13 July Flashcards
inflammatory
Something that is inflammatory causes a local reaction that shows up by swelling, heat, pain, and redness.
If you are a politician, inflammatory speeches may be one tool you use to incite your constituents to vote against the corruption of your opponent.
“We see a growing polarization of society, aggressive debates, an extremely frictional and inflammatory dimension,” said Bruno Cautrès, a political scientist at the Center for Political Research at Sciences Po university in Paris.
hound
Hounds are dogs that have traditionally been used for hunting because they are excellent at tracking
If people hound, they hunt, too, but just in an annoying way.
He said the Finance Ministry is hounding businessmen who criticize the government.
A California professor was widely hounded on Twitter for praising the legacy of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, calling him “one of the great leaders” of the 20th century.
screed | tirade | harangue
A screed is a long, boring speech or piece of writing with a bad attitude, like a rant.
Sandwiched in between, however, was a lengthy screed about systemic racism, the righteousness of Black Lives Matter and the frightening news that the schools in that sleepy community were infested with racism.
miser
A miser is someone who hoards his or her own wealth and doesn’t share or spend any of it.
tender
offer something formally
The government was loath to tender more money in the fear that it might set off inflation.
erratic
Erratic describes things that are unpredictable, unusual, and that deviate from the norm.
Both he and another of Britney’s exes, who spoke to The Post last year, said the singer did not appear to be mentally ill or erratic when they were with her.
Trump was erratic that whole evening, and he seemed to deteriorate as the night went on.
Related words -> haphazard
thoroughgoing
Anything thoroughgoing is comprehensive — it pays extremely careful attention to details.
A thoroughgoing government reform will involve a huge, involved overhaul of the system.
Related words -> scrupulous
pine
If you pine for someone, you desperately want to see them, be with them, or perhaps smother them with kisses.
If you’re texting your ex-boyfriend over 50 times a day, there’s a pretty good chance that you still pine for him.
serendipity
If you find good things without looking for them, serendipity — unexpected good luck — has brought them to you.
How the off-switch was discovered is a story of serendipity and persistence by an academic chemist who managed the seemingly impossible.
He also devoted considerable attention to the design of his company’s buildings and laboratories to ensure that they fostered creativity and the kind of serendipity that led to his discovery of Gore-Tex.
telltale
Revealing
The many telltale signs of chronic smoking includes yellow teeth and persistent hacking cough.
indignant
When you’re indignant, you’re angry about an unfair situation.
If you discovered that a teacher gave ten extra points on a test to all students who sat in the front row, you’d be indignant.
macabre
The adjective macabre is used to describe things that involve the horror of death or violence.
If a story involves lots of blood and gore, you can call it macabre.
One inmate described bodies “literally stacked on top of each other, like some macabre woodpile.
Western officials, including senior representatives of the Biden administration, are warning the Kremlin — in somewhat macabre fashion — that there will be consequences if Navalny dies.
bleak
having a depressing or gloomy outlook.
unnerve
To unnerve someone is to make them feel scared or confused.
To make nervous or upset
In Pa’auilo, residents remain unnerved by just how close the recent wildfire got to their homes.
retiring
To be shy, and to be inclined to retract from the company.
