Deck 2 Flashcards
eugenics
study of factors that influence the hereditary qualities of the human race and ways to improve these qualities
The science fiction novel describes a military eugenics program designed to create a race of “super-soldiers” possessing intelligence, strength, and other qualities far in advance of the ordinary person.
eulogy
high praise, especially of a person who has recently died
After the death of Abraham Lincoln, many eulogies of him appeared in newspapers throughout America.
euphemism
use of agreeable or inoffensive language in place of unpleasant or offensive language; the expression so substituted
“To pass away” is a euphemism for “to die.”
euphoria
a feeling of extreme happiness
There was euphoria in the professor’s house after it was learned that she had received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
euthanasia
mercy killing
evince
to show clearly; be an indication of
The student’s response to the teacher’s question evinced his ignorance of the subject.
evocative
tending to call to mind or produce a reaction; tending to evoke
The perfume is evocative of spring.
exacerbate
to aggravate; make worse
The release of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels has increased the amount of this gas in the atmosphere, exacerbating the naturally occuring “greenhouse effect” that has predominated in Earth’s recent past.
exact
to force the payment of; demand and obtain by authority
The conquering rulers exacted a tax of 10% from every adult male in the country.
exculpate
to clear of blame;
The report exculpated the FBI of any wrongdoing in its handling of the investigation.
execrable
detestable; abhorrent; 嫌悪すべき,忌まわしい
When folk artists such as Bob Dylan began to use rock instruments, many folk music traditionalists considered it an execrable travesty.
exhort
to urge by strong appeals
In 1943 U.S. General exhorted American troops about to invade Hitler’s Europe, saying that victory was assured because American soldiers were more virile and courageous than their German counterparts.
virile
of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or befitting a man; masculine; manly:
virile strength.
exigency
crisis; urgent requirements
Astronauts must be prepared for exigencies such as damage to their spacecraft’s life support system.
existential
pertaining to existence; based on experience;
exorcise
to expel evil spirits; free from bad influences
A modern parallel to the shaman is the psychiatrist, who helps the patient exorcise personal demons and guides him toward mental wholeness.
expatiate
to speak or write at length
Every year the book club invites a famous author to come to expatiate on the art of writing.
expatriate
to send into exile; to banish (a person) from his or her country
People seeking asylum in another country are sometimes expatriated.
expiate
to atone for
The pilgrims undertook their long journey to expiate their sins.
explicate
to explain; interpret; clarify
The literature exam requires students to explicate three poems they studied in class and one they have not studied.
expository
explanatory
There is no one model of expository prose that a student can emulate, since each piece of good writing is unique.
extant
in existence; not lost
Unfortunately for Bible scholars, there are no extant writings of Jesus Christ.
extemporaneous
unrehearsed
I enjoyed the speaker’s extemporaneous remarks more than her prepared speech, because they gave me insight into her personality that helped me understand the decisions she made during her time as a federal judge.
extirpate
to remove or destroy totally
The new federal prosecutor promised voters that he would extirpate corruption in the state.
extraneous
not essential
The encyclopedia editors worked hard to cut out extraneous material so that readers could find information easily on a given subject.
extrapolation
the act of estimation by projecting known information
The economist’s extrapolation suggests that the economy will grow by 4% next year.
extrinsic
not inherent or essential
The experiment is designed to exclude factors that are extrinsic to the phenomenon.
facetious
humorous
The comedian’s facetious comments about prominent politicians kept the audience amused.
factotum
a person who does all sorts of work; a handyman
Malvolio aspires to become more than merely a factotum in the house of Lady Olivia.
fallacious
based on a false idea or fact; misleading
The belief of the Nazis that they could create a “master race” was based on the fallacious premise that some races are inherently superior to others.
fallow
(of land) plowed and left unseeded for a season or more; uncultivated
At the beginning of each school year the teacher looks out at the new students and thinks of a fallow field, ready to be cultivated.
fatuous
foolishly self-satisfied
The student could not understand why no one took seriously his fatuous comments.
fawning
seeking favor by flattering
The boss has a reputation for hiring fawning employees.
felicitous
suitably expressed; appropriate; well-chosen
The Gettysburg Address is full of felicitous phrases such as “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
feral
existing in a wild or untamed state
Feral dogs returning to an untamed state after domestication sometimes form packs, becoming a threat to humans.
fervor
warmth and intensity of emotion
American soldiers were welcomed back to the United States with fervor after the end of World War II.
fetid
having a bad smell
Many people find the smell of Limburger cheese fetid.
fetter
to bind; confine
William Blake believed that each person cretes “mind-forged manacles,” fettering his or her natural instincts and spirit.
manacle
a shackle for the hand; handcuff
fiat
an authoritative decree, sanction, or order: authorization
The dictator rules almost entirely by fiat.
fidelity
loyalty; exact correspondence
Monks joining the Franciscan Order pledge fidelity to the ideals and rules of the Order.
finesse
to handle with a deceptive or evasive strategy; to use finesse, that is, refinement in performance; 巧みにだます; 巧みに解決する
Engineers decided that the problem could be finessed by using lighter materials.
fissure
a narrow opening produced by cleavage or separation of parts; 亀裂, 割れ目
Geologists measure the width of the fissure regularly to monitor movement of the Earth’s plates in the area.
flag
to droop; grow weak
Noticing that the students’ attention was flagging, the professor gave them a short break.
fledgling
beginner; novice
The coach said that some of the team’s fledglings would play in Saturday’s game.
florid
ruddy; reddish; flowery; 赤みがかった, 血色の良い
As he grew older, the novelist eschewed the florid, ostentatious style of his youth in favor of a more direct and sparse style.
flourish
an embellishment or ornamentation
The Sophists often gave interminable speeches full of rhetorical flourishes.
flout
to treat scornfully
Paul Fussel discusses the dangers poets face when they flout poetic conventions.
flux
flowing; a continuous moving
In some cultures time is conceptualized as a flux moving in one direction.
foment
promote the growth or development of; 煽る, 扇動する, 助長する
The government accused the newspaper of fomenting unrest in the country.
forbearance
patience
The president warned that great courage and forbearance would be required to see the war through to a successful conclusion.
forestall
to prevent; delay
The government took steps to forestall an economic downturn by increasing government spending.
formidable
menacing; threatening
By the middle of the nineteenth century the United States had become a formidable economic and military power.
forswear
to reject or renounce under oath; 誓って〜をやめる
When she became a U.S. citizen, Julia forswore allegiance to all other countries and pledged to defend the United States if called upon to do so.
founder
to sink; fail; collapse
Most attempts to create advanced new technology by government fiat founder, probably because of the difficulty in anticipating changes in the fluid world of high technology.
fracas
a loud quarrel
The police were called in to break up a fracas that had erupted in the bar.
fractious
quarrelsome; unruly; rebellious
In an effort to unify their divided party, its leaders decided to first placate the party’s most fractious elements.
froward
stubbornly contrary; obstinately disobedient; not easily managed
The teacher had no choice but to send the froward child to the vice-principal for disciplining.
frugality
thrift; 倹約, 質素
In these days of credit card and installment plan buying, frugality seems to have become a rarely practiced virtue.
fulminate
to attack loudly; denounce
The senator fulminated against what he termed “foreign meddling in America’s business.”
fulsome
so excessive as to be disgusting; 過度の
The actor was embarrassed by the fulsome praise he received after winning the Academy Award for best actor.
futile
ineffective; useless; fruitless
To some non-philosophers, the discipline seems frivolous and futile because it produces no tangible benefits.
gainsay
to deny; dispute; oppose
No one can gainsay the fact that she put great effort into the project.
gambol
to skip about, as in dancing or playing; frolic; leap playfully
The children gamboled on the lawn while their parents ate lunch.
garrulous
very talkative; wordy
The garrulous houseguest made it difficult for us to get much work done on the project.
gauche
lacking social grace, sensitivity, or acuteness; awkward; crude;
What is considered gauche in one culture might not be considered gauche in another culture; for example, burping is considered rude in America but is acceptable in China.
geniality
cheerfulness; kindliness; sociability
Hosts of television talk shows are generally people who possess a great deal of geniality.
glib
fluent in an insincere way; 口達者な
Sharon’s parents were not satisfied by her glib explanation of why she had not been able to study for the exam.
goad
to prod; urge on
Goaded by his friends into trying out for the football team as a walk-on, Jeff went on to become an all-American linebacker.
gossamer
sheer; light and delicate, like cobwebs
Some experts in NASA believe that what they call a gigantic “gossamer spacecraft” could be constructed in space using extremely lightweight materials.
gouge
to tear out; scoop out; overcharge; 削り取る, えぐり出す, 〜から強要する
The store is able to gouge its customers because it is the only store in the area that carries that particular line of merchandise.
grandiloquent
ponpous; bombasticspeaking or expressed in a lofty style, often to the point of being pompous or bombastic; 大げさな、大言壮語の
The orator abandoned grandiloquent phrases and instead uses simple and direct language.
gregarious
fond of the company of others; sociable.
A recent anthropological theory is that human beings are gregarious creatures that are comfortable living in groups of around 150 individuals.
grouse
to complain
Instead of grousing about the policy, do something about it: write to your congressional representative.
guileless
free of cunning or deceit; artless
One of the charms of the novel is that the guileless hero manages to defeat the scheming villain.
guise
general external appearance; aspect; semblance
an old principle in a new guise.
under the guise of friendship.
gustatory
of or pertaining to taste or tasting
According to scientists, our gustatory sense depends to a large extent on our olfactory sense.
halcyon
calm and peaceful; happy; golden; prosperous
The movie evokes the halcyon years immediately after World War II when America was at peace and the economy was booming.
hallowed
holy; sacred
Hallowed be Thy name
the hallowed saints
our hallowed political institutions.
harangue
a scolding or a long or intense verbal attack; diatribe
The football team sat silently listening to their coach’s half-time harangue about poor tackling, dropped passes, and lost opportunities to score.
harrowing
extremely disturbing or distressing; terrifying
The journey “inward” to explore the unconscious mind has been described as more harrowing than the most dangerous voyage to explore the Earth.
herbivorous
relating to a herbivore, an animal that feeds mainly on plants
Most researchers now believe that the common ancestor of apes and humans was a strongly herbivorous animal.
hermetic
tightly sealed; magical
Scholars have traced many of the hermetic traditions of ancient Greece to Egypt.
heterodox
unorthodox; not widely accepted
The orthodox view among scientists is that the ancestors of the great apes and humans evolved solely in Africa; however, recently a competing, heterodox view has arisen theorizing that they also may have evolved in Euroasia.
hirsute
covered with hair
One of the most obvious differences between humans and closely related species such as chimpanzees is that the latter are hirsute, while the former have relatively little hair.
histrionic
relating to exaggerated emotional behavior calculated for effect; theatrical arts or performances; 劇場の, 芝居がかった
Whenever the star of the movie does not get her way on the set, she flies into a histrionic fit.
homeostasis
automatic maintenance by an organism of normal temperature, chemical balance, etc. within itself;
An example of homeostasis in mammals is the regulation of glucose levels in the blood, which is done mainly by the liver and insulin secreted by the pancreas.
homily
sermon; tedious moralizing lecture; platitude; くどい小言、長い説教
The pastor’s homilies have been published in an anthology.
hyperbole
purposeful exaggeration for effect
The American tradition of the tall tale uses hyperbole to depict a world in which the inhabitants and their deeds are larger than life, as befitting a people inhabiting a vast landscape.
iconoclastic
attacking cherished traditions
The linguist and political commentator Noam Chomsky has been described as gleefully iconoclastic because of the zeal with which he attacks many of the central beliefs of American society.
idolatry
idol worship; blind or excessive devotion
During the Protestant Reformation images in churches were felt to be a form of idolatry and were banned and destroyed.
igneous
produced by fire; volcanic
The presence of igneous rocks on the beach suggests that there was a volcanic eruption in the area millions of years ago.
imbroglio
complicated situation; an entanglement
The plot of many of Somerset Maugham’s stories consists of an unraveling of an imbroglio in which the main character finds himself.
immutable
unchangeable
If humanity colonizes Mars, it will become a tabula rasa on which we will inscribe our immutable values and beliefs in a new environment.
impair
to damage; injure
Alcohol has been shown to seriously impair the functioning of the brain.
impassive
showing no emotion
The judge sat, impassive, listening to the man’s emotional account of the crime.
impecunious
poor; having no money
The businessman’s biography tells how he went from being an impecunious student in the 1980s to one of the richest people in America.
impede
to hinder; block
The development of the western region of China has been impeded by a lack of trained workers.
impermeable
impossible to penetrate
The virus protection software is said to be impermeable to attacks by malicious software sent over the Internet.
imperturbable
not easily disturbed
Buddha counseled that one should try to remain imperturbable through life’s vicissitudes.
impervious
impossible to penetrate; incapable of being affected
We were amazed how Laura could sit at the noisy party studying organic chemistry, impervious to the noise around her.
impinge
to strike; encroach
Scientists have found chimpanzees to be a territorial species; individuals that are not members of a group impinging on the territory of that group are normaly met with aggression.
implacable
inflexible; incapable of being pleased
Once an implacable foe of capitalism, the People’s Republic of China in recent years seems, in practice if not in principle, to have embraced it.
implausible
unlikely; unbelievable
To say that Napoleon Bonaparte achieved what he did merely because he was compensating for his shortness is simplistic, reductionistic, and implausible.
implode
collapse inward violently
The building was imploded in order to make way for the construction of a new apartment complex.
imprecation
curse; the act of cursing
The convicted man was taken away by court officers, uttering imprecations against the jury that had found him guilty.
impute
to relate to a particular cause or source; attribute the fault to; assign as a characteristic
Primatologists generally impute relatively high intelligence to chimpanzees based on, among other things, the ability of chimpanzees to recognize themselves in a mirror.
