Smith avowed on television that he had never paid any income tax. Shortly after this avowal, he received a lengthy letter from the Internal Revenue Service.

Question 5

avowed

Answer 5

adj. admitted; declared

- An avowed criminal is one who admits he is a criminal.

Question 6

disavow

/ˌdɪsəˈvaʊ/

Answer 6

v. to deny or repudiate someone else’s claim.

- The mayor disavowed the allegation that he had embezzled campaign contributions.

Question 7

avuncular

/əˈvʌŋkyələr/

Answer 7

adj. like an uncle, esp. a nice uncle
What’s an uncle like? Kind, helpful, generous, understanding and so on, in an uncle-y sort of way. This is a fun word to use, although it’s usually hard to find occasions to use it.
- Professor Zia often gave us avuncular advice; he took a real interest in our education and helped us with other problems that weren’t related to multi-dimensional calculus.

Question 8

awry

/əˈraɪ/

Answer 8

adj. off course; twisted to one side
- The hunter’s bullet went awry. Instead of hitting the bear, it hit his truck.
- When we couldn’t find a restaurant, our dinner plans went awry.
- The old man’s hat was awry; it had dipped in front of his left eye.

Question 9

axiom

/ˈæksiəm/

Answer 9

n. a self-evident rule or truth; a widely accepted saying
- “Everything that is living dies” is an axiom.
An axiom is in geometry a rule that doesn’t have to be proved because its truth is accepted as obvious, self-evident or unprovable.