B Flashcards
banal
(adjective)
lacking originality, cliche, lacking freshness
bane
(noun)
something that ruins/spoils
You are the bane of my existence.
Bane or boon = boon means a benefit/blessing.
Wolfsbane, fleabane = as in “poison”
baying (adj) / bay (verb)
howling in a deep way, like a dog or wolf.
the lonely dog bayed all night.
when a person is “at bay” or “brought to bay”, that means the person is in a captured position, powerless, and unable to flee.
besiege
(verb)
attack/surround
i cannot go out this weekend, i am besieged by homework!
bevy
(noun)
a flock of birds, or any large group.
usually used to describe groups of people who stick together like a flock of birds.
a bevy of women wearing tiaras.
bifurcate
(verb, adj)
to split into two, to fork into two branches.
The bifurcate tree stood tall, its two
massive branches reaching for the sky.
In math, a midpoint bifurcates a line segment.
bilk
(verb, noun)
cheats, defrauds.
the con artist bilked many elderly people out of their savings.
i hope that bilk goes to jail!
related words: hoodwink, swindle, con, fleece.
blight
(noun, verb)
ruins or cause to wither, an unknown disease that kills plants rapidly.
many potato farmers have fallen into poverty as a result of blight killing their crops.
gang violence is a blight on our school system.
blithe
(adj)
joyous, merry, excessively carefree.
bombastic / bombast (noun)
(adj)
pretentious, far too showy or dramatic than is appropriate, pompous
brandish
(verb)
shake, wave, or flourish as a weapon
the Renaissance Fair ended badly, with one drunken fellow brandishing a sword and refusing to leave the ladies’ dressing tent.
brook
(verb)
suffer or tolerate.
You will do your homework every night before you go anywhere. I will brook no disobeying of these rules, young man!
related words: condone, countenance (approve/tolerate).
bucolic
(adj)
pertaining to shepherds, suggesting a peaceful and pleasant view of rural life.
the play was set in a bucolic wonderland.
related words: idyllic, pastoral (positive view of rural life)
burnish
(verb)
polish, make smooth or lustrous.
Mr. Hoffenstotter replaced all of the rustic wood doorknobs with newer
models made of burnished steel.
Related Words: Gilded means covered with a thin layer of gold (and thus looking like solid gold, but actually only superficially so) and is used as a metaphor for things that look better than they really are.
More Info: Burnish can also be used as a noun, meaning “luster or shine,” as in “the beautiful burnish of her hair” or “the burnish of an Ivy League university.
