CO50 Flashcards
AMBIVALENT
Having mixed or opposing feelings at the same time
In The Avengers, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, and Thor are initially AMBIVALENT about joining S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Avenger Initiative. While they know it is necessary to recover the Tesseract from Loki, they fear that their contrasting personalities will be detrimental to the group’s success. Thor’s AMBIVALENCE about working with the Avengers comes from the fact that he is CONFLICTED (uncertain, torn) about fighting his brother Loki.
In the movie The Notebook, Allie has to choose between Noah and Lon. She is emotionally torn by her AMBIVALENT feelings as she tells Noah, “There is no easy way; no matter what I do, somebody gets hurt.” She later reiterates her AMBIVALENT feelings when she tells Lon, “When I’m with Noah, I feel like one person, and when I’m with you, I feel like someone totally different.”
KNOW YOUR ROOTS
LATIN PREFIX:
AMBI | both
AMBIDEXTROUS
able to use both hands with equal ease, skillful, versatile
AMBIGUOUS (Word 21)
having two or more possible meanings, doubtful, dubious, EQUIVOCAL (Word 210)
AMBIVALENT
being simultaneously of two minds
ANOMALY
Deviation from the norm or what is expected
ANOMALOUS
ATYPICAL, full of ANOMALIES
The Big Bang Theory is a television show that follows the trials and tribulations of an ATYPICAL group of friends in Pasadena, California. The group consists of Leonard, an experimental physicist; Sheldon, a theoretical physicist; Howard, an aerospace engineer; Raj, a particle astrophysicist; and Penny, a waitress at The Cheesecake Factory. Can you guess who the ANOMALY is? Penny’s presence in the group is ANOMALOUS for many reasons; besides being a girl, she is trendy and popular and a little NAÏVE (Word 44), whereas the men are geeky, RECLUSIVE (Word 113), and VERY ASTUTE (perceptive, shrewd). It’s humorous to see these DIVERSE (of various kinds) friends spend time together because of their continual disagreements.
SARCASTIC, SARDONIC, SNIDE
Mocking, derisive, taunting, and stinging
Winston Churchill was famous for his SARCASTIC and SARDONIC comments. Here are two well-known examples:
- Bessie Braddock*: Sir, you are a drunk.
- Churchill*: Madame, you are ugly. In the morning I shall be sober, and you will still be ugly.
- Nancy Astor*: Sir, if you were my husband, I would give you poison.
- Churchill*: If I were your husband, I would take it.
In the movie Avatar, Dr. Grace Augustine tells Jake, “Just relax and let your mind go blank. That shouldn’t be too hard for you.” This SNIDE remark reveals Grace’s initial contempt for Jake.
DEARTH, PAUCITY
A scarcity or shortage of something
Critics and moviegoers alike have observed that there is an overall DEARTH of respect for animated features in the Academy Awards. Despite the recent technological and artistic advances in animation, only three animated films have ever been nominated for the COVETED (Word 32) Best Picture title: Beauty and the Beast, Up, and Toy Story 3 . None of them won the award. Critics were shocked that the phenomenal Pixar film WALL-E was not nominated for Best Picture. Though the Academy honors animation through the Best Animated Feature award, industry members speculate that the Best Animated Feature category will perpetuate the PAUCITY of animated films nominated for the Best Picture award.
PRATTLE
To speak in a foolish manner; to babble incessantly
Michael Scott of The Office served as the regional manager of the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. He was most notable, however, for his INCOHERENT (Word 185) rambling and often inappropriate remarks. Here is an example of Michael Scott’s PRATTLING as he discusses his relationship with his employees:
“My philosophy is basically this. And this is something that I live by. And I always have. And I always will. Don’t ever, for any reason, do anything to anyone, for any reason, ever, no matter what. No matter … where. Or who, or who you are with, or where you are going, or … or where you’ve been … ever. For any reason, whatsoever. ”
WRY, DROLL
Dry; humorous with a clever twist and a touch of irony
George Bernard Shaw once sent Winston Churchill some tickets for the first night of one of his plays. Churchill then sent Shaw a WRY response, “Cannot come first night. Will come second night if you have one.”
Shaw’s response was equally WRY: “Here are two tickets for the second night. Bring a friend if you
have one.”
Even though he did not win, Top Chef contestant Hugh Acheson’s DROLL one-liners have helped him to become a guest judge on the new TV show Just Desserts. He says “I’ve got youth and PANACHE (Word 81) and one eyebrow on my side,” referring to his famous trademark unibrow.
Tip:
A WRY sense of humor is different from a JOCULAR sense of humor. A WRY joke appeals to your intellect and often produces a knowing smile. In contrast, a JOCULAR joke appeals to your funny bone and produces a belly laugh.
UNCONVENTIONAL, UNORTHODOX
Not ordinary or typical; characterized by avoiding customary conventions and behaviors
Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Nicki Minaj are known for their catchy hits and bold, UNCONVENTIONAL wardrobes. The concert film Katy Perry: Part of Me, displayed some of Katy’s colorful, UNORTHODOX costumes, including a dress covered in spinning peppermints, an ice cream cone hat, and a peacock dress.
Lady Gaga is also known for wearing UNCONVENTIONAL and even OUTLANDISH (bizarre, outrageous) stage outfits. Some of her most famous UNORTHODOX outfits include a coat made of Kermit the Frog dolls and a dress made entirely out of meat. Some of rapper Nicki Minaj’s recent UNCONVENTIONAL outfits include a gumball machine- inspired dress and a dress covered in pom-poms. Nicki frequently sports a towering beehive hairstyle, an HOMAGE (tribute) to Marge Simpson’s famous blue beehive.
METICULOUS, PAINSTAKING, FASTIDIOUS
Extremely careful; very EXACTING
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Florida is a METICULOUS recreation of Hogwarts castle and nearby Hogsmeade village. The park’s designers spared no expense to PAINSTAKINGLY recreate such iconic rooms as Dumbledore’s office and the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. ENTHRALLED (fascinated) visitors can sample butterbeer and even purchase a wand at Ollivander’s Wand Shop.
A FASTIDIOUS person takes METICULOUS to the next level by being overparticular and EXACTING. Many car owners are FASTIDIOUS about keeping their cars spotless.
AUDACIOUS
Fearlessly, often recklessly daring; very bold
What do American General George Washington and Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto have in common? Both launched AUDACIOUS surprise attacks on unsuspecting adversaries. On Christmas Day 1776, Washington ordered the Colonial Army to cross the Delaware and attack the British and Hessian forces at Trenton. Washington’s AUDACIOUS plan shocked the British and restored American morale.
On December 7, 1941, Yamamoto ordered the Japanese First Air Fleet to launch a surprise attack on the American Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor. Although Japan’s AUDACIOUS sneak attack temporarily HOBBLED (hampered) the U.S. fleet, it aroused the now-unified country to demand revenge.
INDIFFERENT, APATHETIC
Marked by a lack of interest or concern
In the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , the economics teacher Ben Stein delivers a SOPORIFIC (sleep-inducing) lecture on tariffs and the Great Depression. Stein’s bored and INDIFFERENT students ignore his monotone lecture. Hoping for some sign of interest, Stein tries asking questions, but his efforts are FUTILE (Word 46). Some students are so APATHETIC they fall asleep.
In The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan and his wife, Daisy, appear utterly INDIFFERENT to each other; indeed, until Tom’s ego is challenged by Jay Gatsby’s interest in his wife, Tom and Daisy seem APATHETIC about improving their damaged marriage.
DIFFIDENT, SELF-EFFACING
Hesitant due to a lack of self-confidence; unassertive; shy; retiring
Many actors and actors confess to being DIFFIDENT in their private lives, despite the fact that they make their livings performing in front of audiences, often in FLAMBOYANT (Word 81) ways. SELF-EFFACING is not what most people think of when they watch Lady Gaga, but apparently even Gaga wakes up feeling insecure and DIFFIDENT.
But she then tells herself, “You’re Lady Gaga; you get up and walk the walk today.”
As you study for the SAT, don’t hang back shyly. Don’t SUCCUMB (give in) to insecurity. Study your Direct Hits vocabulary and approach the test with APLOMB (Word 318).
PRAGMATIC
Practical; sensible; NOT idealistic or romantic
What do the 16th century French king Henry IV and the 20th century American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt have in common? Both leaders made PRAGMATIC decisions that helped resolve a crisis. Henry IV was the newly-crowned Protestant king in a country dominated by Catholics. For the sake of his war-weary country, Henry IV PRAGMATICALLY chose to become a Catholic, saying, “Paris is worth a Mass.”
In 1933, FDR was a newly-elected president in a country facing the worst economic crisis in its history. For the sake of his country, Roosevelt PRAGMATICALLY chose to replace traditional laissez-faire economic policies with “bold, persistent experimentation.” FDR PRAGMATICALLY explained, “It is common sense to take a method and try it; if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”
EVOCATION
An imaginative re-creation of something; a calling forth
What do the treasures of Pharaoh Tutankhamen, Taylor Swift’s music video “Love Story,” and the movie Titanic all have in common? They are all powerful EVOCATIONS. The treasures of Pharaoh Tutankhamen EVOKE the power and splendor of Ancient Egypt. Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” EVOKES a time when beautiful princesses lived in romantic castles and fell in love with handsome princes. And the movie Titanic is a remarkable EVOCATION of what it was like to be a passenger on the great but doomed ship.
KNOW YOUR ROOTS
LATIN ROOT:
VOC, VOK | call
VOCAL related to the voice, speaking
VOCATION your calling, your profession, often used for a religious career
AVOCATION a second calling, a hobby
EVOKE to call forth, especially from the past
REVOKE to call back, to rescind, to repeal
INVOKE to call upon. Epic poems often begin with an Invocation of the Muse, or goddess of artistic inspiration.
PROVOKE to call forth (see Word 82)
CONVOCATION a calling together, a gathering
VOCIFEROUS making an outcry, clamorous
EQUIVOCATE to use AMBIGUOUS (Word 21) expressions, to mislead
IRREVOCABLE incapable of being recalled or altered
PRESUMPTUOUS
Taking liberties; brashly overstepping one’s place; impertinently bold, displaying EFFRONTERY
One of the most PRESUMPTUOUS actions in recent memory occurred during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. When Taylor Swift came onstage to accept her award for her “You Belong With Me” video, Kanye West appeared and grabbed the microphone out of her hand. He PRESUMPTUOUSLY declared, “Taylor, I’m really happy for you. Imma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!” His AUDACIOUS (Word 9) EFFRONTERY (rude, arrogant behavior) shocked Taylor, Beyoncé, and all who watched the VMAs, and he was widely criticized for it. Eventually, Kanye recognized how PRESUMPTUOUS his actions were and made a formal apology on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
RECALCITRANT
Stubbornly resistant and defiant; OBSTINATE; OBDURATE; REFRACTORY (Word 421); disobedient
What do Hester Prynne ( The Scarlet Letter) and the actor Charlie Sheen have in common? Both are RECALCITRANT. In The Scarlet Letter, the Reverend Wilson demanded that Hester reveal the identity of the father of her child. But Hester was RECALCITRANT. Despite “the heavy weight of a thousand eyes, all fastened upon her,” Hester stubbornly refused to name the father, defiantly declaring, “Never… I will not speak!”
When the producers of the show Two and a Half Men told Charlie Sheen that his drug abuse was a serious problem that could kill him, he RECALCITRANTLY responded, “I’m different. I have a different constitution, I have a different brain, I have a different heart. I got tiger blood, man. Dying’s for fools, dying’s for amateurs.” A year after the FIASCO (Word 146), Sheen says he is no longer taking drugs, but he still RECALCITRANTLY refuses to stop drinking alcohol.
BOON
vs.
BANE
BOON
A timely benefit; blessing
BANE
A source of harm and ruin
Fifty Cent was shot nine times and lived! Was the shooting a BANE or a BOON for his career? At first it was a BANE because he had to spend weeks in a hospital in excruciating pain. But the shooting turned out to be a BOON for his career because it BOLSTERED (reinforced) Fiddy’s “street cred” and attracted lots of publicity.
In Shakespeare’s Othello, the main character, Othello, fires his lieutenant, Cassio, for inappropriate behavior. Desdemona, Othello’s wife, comes to plead for Cassio’s reinstatement. She argues that she is not asking for a huge favor: “Why, this is not a BOON.” She continues that he should instead just think of this request as something normal. Unfortunately for Cassio, the villain Iago is SURREPTITIOUSLY (Word 17) working to make Othello think that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair, even though they are not. Othello, therefore, comes to believe that Cassio is the BANE of his existence.
CLANDESTINE, SURREPTITIOUS
Secret; covert; not open; NOT ABOVEBOARD
What do the Men in Black ( Men in Black), Dumbledore’s Army ( Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), and S.H.I.E.L.D. ( The Avengers) all have in common? They are all CLANDESTINE groups that conduct SURREPTITIOUS activities. The Men in Black SURREPTITIOUSLY regulate alien life forms on Earth. Dumbledore’s Army teaches Hogwarts students how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a covert intelligence agency that MARSHALS (arrays for battle) the Avengers team to protect the world from superhuman threats.
AFFABLE, AMIABLE, GENIAL, GREGARIOUS
Agreeable; marked by a pleasing personality; warm and friendly
President Reagan was renowned for his AFFABLE grace and GENIAL good humor. On March 6, 1981, a deranged gunman shot the president as he was leaving a Washington hotel. The injured but always AMIABLE president looked up at his doctors and nurses and said, “I hope you’re all Republicans.” The first words the President uttered upon regaining consciousness were to a nurse who happened to be holding his hand. “Does Nancy know about us?” the president joked.
KNOW YOUR ROOTS
The English word AMIABLE contains the Latin root ami meaning friend. You may have
heard this root in the French word ami and the Spanish word amigo.
LATIN PREFIX:
AMI | friend
AMITY friendship, harmony
AMICABLE peaceable, harmonious
AUSTERE
Having no adornment or ornamentation; bare; not ORNATE (Word 397)
AUSTERITY
Great self-denial, economy, discipline; lack of adornment Ancient Greek architects often used Doric columns to construct temples. For example, the Parthenon’s AUSTERE columns conveyed strength and simplicity because they lacked ornamentation.
Although modern Greeks admire the AUSTERE columns built by their ancestors, they vigorously oppose new AUSTERITY measures that raise taxes and cut social welfare programs. These AUSTERITY measures provoked massive protests.
ALTRUISM
Unselfish concern for the welfare of others
The term was originally COINED (Word 296) in the 19th century by the sociologist and philosopher of science Auguste Comte. Comte referred to ALTRUISM as being the moral obligation of individuals to serve other people and to place others’ interests above their own. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mother Teresa are all people who exemplify ALTRUISM through their belief in the basic rights of all people regardless of race, creed, or social standing, and through their service and sacrifices for others. Much ALTRUISTIC behavior was seen in the selfless actions of the first responders when the World Trade Center towers were attacked on 9/11.
