A Flashcards
abash (un BASH)
v. to make ashamed; to embarrass
• Meredith felt abashed by her inability to remember her lines in the school chorus of “Old McDonald Had a Farm.”
To do something without shame or embarrassment is to do it unabashedly.
• Karl handed in a term paper that he had unabashedly copied from Wikipedia.
abate (uh BAYT)
v. to subside; to reduce
• George spilled a cup of hot coffe on his leg. It hurt quite a bit. Then, gradually, the agony abated.
A tax abatement is a reduction in taxes
abdicate (AB duh kayt)
v. to step down from a position of power or responsibility
• Abby abdicated her responsibilities as a vice president by dumping in the garbage the reports she was supposed to present to the board of directors and flying to the Bahamas.
aberration (ab uh RAY shun)
n. something not typical; a deviation from the standard
• The chef at this restaurant is dreadful; the meal we just had was an aberration.
• A snowstorm in June is an aberration; snow doesn’t normally fall in June.
An aberration is an aberrant (un BER unt) occurrence.
• The summer snowstorm was aberrant.
abhor (ab HOR)
v. to hate very, very much; to detest
• Emanuel abhorred having to wake up before dawn
To abhor something is to view it with horror. Hating a person is almost friendly in comparison with abhorring him or her.
To a
abhor (ab HOR)
v. to hate very, very much; to detest
• Emanuel abhorred having to wake up before dawn
To abhor something is to view it with horror. Hating a person is almost friendly in comparison with abhorring him or her.
To abhor raw chicken livers is to have an abhorrence of them or to find them abhorrent.
abject (AB jekt)
adj. hopeless; extremely sad and servile; defeated
• While most people would quickly recover from a stumble on stage, Mia felt abject humiliation.
abnegate (AB nuh gayt)
v. to deny oneself things; to reject; to renounce
• Ascetics practice self-abnegation because they believe it will bring them closer to spiritual purity.
abnegate (AB nuh gayt)
v. to deny oneself things; to reject; to renounce
• Ascetics practice self-abnegation because they believe it will bring them closer to spiritual purity.
abortive (uh BOR tiv)
adj. unsuccessful
• Marie and Elizabeth made an abortive effort to bake a birthday cake.
abridge (uh BRIJ)
v. to shorten; to condense
• The thoughtful editor abridged the massive book by removing the boring parts.
absolute (AB suh loot)
adj. total; unlimited
absolve (ab ZOLV)
v. to give or free from blame; to free from sin; to free from an obligation
• Tom’s admisssion of guilt absolved Mary, who had originally been accused of the crime.
• Jake absolved Ciara of her obligation to go to the prom with him
The act of absolving is called absolution (ab suh LOO shun)
absolve (ab ZOLV)
v. to give or free from blame; to free from sin; to free from an obligation
• Tom’s admisssion of guilt absolved Mary, who had originally been accused of the crime.
• Jake absolved Ciara of her obligation to go to the prom with him
The act of absolving is called absolution (ab suh LOO shun)
abstinent (AB stuh nunt)
adj. abstaining; voluntarily not doing something, especially something pleasant that is bad for you or has a bad reputation
• Beth used to be a chain-smoker; now she’s abstinent.
