C's Flashcards
Canon
Body of accepted rules, standards, or artistic works; canonical means authorized, recognized, or pertaining to a canon. Note that the spelling of canon is not the same as cannon (a large weapon). The “Western canon” is an expression referring to books traditionally considered necessary for a person to be educated in the culture of Europe and the Americas.
School boards often start controversies when replacing canonical books in the curriculum with modern literature; while many people think students should reads works more relevant to their lives, other point out that Moby Dick is part of the canon for a reason.
Chancy
Risky, not having a certain outcome. This word comes from the idea of “taking a lot of chances” or depending on chance.
Channel
To direct or guide along a particular course. Channel can also be a noun (television channel, the channel of a river, channel of communication). As a verb, you might channel your energy towards productive purposes.
Checked
Restrained, held back. A check or checks can also be used to mean safeguards, limitations. This is the same checks as in checks and balances, which refers to an aspect of the American system of government in which the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches all have power over each other, so no one branch can gain too much power. The expression held in check means restrained, held back.
Once the economy took a turn for the worse, the investors began to hold spending in check.
The situation isn’t so simple - while the warlords are surely criminals of the worst degree, they are the only force checking the power of the dictator.
Chronological
Arranged in or relating to time order.
Joey, I’m afraid you’ve done the assignment incorrectly -the point of making a timeline is to put the information in chronological order. You’ve made an alphabetical-order-line instead!
Clamor
Noisy uproar or protest, as from a crowd; a loud, continuous noise. (not the same word as clamber, “to scramble or climb awkwardly.”)
As soon as a scent of scandal emerged, the press was clamoring for details.
The mayor couldn’t even make herself heard over the clamor of the protestors.
Clan
Traditional social unit or division of a tribe consisting of a number of families derived from a common ancestor. Metaphorically, a clan could be any group of people united by common aims, interests, etc.
Cloak
To cover or conceal. Often used as cloaked in. (Literally, a cloak is a large, loose cape, much like a winter coat without arms.)
Apple’s new products are often cloaked in mystery before they are released; before the launch of the iPad, even tech reviewers had little idea what the new device would be.
Coalesce
Come together, unite; fuse together.
While at first everyone on the team was jockeying for power and recognition, eventually, the group coalesced, and everyone was happy to share credit for a job well-done.
East and West Germany coalesced into a single county in 1990.
Coercion
Force; use of pressure, threats, etc. to force someone to do something.
Coexistence
Existing at the same time or in the same place. Coexistence is often used to mean peaceful coexistence, as in The goal of the Camp David Accords was the coexistence of Israel and Egypt.
Cogent
Very convincing, logical.
Many letters to the editor are not terribly cogent - they depend on unspoken and unjustified assumptions.
Cognitive
Related to thinking. Cognition is the mental process of knowing (awareness, judgement, reasoning, etc.).
Collude
Conspire; cooperate for illegal or fraudulent purposes.
After two competing software companies doubled their prices on the same day, leaving consumers no lower-priced alternative, the federal government investigated the companies for collusion.
Compliant
Obeying, submissive; following the requirements.
Those who are not compliant with the regulations will be put on probation and possibly expelled.
Compound
Add interest to the principal and accrued interest; increase. When talking about substances, compound can also mean mix, combine, as in to compound two chemicals.
The town was greatly damaged by the hurricane - damage that was only compounded by the subsequent looting and even arson that took place in the chaos that followed.
Your success in studying for the GRE can only be compounded by healthy sleep habits; in fact, the brain requires sleep in order to form new memories and thus solidify your knowledge.
Compromise
Reduce the quality or value of something. Or course, to compromise can be good in personal relationships, but often compromise means to give up something in a bad way, as in to compromise one’s morals. So, if we say that the hull of our boat has been compromised, we mean that we are going to sink!
It is unacceptable that safety is being compromised in the name of profits.
Concede
Give in, admit, yield; acknowledge reluctantly; grant or give up (such as giving up land after losing a war).
The negotiations were pointless, with each side’s representatives instructed by their home countries to make no concessions whatsoever.
Quebec was a French concession to Britain in the Treaty of Paris in 1763.
I suppose I will have to concede the argument now that you’ve looked up evidence on Wikipedia.
Condone
Overlook, tolerate, regard as harmless.
While underage drinking is illegal at many universities, it is tacitly condoned by administrations that neglect to enforce anti-drinking policies.
Confer
Consult, compare views; bestow or give.
A Ph.D. confers upon a person the right to be addressed as “Doctor” as well as eligibility to pursue a tenure-track professorship.
Excuse me for a moment to make a call - I can’t buy this car until I confer with my spouse.
Consequently
As a result, therefore (Don’t confuse with subsequently, which means afterwards.)
The new medicine is not only a failure, but a dangerous one; consequently, drug trials were halted immediately.
Considerable
Large, significant.
Considerations
Factors to be considered in making a decision. Used in the singular, consideration can mean care for other people’s feelings; high esteem or admiration; or a treatment or account, as in the book began with a thorough consideration of the history of the debate.
Consolidate
Unite, combine, solidify, make coherent.
She consolidated her student loans so she would only have to make one payment per month.
As a group leader, Muriel will consolidate all of our research into a single report.
Contemplative
Contemplating, thoughtful, mediative.
Contend
Assert, make an argument in favor of; strive, compete, struggle. A contention is a claim, often a thesis or statement that will then be backed up with reasons. Contentious means controversial or argumentative, as in The death penalty is a contentious issue.
Contextualize
Place in context, such as by giving the background or circumstances.
Virginia Woolf’s feminism is hard to truly understand unless contextualized within the mores of the highly restrained, upper-class English society of her time.
Contract
Shrink, pull together and thus becomes smaller (used in this way, contract is the opposite of expand). You can also contract a disease or a debt, in which case contract means get or acquire. To contract can also simply mean to make a contract (to contract an agreement).
Conventional
Traditional, customary. This could be related to morals and culture (Her family was surprised that she had rejected the conventional wedding ceremony in favor of a bohemian ceremony on the beach) or to technology, business methods, and so on - a conventional oven is simply a regular oven (without certain modern enhancements).
Converge
More towards one another or towards a common point; unite.
I know we’re driving in to the wedding from different states, but our routes ought to converge when each of us reaches I-95 - maybe we could converge at a Cracker Barrel for lunch!
Conversely
In an opposite way; on the other hand.
I am not here to argue that lack of education causes poverty. Conversely, I am here to argue that poverty causes lack of education.
Convoluted
Twisted; very complicated.
Your argument is so convoluted that I’m not even able to understand it enough to start critiquing it.
Tog et from the hotel room to the pool requires following a convoluted path up two staircases and down two others - to get to someplace on the same floor we started on!
Copious
Plentiful, bountiful.
Although she took copious notes in class, she found that she was missing a big-picture understanding that would have tied all the information together.
Corresponding
Accompanying; having the same or almost the same relationship.
Our profit-sharing plan means that increases in profit will be matched by corresponding increases in employee compensation.
Corroborate
Support, add evidence to.
You claim that you were 30 miles away riding a roller coaster when the school was vandalized?
I have a hard time believing that - is there anyone who can corroborate your story?
Countenance
Approve or tolerate. Countenance can also literally mean “face” (Her countenance was familiar - did we know each other?). The metaphorical meaning makes sense when you think about a similar expression: “I cannot look you in the face after what you did.”
I saw you cheating off my paper, and I can’t countenance cheating - either you turn yourself in, or I’ll report you.
Counterintuitive
Against what a person would intuitively expect.
Although it seems counterintuitive, for some extreme dieters, eating more can actually help them lose weight, since the body is reassured that it is not facing a period of prolonged starvation.
Counterpoint
Contrasting item, opposite; a complement; the use of contrast or interplay in a work of art.
The play’s lighthearted, witty narrator provides a welcome counterpoint to the seriousness and grief expressed by the other characters.
The spicy peppers work in counterpoint to an otherwise sweet dish.
Counterproductive
Defeating the purpose; preventing the intended goal.
The candidate’s attempt to win undecided voters was actually counterproductive - following his latest speech, his poll numbers actually went down 5%.
Credibility
Believability, trustworthiness.
After promising to take care of a client emergency late on Friday afternoon, he lost all credibility when he failed to answer his phone or check his email all weekend.
Culminate
Reach the highest point or final stage.
A Ph.D. program generally culminates in a written dissertation and the public defense of that dissertation.
Currency
Money; the act of being passed from person-to-person (These old coins are no longer in currency); general acceptance or a period of time during which something is accepted. Cultural currency refers to cultural knowledge that allows a person to feel “in the know”.
The cal center in Mumbai trained its workers in Western slang and pop culture, giving then a cultural currency that, it was hoped, would help the workers relate to customers thousands of miles away.
Curtail
Cut short or reduce.
Cynical
Thinking the worst of others’ motivations; bitterly pessimistic.
