Dec 5 Vocab Quiz Flashcards
Nadir
Noun
- the lowest point of a situation or condition
- Astronomy: Point directly below observer
Examples: After the team lost, the morale hit the nadir & everyone’s moods were at its lowest.
Doddering
Adj.
- Moving in a feeble and unsteady way
- senile and old
Ex: The doddering old fool stumbled around the living room with shaking legs.
Arrears
Noun
- Money. that is owed and should’ve been paid
Ex: Jennie was deep in arrears, she used all her money for her car and she didn’t pay off all her credit.
Approbation
Noun
- Approval/praise
Ex: The little girl seemed approbation, she tried to do anything that will make people approve of her.
Cacophony
Noun
- discord/ harsh mixture of sound
Ex: A cacophony of animal shrieks and bell sounds were so garish to the ear
Nebulous
Adj
- In a form of a cloud, hazy and vague
- A concept that is unclear or vague
Ex: The politician’s promises were nebulous, lacking details and being vague
Blather
Verb/Noun
- (v) blathering- talking very long without making sense
- (N) long talk with no sense
Ex: She let her date blather on for a few minutes, but she got increasingly bored by his long nonsense stories
Pious
Adj
- deeply religious
- hypocritical/ falsely moralistic
- sincere but unlikely to be fulfilled ( used for hope)
- loyal towards parents
Ex: He was very pious he lectured about the goodness of charity, but he exploited the church for his personal gain.
Ethereal
Adj
- Extremely delicate/ heavenly/ perfect
Ex: The ethereal glow of the sun left Molly speechless, it was so beautiful and heavenly.
Affliction
Noun
- something that causes pain
- pain of suffering
- Astrology ( an instance of a celestial body impacting another)
Ex: The affliction of the black flu caused pain to millions of people.
Gallivanting
Verb
- going from one place to another in pursuit of pleasure
Ex: Jill quit her job to gallivant around the globe, feeling the simple pleasure in traveling.
Fortnight
Noun
- A period of 2 weeks
- Sunday fortnight- 2 weeks after this Sunday
Ex: My dog has been gone for a fortnight and I’m really worried, he couldn’t have survived for 2 weeks.
Contention
Noun
- A heated disagreement
- A point made in argument
Ex: Her parent were in a major state of contention, they were shouting and fighting.
Pompous
Psychosomatic
Adj
- relating to physical illness being worsened by emotional stress
- describing interaction between body and the mind
Ex: Her illness had a psychosomatic cause, her stress feeding her migraines
Polyglot
Noun/Adj
- (N) a person who knows several languages
- (A) written in several languages
Ex:The polyglot text in the monument featured 5 languages.
Sanction
Noun, Verb
-(N) a penalty for disobeying the law
- (N) official permission for action
- (V) to give official permission for an action
-(V) to impose a punishment
Ex: The gov. imposed harsh sanctions for disobeying the law.
Deranged
Adj
- mentally unstable/ insane
Ex: the deranged killer was insane, she killed everyone in her sight
Usurp
Verb
- to take a position of power by illegal force
The witch sought to usurp the throne by illegally poisoning the princess’s drinks.
Euphoria
Noun
- state of extreme happiness
Ex: She was filled with euphoria, when she found out her dog was alive, she cried in joy.
Irked
Verb
- Annoyed
Ex: She was irked by his rude habits, he was so annoying!
Lamentation
Noun
- A passionate expression of sorrow, weeping
EX: the mother showed lamentation, weeping & screaming after the death of her child.
Groused
Verb
- Complaining about something small
During our trip my friend groused and whined about every single little thing.
Cavorting
Verb-
- to jump/dance excitedly
Ex: The little kids cavorted gleefully in the park, dancing to their favorite song
Clout
Noun\Verb
-(N) A heavy blow with object/ hand
- ( N) influence/ power in business
- ( N) A piece of cloth used to dress wound
-(N) A target in long distance shooting
- (V)Hit hard with hand/object
-(V) To mend an injury with patch
Consecrate
Verb
- declare ( typically in church) something sacred to a religion or divine power
- can be ceremonial(?)
Ex: After the priest consecrated the bread, it was deemed holy.
Squander
Verb
- to waste money & time
- to fail to take advantage
Ex: He squandered all his money and ended penniless
Perfidious
Adj
- deceitful, untrustworthy
Ex: His perfidious, suspicious actions led to his teams not believing him.
Parsimonious
Adj
- unwilling to spend money/stingy
My friend is very parsimonious, she doesn’t use money for anything.
Succumb
Verb
- fail to resist
- to dies from injury/illness
Ex: he succumbed to his illness finally being in piece after fighting it for months.
