#24 concord ~ congenital Flashcards
concord
/ˈkɒnkɔrd, ˈkɒŋ-/
n. harmony; agreement
Nations that live in concord are nations that live together in peace.
- The war between the neighboring tribes ended thirty tears of concord.
- The faculty meeting was marked by concord; no one yelled at anyone else.
discord
/ˈdɪskɔrd/
n. lack of concord
- A faculty meeting where everyone yelled at one another would be a faculty meeting marked by discord. It would be a discordant meeting.
accord
/əˈkɔrd/
n. a formal agreement, usually reached after a dispute
concurrent
/kənˈkɜrənt, -ˈkʌr-/
adj. happening at the same time; parallel
- The criminal was sentenced to two concurrent fifteen-year sentences; the sentences will run at the same time, and he will be out of jail in fifteen years.
- High prices, falling demand, and poor weather were three concurrent trends that made life esp. difficult for corn farmers last month.
concur
/kənˈkɜr/
v. to agree
- The assistant wanted to keep his job, so he always concurred with his boss.
condescend
/ˌkɒndəˈsɛnd/
v. to stoop to someone else’s level, usually in an offensive way; to patronize
- I was surprised that the president of the company had condescended to talk with me, a mere temporary employee.
Many grown-ups make the mistake of condescending to young children, who usually prefer to be treated as equals, or at least as rational beings.
condone
/kənˈdoʊn/
v. to over look; to permit to happen
To condone what someone does is to look the other way while it happens or to permit it to happen by not doing anything about it.
- The principal condoned the hoods’ smoking in the bathroom; he simply ignored it.
conducive
/kənˈdusɪv, -ˈdyu-/
adj. promoting
- The chairs in the library are conducive to sleep. If you sit in them to study, you will fall asleep.
The foul weather was not conducive to our having a picnic.
confluence
/ˈkɒnfluəns/
n. a flowing together, esp. of rivers; the place where they begin to flow together
- The confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers is at St. Louis; that’s the place where they join together.
- There is a remarkable confluence in our thoughts: We think the same way about almost everything.
- A confluence of many factors (no ice, bad food, terrible music) made it inevitable that the party would be a flop.
congenial
/kənˈdʒinyəl/
adj. agreeably suitable; pleasant
- The little cabin in the woods was congenial to the writer; he was able to get a lot of writing done there.
- The new restaurant has a congenial atmosphere. We enjoy just sitting there playing with ice in our water glasses.
When people get along together at a restaurant and don’t throw food at one another, they are being congenial.
Genial and congenial share similar meanings. Genial means pleasing, kind, sympathetic or helpful. You can be pleased by a genial manner or by a genial climate.
congenital
/kənˈdʒɛnɪtl/
adj. describing a trait or condition acquired between conception and birth; innate
A congenital birth defect is one that is present at birth but was not caused by one’s genes.
The word is also used more loosely to describe any (usually bad) trait or behavior that is so firmly fixed it seems to be a part of a person’s nature.
A congenital liar is a natural liar, a person who can’t help but lie.
