A's Flashcards
Abate
Reduce or diminish.
Her stress over spending so much money on a house abated when the real estate broker told her about the property’s 15-year tax abatement.
Aberration, Anomaly
Something that stands out or is abnormal. Outlier is similar.
The election of a liberal candidate in the conservative county was an aberration (or anomaly), made possible only by the sudden death of the conservative candidate two days before the election.
Acclaim
Great praise or approval.
Accord, Discord
Accord is agreement, and discord is disagreement.
Our management is in accord with regulatory agencies; we agree that standards should be tightened.
Acquisitiveness
Desire to acquire more, especially an excessive desire.
The firm did well in buying up its competitors as a means of growth, but its acquisitiveness ultimately resulted in problems related to growing too quickly.
Acreage
Land measured in acres.
Our property is large, but much of the acreage is swampland not suitable for building.
Adhere to and Adherent
To stick to (literally, such as with glue, or metaphorically, such as to a plan or belief). An adherent is a person who sticks to a belief or cause.
The adherents of the plan won’t admit that, in the long term, such a policy would bankrupt our state.
Employees who do not adhere to the policy will be subject to disciplinary action.
Ad-lib
Make something up on the spot, give an unprepared speech; Freely, as needed, according to desire.
We have ended our policy of rationing office supplies-pens may now be given to employees ad-lib.
Adopt
Take and make one’s own; vote to accept. You can adopt a child, of course, a new policy. To adopt a plan implies that you didn’t come up with it yourself.
Advent
Arrival.
Before the advent of the internet, people often called reference librarians to look up information for them in the library’s reference section.
Adverse
Unfavorable, opposed.
The professor is adverse to any experiments that involve living subjects because those subjects could suffer adverse effects.
Agency
The ability to use power or influence.
Some global warning deniers acknowledge that the planet is heating up, but argue that human agency does not affect the climate.
Aggravate
Make worse.
Allowing you band to practice in our garage has greatly aggravated my headache.
Altogether
Completely, overall. Altogether is an adverb; it is one word. I tis not the same as all together, as in Let’s sing all together.
It was an altogether stunning new design.
Ambivalent
Uncertain, unable to decide; wanting to do two contradictory things at once.
The health care plan has been met with ambivalence from lawmakers who would like to pass the bill but find supporting it to be politically impossible.
Amortize
Gradually pay off a debt, or gradually write off an asset.
A mortgage is a common form of amortized debt - spreading the payments out over as long as 30 years is not uncommon.
Analogous
Corresponding in a particular way, making a good analogy.
Our situation is analogous to one in a case study I read in business school. Maybe what worked for that company will work for us.
Annex
To add on, or something that has been added on. An annex to a building is a part built later and added on, or a new building that allows an organization to expand.
Annihilate
Completely destroy.
Annul
Make void or null, cancel, abolish (usually of laws or other established rules). Most people associate this word with marriage - a marriage is annulled when a judge rules that it was invalid in the first place (because of fraud, mental incompetence, etc.), as if it never happened.
Can we appreciate the art of a murderer? For many, the value of these paintings is annulled by the artist’s crimes.
Anoint
The literal meaning is “rub or sprinkle oil on, especially as part of a ceremony that makes something sacred.” The word is used metaphorically to refer to power or praise given to someone who is thought very highly of.
After Principal Smitters raised test scores over 60% at her school, it was only a matter of time before she was anointed superintendent by a fawning school board.
Antithetical to
Totally opposed to; opposite.
The crimes of our chairman are totally antithetical to what the Society for Ethical Leadership stands for.
Application
Act or result of applying. Of course, you can have an application to business school, but you can also say, The application of pressure to the would will help to stop the bleeding.
Apprentice
A person who works for someone else in order to learn a trade (such as shoemaking, weaving, electrician, etc.)
Arbiter
Judge, umpire, person empowered to decide matters at hand. Arbitration is typically a formal process in which a professional arbitrator decides a matter outside of a court of law. The verb is to arbitrate.
Professional mediators arbitrate disputes.
The principal said, “As the final arbiter of what is and is not appropriate in the classroom, I demand that you take down that you take down that poster showing young people drinking alcohol.”
Archaic
Characteristic of an earlier period, ancient primitive.
The school’s archaic computer system predated even floppy disks - it stored records on tape drives!
Sometimes, when you look a word up the dictionary, certain definitions are marked “archaic” - unless you are a Shakespeare scholar, you can safely ignore those archaisms.
Aristocracy
A hereditary ruling class, nobility (or a form of government ruled by these people).
Artifact
Any object made by humans, especially those from an earlier time, such as those excavated by archeologists.
The archeologists dug up countless artifacts, from simple pottery shards and coins to complex written tablets.
The girl’s room was full of the artifacts of modern teenage life: Justin Bieber posters, Twilight book, and a laptop open to Facebook.
Ascribe to/ascription
To ascribe is to give is to give credit; ascription is the noun form
He ascribed his good grades to diligent studying.
The boy’s mother was amused by the ascription to his imaginary friend of all the powers he wished he had himself - being able to fly, having dozens of friends, and never having to eat his broccoli.
Assert
Affirm, claim, state or express (that something is true)
Assimilation
The process by which a minority group adopts the customs and way of life of a larger group, or the process by which any new thing being introduced begins to “blend in.” For example, Westernization refers to the process of assimilation into Western culture.
Attain
Achieve.
Attribute to
Give credit to.
Atypical
Not typical.
