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blue book #16 Flashcards

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1
Q

grotesque

A

1.
odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre.

2.
fantastic in the shaping and combination of forms, as in decorative work combining incongruous human and animal figures with scrolls, foliage, etc.

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2
Q

grovel

A

1.
to humble oneself or act in an abject manner, as in great fear or utter servility.

2.
to lie or crawl with the face downward and the body prostrate, especially in abject humility, fear, etc.

3.
to take pleasure in mean or base things.

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3
Q

grueling

A

exhausting; very tiring; arduously severe; trying:

the grueling Boston marathon.

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4
Q

gubernatorial

A

of or relating to a state governor or the office of state governor.

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5
Q

guile

A

insidious cunning in attaining a goal; crafty or artful deception; duplicity.

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6
Q

gullible

A

easily deceived or cheated.

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7
Q

gustatory

A

of or relating to taste or tasting.

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8
Q

hack

A

1.
a person, as an artist or writer, who exploits, for money, his or her creative ability or training in the production of dull, unimaginative, and trite work; one who produces banal and mediocre work in the hope of gaining commercial success in the arts:
As a painter, he was little more than a hack.

2.
a professional who renounces or surrenders individual independence, integrity, belief, etc., in return for money or other reward in the performance of a task normally thought of as involving a strong personal commitment:
a political hack.

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9
Q

hackneyed

A

made commonplace or trite; stale; banal:

the hackneyed images of his poetry.

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10
Q

hail

A

1.
to cheer, salute, or greet; welcome.

2.
to acclaim; approve enthusiastically:
The crowds hailed the conquerors. They hailed the recent advances in medicine.

3.
to call out to in order to stop, attract attention, ask aid, etc.:
to hail a cab.

  1. to have as one’s place of birth or residence:
    Nearly everyone here hails from the Midwest.

5.
to fall or shower as hail:
Arrows hailed down on the troops as they advanced.

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11
Q

hairsplitting

A

1.
the making of unnecessarily fine distinctions.

2.
characterized by such distinctions:
the hairsplitting arguments of a political debate.

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12
Q

halcyon

A

1.
calm; peaceful; tranquil:
halcyon weather.

2.
rich; wealthy; prosperous:
halcyon times of peace.

3.
happy; joyful; carefree:
halcyon days of youth.

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13
Q

hale

A

1.
free from disease or infirmity; robust; vigorous:
hale and hearty men in the prime of life.

2.
to compel (someone) to go:
to hale a man into court.
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14
Q

hallowed

A

regarded as holy; venerated; sacred:

the hallowed saints; our hallowed political institutions.

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15
Q

halting

A

1.
faltering or hesitating, especially in speech; starting and stopping.

2.
faulty or imperfect.

3.
limping or lame:
a halting gait.

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16
Q

hamlet

A

a small village.

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17
Q

hamper

A

1.
to hold back; hinder; impede:
A steady rain hampered the progress of the work.

2.
to interfere with; curtail:
The dancers’ movements were hampered by their elaborate costumes.

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18
Q

haphazard

A

characterized by lack of order or planning, by irregularity, or by randomness; determined by or dependent on chance; aimless:
The absence of command means there is only haphazard combat coordination on the ground.

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19
Q

hapless

A

unlucky; luckless; unfortunate.

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20
Q

harangue

A

1.
a scolding or a long or intense verbal attack; diatribe.

2.
a long, passionate, and vehement speech, especially one delivered before a public gathering.

3.
any long, pompous speech or writing of a tediously hortatory or didactic nature; sermonizing lecture or discourse.

4.
to address in a harangue.

5.
to deliver a harangue.

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21
Q

harbinger

A

1.
a person who goes ahead and makes known the approach of another; herald.

2.
something that foreshadows a future event; omen; sign:
Frost is a harbinger of winter.

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22
Q

hardy

A

1.
capable of enduring fatigue, hardship, and exposure; sturdy and strong:
hardy explorers of northern Canada.

2.
requiring great physical courage, vigor, or endurance:
the hardiest sports.

3.
bold or daring; courageous:
hardy soldiers.

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23
Q

harrow

A

1.
an agricultural implement with spikelike teeth or upright disks, drawn chiefly over plowed land to level it, break up clods, root up weeds, etc.

2.
to draw a harrow over land.

3.
to disturb keenly or painfully; distress the mind and feelings of.

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24
Q

haughty

A

disdainfully proud; snobbish; scornfully arrogant; supercilious:
haughty aristocrats; a haughty salesclerk.

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25
Q

headstrong

A

1.
determined to have one’s own way; willful; stubborn; obstinate; recklessly insistent:
a headstrong young man.

2.
proceeding from or exhibiting willfulness:
a headstrong course.

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26
Q

heathen

A

1.
an irreligious, uncultured, or uncivilized person.

2.
of or relating to heathens; pagan.

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27
Q

hectic

A

characterized by intense agitation, excitement, confused and rapid movement, etc.:
The week before the trip was hectic and exhausting.

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28
Q

hedonism

A

1.
the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the highest good.

2.
devotion to pleasure as a way of life:
The later Roman emperors were notorious for their hedonism.

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29
Q

heed

A

to give careful attention to; to have regard for:

He did not heed the warning.

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30
Q

hegemony

A

1.
leadership or predominant influence exercised by one nation over others, as in a confederation.

2.
leadership; predominance.

3.
especially among smaller nations, aggression or expansionism by large nations in an effort to achieve world domination.

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31
Q

heinous

A

hateful; wicked; odious; abominable; totally reprehensible:

a heinous offense.

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32
Q

heirloom

A

1.
a family possession handed down from generation to generation.

2.
being an old variety that is being cultivated again:
heirloom vegetables and fruits.

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33
Q

helter-skelter

A

1.
in headlong and disorderly haste:
The children ran helter-skelter all over the house.

2.
in a haphazard manner; without regard for order:
Clothes were scattered helter-skelter about the room.

3.
carelessly hurried; confused:
They ran in a mad, helter-skelter fashion for the exits.

4.
disorderly; haphazard:
Books and papers were scattered on the desk in a helter-skelter manner.

5.
tumultuous disorder; confusion.

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34
Q

hemorrhage

A

1.
a profuse discharge of blood, as from a ruptured blood vessel; bleeding.

2.
the loss of assets, especially in large amounts.

3.
any widespread or uncontrolled loss or diffusion.

4.
to bleed profusely.

5.
to lose assets, especially in large amounts:
a company that was hemorrhaging money.

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35
Q

hereditary

A

1.
passing, or capable of passing, naturally from parent to offspring through the genes:
Blue eyes are hereditary in our family.

2.
of or relating to inheritance; passed down:
a hereditary title.

3.
existing by reason of feeling, opinions, or prejudices held by predecessors:
a hereditary enemy.

36
Q

heretic

A

1.
a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by his or her church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.

2.
anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.

37
Q

hermetic

A

1.
made airtight by fusion or sealing:
There is a hermetic seal on the coffin.

2.
not affected by outward influence or power; isolated:
a hermetic regime; a fraternity of hermetic Benedictine monks.

38
Q

heterodox

A

1.
not in accordance with established or accepted doctrines or opinions, especially in theology; unorthodox.

2.
holding unorthodox doctrines or opinions.

39
Q

heterogeneous

A

1.
different in kind; unlike; incongruous.

2.
composed of parts of different kinds; having widely dissimilar elements or constituents:
The party was attended by a heterogeneous group of artists, politicians, and social climbers.

3.
composed of different substances or the same substance in different phases, as solid ice and liquid water.

40
Q

hew

A

1.
to strike forcibly with an ax, sword, or other cutting instrument; chop; hack.

2.
to make, shape, smooth, etc., with cutting blows:
to hew a passage through the crowd; to hew a statue from marble.

3.
to sever a part from a whole by means of cutting blows:
to hew branches from the tree.

4.
to uphold, follow closely, or conform:
to hew to the tenets of one’s political party.

41
Q

hiatus

A

1.
a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc.

2.
a missing part; gap or lacuna:
Scholars attempted to account for the hiatus in the medieval manuscript.

3.
any gap or opening.

42
Q

hidebound

A

1.
narrow and rigid in opinion; inflexible:
a hidebound pedant.

2.
oriented toward or confined to the past; extremely conservative:
a hidebound philosopher.

3.
(of a horse, cow, etc.) having the back and ribs bound tightly by the hide.

43
Q

hideous

A

1.
horrible or frightful to the senses; repulsive; very ugly:
a hideous monster.

2.
shocking or revolting to the moral sense:
a hideous crime.

3.
distressing; appalling:
the hideous expense of moving one’s home to another city.

44
Q

hierarchy

A

1.
any system of persons or things ranked one above another.

2.
an organized body of ecclesiastical officials in successive ranks or orders:
the Roman Catholic hierarchy.

3.
government by an elite group.

45
Q

hindsight

A

recognition of the realities, possibilities, or requirements of a situation, event, decision etc., after its occurrence.

46
Q

hinterland

A

the remote or less developed parts of a country; back country:
The hinterlands are usually much more picturesque than the urban areas.

47
Q

hirsute

A

1.
hairy; shaggy.

2.
covered with long, rather stiff hairs.

3.
of, relating to, or characteristic of hair.

48
Q

histrionic

A

1.
deliberately affected or self-consciously emotional; overly dramatic, in behavior or speech.

2.
of or relating to actors or acting.

49
Q

hoard

A

1.
a supply or accumulation that is hidden or carefully guarded for preservation, future use, etc.:
a vast hoard of silver.

2.
to accumulate for preservation, future use, etc., in a hidden or carefully guarded place:
to hoard food during a shortage.

50
Q

hoary

A

1.
gray or white with age:
an old dog with a hoary muzzle.

2.
ancient or venerable:
hoary myths.

3.
tedious from familiarity; stale:
Please don’t tell that hoary joke at dinner again tonight.

51
Q

hoax

A

1.
something intended to deceive or defraud:
The Piltdown man was a scientific hoax.

2.
to deceive by a hoax; hoodwink.

52
Q

hobble

A

1.
to walk lamely; limp.

2.
to proceed irregularly and haltingly:
His verses hobble with their faulty meters.

3.
to cause to limp:
His tight shoes hobbled him.

4.
to fasten together the legs of (a horse, mule, etc.) by short lengths of rope to prevent free motion.

5.
to impede; hamper the progress of.

53
Q

hodgepodge

A

a heterogeneous mixture; jumble.

54
Q

hoi polloi

A

(often derogatory) the common people; the masses.

55
Q

hokum

A

1.
out-and-out nonsense.

2.
elements of low comedy introduced into a play, novel, etc., for the laughs they may bring.

3.
sentimental matter of an elementary or stereotyped kind introduced into a play or the like.

56
Q

holistic

A

1.
incorporating the concept of holism, or the idea that the whole is more than merely the sum of its parts, in theory or practice:
holistic psychology.

2.
(medicine) identifying with principles of holism in a system of therapeutics, especially one considered outside the mainstream of scientific medicine, as naturopathy or chiropractic, and often involving nutritional measures: holistic medicine.

57
Q

holocaust

A

1.
a great or complete devastation or destruction, especially by fire.

2.
a sacrifice completely consumed by fire; burnt offering.

3.
(initial capital letter) the systematic mass slaughter of European Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

4.
any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life.

58
Q

homage

A

1.
respect or reverence paid or rendered:
In his speech he paid homage to Washington and Jefferson.

2.
something done or given in acknowledgment or consideration of the worth of another:
a Festschrift presented as an homage to a great teacher.

59
Q

homely

A

1.
lacking in physical attractiveness; not beautiful; unattractive:
a homely child.

2.
not having elegance, refinement, or cultivation.

3.
proper or suited to the home or to ordinary domestic life; plain; unpretentious:
homely food.

4.
commonly seen or known.

60
Q

homogeneous

A

1.
composed of parts or elements that are all of the same kind; not heterogeneous:
a homogeneous population.

2.
of the same kind or nature; essentially alike.

61
Q

hone

A

1.
to sharpen:
to hone a carving knife.

2.
to make more acute or effective; improve; perfect:
to hone one’s skills.

62
Q

hoodwink

A

to deceive or trick.

63
Q

horde

A

1.
a large group, multitude, number, etc.; a mass or crowd:
a horde of tourists.

2.
any nomadic group.

3.
a moving pack or swarm of animals:
A horde of mosquitoes invaded the camp.

5.
to gather in a horde:
The prisoners horded together in the compound.

64
Q

hubris

A

excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.

65
Q

humane

A

1.
characterized by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for people and animals, especially for the suffering or distressed:
humane treatment of prisoners; humane capture of stray pets.

2.
of or relating to humanistic studies.

66
Q

humble

A

1.
not proud or arrogant; modest:
to be humble although successful.

2.
having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, or subservience:
In the presence of so many world-famous writers I felt very humble.

3.
low in rank, importance, or status; lowly:
of humble origin; a humble home.

4.
courteously respectful:
In my humble opinion you are wrong.

5.
to lower in condition, importance, or dignity; abase.

6.
to destroy the independence, power, or will of.

7.
to make meek:
to humble one’s heart.

67
Q

humbug

A

1.
something intended to delude or deceive.

2.
the quality of falseness or deception.

3.
a person who is not what he or she claims or pretends to be; impostor.

4.
something devoid of sense or meaning; nonsense:
a humbug of technical jargon.

68
Q

humdrum

A

1.
lacking variety; boring; dull:
a humdrum existence.

2.
humdrum character or routine; monotony.

3.
monotonous or tedious talk.

69
Q

humility

A

the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank, etc.

70
Q

humor

A

1.
mental disposition or temperament.

2.
to comply with the humor or mood of in order to soothe or make content or more agreeable:
to humor a crying child.

71
Q

husband

A

1.
to manage, especially with prudent economy.

2.
to use frugally; conserve:
to husband one’s resources.

72
Q

hutch

A

1.
a pen or enclosed coop for small animals:
rabbit hutch.

2.
a chest, cupboard, bin, etc., for storage.

73
Q

hydrate

A 
1.
any of a class of compounds containing chemically combined water.

2.
to combine chemically with water; to supply water to.

74
Q

hygiene

A

1.
(a.k.a. hygienics) the science that deals with the preservation of health.

2.
a condition or practice conducive to the preservation of health, as cleanliness.

75
Q

hyperbole

A

1.
obvious and intentional exaggeration.

2.
an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as “to wait an eternity.”

76
Q

hyperventilate

A

to breathe abnormally fast and deep, resulting in decreased carbon dioxide levels and increased oxygen levels that produce faintness, tingling of the fingers and toes, and, if continued, alkalosis and loss of consciousness.

77
Q

hypochondria

A

1.
(psychiatry) chronic abnormal anxiety concerning the state of one’s health, even in the absence of any evidence of disease on medical examination.

2.
excessive worry or talk about one’s health.

78
Q

hypothermia

A

1.
subnormal body temperature.

2.
(medicine) the artificial reduction of body temperature to slow metabolic processes, as for facilitating heart surgery.

79
Q

hypothetical

A

1.
theoretical; suppositional; speculative.

2.
existing only as an idea or concept:
a time machine is a hypothetical device.

80
Q

icon

A

1.
a picture, image, or other representation.

2.
a representation of some sacred personage, as Christ or a saint or angel, painted usually on a wood surface and venerated itself as sacred.

3.
a sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblance or analogy to it:
an icon of womanhood.

4.
a person or thing that is revered or idolized:
Elvis Presley is a cultural icon of the 20th century.

81
Q

iconoclast

A

1.
a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition.

2.
a breaker or destroyer of images, especially those set up for religious veneration.

82
Q

idealism

A

the cherishing or pursuit of high or noble principles, purposes, or goals:
Idealism about the transformative power of writing is at the heart of the festival.

83
Q

ideologue

A

a person who zealously advocates an ideology.

84
Q

ideology

A

1.
the body of doctrine, myth, belief, etc., that guides an individual, social movement, institution, class, or large group.

2.
such a body of doctrine, myth, etc., with reference to some political and social plan, as that of fascism, along with the devices for putting it into operation.

3.
theorizing of a visionary or impractical nature.

85
Q

idiomatic

A

1.
peculiar to or characteristic of a particular language or dialect:
idiomatic French.

2.
containing or using many idioms.

3.
having a distinct style or character, especially in the arts:
idiomatic writing; an idiomatic composer.

86
Q

idiosyncrasy

A

a characteristic, habit, mannerism, or the like, that is peculiar to an individual.

blue book vocabulary (17 decks)

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