A Flashcards
Abash
to make ashamed; to embarrass
Meredith felt abashed by her inability to rememver her lines in the schood chorus of “old mcdonld had a farm”
TO do something without shame or embarrssment is to do it unabashedly. Ken handed in a term paper that he had unabashedly copied from the National Enquirer.
Abate
to subside ; to reduce
George spilled a pot of hot coffee on his leg, It hurt quite a bit then gradually, the agony abated.
Bad weather abates when good weather begins to return. A rain storm that does not let up conticues unabated.
ABDICATE
to step down from a psition of power or responsivility.
When kin edwrd of england decided he would rather be married to wallis warfield wimpson, an American divorcee, than be king of England, he turned in his crown and abdicated
Even people who aren;t monarchs can avdicate duties and responsivilities. Mary abdicated her responsibility as a baby-sitter by locking the five-year-old in a closet and flying to the bahamas.
ABERRATION
someting not typical; a deviation from the standard
Tom’s bad behavior was an aberration. so Was harry’s good behavior. That is. tom was usually good and harry was usually bad.
A snowstorm in June is an aberration ; snow doesn’t normally fall in June.
ABHOR
to hate , veryt very much ; to detest
to abhor something is to view it with horror. Hating a person is almost friendly in comparison with abhorring him or her.
Emanuel abhorred having anvils dropped on his head
ABJECT
hopeless, extremely sad and sevile; utterly bummed out
An abject person is one who is crushed and without hope, A slave would be abject, in all likelihood.
ABNEGATE
to deny oneslf things; to reject; to renounce
samantha abnegated desserts for one month after getting on the scale.
self-abnegation is giving up oneself, usually for some higher cause. ascetics practice self-abnegation because they believe it will bring them closer to spiritual purity.
ABORTIVE
unsuccessful
Mary and Elisabeth made an abortive effort to bake a birthday cake; that is their effort did not result in a birthday cake.
To abort something is to end it before it is completed, An aborted pregnancy, called an abortion, is one that is ended before the baby is born. An abortion is this sense doesn’t have to be the result of a controversial medical procedure
ABRIDGE
to shorten; to condense
The thoughtful editor had abridged the massive book by removing the boring parts.
An abridged dictionary is one theat has been shortened to keep it from crushing desks and people’s lap
Absolute
total; unlimited; perfect
An absolute ruler is one who is ruled by no one else. An absolute mess is a total mess. An absolute rule is one that has no exceptions and that you must follow, no two ways about it.
absolve
to forgive or to free from blame; to free from sin; to free from an obligation
The priest absolved the sinner who had come to church to confess his sin
ABSTINENT
abstaining; voluntarily not doing something, especially something pleasnt that is bad for you or has a bad reputation
Beulah used to be a chain-smoker ; now she’s abstinent
ABSTRACT
Theoretical ; impersonal
To like something in the abstract is to like the idea of it. He liked oysters in the abstract, but when he actually tried one he became nauseated.
ABSTRUSE
hard to understand
The professor’s article, on the meaning of meaning, was very abstuse. Michael couldn’t even pronounce rhe word in it.
Nuclear physics is a subject that is too abstruse for most people.
ABYSMAL
extremely hopeless or wretched; bottomless
An abyss is bottomless pit, or something so deep that it seems bottomless. abysmal despair is despair so deep that no hope seems possible.
The nation’s debt crisis was abysmal; there seemed to be no possible solution to it
