B Flashcards
belated
delayed past the proper time
ex: She called her
mother on January 5th to offer her a belated “Happy New
Year.”
belie
to present a false or contradictory appearance
ex: Lena
Horne’s youthful appearance belied her long, distinguished
career in show business.
benevolent
wishing or doing good. In old age,
EX: Carnegie used his wealth for benevolent purposes, donating
large sums to found libraries and schools.
berate
to scold or criticize harshly.
EX: The judge angrily
berated the two lawyers for their unprofessional behavior.
bereft
lacking or deprived of something.
EX: Bereft of
parental love, orphans sometimes grow up to be insecure.
bombastic
inflated or pompous in style.
EX: Old-fashioned
bombastic political speeches don’t work on television, which
demands a more intimate style of communication.
bourgeois
middle class or reflecting middle-class values.
EX: The Dadaists of the 1920s produced art deliberately
designed to offend bourgeois art collectors, with their taste for
respectable, refined, uncontroversial pictures.
buttress
something that supports or strengthens; a projecting
structure of masrony or wood.
EX: The endorsement of the American
Medical Association is a powerful buttress for the claims made
about this new medicine.
EX: The buttress on the south wall of the
Medieval castle was beginning to crumble.
camraderie
a spirit of friendship.
EX: Spending long days and
nights together on the road, the members of a traveling theater
group develop a strong sense of camaraderie.
candor
openness, honesty, frankness.
EX: In his memoir about
the Vietnam War, former defense secretary McNamara
described his mistakes with remarkable candor.
capricious
unpredictable, whimsical.
EX: The pop star
Madonna has changed her image so many times that each new
transformation now appears capricious rather than purposeful.
carnivorous
meat-eating.
EX: The long, dagger-like teeth
of the Tyrannosaurus make it obvious that this was a
carnivorous dinosaur.
carping
unfairly or excessively critical; querulous.
EX: New
York is famous for its demanding critics, but none is harder to
please than the carping John Simon, said to have singlehandedly
destroyed many acting careers.
catalytic
bringing about, causing, or producing some
result.
EX: The conditions for revolution existed in America by
1765; the disputes about taxation that arose later were the
catalytic events that sparked the rebellion.
caustic
burning, corrosive.
EX: No one was safe when the
satirist H. L. Mencken unleashed his caustic wit.
censure
blame, condemnation.
EX: The news that the senator
had harassed several women brought censure from many
feminists.
chaos
disorder, confusion, chance.
EX: The first few moments
after the explosion were pure chaos: no one was sure what had
happened, and the area was filled with people running and
yelling.
circuitous
winding or indirect.
EX: We drove to the cottage
by a circuitous route so we could see as much of the
surrounding countryside as possible.
circumlocution
speaking in a roundabout way; wordiness.
EX: Legal documents often contain circumlocutions that make them
difficult to understand.
circumscribe
to define by a limit or boundary.
EX: Originally,
the role of the executive branch of government was clearly
circumscribed, but that role has greatly expanded over time.
circumvent
to get around.
EX: When James was caught
speeding, he tried to circumvent the law by offering the police officer a bribe.
clandestine
secret, surreptitious.
EX: As a member of the underground, Balas took part in clandestine meetings to discuss ways of sabotaging the Nazi forces.
cloying
overly sweet or sentimental.
EX: The deathbed scenes in the novels of Dickens are famously cloying: as Oscar Wilde said, “One would need a heart of stone to read the death
of Little Nell without dissolving into tears . . . of laughter.”
cogent
forceful and convincing.
EX: The committee members were won over to the project by the cogent arguments of the chairman.
cognizant
aware, mindful.
EX: Cognizant of the fact that it was getting late, the master of ceremonies cut short the last speech.
cohesive
sticking together, unified.
EX: An effective military unit must be a cohesive team, all its members working together for a common goal.
collaborate
to work together.
EX: To create a truly successful movie, the director, writers, actors, and many others must collaborate closely.
colloquial
informal in language; conversational.
EX: Some expressions from Shakespeare, such as the use of thou and thee, sound formal today but were colloquial English in Shakespeare’s time.
competent
having the skill and knowledge needed for a
particular task; capable.
EX: Any competent lawyer can draw up a will.
complacent
smug, self-satisfied.
EX: Until recently, American auto makers were complacent, believing that they would continue to be successful with little effort.
composure
composure (noun) calm, self-assurance.
EX: The company’s president managed to keep his composure during his speech even when the teleprompter broke down, leaving him without a script.
conciliatory
seeking agreement, compromise, or reconciliation.
EX: As a conciliatory gesture, the union leaders agreed to postpone a strike and to continue negotiations with management.
