Deck 28 Flashcards
to balk
to be unwilling to do something or to allow something to happen; to omit, intentionally neglect
- ‘I balked at the prospect of spending four hours on a train with him.’
rationale [rash-uh-nal]
the reasons or intentions that cause a particular set of beliefs or actions
- ‘I don’t understand the rationale for these restrictions.’
a voivodeship
one of the provinces of Poland
to glower
to look very angry, annoyed, or threatening
- ‘There’s no point glowering at me like that - you know the rules.’
to besmirch
to say bad things about someone to influence other people’s opinion of them
to whinge
to complain, especially about something that does not seem important
- ‘She’s always whingeing (on) about something.’
an aftermath
the period that follows (consequence) an unpleasant event or accident, and the effects that it causes
- ‘Many more people died in the aftermath of the explosion.’
FWIW
for what it’s worth: used, for example in emails, when you are giving someone information and you do not know if it is useful or not
groggy
faint or weak as from exhaustion, blows, or drunkenness
well read
Someone who is well read has learned a lot of information on different subjects by reading.
by and by
after a short period
- ‘You’ll get used to it by and by.’
lock, stock, and barrel
including all or every part of something
- ‘We had to move our things lock, stock, and barrel to the other side of the country.’
a kiki
A party including good music and good friends
- ‘Let’s have a kiki!’
feckless
weak in character and lacking determination
quirky
unusual in an attractive and interesting way:
plaid [U]
a pattern of squares and lines on cloth, or cloth with this pattern
stick-in-the-mud
someone who is old-fashioned and too serious and avoids enjoyable activities
ennui [U] [ahn-wee]
a feeling of being bored and mentally tired caused by having nothing interesting or exciting to do
- ‘The whole country seems to be affected by the ennui of winter.’
no biggie
shortened from the phrase “no big deal”; not something to worry about
shrimpy
(used especially of persons) of inferior size
gilded
- covered with a thin layer of gold or a substance that looks like gold
- rich or of a higher social class
in the nick of time
at the last possible moment
- ‘We got there just in the nick of time.’
a hoarder
a person or organization that collects a lot of money or objects, sometimes secretly
a treasure trove of sth
a place that is full of something good
- ‘a treasure trove of information’
a shot in the dark
an attempt to guess something when you have no information or knowledge about the subject and therefore cannot possibly know what the answer is
derision
the situation in which someone or something is laughed at and considered stupid or of no value
- ‘They treated his suggestion with derision.’
- derisively
to be au fait with sth [oh fe]
to be familiar with or know about something
explicable
able to be explained
to revoke
to officially cancel (a decree, decision, or promise)
to kowtow
to show too much respect to someone in authority, always doing what you are told and changing what you do in order to please them
vorpal
deadly
efficacy
the ability, especially of a medicine or a method of achieving something, to produce the intended result
- ‘They recently ran a series of tests to measure the efficacy of the drug.’
a fraidy
timid, easily frightened, cowardly
to furlough
to allow or force someone to be absent temporarily from work
a quiff
a piece of hair brushed upwards and backwards from a man’s forehead
comic relief [U]
an amusing scene, incident, or speech introduced into serious or tragic elements, as in a play, in order to provide temporary relief from tension, or to intensify the dramatic action.
novelty
something that has not been experienced before and so is interesting
- ‘Tourists are still a novelty on this remote island.’
inscrutable
impossible to understand or interpret
diminutive
A diminutive person is short and small. A diminutive word is a “cute” version of a word or name: for example, “duckling” is a diminutive of “duck” and Billy is a diminutive form of the name William.
to feign [feyn]
to pretend to have a particular feeling, problem, etc. :
- ‘You know how everyone feigns surprise when you tell them how old you are.’
sycophantic [sik-uh-fuhn-tic]
(of a person or of behaviour) praising people in authority in a way that is not sincere, usually in order to get some advantage from them
a betrothed [bih-trohth d]
a person that someone has promised to marry, or has been promised to as a marriage partner
moribund [mawr-uh-buhnd]
(of a person) at the point of death
vivisection [U]
the practice of performing operations on live animals for the purpose of experimentation or scientific research
constitution
the general state of someone’s health
- ‘He has a very strong constitution.’
a cavalcade
a line of people, vehicles, horses, etc. following a particular route as part of a ceremony
a millennial
a person reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century
kinship
the relationship between members of the same family
in vain
unsuccessful/-ly (na próżno)
ejecta
material that is forced or thrown out, especially as a result of volcanic eruption, meteoritic impact, or stellar explosion
inwardly
inside your mind and not expressed to other people
a noddle
the head or brain of a person
- ‘Did that hit you on the noddle?’
(a) penny for your thoughts
said when you want to know what another person is thinking, usually because they have been quiet for a while
a quirk
an unusual habit or part of someone’s personality, or something that is strange and unexpected
a foible
a strange habit or characteristic that is seen as not important and not harming anyone
- ‘We all have our little foibles.’
to churn
f your stomach is churning, you feel ill, usually because you are nervous
- ‘I had my driving test that morning and my stomach was churning.’
to attenuate
to make something smaller, thinner, or weaker
- ‘Radiation from the sun is attenuated by the earth’s atmosphere.’
due diligence [U]
the care that a reasonable person exercises to avoid harm to other persons or their property
- ‘They failed to exercise due diligence, trying to prevent the accident.’
exultant
triumphantly happy, especially at someone else’s defeat or failure
to saddle up something
to fasten a seat on the back of a horse, or to ride a horse
to allot
to give something, especially a share of something available, for a particular purpose
- ‘They allotted a separate desk to everyone.’
flagrant
(of a bad action, situation, person, etc.) shocking because of being so obvious = rażący
- ‘a flagrant misuse of funds/privilege’
to aggrandise
to make someone more powerful or important
to chafe
to make or become damaged or sore by rubbing
- ‘The bracelet was so tight that it started to chafe (my wrist).’
lithe
young, healthy, attractive, and able to move and bend smoothly
- ‘He had the lithe, athletic body of a ballet dancer.’
to ostracise
exclude from a society or group
voluptuous
A voluptuous woman has a soft, curved, sexually attractive body
a roofie
a sedative used in hospitals only for deep sedation; it is now a fairly infamous date-rape drug
the whole shebang
the whole of something, including everything that is connected with it
- ‘The wedding’s next week, but my parents are taking care of the whole shebang.’
to oust
to force someone to leave a position of power, job, place, or competition
- ‘The president was ousted from power.’
- ‘Police are trying to oust drug dealers from the city.’
to be extra
to be over the top; excessive, dramatic behavior
saccharine
too sweet or too polite
sharp
exactly at that time
- ‘Come at ten o’clock sharp.’
a pawnbroker
a person who lends money in exchange for objects that he or she can sell if the person leaving the objects does not pay an agreed amount of money in an agreed time
a hyphen
the symbol -
prodigious
extremely great in ability, amount, or strength
- ‘She wrote a truly prodigious number of novels.’§
- ‘She was a prodigious musician.’
to portend
to be a sign that something bad is likely to happen in the future
- ‘It was a deeply superstitious country, where earthquakes were commonly believed to portend the end of dynasties.’
to pilfer
to steal things of small value
- ‘He was caught pilfering (sweets) from the shop.’
a myriad
a very large number of something
- ‘a myriad of choices’
pugnacious [puhg-ney-shuhs]
wanting to start an argument or fight, or expressing an argument or opinion very forcefully
to rob Peter to pay Paul
to borrow money from one person to pay back money you borrowed from someone else
a pitcher
a large, round container for liquids that has a flat base, a handle, and a very narrow raised opening at the top for pouring
= a jug
to spill the tea
to share juicy gossip
manifest
easily noticed or obvious
- ‘manifest lack of interest’
third time’s a charm
the third time you try to do something, it will work
meteoric
used to describe something that develops very fast and attracts a lot of attention
- ‘Her political career has been meteoric.’
a stretch goal
an additional goal you set for your campaign in case you exceed your initial funding goal
a proclivity for sth
a tendency to choose or do something regularly; an inclination or predisposition towards a particular thing
- ‘a proclivity for hard work’
ventriloquism
an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) changes their voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered “dummy”
knock yourself out
go for it
- ‘Can I have a piece of your burrito?’ ‘Knock yourself out.’
a trope
A trope is a word used in a nonliteral sense to create a powerful image.
If you say, “Chicago’s worker bees buzz around the streets,” you’re using a trope. Workers aren’t literally bees, but it suggests how fast they move.
a hall pass
a wife’s permission for her husband to go for a night out with friends
a pang of conscience
(often pluralized) a feeling of shame, guilt, or embarrassment, resulting from behaviour which one regrets
a predilection
If someone has a predilection for something, they like it a lot
- ‘Ever since she was a child, she has had a predilection for spicy food.’
quasi- [kwei-zai]
used to show that something is almost, but not completely, the thing described
- ‘The school uniform is quasi-military in style.’
smitten by/with
having suddenly started to like or love something or someone very much
- ‘He was so smitten by her that he promised to move to Argentina to be near her.’
compunction
a slightly guilty feeling about something you have done or might do
- ‘I wouldn’t have any compunction about telling him to leave.’
ill-prepared
not ready to deal with a situation
to disavow
to say that you know nothing about something, or that you have no responsibility for or connection with something
- ‘She tried to disavow her past.’
inveigle [in-vey-guhl]
to persuade someone to do something in a clever and dishonest way, when they do not want to do it
- ‘Her son tried to inveigle her into giving him the money for a car.’
