C1 Flashcards
Abate
Reduce, diminish
Her stress over spending so much money on a house
abated when the real estate broker told her about the property’s 15-year tax abatement.
abdicate
Formally give up the throne (or some other power or
responsibility)
King Edward VIII of England famously abdicated the throne in order to marry an American divorcée.
Parents can be charged with neglect for abdicating their
responsibilities towards their children.
aberrant
Abnormal, deviant
The teen’s aberrant behavior made his family suspect that he was using drugs. / Losing rather than gaining weight over the holidays is certainly an aberration.
abhor
Detest, regard with disgust
“Go out with you?” she replied. “I abhor you! I would rather stab myself with a rusty bread knife than be your girlfriend!”
abjure
Give up, renounce; repudiate, recant, or shun (especially
formally or under oath)
To become a citizen of the United States, you must abjure loyalty to the nation of your birth.
Since enrolling in that nutrition class, she has abjured sugar and saturated fats.
abrasive
Rough, suitable for grinding or polishing (such as sandpaper); causing irritation
or annoyance
Could the inside of this mascot costume be any more abrasive?
It’s rubbing my skin raw! I have some seriously abrasive remarks for whomever designed this thing.
abstain
Hold back, refrain (especially from something bad or
unhealthy); decline to vote
The church board voted on
whether to hold an abstinence rally to encourage young people not to become sexually active; while most members voted in favor, one voted against and two
abstained, with one abstainer
commenting that, as far as she knew, the church’s teens were pretty abstemious already.
acme
Summit, peak, highest point
The acme of my vacation was when I finally climbed to the acme of the mountain and enjoyed the gorgeous vista.
account for
1) Take into consideration or make adjustments based on;
Ex. I accounted for the fact that Joe is always late by telling him to meet us at 1:30 when the event is really at
2) cause. This is not the same as give an account of, which just means explain.
Ex. I did get us the meeting, but Ellen’s hard work ac-
counted for the rest of our success. (Here, accounted for means caused.)
given
1) something taken for
granted, something assumed or that does not require proof
Ex. When planning my wedding, it was a given
that my parents would invite anyone they
wanted, since they were paying for everything.
Ex. It’s a given that everyone here is against
human trafficking—what we disagree about is the best way to fight it.
albatross
A constant burden or worry; an obstacle. Literally, an albatross is a bird. The expression an albatross around one’s neck creates the silly image of a person wearing a (dead?) bird—but that certainly sounds like a constant burden or worry!
Ex. The city has done an admirable job of re-
building its infrastructure and marketing itself, but the crime rate continues to be an albatross around the city’s neck in trying to attract tourists.
All but
All but – Almost definitely. The bill’s passage is all but assured means that the bill will almost certainly pass.
Ex. Your objections have arrived too late; the matter is all but decided.
And yet
A stronger way of saying yet. The expression and yet seems ungrammatical (two conjunctions right next to each other is very strange—we don’t say and but), but it is an idiom used for emphasis. It indicates a surprising twist, an ironicrealization, etc. It is often used at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis, and can even be used on its own, although this usage is casual.
Ex. The company was lauded for its commitment
to the environment. And yet its employees
regularly fly in private jets, creating carbon footprints that would embarrass any true environmentalist.
arms race
Arms race – Competition between two countries to
build up the best and largest supply of weapons.
This term is often associated with the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Metaphorically, an arms race is a competition that implies a competitive and perhaps not entirely
rational series of escalations.
Ex. Analysts carefully watched stock prices as the two Internet giants competed in an arms race, expanding rapidly by buying up smaller
companies with little due diligence.
aside from
Aside from the obvious financial benefits of
investing in a socially responsible fund, you can rest assured that your money is used to
maximize social good.
As (Adjective) it is, ….
This pattern is used to contrast the part after the comma with the part before. For instance, Charming as
she is, I just don’t want to be friends with her anymore.
Ex 2. As pleased as we are to see more minorities on the board than ever be-
fore, discrimination in hiring and promotion is still a serious problem.
as well as
But as well as can also beused to mention one thing as a way to contrast with or emphasize another.
Ex. I had ramen for lunch, as
well as a hot dog.
at best
At the most, interpreted in the most favorable way.
Ex. The seminar drew 20
people at best means that 20 or fewer people attended.
Ex. My college algebra teacher can barely
factor a polynomial! He is qualified to teach elementary school math, at best.
at facult
Guilty
Ex. The insurance company is investigating who is at fault for the collision.
at loggerheads
In conflict, at a standstill
The strike is not likely to end soon—the transit authority and the union representatives have been at loggerheads for weeks.
abase (a-/ an-, not, without) opposite to
Degrade or humble; to lower in rank, status, or esteem Ex. After messing up at work, the man faced a thorough abasement from his boss; when he realized he had forgotten his own wedding anniversary, he further abased himself in front of his wife.
abeyance (N.)
Temporary suspension, inactivity Ex. The baseball player's contract negotiations are in abeyance while doctors try to determine whether his injuries will heal in time for the season.
abreast (Adjective)
side-by-side (with preposition of); keeping up
with, staying aware of, or
remaining equal in
progress with.
Ex. As the professor walked
abreast down the street with her mentor, she was amazed that the old man, long since
retired, still kept abreast of all the latest developments in
neurobiology.
abscission (without, away from; section) (n.)
Cutting off; sudden termination; the separation
of leaves, petals, or other parts from a plant or animal
Ex 1. The abscission of leaves from the trees is normal in fall.
Ex. 2 An inflamed appendix calls for an immediate
surgical abscission.
abscond (v.) (abs- away, cond to stow: to hold or receive; stow away)
Syn. escape, flee, get away, bolt
Depart suddenly and secretively Ex. The robber absconded with stolen goods. Ex. The couple who ate at the table next to me at the restaurant absconded before the bill came.
abyss
A deep and vast space or cavity; anything profound or
infinite
Ex. Walking a tightrope over an active volcano, the acrobat was terrified of falling into the abyss.
Ex. Now recovering, the patient remembered her
experience with clinical depression as an abyss of hopelessness.
accede (ad- to + cēdere to go, yield)
Agree, give consent; assume power (usually as “accede to”)
While the Englishman was a strong believer in democracy, he had to accede that watching Prince Charles someday accede to the throne would indeed be exciting.
accretion (ad-, to + crescere, to grow: see crescent)
Gradual increase; an added part or addition
Ex. Malik enjoyed tracking the slow accretion of money in his retirement account.
Ex. Some charitable funds keep the principal in their
accounts untouched and use only the accretion for
philanthropic purposes.
acerbic
Sour; harsh or severe
Ex. Lemons are acerbic.
Ex. Her harsh comments were so acerbic, it felt like she was putting lemon juice on a wound.
acidulous
Slightly acid or sour; sharp or caustic
Ex. Grapefruit juice is acidulous.
Ex. I’m skipping Thanksgiving this year just to avoid my mother’s acidulous comments about what she thinks I ought to be doing with my life.
acumen
Keen, quick, accurate
insight or judgment
His political acumen allowed him to bargain behind the scenes and get bills passed despite being in the minority party.
adulterate
Make impure by adding inappropriate or inferior
ingredients
Ex. Some bars adulterate
top-shelf liquor by pouring cheaper brands into the more expensive brands’ bottles.
adumbrate
Give a rough outline of; foreshadow; reveal only partially; obscure Ex. When I took on the lead role in the movie, I agreed not to give away the plot, but I suppose I could give a brief adumbration of the premise.
albeit
Although, even
though
Ex. The village leader was illiterate albeit highly intelligent.
Ex. The trip was exciting albeit brief.
amalgamate
blend, merge, or unite
Ex. The Amalgamated Transit Union is so called because it contains many local unions of bus operators,
subway operators, baggage handlers, etc.
Ex. When turning her life story into a memoir, she
amalgamated two important relatives into a single character, even amalgamating their names (Mary and Rose) into the character “Aunt Mary Rose.”
aloof
distant physically or emotionally; reserved; indifferent
Ex. Perceiving her parents as cold and aloof, the child was naturally drawn to her warm, genial aunt.
ameliorate
improve; make better or more bearable
Ex. If you spill water on your computer keyboard, you can ameliorate the damage by leaving the keyboard upside down to dry; it may still be ruined, but that’s still the best chance you’ve got of saving it.
amortize
Gradually pay off a debt, or gradually write off an asset
Ex. A mortgage is a common form of amortized debt–spreading the payments out over as long as 30 years is not uncommon.
anachronism (ana- without, chro-chronicle/time)
Something that is not in its correct historical time; a mistake in chronology, such as by assigning a
person or event to the wrong time period
Ex. The Queen of England is a bit of an anachronism with her old-fashioned pillbox
hats.
Ex. Did you catch the
anachronisms in the latest action blockbuster set in ancient Rome? One of the characters was wearing a wrist watch with his toga!
analgesia (an-without)
Pain relief; inability to feel pain
Ex. While natural-birth
advocates decline analgesia in childbirth, many women are very eager to take advantage of modern anesthesia.
Ex. A disease of the spinal cord can cause
analgesia, which can be
dangerous because the
patient doesn’t know when he has injured himself.
anull
Make void or null, cancel, abolish (usually of laws or
other established
rules)
Ex. Can we appreciate the art of a murderer? For many, the value of these paintings is annulled by the artist’s crimes.
Ex. They had the marriage annulled after one week.
anodyne
Medicine that relieves pain (noun); soothing,
relieving pain (adj)
Ex. While aspirin is a nice analgesic, the construction worker argued that, for sore
and tired muscles, nothing beat the anodyne effects of a
six-pack of beer.
antedate (ante: before)
Be older than, precede in time; assign to an
earlier date
Ex. Dinosaurs antedate the first human beings by about 65 million years.
Ex. Jamal didn’t get around to writing the “Best Vocabulary Words of 2010” blog post until
January 3rd, but he
antedated the post for December 31st so at least the infrequent readers wouldn’t notice.
antithetical
Directly opposed, opposite; involving
antithesis (the rhetorical act of placing two phrases opposite one another for contrast, as in love me or hate me)
Ex. Partying all night, every night, is antithetical to one’s academic performance.
apostate
Person who deserts a party, cause, religion, etc.
Ex. Many people considered “freedom
fighters” by some are considered apostates by others.
Ex. Some women’s
rights leaders in very
conservative nations receive death threats from religious leaders who consider them
apostate.
apostle
evangelist, herald, missionary, preacher
Pioneer of a reform movement (originally, an
early follower of Jesus)
Ex. In the 1980s, when low-fat
diets were all the rage, Dr.
Rubens became an apostle of the Mediterranean diet,
which was high in healthy
fats, and traveled the world proselytizing to groups of physicians and nutritionists.
apposite
Highly appropriate, suitable, or relevant
Ex. He searched his brain for an apposite word to describe wealthy Americans’ addiction to consumer goods, until he discovered the neologism “affluenza.”
proselytize
convert, win over, spread the gospel to, evangelize to
If you proselytize, you try to persuade someone to share your beliefs, especially religious or political beliefs.
Ex. Christians were arrested for trying to convert people, to proselytize them.
affluenza ˌ/æflʊˈɛnzə/
the guilt or lack of motivation experienced by people who have made or inherited large amounts of money
apprise /əpraɪz/
make aware, tell, warn, advise
inform, give notice to
Ex. I can’t believe you failed to apprise me that my child was biting the other children in his preschool class. If I had known, I could’ve addressed this issue before all the other
parents threatened to sue.
approbation /æprəbeɪʃən/
approval, support, favour, praise
praise or approval, especially formal approval Ex. In her speech for class president, she won the approbation of her peers by promising not only to save the prom, but to raise enough money to make it free for everyone.
appropriate Verb
Set aside or authorize (such as money) for a
particular purpose; take for one’s own use
Ex. The school board
appropriated money for
new textbooks.
Ex. In putting together the perfect outfit for Career Day at her high school, Mackenzie appropriated her mother’s stethoscope and her little brother’s stuffed pig, making it clear to everyone that she wanted to be a
veterinarian.
stethoscope (steθəskoʊp
A stethoscope is an instrument that a doctor uses to listen to your heart and breathing. It consists of a small disc that is placed on your body, connected to a hollow tube with two pieces that the doctor puts in his or her ears.
arbiter
judge, umpire, person empowered to decided matters at hand
Ex. Professional mediators arbitrate disputes.
Ex. The principal said, “As the final arbiter of what is and is not appropriate in the classroom, I demand that you take down that poster of the rapper (A rapper is a person who performs rap music.) Ice-T and his scantily-clad wife Coco.”
clad
dressed, clothed, invested, arrayed
Something that is slack is loose and not firmly stretched or tightly in position.
If you are clad in particular clothes, you are wearing them.
Ex. Johnson was clad casually in slacks and a light blue golf shirt.
scanty
meager, sparse, poor, thin
So far, what scanty evidence we have points to two suspects.
If someone is wearing scanty clothing, he or she is wearing clothes which are sexually revealing.
…a model in scanty clothing.
ardent/ardor
Very passionate, devoted, or enthusiastic
Ex. He was an ardent heavy metal lover and became offended anytime someone
referred to Poison as a
“hair band.”
Ex. They were so in love that not even meeting each other’s awful
relatives could dampen (To dampen something such as someone’s enthusiasm or excitement means to make it less lively or intense.)
their ardor.
arrogate
If someone arrogates to themselves something such as a responsibility or privilege, they claim or take it even though they have no right to do so.
seize, demand, assume, appropriate
claim presumptuously or without the right to do so
Ex. In order to build the oil pipeline, the government
arrogated the land of many
small farmers who are still
fighting for compensation.
Ex. The bride’s mother
arrogated the right to
decide on the venue (The venue for an event or activity is the place where it will happen.), the food, and even the wedding
dress!
presumptuous
If you describe someone or their behaviour as presumptuous, you disapprove of them because they are doing something that they have no right or authority to do.
ascribe
attribute, credit, refer, charge
Assign or credit to a certain cause or source
Ex. He ascribed his good
grades to diligent studying.
If you ascribe an event or condition to a particular cause, you say or consider that it was caused by that thing.
Ex. The young boy ascribed to his imaginary friend all the powers he wished he had himself—being able to fly, having dozens of friends, and never having to eat broccoli.
aseptic
The prefix “a-” almost always means that a word means the opposite of its base. The adjective aseptic, “a-” plus the root “septic,” describes anything that is not septic or is without sepsis. The origin of septic is the Greek word septikos meaning “characterized by putrefaction.” Putrefaction is the rot that happens to flesh after it dies, and when something is aseptic it is free of any rot, filth, bacteria or viruses that could cause disease or death.
Free from germs
If something is aseptic it is sterile, sanitized, or otherwise clean of infectious organisms.
Ex. It is very important to perform surgery in an aseptic environment, lest a patient contract sepsis (a systemic infection) and die. Ex. Hospitals make every effort to keep operating rooms aseptic so that patients don’t contract infections after surgery.
asperity
Rigor, severity; harshness or sharpness of tone; roughness of surface Ex. Used to a more lax school environment, the freshman at military school was shocked by the asperity of punishments meted out for even the most minor offenses, as well as the asperity with which his drill sergeant bossed him around. Ex. The asperity of her cheap, scratchy sweater made her wish she could afford cashmere.
aspersions
Damaging remarks, defamation, slander Ex. He could no longer work with his duplicitous business partner, who acted friendly to his face but then spewed aspersions about him behind his back.
duplicitous; duplicity
duplicity, which means “doubleness.” Someone who is duplicitous is almost like two people, saying one thing but then doing something very different, even contradictory. Someone who is duplicitous can also be called “two-faced,” a vivid way to remember that this person shouldn’t be trusted or taken at face value.
Janus-faced, ambidextrous, deceitful, double-dealing, double-faced, double-tongued, two-faced
dishonest, dishonorable
You describe the North Koreans as “duplicitous and wicked, certainly…” after describing all the tyrants who disarmed only to be overthrown, and the fear of the same fate by the North Koreans as paranoia.
assail
attack violently, assault One strategy for winning in boxing is to simply assail your opponent with so many blows that he becomes disoriented. / The debate team assailed the opposition with more evidence than they could respond to.
