D_23/9/20 --> kaplan pdf --> TC Flashcards
dilate
VERB
When things such as blood vessels or the pupils of your eyes dilate or when something dilates them, they become wider or bigger.
At night, the pupils dilate to allow in more light. [VERB]
Exercise dilates blood vessels on the surface of the brain. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: enlarge, extend, stretch, expand
metastasize
INTRANSITIVE VERB
If cancer cells metastasize, they spread to another part of the body.
[medicine]
A checkup revealed a small tumor on the left lower lobe of his lung, but it had not yet metastasized.
…when diagnosis is delayed until cancer has metastasized to other parts of the body.
detour
- COUNTABLE NOUN
If you make a detour on a journey, you go by a route which is not the shortest way, because you want to avoid something such as a traffic jam, or because there is something you want to do on the way.
He did not take the direct route home, but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.
Synonyms: diversion [British], bypass, deviation, circuitous route More Synonyms of detour - COUNTABLE NOUN
A detour is a special route for traffic to follow when the normal route is blocked, for example because it is being repaired.
[US]
REGIONAL NOTE:
in BRIT, use diversion - VERB
If you detour, you make a detour.
On the way back, Jarvis detoured to check the time of services at the church.
bland
- ADJECTIVE
If you describe someone or something as bland, you mean that they are rather dull and unexciting.
Serle has a blander personality than Howard.
It sounds like an advert: easy on the ear but bland and forgettable.
…a bland, 12-storey office block.
Synonyms: dull, boring, weak, plain More Synonyms of bland
blandness UNCOUNTABLE NOUN
…the blandness of television. - ADJECTIVE
Food that is bland has very little flavour.
It tasted bland and insipid, like warmed cardboard.
Synonyms: tasteless, weak, watered-down, insipid
bland
- ADJECTIVE
If you describe someone or something as bland, you mean that they are rather dull and unexciting.
Serle has a blander personality than Howard.
It sounds like an advert: easy on the ear but bland and forgettable.
…a bland, 12-storey office block.
Synonyms: dull, boring, weak, plain More Synonyms of bland
blandness UNCOUNTABLE NOUN
…the blandness of television. - ADJECTIVE
Food that is bland has very little flavour.
It tasted bland and insipid, like warmed cardboard.
Synonyms: tasteless, weak, watered-down, insipid
emotive
ADJECTIVE [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
An emotive situation or issue is likely to make people feel strong emotions.
Embryo research is an emotive issue.
Synonyms: sensitive, controversial, delicate, contentious
piquant
- ADJECTIVE
Food that is piquant has a pleasantly spicy taste.
[written]
…a crisp mixed salad with an unusually piquant dressing.
Synonyms: spicy, biting, sharp, stinging - ADJECTIVE
Something that is piquant is interesting and exciting.
[written]
There may well have been a piquant novelty about her books when they came out.
Synonyms: interesting, spirited, stimulating, lively
queasy
- ADJECTIVE
If you feel queasy or if you have a queasy stomach, you feel rather ill, as if you are going to be sick.
[informal]
He was very prone to seasickness and already felt queasy.
Synonyms: sick, ill, nauseous, squeamish - GRADED ADJECTIVE [usually verb-link ADJECTIVE]
If you feel queasy about something, you are a little worried about it.
[informal]
Some people feel queasy about how their names and addresses have been obtained.
Synonyms: uneasy, concerned, worried, troubled
competence
UNCOUNTABLE NOUN
Competence is the ability to do something well or effectively.
His competence as an economist had been reinforced by his successful fight against inflation. [+ as]
We’ve always regarded him as a man of integrity and high professional competence.
Synonyms: ability, skill, talent, capacity
mar
VERB
To mar something means to spoil or damage it.
A number of problems marred the smooth running of this event. [VERB noun]
That election was marred by massive cheating. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: harm, damage, hurt, spoil
politic
adjective [ + to infinitive ] formal
wise and showing the ability to make the right decisions:
It would not be politic for you to be seen there.
cloying
adjective
too sweet and therefore unpleasant:
This is a wonderful wine - honeyed and rich without being remotely cloying.
reproach
verb [ T ]
to criticize someone, especially for not being successful or not doing what is expected:
His mother reproached him for not eating all his dinner.
You have nothing to reproach yourself for/with.
squeamish
ADJECTIVE [usually verb-link ADJECTIVE]
If you are squeamish, you are easily upset by unpleasant sights or situations.
I’m terribly squeamish. I can’t bear gory films.
I am not squeamish about blood.
reproach
- VERB
If you reproach someone, you say or show that you are disappointed, upset, or angry because they have done something wrong.
She is quick to reproach anyone who doesn’t live up to her own high standards. [VERB noun]
She had not even reproached him for breaking his promise. [VERB noun + for]
Synonyms: blame, criticize, rebuke, reprimand More Synonyms of reproach - VARIABLE NOUN
If you look at or speak to someone with reproach, you show or say that you are disappointed, upset, or angry because they have done something wrong.
He looked at her with reproach.
Public servants and political figures must be beyond reproach.
Synonyms: censure, blame, abuse, contempt
recalcitrant
adjective formal
(of a person) unwilling to obey orders or to do what should be done, or (of an animal) refusing to be controlled
adumbration
noun [ U or C ] formal
the act of giving the main facts and not the details about something, or something that gives these main facts:
I admit that my adumbration of yesterday’s meeting was scant.
The “people’s budget” of 1909 was an early adumbration of the British welfare state.
penury
noun [ U ] formal
the state of being extremely poor
lucre
noun [ U ] old-fashioned disapproving or humorous
People sometimes refer to money or profit as lucre, especially when they think that it has been obtained by dishonest means.
[humorous, or old-fashioned, disapproval]
…so they can feel less guilty about their piles of filthy lucre.
Synonyms: money, profit, gain, riches
leap
verb
to make a large jump or sudden movement, usually from one place to another:
He leaped out of his car and ran towards the house.
I leaped up to answer the phone.
The dog leaped over the gate into the field.
to provide help, protection, etc. very quickly:
He leaped to his friend’s defence.
Scott leapt to the rescue when he spotted the youngster in difficulty.
Mr Davies leaped in to explain.
to achieve something suddenly, usually fame, power, or importance:
He leapt to fame after his appearance in a Broadway play.
to increase, improve, or grow very quickly:
Shares in the company leaped 250 percent.
tepid
adjective
(of liquid) not very warm
A tepid reaction is not enthusiastic:
I got a tepid response to my suggestion.
(of liquid) not very warm, or (of feelings or actions) not very strong:
There is only tepid support in Congress for the proposal.
not very good or strong:
The market’s tepid finish was partly due to fourth-quarter earnings falling short of Wall Street’s expectations.
They are struggling to boost profits amid tepid sales.
His solo work has been met with a tepid response.
flimsy
adjective
very thin, or easily broken or destroyed:
You won’t be warm enough in that flimsy dress.
We spent the night in a flimsy wooden hut.
a flimsy cardboard box
A flimsy argument, excuse, etc. is weak and difficult to believe:
When I asked him why he was late, he gave me some flimsy excuse about having car trouble.
rakish
adjective
confidently careless and informal:
He wore his hat at a rakish angle.
old-fashioned
A rakish man, especially a rich man, lives in an immoral way, especially having sex with a lot of women:
He has a rakish air about him.
raffish
adjective old-fashioned
not following usual social standards of behaviour or appearance, especially in a careless and attractive way:
He has a certain raffish elegance.
temerity
noun [ U ] formal disapproving
a willingness to do or say something that shocks or upsets other people:
[ + to infinitive ] She had the temerity to call me a liar.
conviviality
noun [ U ]
the quality of being friendly and making people feel happy and welcome:
He was known for his conviviality as a host.
Eating should take place in an atmosphere of conviviality.
hasty
- ADJECTIVE [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
A hasty movement, action, or statement is sudden, and often done in reaction to something that has just happened.
He started screaming insults so I made a hasty escape.
hastily (heɪstɪli ) ADVERB [ADVERB with verb]
‘It may be satisfying, but it’s not fun.’—’No, I’m sure it’s not,’ said Virginia hastily. ‘I didn’t mean that.’
Synonyms: quickly, fast, rapidly, promptly More Synonyms of hasty - ADJECTIVE [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
A hasty event or action is one that is completed more quickly than normal.
After the hasty meal, the men had moved forward to take up their positions.
Synonyms: brief, short, quick, passing More Synonyms of hasty
hastily ADVERB [ADVERB with verb]
He said good night hastily, promising that he would phone Hans in the morning.
The survivors were recovering in hastily erected tents.
Synonyms: quickly, fast, rapidly, promptly More Synonyms of hasty - ADJECTIVE
If you describe a person or their behaviour as hasty, you mean that they are acting too quickly, without thinking carefully, for example because they are angry.
[disapproval]
So let’s not be hasty. After all, he can’t run away.
A number of the United States’ allies had urged him not to take a hasty decision.
craven
adjective formal
extremely cowardly (= not brave): a craven act of terrorism
pretence
noun [ U ] UK (US pretense)
a way of behaving that is intended to deceive people:
She made absolutely no pretence of being interested.
They kept up (= continued) a pretence of normality as long as they could.
The army has given up any pretence of neutrality in the war.
pretence
noun [ U ] UK (US pretense)
a way of behaving that is intended to deceive people:
She made absolutely no pretence of being interested.
They kept up (= continued) a pretence of normality as long as they could.
The army has given up any pretence of neutrality in the war.
brash
adjective disapproving
(of people) showing too much confidence and too little respect:
a brash young banker
(of clothes) too bright and colourful:
Don’t you think that suit’s a bit brash for a funeral?
dwindling
adjective [ before noun ]
gradually becoming smaller in size or amount, or fewer in number:
She is one of a dwindling number of people who was alive in 1918.
In Baltimore the city’s dwindling population guarantees the loss of at least one state Senate seat.
We are dealing with dwindling resources and aging buildings.
brash
adjective disapproving
(of people) showing too much confidence and too little respect:
a brash young banker
(of clothes) too bright and colourful:
Don’t you think that suit’s a bit brash for a funeral?
conundrum
COUNTABLE NOUN
A conundrum is a problem or puzzle which is difficult or impossible to solve.
[formal]
…this theological conundrum of the existence of evil and suffering in a world created by a good God. [+ of]
Synonyms: puzzle, problem, riddle, enigma
stunt
noun [ C ]
something that is done to get attention for the person or people responsible for it:
an advertising stunt
Their marriage was just a cheap publicity stunt.
an exciting action, usually in a film, that is dangerous or appears dangerous and usually needs to be done by someone skilled:
It’s a typical action movie with plenty of spectacular stunts.
Tom Cruise has performed his own stunts for Mission Impossible 2, defying warnings from professionals.
buoy
noun [ C ]
buoy verb (FLOAT)
[ T ]
to prevent someone or something from sinking:
The very salty water buoyed her (up) as she swam.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
buoy verb (MAKE HAPPIER)
[ T usually passive ]
to make someone feel happier or more confident about a situation:
She was buoyed (up) by the warm reception her audience gave her.
a floating object on the top of the sea, used for directing ships and warning them of possible danger
kaleidoscope
- COUNTABLE NOUN
A kaleidoscope is a toy in the shape of a tube with a small hole at one end. If you look through the hole and turn the other end of the tube, you can see a pattern of colours which changes as you turn the tube round. - SINGULAR NOUN
You can describe something that is made up of a lot of different and frequently changing colours or elements as a kaleidoscope.
…the vivid kaleidoscope of colours displayed in the plumage of the peacock. [+ of]
…a kaleidoscope of different alliances, groupings and interests.
