321-360 Flashcards
marred
adj. damaged; disfigured.
v. mar
She had to refinish the marred surface of the table.
materialism
n. preoccupation with physical comforts and things.
By its nature, materialism is opposed to idealism, for where the materialist emphasizes the needs of the body, the idealist emphasizes the needs of the soul.
meander
v. wind or turn in its course.
Needing to stay close to a source of water, he followed every twist and turn of the stream as it meandered through the countryside.
mercurial
adj. capricious; changing; fickle.
Quick as quicksilver to change, he was mercurial in nature and therefore unreliable.
methodical
adj. systematic.
An accountant must be methodical and maintain order among his financial records.
misanthrope
n. one who hates mankind.
Swift portrays an image of humanity as vile, degraded beasts: for this reason, various critics consider him a misanthrope.
miserly
adj. stingy, mean.
Transformed by his vision on Christmas Eve, mean old Scrooge ceased being miserly and became a generous, kind old man.
misnomer
n. wrong name; incorrect designation.
His tyrannical conduct proved to all that his nickname, King Eric the Just, was a misnomer.
mitigate
v. appease; moderate.
Nothing Jason did could mitigate Medea’s anger; she refused to forgive him for betraying her.
mollify
v. soothe.
The airline customer service representation tried to mollify the angry passenger by offering her a seat in first class.
morose
adj. ill-humored; sullen; melancholy.
Forced to take early retirement, Bill acted morose for months; then, all of a sudden, he shook off his sullen mood and was his usual cheerful self.
mosaic
n. picture made of colorful small inlaid tiles.
The mayor compared the city to a beautiful mosaic made up of people of every race and religion on earth.
mundane
adj. worldly as opposed to spiritual; everyday.
Uninterested in philosophical or spiritual discussions, Tom talked only of mundane matters such as the daily weather forecast or the latest basketball results.
munificent
adj. very generous.
n. munificence
Shamelessly fawning over a particularly generous donor, the dean kept on referring to her as “our munificent benefactor.”
nonchalance
n. indifference; lack of concern
Cool, calm, and collected under fire, James Bond shows remarkable nonchalance in the face of danger.
notoriety
n. disrepute; ill fame.
adj. notorious.
To the starlet, any publicity was good for publicity: if she couldn’t have a good reputation, she’d settle for notoriety.
nuance
n. shade of difference in meaning or color; subtle distinction.
Jody gazed at the Monet landscape for an hour, appreciating every subtle nuance of color in the painting.
obdurate
adj. stubborn.
He was obdurate in his refusal to listen to our complaints,
oblivion
n. obscurity; forgetfulness.
After a decade of popularity, Hurston’s work had fallen into oblivion.
odious
adj. hateful; vile.
Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters had the odious habit of popping their zits in public.
opaque
adj. dark; not transparent.
n. opacity
The opaque window shade kept the sunlight out of the room.
opportunist
n. individual who sacrifices principles for expediency by taking advantage of circumstances.
Joe is such an opportunist that he triples the price of bottled water at his store as soon as the earthquake struck.
opulence
n. extreme wealth; luxuriousness.
adj. opulent
The glitter and opulence of the ballroom took Cinderella’s breath away.
orator
n. public speaker.
The abolitionist Frederick Douglass was a brilliant orator whose speeches brought home to his audience the evils of slavery.
ornate
adj. excessively or elaborately decorated.
With its elaborately carved, convoluted lines, furniture of the Baroque period was highly ornate.
ostentatious
adj. showy; pretentious
n. ostentation
Donald Trump’s latest casino in Atlantic City is the most ostentatious gambling palace in the East: it easily out-glitters its competitors.
