#71 ramification ~ recondite Flashcards
ramification
/ˌræməfɪˈkeɪʃən/
n. a consequence; a branching out
A tree could be said to ramify, or branch out, as it grows. A ramification is a consequence that grows out of sth. in the same way that a tree branch grows out of a tree trunk.
- The professor found a solution to the problem, but there are many ramifications; some experts are afraid that he has created more problems than he has solved.
rancor
/ˈræŋkər/
n. bitter, long-lasting ill will or resentment
- The mutual rancor felt by the two nations eventually led to war.
- Jeremy’s success produced such feelings of rancor in Jessica, his rival, that she was never able to tolerate being in the same room with him again.
To feel rancor is to be rancorous.
- The rancorous public exchanged between the two competing boxers are strictly for show; outside the ring, they are the best of friends.
rapacious
/rəˈpeɪʃəs/
adj. greedy; plundering; avaricious
- Wall Street investment bankers are often accused of being rapacious, but they claim they are performing a valuable economic function.
The noun form is rapacity (/rəˈpæsɪti/).
rebuke
/rɪˈbyuk/
v. to criticize sharply
- We trembled as Mr. Solomon rebuked us for flipping over his car and taking off the tires.
A piece of sharp criticism is called a rebuke.
- When the students got caught cheating on their French test, the principal delivered a rebuke that made their ears twirl.
rebut
/rɪˈbʌt/
v. to contradict; to argue in opposition to; to prove to be false
- They all thought I was crazy, but none of them could rebut my argument.
- The defense attorney attempted to rebut the prosecutor’s claim that the defendant’s fingerprints, hair, clothing, signature, wallet, wristwatch, credit cards, and car had been found at the scene of the crime.
Rebut and refute are synonyms.
rebuttal
/rɪˈbʌtl/
n. an act or instance of rebutting
recalcitrant
/rɪˈkælsɪtrənt/
adj. stubbornly defiant of authority or control; disobedient
- The recalcitrant cancer continued to spread through the patient’s body despite every therapy and treatment the doctors tried.
- The country was in turmoil, but the recalcitrant dictator refused even to listen to the pleas of the international representatives.
recant
/rɪˈkænt/
v. to publicly take back and deny (sth. previously said or believed); to openly confess error
- The chagrined scientist recanted his theory that mice originated on the moon; it turned out that he had simply mixed up the results of two separate experiments.
- The secret police tortured the intellectual for a week, by tickling his feet with a feather duster, until he finally recanted.
An act of recanting is called a recantation.
reciprocal
/rɪˈsɪprəkəl/
adj. mutual; shared; interchangeable
- The Rochester Club had a reciprocal arrangement with the Duluth Club. Members of either club had full privileges of membership at the other.
- Their hatred was reciprocal; they hated each other.
reciprocate
/rɪˈsɪprəˌkeɪt/
v. to return in kind; to interchange; to repay
- Our new neighbors had had us over for dinner several times, but we were unable to reciprocate immediately because our dining room was being remodeled.
reciprocity
/ˌrɛsəˈprɒsɪti/
n. a reciprocal relation between two parties, often whereby both parties gain
reclusive
/rəˈklʊusɪv/
adj. hermitlike; withdrawn from society
- The crazy millionaire led a reclusive existence, shutting himself up in his labyrinthine mansion and never setting foot in the outside world.
- Our new neighbors were so reclusive that we didn’t even meet them until a full year after they had moved in.
recluse
/ˈrɛklus, rɪˈklus/
n. a reclusive person
- After his wife’s death, the grieving old man turned into a recluse and seldom ventured out of his house.
Emily Dickinson, one of America’s most creative poets, became a recluse after her father’s death in 1874 - she kept in contact with friends and family through cards and letters.
recondite
/ˈrɛkənˌdaɪt, rɪˈkɒndaɪt/
adj. hard to understand; over one’s head
- The philosopher’s thesis was so recondite that I couldn’t get past the first two sentences.
- Every now and then the professor would lift his head from his desk and deliver some recondite pronouncement that left us scratching our heads and trying to figure out what he meant.
- The scholarly journal was so recondite as to be utterly incomprehensible.
