#64 pervade ~ poignant Flashcards
pervade
/pərˈveɪd/
v. to spread throughout
- A terrible smell pervaded the apartment building after the sewer main exploded.
- On examination day, the classroom was pervaded by a sense of imminent doom.
Sth. that pervades is pervasive.
- There was a pervasive feeling of despair on Wall Street on the day the Dow-Jones industrial average fell more than 500 points.
- There was a pervasive odor of mold in the house, and we soon discovered why: The basement was filled with the stuff.
petulant
/ˈpɛtʃələnt/
adj. rude; cranky; ill-tempered
- Gloria became petulant when we suggested that she leave her pet cheetah at home when she came to spend the weekend; she said that we had insulted her cheetah and that an insult to her cheetah was an insult to her.
- The petulant waiter slammed down our water glasses and spilled a tureen of soup onto Roger’s kilt.
To be petulant is to engage in petulance, or rudeness.
philanthropy
/fɪˈlænθrəpi/
n. love of mankind, esp. by doing good deeds
- His gift of one billion dollars to the local orphanage was the finest act of philanthropy I’ve ever seen.
A charity is a philanthropic (/ˌfɪlənˈθrɒpɪk/) institution. An altruist is someone who cares about other people. A philanthropist (/fɪˈlænθrəpɪst/) is actively doing things to hope, usually by giving them time or money.
philistine
/ˈfɪləˌstin, -ˌstaɪn, fɪˈlɪstɪn, -tin/
n. a smugly ignorant person with no appreciation of intellectual or artistic matters
- The novelist dismissed his critics as philistines, saying they wouldn’t recognize a good book if it crawled up and bit them on the nose; the critics in reply, dismissed the novelist as a philistine who wouldn’t recognize a good book if it crawled up and rolled itself into his typewriter.
Philistine can also be an adjective. To be philistine is to act like a philistine.
pious
/ˈpaɪəs/
adj. reverent or devout; outwardly (and sometimes falsely) reverent or devout; hypocritical
This is a sometimes confusing word with meanings that are very nearly opposite each other.
A pious Presbyterian is one who goes to church every Sunday and says his prayers every night before bed. Pious in this sense means sth. like religiously dutiful.
Pious can also be used to describe behavior or feelings that aren’t religious at all but are quite hypocritical.
- The adulterous minister’s sermon on marital fidelity was filled with pious disregard for his own sins.
The state of being pious is piety (/ˈpaɪɪti/). The opposite of pious is impious (/ˈɪmpiəs, ɪmˈpaɪ-/).
pivotal
/ˈpɪvətl/
adj. crucial
Pivotal is the adjective form of the verb to pivot. To pivot is to turn on a single point or shaft. A basketball player pivots when he turns while leaving one foot planted in the same place on the floor.
A pivotal comment is a comment that turns a discussion. It is an important comment.
A pivotal member of a committee is a crucial or important member of a committee.
- Sofia’s contribution was pivotal; without it, we would have failed.
placate
/ˈpleɪkeɪt, ˈplækeɪt/
v. to pacify; to appease; to soothe
- The tribe placated the angry volcano by tossing a few teenagers into the raging crater.
- The beleaguered general tried to placate his fierce attacker by sending him a pleasant flower arrangement. His implacable enemy decided to attack anyway.
plaintive
/ˈpleɪntɪv/
adj. expressing sadness or sorrow
- The lead singer’s plaintive love song expressed his sorrow at being abandoned by his girlfriend for the lead guitarist.
- The chilly autumn weather made the little bird’s song seem plaintive.
You could also say that there was plaintiveness in that bird’s song.
plaintiff
/ˈpleɪntɪf/
n. a person who takes someones to court - who makes a legal complaint
platitude
/ˈplætɪˌtud, -ˌtyud/
n. a dull or trite remark; a cliché
- The principal thinks he is a great orator, but his loud, boring speech was full of platitudes.
- Instead of giving us any real insight into the situation, the lecturer threw platitudes at us for the entire period. It was a platitudinous speech.
plebeian
/plɪˈbiən/
adj. common; vulgar; low-class
Plebeian is the opposite of aristocratic.
- Sarah refused to eat frozen dinners, saying that they were too plebeian for her discriminating palate.
plethora
/ˈplɛθərə/
n. an excess
- We ate a plethora of candy on Halloween and a plethora of turkey on Thanksgiving.
- Letting the air force use our backyard as a bombing range created a plethora of problems.
poignant
/ˈpɔɪnyənt, ˈpɔɪnənt/
adj. painfully emotional; extremely moving; sharp or astute
The words poignant and pointed are very closely related, and they share much of the same range of meaning.
A poignant scene is one that is emotional or moving that is is almost painful to watch.
- All the reporters stopped taking notes as they watched the old woman’s poignant reunion with her daughter, whom she hadn’t seen in forty-five years.
Poignant can also mean pointed in the sense of sharp or astute.
A poignant comment might be one that shows great insight.
To be poignant is to have poignancy.
