Chapter 10 Flashcards
sanction
v.
- To give official authorization or approval to: voting rights that are sanctioned by law.
- To encourage or tolerate by indicating approval: His colleagues sanctioned his new research.
- To penalize, as for violating a moral principle or international law
turpitude
n.
- Depravity; baseness.
- A base act.
cartography
n.
The art or technique of making maps or charts.
despondent
adj.
Feeling or expressing despondency; dejected; depressed.
inadvertent
adj.
- Marked by or resulting from carelessness; negligent: an inadvertent error; an inadvertent omission.
- Not deliberate or considered; unintentional: an inadvertent remark; inadvertent humor.
- Not intending to be so; unwitting
luscious
adj.
- Sweet and pleasant to taste or smell: a luscious melon.
- Richly appealing to the senses or the mind: a luscious, vivid description.
- Having strong sensual or sexual appeal; attractive.
oust
v.
To eject from a position or place; force out
tyro
n.
A beginner in learning something.
castigate
v.
To punish or rebuke severely.
expedient
adj.
- Suitable or efficient for accomplishing a purpose; practical: thought e-mail was the most expedient way to communicate with distant relatives.
- Convenient but based on a concern for self-interest rather than principle: changed his position when it was politically expedient.
n.
- Something that is a means to an end, especially when based on self-interest: compromised only as an expedient to boost his career.
- Something contrived or used to meet an urgent need: exhausted every expedient before filing a lawsuit.
lynch
v. To punish (a person) without legal process or authority, especially by hanging, for a perceived offense or as an act of bigotry; assassinate; illegal hanging
overt
adj.
1. Open and observable; not hidden, concealed, or secret: overt hostility; overt intelligence gathering.
ubiquitous
adj.
Being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time; omnipresent.
amorphous
adj.
- Lacking physical form or shape.
- Lacking organization; formless
- Lacking a crystalline structure: Glass is an amorphous material.
catharsis
n.
- Purgation, especially for the digestive system.
- A purifying or figurative cleansing of the emotions, especially pity and fear, described by Aristotle as an effect of tragic drama on its audience.
- A release of emotional tension, as after an overwhelming experience, that restores or refreshes the spirit.
expedite
v.
To speed up the progress of or execute quickly: expedite the review of a legal case; expedite a loan application.
preeminent
adj.
Superior to or notable above all others; outstanding.
incarceration
v.
- To put in a prison or jail.
- To shut in; confine.
sardonic
adj.
1. Scornfully or cynically mocking: a sardonic sense of humor.
unalloyed
adj.
- Not in mixture with other metals; pure.
- Complete; unqualified: unalloyed blessings; unalloyed relief.
analgesic
n.
A medication that reduces or eliminates pain.
caucus
n.
a. A meeting of the local members of a political party especially to select delegates to a convention or register preferences for candidates running for office.
b. A closed meeting of party members within a legislative body to decide on questions of policy or leadership.
c. A group within a legislative or decision-making body seeking to represent a specific interest or influence a particular area of policy: a minority caucus.
exposition
n.
1. A setting forth of meaning or intent; clear explanation.
2.
a. A statement or rhetorical discourse intended to give information about or an explanation of difficult material.
b. The art or technique of composing such discourses.
maelstrom
n.
- A violent or turbulent situation: caught in the maelstrom of war.
- A whirlpool of extraordinary size or violence.
prerogative
n.
- An exclusive right or privilege held by a person or group, especially a hereditary or official right.
- The exclusive right and power to command, decide, rule, or judge
