3 Flashcards
Absolve
verb: To forgive or free from blame. (exonerate, exculpate).
Abysmal
adjective: Extremely poor in condition, performance, or quality. (egregious).
Acquiesce
verb: To comply passively; to give in.
Adroit
adjective: Very skillful; highly accomplished. (dexterous, deft).
Advocate
verb: To support or be in favor of.
Aesthetic
adjective: Concerned with or appreciative of beauty or the arts.
Affinity
noun: Sympathy, attraction, kinship; a natural attraction.
Aggrandize
verb: To make greater in power, influence, stature, or reputation; to make appear greater; to exaggerate.
Allusion
noun: An indirect reference to some person, place, thing, or event, usually historically significant.
Altruistic
adjective: Characterized by an unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selfless.
Analogous
adjective: Comparable or parallel to something else; similar or correspondent in some respects though otherwise dissimilar.
Anathema
noun: Something shunned or highly disliked; a detested or reviled thing.
Antithetical
adjective: Of diametrical opposition or in direct contrast.
Banal
adjective: Commonplace; trite; unimaginative or unoriginal; uninspired; (pedestrian, prosaic)
Baroque
adjective: Extravagantly ornate; flamboyant; of, relating to, or characteristic of a style in art and architecture developed in Europe from the early seventeenth to the mid-eighteenth century.
Beleaguer
verb: To harass; to plague; to annoy persistently. (importune).
Bellicose
adjective: Warlike; aggressive; pugnacious; having or showing a ready disposition to fight or do battle.
Belligerent
adjective: Hostile; inclined or eager to fight; aggressive.
Capricious
adjective: Impulsive; whimsical; highly unpredictable. (mercurial).
Catharsis
noun: Purification or cleansing; a technique used to relieve tension and anxiety by bringing repressed feelings and fears to consciousness.
Circuitous
adjective: Roundabout or indirect; deviating from a straight course; purposefully evasive or indirect.
Deleterious
adjective: Harmful; destructive; detrimental; having a harmful effect.
Demagogue
noun: A political leader or speaker who gains power, influence, and popularity by arousing or fomenting the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people.
Discordant
adjective: Harsh sounding; badly out of tune; disagreeable in sound or quality. (dissonant).
Dogmatic
adjective: Rigidly fixed in opinion; characterized by arrogance and by unproved or unproven principles, precepts, or tenets.
Eclectic
adjective: Made up of or combing elements from a variety of diverse sources; selecting what seems best from various styles, movements, or ideas.
Efficacious
adjective: Producing the desired result; efficient and effective.
Egregious
adjective: Conspicuously bad or offensive; flagrant or glaring. (abysmal).
Elucidate
verb: To explain or clarify; to make free from confusion or ambiguity.
Enigmatic
adjective: Puzzling or inexplicable; difficult to comprehend; elusive in meaning.
Fecund
adjective: Fertile; fruitful; productive; marked by intellectual productivity. (prolific).
Fidelity
noun: Loyalty; allegiance; faithfulness to obligations, duties, or observances.
Garrulous
adjective: Very talkative; given to excessive and often trivial or rambling discourse. (loquacious).
Gnostic
adjective: Possessing intellectual or esoteric knowledge of spiritual matters.
Gratuitous
adjective: Unnecessary and unjustified; unwarranted; uncalled for; superfluous.
