Common I Flashcards
venality
venality
noun: the condition of being susceptible to bribes or corruption
Even some of the most sacred sporting events are not immune to venality, as many of the officials have received substantial bribes to make biased calls.
When faced with $1000, Mark was not immune to venality and quickly took the money.
undermine
undermine
verb: to weaken (usually paired with an abstract term)
The student undermined the teacher’s authority by questioning the teacher’s judgment on numerous occasions.
Harry constantly undermined Snapes authority by talking back in class.
mercurial
mercurial
adjective: (of a person) prone to unexpected and unpredictable changes in mood
The fact that Ella’s moods were as mercurial as the weather was problematic for her relationships—it didn’t help that she lived in Chicago.
When trying to decide which Sephora birthday gift to get, Jess was mercurial and wavered back and forth.
parsimonious
parsimonious
adjective: extremely frugal; miserly
Katie is so parsimonious that she only buys a pair of socks if all of her other socks have holes in them.
Scrooge was known to be parsimonious and refused to give his lower-class workers vacation time at Christmas.
amorphous
amorphous
adjective: shapeless
His study plan for the GRE was at best amorphous; he would do questions from random pages in any one of seven test prep books.
Billy Elish looked amorphous in her baggy clothes, perhaps leading the way for others to care less about appearances and shape too.
prevaricate
prevaricate
verb: to speak in an evasive way
The cynic quipped, “There is not much variance in politicians; they all seem to prevaricate”.
Malfoy prevaricated around getting detention by lying to Snape about whose fault the incident was.
innocuous
innocuous
adjective: harmless and doesn’t produce any ill effects
Everyone found Nancy’s banter innocuous—except for Mike, who felt like she was intentionally picking on him.
While El looked innocuous to most, her hidden telepathy was anything but.
disintrested
disinterested
adjective: unbiased; neutral
The potential juror knew the defendant, and therefore could not serve on the jury, which must consist only of disinterested members.
Switzarland was disintrested during the way and was seem as a safe haven for people to flee to.
galvanize
galvanize
verb: to excite or inspire (someone) to action
At mile 23 of his first marathon, Kyle had all but given up, until he noticed his friends and family holding a banner that read, “Go Kyle”; galvanized, he broke into a gallop, finishing the last three miles in less than 20 minutes.
At hearing Griffindor was close to winning the house cup, Harry slipped the potion into Ron’s drink, hoping to galvanize him into winning the gave.
harangue
harangue
noun: a long pompous speech; a tirade
Dinner at Billy’s was more a punishment than a reward, since anyone who sat at the dinner table would have to listen to Billy’s father’s interminable harangues against the government.
verb: to deliver a long pompous speech or tirade
Tired of his parents haranguing him about his laziness and lack of initiative, Tyler finally moved out of home at the age of thirty-five.
wanting
wanting
adjective: lacking
She did not think her vocabulary was wanting, yet there were so many words that inevitably she found a few she didn’t know.
The new dress robes for Ron were wanting and he desired a new pair.
egregious
egregious
adjective: standing out in a negative way; shockingly bad
The dictator’s abuse of human rights was so egregious that many world leaders demanded that he be tried in an international court for genocide.
The men at the paper treated Nacy egregiously whenever she came up with good ideas.
ambiguous
ambiguous
adjective: open to more than one interpretation
The coach told his team, “Move towards that side of the field”; because he did not point, his directions were ambiguous, and the team had no idea to which side he was referring.
The van gogh painting was ambiguous as no one knew what it was supose to be.
extant
extant
adjective: still in existence (usually refers to documents).
Despite many bookstores closing, experts predict that some form of book dealing will still be extant generations from now.
At the rate things are going Old town road will be extant years from now.
intimate
intimate
verb: to suggest something subtly
At first Manfred’s teachers intimated to his parents that he was not suited to skip a grade; when his parents protested, teachers explicitly told them that, notwithstanding the boy’s precocity, he was simply too immature to jump to the 6th grade.
This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study
He can raid area 51 the boys intimated.
venerate
venerate
verb: to respect deeply
The professor, despite his sleep-inducing lectures, was venerated amongst his colleagues, publishing more papers yearly than all of his peers combined.
The people venerated Aelin after she saved them all from the dam bursing open.
calumny
calumny
noun: making of a false statement meant to injure a person’s reputation
With the presidential primaries well under way, the air is thick with calumny, and the mud already waist-high.
maintain
maintain
verb: to assert
The scientist maintained that the extinction of dinosaurs was most likely brought about by a drastic change in climate.
This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study
Hermionie Grander maintain her beilf in sciene to her last breath.
demur
demur
verb: to object or show reluctance
Wallace disliked the cold, so he demurred when his friends suggested they go skiing in the Alps.
He demured the fact that he had to walk 10 miles in the cold that day.
parochial
parochial
adjective: narrowly restricted in scope or outlook
Jasmine was sad to admit it, but her fledgling relationship with Jacob did not work out because his culinary tastes were simply too parochial; “After all,” she quipped on her blog, “he considered Chef Boyardee ethnic food.”
This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study
The selection of fruits in the cafeteria was parochial
auspicious
auspicious
adjective: favorable, the opposite of sinister
Despite an auspicious beginning, Mike’s road trip became a series of mishaps, and he was soon stranded and penniless, leaning against his wrecked automobile.
Thank god you found me, that was really auspicious timing, 5 more minutes and we’d have lost!
chastise
chastise
verb: to reprimand harshly
Though chastised for eating the snacks for the party, Lawrence shrugged off his mother’s harsh words, and continued to plow through jars of cookies and boxes of donuts.
qualify
qualify
verb: to make less severe; to limit (a statement)
Chris qualified his love for San Francisco, adding he didn’t like the weather there as much as he liked the weather in Los Angeles.
This word has other definitions, but this is the most important one to study
vindicate
vindicate
verb: to clear of accusation, blame, suspicion, or doubt with supporting arguments or proof
Even seven Tour de France wins cannot vindicate Lance Armstrong in the eyes of the public–that the athlete used performance enhancing drugs invalidates all those wins.
castigate
castigate
verb: to reprimand harshly
Drill sergeants are known to castigate new recruits so mercilessly that the latter often break down during their first week in training.
impertinent
impertinent
adjective: being disrespectful; improperly forward or bold
Dexter, distraught over losing his pet dachshund, Madeline, found the police officer’s questions impertinent—after all, he thought, did she have to pry into such details as to what Madeline’s favorite snack was?
Your advances are impertinent, how dare you think I’m avaliable!
frugal
frugal
adjective: not spending much money (but spending wisely)
Monte was no miser, but was simply frugal, wisely spending the little that he earned.
Like me, Jake is also frugal with his money.
amenable
amenable
adjective: easily persuaded
Even though she did not like the outdoors, Shirley was generally amenable and so her brother was able to persuade her to go camping.
Dom seemed amenable to whatever I told her.
amalgam
amalgam
noun: a mixture of multiple things
The band’s music was an amalgam of hip-hop, flamenco and jazz, blending the three styles with surprising results.
anomolous
anomalous
adjective: not normal
According to those who do not believe in climate change, the extreme weather over the last five years is simply anomalous—daily temperatures should return to their old averages, they believe.
Wearing shorts in -40 weather was an anomolous act.
betray
betray
verb: to reveal or make known something, usually unintentionally
With the gold medal at stake, the gymnast awaited his turn, his quivering lip betraying his intense emotions.
ingenuous
ingenuous
adjective: to be naïve and innocent
Two-years in Manhattan had changed Jenna from an ingenuous girl from the suburbs to a jaded urbanite, unlikely to fall for any ruse, regardless of how elaborate.
artful
artful
adjective: exhibiting artistic skill
Picasso is generally considered the most artful member of the Cubist movement.
adjective: clever in a cunning way
Bernie Madoff’s artful Ponzi scheme stole billions of dollars from investors and is considered the largest financial fraud in U.S. history.
ambivalent
ambivalent
adjective: mixed or conflicting emotions about something
Sam was ambivalent about studying for the exam because doing so ate up a lot of his time, yet he was able to improve his analytical skills.
equivocal
equivocal
adjective: confusing or ambiguous
The findings of the study were equivocal—the two researchers had different opinions on what the results signified.
laconic
laconic
adjective: (describes a person, speech, or style of writing) using very few words
While Martha always swooned over the hunky, laconic types in romantic comedies, her boyfriends inevitably were very talkative—and not very hunky.
Nevillie was a laconic person and didn’t speak often
enervate
enervate
verb: to sap energy from
John preferred to avoid equatorial countries; the intense sun would always leave him enervated after he’d spent the day sightseeing.
That run everated me and now i need a nap.
belie
belie
verb: to give a false representation to; misrepresent
The smile on her face belies the pain she must feel after the death of her husband.
My MIL’s face belies the wicked way wshe twists her words.
commensurate
commensurate
adjective: to be in proportion or corresponding in degree or amount
The convicted felon’s life sentence was commensurate with the heinousness of his crime.
What people won was commensurate to how much work they did on the project.
involved
involved
adjective: complicated, and difficult to comprehend
The physics lecture became so involved that the undergraduate’s eyes glazed over.
upbraid
upbraid
verb: to reproach; to scold
Bob took a risk walking into the “Students Barbershop”—in the end he had to upbraid the apparently drunk barber for giving him an uneven bowl cut.
censure
censure
verb: to express strong disapproval
After being caught in bed with a mistress, the mayor was quickly censured by the city council.
gregarious
gregarious
adjective: to be likely to socialize with others
Often we think that great leaders are those who are gregarious, always in the middle of a large group of people; yet, as Mahatma Gandhi and many others have shown us, leaders can also be introverted.
acrimony
acrimony
noun: bitterness and ill will
The acrimony between the president and vice-president sent a clear signal to voters: the health of the current administration was imperiled.
restive
restive
adjective: restless
The crowd grew restive as the comedian’s opening jokes fell flat.
prodigal
prodigal
adjective: rashly or wastefully extravagant
Successful professional athletes who do not fall prey to prodigality seem to be the exception—most live decadent lives.
profligate
profligate
adjective: spending resources recklessly or wastefully
The composer Wagner, while living on a limited salary, was so profligate as to line all the walls of his apartment with pure silk.
noun: someone who spends resources recklessly or wastefully
Most lottery winners go from being conservative, frugal types to outright profligates who blow millions on fast cars, lavish homes, and giant yachts.
veracious
veracious
adjective: truthful
While we elect our leaders in the hope that every word they speak will be veracious, history has shown that such a hope is naive.
iconoclast
iconoclast
noun: somebody who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions
Lady Gaga, in challenging what it means to be clothed, is an iconoclast for wearing a “meat dress” to a prominent awards show.
aberration
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