Advanced 2 Flashcards
Fell
Terribly evil
Excoriate
To criticize very harshly
Curmudgeon
A grouchy, surly person
Schadenfreude
Joy from watching the suffering of others
Juggernaut
A force that cannot be stopped
Expurgate
To remove objectionable material
Bilious
Irritable; always angry
Phantasmagorical
Illusive; unreal
Arriviste
A person who has recently reached a position of power; a social climber
Cupidity
Greed for money
Apotheosis
Exaltation to divine status; the highest point of development
Pyrrhic
Describing a victory that comes at such great cost that the victory is not worthwhile
Parvenu
A person who has suddenly become wealthy, but not socially accepted as part of a higher class
Blinkered
To have a limited outlook or understanding
Benighted
Fallen into a state of ignorance
Malapropism
The confusion of a word with another word that sounds similar
Arch
To be deliberately teasing
Peremptory
Bossy and domineering
Imbroglio
A confusing and potentially embarrassing situation
Palimpsest
Something that has been changed numerous times but on which traces of former iterations can still be seen
Jaundiced
To be biased against due to envy or prejudice
Sangfroid
Calmness or poise in difficult situations
Picayune
Trifling or petty (a person)
Sententious
To be moralizing, usually in a pompous sense
Histrionic
To be overly theatrical
Quixotic
Wildly idealistic; impractical
Limpid
Having clarity in terms of expression
Quisling
A traitor
Sartorial
Related to fashion or clothes
Venial
Easily excused or forgiven; pardonable
Execrate
To curse and hiss at
Mulct
To defraud or swindle
Hedge
To limit or qualify a statement; to avoid making a direct statement
Sybarite
A person who indulges in luxury
Gerrymander
To manipulate voting districts in order to favor a particular political party
Pollyannaish
Extremely optimistic
