#50 indigenous ~ infatuated Flashcards
indigenous
/ɪnˈdɪdʒənəs/
adj. native; originating in that area
- Fast-food restaurants are indigenous to America, where they were invented.
- The grocer said the corn had been locally grown, but it didn’t appear to be indigenous.
- The botanist said that the small cactus was indigenous but that the large one had been introduced to the region by Spanish explorers.
indigent
/ˈɪndɪdʒənt/
adj. poor
- The indigent family had little to eat, nothing to spend, and virtually nothing to wear.
- Rusty had once been a lawyer but now was indigent; he spent most of his time sleeping on a bench in the park.
indignant
/ɪnˈdɪgnənt/
adj. angry, esp. as a result of sth. unjust or unworthy; insulted
- Ted became indignant when the policewoman accused him of stealing the nuclear weapon.
- Isabel was indignant when we told her all the nasty things that Blake had said about her over the public address system.
indolent
/ˈɪndlənt/
adj. lazy
- The indolent teenagers slept late, moped around, and never looked for summer jobs.
- Inheriting a lot of money enabled Rodney to do what he loved most: pursue a life of indolence.
indulgent
/ɪnˈdʌldʒənt/
adj. lenient; yielding to desire
- The nice mom was indulgent of her children, letting them have all the candy, cookies, and ice cream that they wanted, even for breakfast.
- Our indulgent teacher never punished us for not turning in our homework. She didn’t want us to turn into ascetic grinds.
Someone who is self-indulgent yields to his or her every desire.
ineffable
/ɪnˈɛfəbəl/
adj. incapable of being expressed or described
- The simple beauty of nature is often so ineffable that it brings tears to our eyes.
The word effable - expressible - is rarely used.
inept
/ɪnˈɛpt, ɪˈnɛpt/
adj. clumsy; incompetent; gauche
- Joshua is an inept dancer; he is as likely to stomp on his partner’s foot as he is to step on it.
- Julia’s inept attempt at humor drew only groans from the audience.
To be inept is to be characterized by ineptitude, which is the opposite of aptitude.
- The woodworking class’s ineptitude was broad and deep; there was little that they were able to do and nothing that they were able to do well.
The opposite of inept is adept. Adept and adroit are synonyms.
inert
/ɪnˈɜrt, ɪˈnɜrt/
adj. inactive; sluggish; not reacting chemically
- The baseball team seemed strangely inert; it was as though they had lost the will to play.
- Having colds made the children inert and reluctant to get out of bed.
- Helium is an inert gas: It doesn’t burn, it doesn’t explode, and it doesn’t kill you if you inhale it.
To be inert is to be characterized by inertia. As it is most commonly used, inertia means lack of get-up-and-go, or an inability or unwillingness to move.
In physics, inertia refers to an object’s tendency to continue doing what it’s going (either moving or staying still) unless it’s acted on by sth. else.
inexorable
/ɪnˈɛksərəbəl/
adj. relentless; inevitable; unavoidable
- The inexorable waves pounded the shore, as they have always pounded it and as they always will pound it.
- Eliot drove his father’s car slowly but inexorably through the grocery store, wrecking aisle after aisle despite the manager’s anguished pleading.
- Inexorable death finds everyone sooner of later.
infamous
/ˈɪnfəməs/
adj. shamefully wicked; having an extremely bad reputation; disgraceful
To be infamous is to be famous for being evil or bad. An infamous cheater is one whose cheating is well known.
- Deep within the prison was the infamous torture chamber, where hooded guards tickled their prisoners with feathers until they confessed.
infamy
/ˈɪnfəmi/
n. the state of being infamous
- The former Nazi lived the rest of his life in infamy after the court convicted him of war crimes and atrocities.
- President Roosevelt said that the date of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor would “live in infamy.”
infatuated
/ɪnˈfætʃuɪt, -ˌeɪt/
adj. foolish; foolishly passionate or attracted; made foolish; foolishly in love
To be infatuated is to be fatuous or foolish
- I was so infatuated with Polly that I drooled and gurgled whenever she was near.
- The infatuated candidate thought so highly of himself that he had the walls of his house covered with his campaign posters.
- My ride in Boris’s racing car infatuated me; I knew immediately that I would have to have a racing car, too.
