Day 27 Flashcards
speculate
Contemplate; make a guess or educated guess
about; engage in a risky business transaction,
gamble
He speculated as to whether she would come.
sporadic
Occasional, happening irregularly or in
scattered locations
Sporadic cases of the disease were reported.
sportive
Playful, merry, joking around, done “in sport”
(rather than intended seriously)
a sportive pastor who began every sermon with a joke
squalid
Disgusting, filthy, foul, extremely neglected
“the squalid, overcrowded prison”
squelch
Crush, squash; suppress or silence; walk
through ooze or in wet shoes, making a
smacking or sucking sound
“bedraggled/dishevelled guests squelched across the lawns”
standing
Status, rank, reputation (noun); existing
indefinitely, not movable (adj)
stark
Complete, total, utter; harsh or grim; extremely
simple, severe, blunt, or plain
“he came running back in stark terror”
stasis
Equilibrium, a state of balance or inactivity, esp.
caused by equal but opposing forces
The country is in economic stasis.
His art was characterized by bursts of creativity followed by long periods of stasis.
status quo
Existing state or condition
“they have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo”
He is content with the status quo and does not like change.
steeped
Immersed (in), saturated (with)
practices steeped in tradition
stentorian
Very loud and powerful (generally of a human
voice)
“a stentorian roar”
stigma
Mark of disgrace, a figurative stain or mark on
someone’s reputation
“the stigma of having gone to prison will always be with me”
stingy
Not generous with money, reluctant to spend or
give; mean, miserly, parsimonious,niggardly
stint
Period of time spent doing something, or a
specific, limited amount of work (noun); to be
frugal, to get by on little (verb)
“his varied career included a stint as a magician”
“he doesn’t stint on wining and dining”
stipulate
Specify; make an open demand, esp. as a
condition of agreement
“he stipulated certain conditions before their marriage”
stoic or
stoical
Indifferent to pleasure or pain, enduring
without complaint; person indifferent to
pleasure or pain (noun)
a stoic indifference to cold
stolid
Unemotional, showing little emotion, not
easily moved,impassive, phlegmatic, unemotional
the butler responded to the duchess’s constant demands with stolid indifference
stratagem
Military maneuver to deceive or surprise;
crafty scheme
tried various stratagems to get the cat into the carrier, but the feisty feline was wise to them all
stratum
One of many layers (such as in a rock
formation or in the classes of a society)
strut
A structural support or brace
swagger, swank, parade, prance, flounce
subjective
Existing in the mind or relating to one’s own
thoughts, opinions, emotions, etc.; personal,
individual, based on feelings
sublime
Lofty or elevated, inspiring reverence or awe;
excellent, majestic; complete, utter
He composed some of the most sublime symphonies in existence.
sublime ignorance
subpoena
A court order requiring a person to appear in
court and give testimony
subside
Sink, settle down, become less active; return to
a normal level
After his anger had subsided, he was able to look at things rationally.
The pain will subside in a couple of hours.
substantiate
Support with evidence or proof; give a material
existence to
substantiated his claim to local mountaineering fame with a photo of himself on the summit of Mount McKinley
sully
Make dirty, stain, tarnish, defile, soiled
a once-gleaming marble interior sullied by decades of exposure to cigarette smoke
supplant
Take the place of, displace, especially through
sneaky tactics
supplicate
Pray humbly; ask, beg, or seek in a humble
way
the minister reminded his flock that God is a being to be obeyed and worshipped always and not just someone to be supplicated in times of trouble
supposition
Assumption, hypothesis, something that has
been supposed
a supposition that proved correct
This is just idle supposition.
surfeit
Excess, excessive amount, overindulgence
having surfeited ourselves on raw oysters, we had to decline the rest of the restaurant’s offerings
sublimate
to divert the expression of (an instinctual desire or impulse) from its unacceptable form to one that is considered more socially or culturally acceptable
She sublimated her erotic feelings into a series of paintings.
