1656 Flashcards
pedertrian
D. ordinary and uninteresting
pejorative
\pi-ˈjȯr-ə-tiv\
D. derogatory
E. a word with pejorative connotations / Children born with an extra chromosome 21 are healthy, conspicuously happy and destined to live for many years. But they are not considered, in that pejorative word, ‘normal’.
pellucid
\pə-ˈlü-səd\
D. clear; easy to understand
E. the pellucid waters that lap upon that island’s beaches / her poetry has a pellucid simplicity that betrays none of the sweat that went into writing it
penance
D. voluntary self-punishment
E. She regards living in New York as a penance; she hates big cities.
penchant
\ˈpen-chənt\
D. a taste or liking
E. a penchant for sitting by the window and staring moodily off into space
pendant
D. sth that hangs
pendent
D. hanging
E. the dining area is lit by tasteful pendent lamps over the tables
penitent
D. sorry or ashamed
E. a penitent gossip who had come to ask for forgiveness
pensive
D. thoughtful
E. rainy days often put her in a pensive mood
penurious
\pə-ˈnu̇r-ē-əs\
D. stingy; poverty-stricken
E. The penurious school system had to lay off several teachers.
penury
D. poverty
E. lived in a time when single women like herself faced a lifetime of genteel penury (genteel poverty is the condition of well bred, generally well-educated people who have little money)
percussion
\pər-ˈkä-shən\
D. the impact of one thing against another
perdition
D. damnation; hell
E. simple stupidity is not enough to doom one to perdition
peregrination
ˌ\per-ə-grə-ˈnā-shən\
D. travels (especially on foot)
E. a couple of backpacking college students who decided to spend the summer peregrinating around Ireland
peremptory
\pə-ˈrem(p)-t(ə-)rē\
D. expecting to be obeyed immediately and without question or refusal
E. the governor’s peremptory personal assistant began telling the crowd of reporters and photographers exactly where they had to stand / a peremptory summons
perennial
\pə-ˈre-nē-əl\
D. lasting all through the year; lasting all the time
E. Flooding is a perennial problem for people living by the river. / a perennial student
perfidious
(ˌ)pər-ˈfi-dē-əs\
D. treacherous
E. We were betrayed by a perfidious ally. / a perfidious campaign worker revealed the senator’s strategy to his leading rival for the nomination
perforce
\pər-ˈfȯrs\
D. necessarily
E. we must, perforce, deal with this issue immediately, as procrastination is not an option
perfunctory
\pər-ˈfəŋ(k)-t(ə-)rē\
D. without care; superficial
E. the violinist delivered a perfunctory performance that displayed none of the passion and warmth he was once known for
perigee
D. the point nearest the earth in an orbit (antonym: apogee)
peripatetic
\ˌper-ə-pə-ˈte-tik\
D. moving or walking about
E. She worked as a peripatetic journalist for most of her life.
periphery
\pə-ˈri-f(ə-)rē\
D. the boundary of sth; the perimeter
E. the dogs are confined by an invisible electronic fence that runs along the periphery of the yard
perjury
\ˈpər-jə-rē\
D. telling a lie under oath
E. The defence witnesses were found guilty of perjury.
permeable
\ˈpər-mē-ə-bəl\
D. able to be passed through
E. a permeable fabric that allows your body heat to escape will be much more comfortable in the summertime
permeate
D. to pass through
permutation
D. a complete change
E. the system has gone through several permutations / The possible permutations of x, y and z are xyz, xzy, yxz, yzx, zxy and zyx.
pernicious
D. deadly
perpetrate
\ˈpər-pə-ˌtrāt\
D. to do (sth bad)
E. He vowed revenge for the crime perpetrated on his family.
perpetual
D. eternal
perquisite
\ˈpər-kwə-zit\
D. to benefit in addition to one’s regular pay; prerogative
E. Use of the company’s jet is a perquisite of the job.
persiflage
\ˈpər-si-ˌfläzh\
D. comments and jokes in which people laugh at each other in a fairly unkind but not serious way
E. their tongue-in-cheek persiflage is sometimes mistaken for an exchange of insults by people who don’t know them
perspective
\ˌpər-spə-ˈkā-shəs\
D. a particular attitude towards something; the ability to think about problems and decisions in a reasonable way without exaggerating their importance
E. Try to see the issue from a different perspective. / Talking to others can often help to put your own problems into perspective.
perspicacious
\ˌpər-spə-ˈkā-shəs\
D. able to understand somebody/something quickly and accurately; showing this
E. He was perspicacious enough to realize that things were soon going to change.
pertinacious
\ˌpər-tə-ˈnā-shəs\
D. persistent
E. a pertinacious salesman who would simply not take “No!” for an answer
pertinent
\ˈpər-tə-nənt\
D. relevant
E. he impressed the jury with his concise, pertinent answers to the attorney’s questions
perturb
\pər-ˈtərb\
D. to upset or alarm
E. It perturbed him that his son was thinking about leaving school.
peruse
\pə-ˈrüz\
D. to study; to read casually
E. He perused the newspaper over breakfast.
pervade
D. to spread throughout (pervasive)
perverse
(ˌ)pər-ˈvərs\
D. wrong or corrupt; perverted; stubborn
E. She has a perverse fascination with death. / He seems to take perverse pleasure in making things as difficult as possible.
perversion
D. an abnormal form; a twisting or distortion
E. They fought against perversion of the health-care system.
pervious
D. able to be passed through or penetrated; open-minded (per- through + via way)
E. the new road has a pervious surface that will cut down on the amount of water that collects on it during heavy rains
pessimist
D. one who looks at the dark sides and expects the worst
pestilence
\ˈpes-tə-lən(t)s\
D. an epidemic (flu); anything harmful
E. the fear that terrorists could unleash a pestilence that would wreak unspeakable havoc
petrify
D. to turn to stone; to harden; to stun with fear
E. The dead tree petrified into stone.
petulant
\ˈpe-chə-lənt\
D. pert; irritable
E. Her tone was petulant and angry. / a petulant and fussy man who is always blaming everyone else for his problems
phalanx
\ˈfā-ˌlāŋ(k)s\
D. military ranks in close formation; a group of individuals
E. A solid phalanx of armed guards stood in front of the castle.
