#49 incandescent ~ indifferent Flashcards
incandescent
/ˌɪnkənˈdɛsənt/
adj. brilliant; giving off heat or light
An incandescent light bulb is one containing a wire of a filament that gives off light when it is heated. An incandescent person is one who gives off light or energy in a figurative sense.
- Jan’s ideas were so incandescent that simply being near her made you feel as though you understood the subject for the first time.
incantation
/ˌɪnkænˈteɪʃən/
n. a chant; the repetition of statements or phrases in a way reminiscent of a chant
- Much to our delight, the wizard’s incantation eventually caused the small stone to turn into a sleek black BMW.
- The students quickly became deaf to the principal’s incantations about the importance of school spirit.
incense
/ˈɪnsɛns/
v. to make very angry
- Jeremy was incensed when I told him that even though he was stupid and loathsome, he would always be my best friend.
- My comment about the lovely painting of a tree incensed he artist, who said it was actually a portrait of his mother.
incessant
/ɪnˈsɛsənt/
adj. unceasing
- I will go deaf and lose my mind if your children don’t stop the incessant bickering.
- The noise from the city street was incessant; there always seemed to be a fire engine or a police car screaming by.
A cessation is a ceasing.
incipient
/ɪnˈsɪpiənt/
adj. beginning; emerging
- Sitting in class, Henrietta detected an incipient tingle of boredom that told her she would soon be asleep.
- Support for the plan was incipient, and the planners hoped it would soon grow and spread.
The inception of sth. is its start or formal beginning.
incisive
/ɪnˈsaɪsɪv/
adj. cutting right to the heart of the matter
When a surgeon cuts into you, he or she makes an incision. To be incisive is to be as sharp as a scalpel in a figurative sense.
- After hours of debate, Louis offered a few incisive comments that made it immediately clear to everyone how dumb the original idea had been.
- Lloyd’s essays were always incisive; he never wasted any words, and his reasoning was sharp and persuasive.
incongruous
/ɪnˈkɒŋgruəs/
adj. not harmonious; not consistent; not appropriate; not fitting in
- The ultramodern kitchen seemed incongruous in the restored eighteenth-century farmhouse. It was an incongruity.
- Bill’s membership in the motorcycle gang was incongruous with his mild personality and his career as a management consultant.
incorrigible
/ɪnˈkɔrɪdʒəbəl, -ˈkɒr-/
adj. incapable of being reformed
- The convict was an incorrigible criminal; as soon as he got out of prison, he said, he was going to rob another doughnut store.
- Bill is incorrigible - he eats three bags of potato chips every day even though he knows that eating two would be better for him.
- The ever-cheerful Annie is an incorrigible optimist.
Think of incorrigible as incorrectable. The word corrigible is rarely seen or used these days.
increment
/ˈɪnkrəmənt, ˈɪŋ-/
n. an increase; one in a series of increases
- Bernard received a small increment in his salary each year, even though he did less and less work with every day that passed.
- This year’s fund-raising total represented an increment of 1 percent over last year’s. This year’s total represented an incremental change from last year’s.
- Doug built up his savings account incrementally, one dollar at a time.
indifferent
/ɪnˈdɪfərənt, -ˈdɪfrənt/
adj. not caring one way or the other; apathetic; mediocre
- Pedro was indifferent about politics; he didn’t care who was elected to office so long as no one passed a law against Monday Night Football.
- Henry’s indifference was extremely annoying to Melissa, who loved to argue but found it difficult to do so with people who had no opinions.
- We planted a big garden but the results were indifferent; only about half of the flowers came up.
- The painter did an indifferent job, but it was good enough for Susan, who was indifferent about painting.
