A (I) Flashcards
abase (v.)
to lower; to humiliate
Defeated, Queen Zenobia was forced to abase herself before the conquering Romans, who made her march in chains before the emperor in the procession celebrating his triumph.
abash (v.)
to embarrass
He was not at all abashed by her open admiration.
abate (v.)
to subside; to decrease, to lessen
Rather than leaving immediately, they waited for the storm to abate.
abbreviate (v.)
to shorten
Because we were running out of time, the lecturer had to abbreviate her speech.
abdicate (v.)
to renounce; to give up
When Edward VIII abdicated the British throne to marry the woman he loved, he surprised England.
abduction (n.)
kidnapping
The movie Ransom describes the attempts to rescue a multimillionaire’s son after the child’s abduction by kidnappers.
aberrant (n.)
abnormal or deviant
Given the aberrant nature of the data, we doubted the validity of the entire experiment.
abet (v.)
to aid, usually in doing something wrong; encourage
His lover was willing to abet him in the swindle he had planned.
abhor (v.)
to detest; to hate
She abhorred all forms of bigotry.
abject (adj.)
wretched; lacking pride
On the streets of New York the homeless live in abject poverty, huddling in doorways to find shelter from the wind.
abjure (v.)
to renounce upon oath
He abjured his allegiance to the king.
abnegation (n.)
repudiation–rejection; self-sacrifice
Though Rudolph and Duchess Flavia loved one another, their love was doomed, for she had to marry the king; their act of abnegation was necessary to preserve the kingdom.
abolish (v.)
to cancel; to put an end to
The president of the college refused to abolish the physical education requirement.
abominable (adj.)
detestable; extremely unpleasant; very bad
Mary like John until she learned he was dating Susan; then she called him an abominable young man, with abominable taste in women.
aboriginal (adj., n.)
being the first of its kind in a region (primitive) ; native
Her studies of the primitive art forms of the aboriginal Indians were widely reported in the scientific journals.
abortive (adj.)
unsuccessful; fruitless
Attacked by armed troops, the Chinese students had to abandon their abortive attempt to democratize Beijing peacefully.
abrade (v.)
to wear away by friction; to scrape; to erode
Because the sharp rocks had abraded the skin on her legs, she dabbed iodine on the scrapes and abrasions.
abrasive (adj.)
rubbing away; tending to grind down
Just as abrasive cleaning powders can wear away a shiny finish, abrasive remarks can wear away a listener’s patience.
abridge (v.)
to condense or shorten
Because the publishers felt the public wanted a shorter version of War and Peace, they proceeded to abridge the novel.
abscond (v.)
to depart secretly and hide
The teller who absconded with the bonds went uncaptured until someone recognized him from his photograph on “America’s Most Wanted.”
absolute (adj.)
complete; totally unlimited; certain
Although the King of Siam was an absolute monarch, he did not want to behead his unfaithful wife without absolute evidence of her infidelity.
absolve (v.)
to pardon (an offense)
The father confessor absolved him of his sins.
absorb (v.)
to assimilate or incorporate; suck of drink up; wholly engage
During the nineteenth century, America absorbed hordes of immigrants, turning them into patriotic citizens.
Can Huggies diapers absorb more liquid than Pampers can?
This question does no absorb me; instead, it bores me.
abstain (v.)
to refrain; hold oneself back voluntarily from an action or practice
After considering the effect of alcohol on his athletic performance, he decided to abstain from drinking while he trained for the race.
abstemious (adj.)
sparing in eating and drinking; temperate
Concerned whether her vegetarian son’s abstemious diet provided him with sufficient protein, the worried mother pressed food on him.
abstinence (n.)
restraint from eating or drinking
The doctor recommended total abstinence from salted foods.
abstract (adj.)
theoretical; not concrete; nonrepresentational
To him, hunger was an abstract concept; he had never missed a meal.
abstruse (adj.)
obscure; profound; difficult to understand
Baffled by the abstruse philosophical texts assigned in class, Dave asked Lexy to explain Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason.
abundant (adj.)
plentiful; possessing riches or resources.
At his immigration interview, Ivan listed his abundant reasons for coming to America: the hope of religious freedom, the prospect of employment, the promise of a more abundant life.
abusive (adj.)
coarsely insulting; physically harmful
An abusive parent damages a child both mentally and physically.
abut (v.)
to border upon; adjoin
Where our estates abut, we must build a fence.
abysmal (adj.)
bottomless
His arrogance is exceeded only by his abysmal ignorance.
academic (adj.)
related to a school; not practical or directly useful
The dean’s talk about reforming the college admissions system only an academic discussion: we knew little, if anything, would change.
accede (v.)
to agree
If I accede to this demand for blackmail, I am afraid that I will be the victim of future demands.
accelerate (v.)
to move faster
In our science class, we learn how falling bodies accelerate.
accentuate (v.)
to emphasize; to stress
If you accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative, you may wind up with an overoptimistic view of the world.
accessible (adj.)
easy to approach; obtainable
We asked our guide whether the ruins were accessible on foot.
accessory (n.)
additional object; useful but not essential thing
She bought an attractive handbag as an accessory for her dress.
acclaim (v.)
to applaud; to announce with great approval
The NBC sportscasters acclaimed every American victory in the Olympics and decried–condemned–every American defeat.
acclimate (v.)
to adjust to climate or environment; adapt
One of the difficulties of our present air age is the need of travelers to acclimate themselves to their new and often strange environments.
acclivity (n.)
sharp upslope of a hill
The car would not go up the acclivity in high gear.
accolade (n.)
award of merit
In Hollywood, an Oscar is the highest accolade.
accommodate (v.)
to oblige or help someone; adjust or bring into harmony; adapt
Mitch always did everything possible to accommodate his elderly relative, from driving them to medical appointments to helping them with paperwork. (secondary meaning)
accomplice (n.)
partner in crime.
Because he had provided the criminal with the lethal weapon, he was arrested as an accomplice in the murder.
accord (n.)
agreement
She was in complete accord with the verdict–final decision on a case; opinion or judgement.
accost (v.)
to approach and speak first to a person
When the two young men accosted me, I was frightened because I thought they were going to verbally assault me.
accoutre (v.)
to equip
The fisherman was accoutered with the best that the sporting goods store could supply.
acerbity (n.)
bitterness of speech and temper
The meeting of the United Nations General Assembly was marked with such acerbity that informed sources held out little hope of reaching any useful settlement of the problem.
acetic (adj.)
vinegary
The salad had an exceedingly acetic flavor.
acidulous (adj.)
slightly sour; sharp; caustic
James was unpopular because of his sarcastic and acidulous remarks.
acknowledge (v.)
to recognize; to admit
Although Iris acknowledged that the Beatles’ tunes sounded pretty dated nowadays, she still preferred them to the hip-hop songs her brothers played.
acme (n.)
top; pinnacle
His success in this role marked the acme of his career as an actor.
acoustics (n.)
science of sound; quality that makes a room easy or hard to hear in
Carnegie Hall is like by music lovers because of its fine acoustics.
acquiesce (v.)
to assent–to agree; to agree without protesting
Although she appeared to acquiesce to her employer’s suggestions, I could tell she had reservations about the changed he wanted made.
acquire (v.)
to obtain; to get
Frederick Douglass was determined to acquire an education despite his master’s efforts to prevent his doing so.
acquittal (n.)
deliverance from a charge–exoneration
His acquittal by the jury surprised those who had thought him guilty.
acrid (adj.)
sharp; bitterly pungent
The acrid odor of burnt gunpowder filled the room after the pistol had been fired.
acrimonious (adj.)
bitter in words or manner
The candidate attacked his opponent in highly acrimonious terms.
acrophobia (n.)
fear of heights
A born salesman, he could convince someone with a bad case of acrophobia to sign up for a life membership in a sky-diving club.
actuarial (adj.)
calculating; pertaining to insurance statistics
According to recent actuarial tables, life expectancy is greater today than it was a century ago.
