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Vocab > 24 Jan > Flashcards

24 Jan Flashcards

1
Q

alms

A

Alms are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of virtue or charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving and it is a widespread practice in a number of different religions and cultures

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2
Q

predilection

A

a preference or special liking for something; a bias in favour of something.

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3
Q

smear

A

damage the reputation of (someone) by false accusations; slander.
besmirch ; sully

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4
Q

tainted

A

polluted

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5
Q

mercenary

A

A mercenary, sometimes known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, who takes part in military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military.

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6
Q

legatee

A

a person who receives a legacy.

beneficiary; inheritor;payee

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7
Q

geostrategy

A

Geostrategy, a subfield of geopolitics, is a type of foreign policy guided principally by geographical factors as they inform, constrain, or affect political and military planning

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8
Q

elephant in the room

A

a major problem or controversial issue which is obviously present but is avoided as a subject for discussion.

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9
Q

accentuate

A

make more noticeable or prominent.

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10
Q

tame

A

make less powerful and easier to control.

subdue; bring to heel

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11
Q

sagacity

A

wisdom;intelligence

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12
Q

perennial

A

lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring or continually recurring.

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13
Q

prune

A

reduce the extent of (something) by removing superfluous or unwanted parts.

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14
Q

scuttle

A

run hurriedly or furtively with short quick steps.

skip;scurry;bustle

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15
Q

rogue

A

a dishonest or unprincipled man.

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16
Q

become a cropper

A

If you say that someone has come a cropper, you mean that they have had an unexpected and embarrassing failure

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17
Q

being buoyant

A

able to rise and float in the air or on the top of a liquid buoyant cork. 2 : able to keep a body afloat. 3 : lighthearted, cheerful a buoyant mood.

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18
Q

juncture

A

a particular point in events or time.

a place where things join.

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19
Q

stuck in slapstick

A

Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as saws and ladders.
rough humour

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20
Q

serendipity

A

the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

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21
Q

genealogy

A

the study and tracing of lines of descent.

pedigree; lineage

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22
Q

arsenal

A

a collection of weapons and military equipment.

an array of resources available for a certain purpose.

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23
Q

sapient

A

wise, or attempting to appear wise.

relating to the human species ( Homo sapiens ).

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24
Q

gall

A

bold and impudent behaviour.

insolence;impertinence

25
Q

repertoire

A

a stock of skills or types of behaviour that a person habitually uses.
a stock of plays, dances, or items that a company or a performer knows or is prepared to perform.
the whole body of items which are regularly performed.

26
Q

came to the fore

A

phrase. If someone or something comes to the fore in a particular situation or group, they become important or popular. A number of low-budget independent films brought new directors and actors to the fore.

27
Q

abrasive

A

showing little concern for the feelings of others; harsh.

caustic;grating;vitriolic

28
Q

handout

A

a quantity of financial or other material aid given to a person or organization.
a piece of printed information provided free of charge, especially to accompany a lecture or advertise something.

29
Q

berate

A

scold or criticize (someone) angrily.

30
Q

unremitting

A

never relaxing or slackening; incessant.

continuous

31
Q

detractor

A

a person who disparages someone or something.

critic

32
Q

tirade

A

a long, angry speech of criticism or accusation.

diatribe;invective;polemic;rant

33
Q

apologist

A

a person who offers an argument in defence of something controversial.

34
Q

insignia

A

a sign or token of something.

a distinguishing badge or emblem of military rank, office, or membership of an organization.

35
Q

dirge

A

a lament for the dead, especially one forming part of a funeral rite.
a mournful song, piece of music, or sound.

36
Q

milieu

A

a person’s social environment.

37
Q

hounding

A

harass, persecute, or pursue relentlessly.

38
Q

grist

A

useful material, especially to support an argument.

39
Q

rabid

A

having or proceeding from an extreme or fanatical support of or belief in something.

40
Q

siege

A

a military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling those inside to surrender.

41
Q

hector

A 
talk to (someone) in a bullying way.
intimidate;chivvy;browbeat
42
Q

barbarism

A

absence of culture and civilization.

absence of culture and civilization.

43
Q

fiend

A

an evil spirit or demon.

an enthusiast or devotee of a particular thing.

44
Q

iniquitous

A

grossly unfair and morally wrong.

45
Q

blasphemy

A

Blasphemy, as defined in some religions or religion-based laws, is an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of reverence concerning a deity, a sacred object or something considered inviolable. Some religions consider blasphemy to be a religious crime

46
Q

travesty

A

a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something.

47
Q

archaic

A

very old or old-fashioned.

48
Q

barrack

A

a building or group of buildings used to house a specific group of people, such as labourers or prisoners, in austere conditions.
a large, ugly building.

49
Q

remit

A

cancel or refrain from exacting or inflicting (a debt or punishment).

50
Q

splinter

A

break or cause to break into small sharp fragments.

51
Q

protectionism

A

Protectionism is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations.

52
Q

avowed

A

that has been asserted, admitted, or stated publicly.

53
Q

onslaught

A

a fierce or destructive attack.

an overwhelmingly large number of people or things.

54
Q

tabloid

A

A tabloid is a newspaper with a compact page size smaller than broadsheet. … The term tabloid journalism refers to an emphasis on such topics as sensational crime stories, astrology, celebrity gossip and television, and is not a reference to newspapers printed in this format.

55
Q

veracity

A

conformity to facts; accuracy.

56
Q

sombre

A

having or conveying a feeling of deep seriousness and sadness.
solemn;dark coloured

57
Q

ode

A

a lyric poem, typically one in the form of an address to a particular subject, written in varied or irregular metre.

58
Q

rebuffed

A

reject (someone or something) in an abrupt or ungracious manner.

Vocab (106 decks)

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