#4 adulterate ~ agenda Flashcards
adulterate
/əˈdʌltəˌreɪt/
v. to contaminate; to make impure
- We discovered that the town’s drinking water had radioactive waste in it; we discovered, in other words, that it had been adulterated.
- Vegetarians do not like their foods adulterated with animal fats.
unadulterated
/ˌʌnəˈdʌltəˌreɪtɪd/
adj. pure
- Unadulterated joy is joy untainted by sadness.
adverse
/ædˈvɜrs, ˈædvɜrs/
adj. unfavorable; antagonistic
- We had to play out soccer match under adverse conditions: It was snowing, and only three members of our team had bothered to show up.
- Airplanes don’t fly in adverse weather.
adversity
/ædˈvɜrsɪti/
n. misfortune or unfavorable circumstances
- An airplane that took off in bad weather and reached its destination safely would be said to have overcome adversity.
- To do sth. “in the face of adversity” is to undertake a task despite obstacles.
- Some people are at their best in adversity because they rise to the occasion.
averse
/əˈvɜrs/
adj. opposed
- A person who is averse to doing sth. is a person who doesn’t want to do it.
- To be averse to sth. is to be opposed to doing it - to have an aversion to doing it.
aesthetic
/ɛsˈθɛtɪk or, esp. British, is-/
adj. having to do with artistic beauty; artistic
- Our art professor had a highly developed aesthetic sense; he found things to admire in paintings that, to us, looked like garbage.
aesthete
/ˈɛsθit or, esp. British, ˈis-/
n. someone who admires beautiful things greatly
aesthetics
/ɛsˈθɛtɪks or, esp. British, is-/
n. the study of beauty or principles of beauty
affable
/ˈæfəbəl/
adj. easy to talk to; friendly
- Susan was an affable girl; she could strike up a pleasant conversation with almost anyone.
- The Jeffersons’ dog was big but affable; it liked to lick little children on the face.
The noun is affability.
affectation
/ˌæfɛkˈteɪʃən/
n. unnatural or artificial behavior, usually intended to impress
- Becky’s English accent is an affectation. She spent only a week in England, and that was several years ago.
- Elizabeth had somehow acquired the absurd affectation of pretending that she doesn’t know how to turn on a television set.
A person with an affectation is said to be affected.
affect
/əˈfɛkt/
v. to pretend
To affect a characteristic or habit is to adopt it consciously, usually in the hope of impressing other people.
- Edward affected to be more of an artist than he really was. Everyone hated him for it.
affinity
/əˈfɪnɪti/
n. sympathy; attraction; kinship; similarity
- Ducks have an affinity for water; that is, they like to be in it.
- Children have an affinity for trouble; that is, they often find themselves in it.
- Magnets and iron have an affinity for each other; that is, each is attracted to the other.
Affinity also means similarity or resemblance. There is an affinity between snow and sleet.
affluent
/ˈæfluənt or, often, əˈflu-/
adj. rich; prosperous
- A person can be affluent; all it takes is money.
- A country can be affluent, too, if it’s full of affluent people.
affluence
/ˈæfluəns or, often, əˈflu-/
n. wealth or prosperity
agenda
/əˈdʒɛndə/
n. program; the things to be done
- What’s on the agenda for the board meeting? A little gossip, then lunch.
- A politician is often said to have an agenda. The politician’s agenda consists of the things he or she wants to accomplish.
- An agenda, such as that for a meeting, is often written down, but it doesn’t have to be.
- A person who has sneaky ambitions or plans is often said to have a secret or hidden agenda.
