Barron's 3500 List 3 Flashcards
<p>amenities</p>
<p>N. convenient features; courtesies. In addition to the customary amenities for the business traveler-fax machines, modems, a health club-the hotel offers the services of a butler versed in the social amenities.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>amiable</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>ADJ. agreeable; lovable; warmly friendly. In Little Women, Beth is the amiable daughter whose loving disposition endears her to all who know her.</p>
<p>amicable</p>
<p>ADJ. politely friendly; not quarrelsome. Beth's sister Jo is the hot-tempered tomboy who has a hard time maintaining amicable relations with those around her. Jo's quarrel with her friend Laurie finally reaches an amicable settlement, but not because Jo turns amiable overnight.</p>
<p>amiss</p>
<p>ADJ. wrong; faulty. Seeing her frown, he wondered if anything were amiss. also ADV.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>amity</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>N. friendship. Student exchange programs such as the Experiment in International Living were established to promote international amity.</p>
<p>amnesia</p>
<p>N. loss of memory. Because she was suffering from amnesia, the police could not get the young girl to identify herself.</p>
<p>amnesty</p>
<p>N. pardon. When his first child was born, the king granted amnesty to all in prison.</p>
<p>amoral</p>
<p>ADJ. nonmoral. The amoral individual lacks a code of ethics; he cannot tell right from wrong. The immoral person can tell right from wrong; he chooses to do something he knows is wrong.</p>
<p>amorous</p>
<p>ADJ. moved by sexual love; loving. "Love them and leave them" was the motto of the amorous Don Juan.</p>
<p>amorphous</p>
<p>ADJ. formless; lacking shape or definition. As soon as we have decided on our itinerary, we shall send you a copy; right now, our plans are still amorphous.</p>
<p>amphibian</p>
<p>ADJ. able to live both on land and in water. Frogs are classified as amphibian. also N.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>amphitheater</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>N. oval building with tiers of seats. The spectators in the amphitheater cheered the gladiators.</p>
<p>ample</p>
<p>ADJ. abundant. Bond had ample opportunity to escape. Why did he let us catch him?</p>
<p>amplify</p>
<p>V. broaden or clarify by expanding; intensify; make stronger. Charlie Brown tried to amplify his remarks, but he was drowned out by jeers from the audience. Lucy was smarter: she used a loudspeaker to amplify her voice.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>amputate</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>V. cut off part of body; prune. When the doctors had to amputate the young man’s leg to prevent the spread of cancer, he did not let the loss of a limb keep him from participating in sports.</p>
<p>amulet</p>
<p>N. charm; talisman. Around her neck she wore the amulet that the witch doctor had given her.</p>
<p>anachronistic</p>
<p>ADJ. having an error involving time in a story. The reference to clocks in Julius Caesar is anachronistic: clocks did not exist in Caesar's time. anachronism, N.</p>
<p>analgesic</p>
<p>ADJ. causing insensitivity to pain. The analgesic qualities of this lotion will provide temporary relief.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>analogous</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>ADJ. comparable. She called our attention to the things that had been done in an analogous situation and recommended that we do the same.</p>
<p>analogy</p>
<p>N. similarity; parallelism. A well-known analogy compares the body's immune system with an army whose defending troops are the lymphocytes or white blood cells.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>anarchist</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>N. person who seeks to overturn the established government; advocate of abolishing authority. Denying she was an anarchist, Katya maintained she wished only to make changes in our government, not to destroy it entirely. anarchy, N.</p>
<p>anarchy</p>
<p>N. absence of governing body; state of disorder. The assassination of the leaders led to a period of anarchy.</p>
<p>anathema</p>
<p>N. solemn curse; someone or something regarded as a curse. The Ayatolla Khomeini heaped anathema upon "the Great Satan," that is, the United States. To the Ayatolla, America and the West were anathema; he loathed the democratic nations, cursing them in his dying words. anathematize,V.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>ancestry</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>N. family descent. David can trace his ancestry as far back as the seventeenth century, when one of his ancestors was a court trumpeter somewhere in Germany. ancestral,ADJ.</p>
<p>anchor</p>
<p>V. secure or fasten firmly; be fixed in place. We set the post in concrete to anchor it in place. anchorage, N.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>ancillary</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>ADJ. serving as an aid or accessory; auxiliary. In an ancillary capacity, Doctor Watson was helpful; however, Holmes could not trust the good doctor to solve a perplexing case on his own. also N.</p>
<p>anecdote</p>
<p>N. short account of an amusing or interesting event. Rather than make concrete proposals for welfare reform, President Reagan told anecdotes about poor people who became wealthy despite their impoverished backgrounds.</p>
<p>anemia</p>
<p>N. condition in which blood lacks red corpuscles. The doctor ascribes her tiredness to anemia. anemic,ADJ.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>anesthetic</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>N. substance that removes sensation with or without loss of consciousness. His monotonous voice acted like an anesthetic; his audience was soon asleep. anesthesia, N.</p>
<p>anguish</p>
<p>N. acute pain; extreme suffering. Visiting the site of the explosion, the governor wept to see the anguish of the victims and their families.</p>