Deck 3 Flashcards
1
Q
hitch
A
noun: a temporary difficulty that causes a short delay
Due to a slight technical hitch the concert will be starting half an hour late.
2
Q
consortium
A
noun: an organization of several businesses or banks joining together as a group for a shared purpose
a consortium of textile manufacturers
3
Q
rampant
A
adjective: (of something bad) getting worse quickly and in an uncontrolled way
rampant corruption
4
Q
impervious
A
adjective: If someone is impervious to something,they are not influenced or affected by something
He is impervious to criticism and rational argument.
5
Q
convivial
A
adjective: friendly and making you feel happy and welcome
a convivial atmosphere/host
6
Q
quaff
A
verb: to drink something quickly or in large amounts
7
Q
libation
A
noun: an amount of alcoholic drink poured out or drunk in honour of a god or a dead relation
8
Q
dilettante
A
noun: an amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge
9
Q
taciturn
A
adjective: habitually reserved and uncommunicative
While the CEO enthusiastically shares his plans and agenda with all who will listen, the CFO is far more taciturn, rarely revealing his perspective.
10
Q
intrepid
A
adjective: fearless
11
Q
inimical
A
adjective: hostile (usually descrives conditions or environments)
venus, with a surface temperature that would turn rubber to liquid, is inimical to any form of life.
12
Q
sanction
A
verb: give authority or permission to
The authorities have sanctioned the use of the wilderness reserve for public use; many expect to see hikers and campers enjoying the park in the coming months.
noun: a legal penalty for forbidden action
International sanctions have been placed on certain shipping lanes that were thought to be involved in human trafficking.
13
Q
gauche
A
adjective: lacking social polish
Sylvester says the most gauche things, such as telling a girl he liked that she was much prettier when she wore makeup.
14
Q
pedestrian
A
adjective: lacking imagination
While Nan was always engaged in philosophical speculation, her brother was occupied with far more pedestrian concerns: how to earn a salary and run a household.
15
Q
inveterate
A
adjective: habitual
He is an inveterate smoker and has told his family that there is now way he will ever quit.
16
Q
vacillate
A
verb: be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action
Some students vacillate between schools when deciding which to attend, while others focus only on one school.
17
Q
tempered
A
adjective: moderate in effect
The wide-eyed optimism of her youth was now tempered after she had worked many years in the criminal justice system.
18
Q
arcane
A
adjective: requiring secret or mysterious knowledge
Most college fraternities are known for arcane rituals that those hoping to join the fraternity must learn.
19
Q
munificent
A
adjective: very generous
uncle Charley was known for his munificence, giving all seven of his nephews lavish Christmas presents each year.
20
Q
brazen
A
adjective: unrestrained by convention or propriety
Their large “donations” to the local police department gave the drug cartel the brazen confidence to do their business out in the open.
21
Q
accolade
A
noun: an award or praise granted as a special honor
Jean-Paul Sartre was not a fan of accolades, and as such, he refused to accept the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964.
22
Q
austere
A
adjective:
1) practicing self-denial
His lifestyle of revelry and luxurious excess could hardly be called austere.
2) unadorned in style or appearance
Late Soviet architecture, although remaining largely austere, moved into experimental territory that employed previously unused shapes and structures.
3) harsh in manner of temperament
The principal of my elementary school was a cold, austere woman; I could never understand why she chose to work with children.
23
Q
trite
A
adjective: repeated to often, overfamiliar through overuse
Many style guides recommend not using idioms in writing because these trite expressions are uninteresting and show a lack of imagionation on the part of the writer.
24
Q
rescind
A
verb: cancel officially
The man’s driver’s license was rescinded after this tenth car accident.
25
hegemony
noun: dominance over a certain area
Until the Spanish Armada was defeated in 1587, Spain had hegemony over the seas, controlling waters stretching as far as the Americas.
26
constituent
noun:
1) a citizen who is represented in a government by officials for whom he or she votes
2) an abstract part of something
The constituents of the metal alloy are nickel, copper, and tin.
27
poignant
adjective: emotionally touching
28
ostracize
verb: exclude from a community or group
Later in his life, Leo Tolstoy was ostracized from the Russion Orthodox Church for his writings that contradicted church doctrine.
29
foment
verb: try to stir up public opinion
After having his pay cut, Phil spread vicious rumors about his boss, hoping to foment a general feeling of discontent.
30
reverent
adjective: feeling or showing profound respect or veneration
The professor could speak objectively about the other composers, but he always lectured about Brahms with a particularly reverent air, unable to offer a single criticism of his compositions.
31
winsome
adjective: charming in a childlike or naive way
She was winsome by nature, and many people were drawn to this free and playful spirit.
32
inscrutable
adjective: not easily understood; unfathomable
His speech was so dense and confusing that many in the audience found it inscrutable.
33
prolific
adjective: intellectually productive
Schubert was the most prolific composer, producing hundreds of hours of music before he died at the age of 31.
34
pernicious
adjective: exceedingly harmful; working or spreading in a hidden and injurious way
The most successful viruses are pernicious: an infected person may feel perfectly healthy for several months while incubating and spreading the virus.
35
haphazard
adjective: marked by great carelessness; dependent upon or characterized by chance
Many golf courses are designed with great care, but the greens on the county golf course seem entirely haphazard.
36
antithetical
adjective: sharply contrasted in character or purpose
His deep emotional involvement with these ideas is, in fact, antithetical to the detachment Buddhism preaches.
37
propitious
adjective: presenting favorable circumstances; likely to result in or show signs of success
The child's heartbeat is still weak, but I am seeing many propitious signs and I think that she may be healing.
38
scrupulous
adjective:
1) characterized by extreme care and great effort
Because of his scrupulous nature, Mary put him in charge of numbering and cataloging the entire collection of rare stamps.
2) having a sense of right and wrong; principled
Everyone trusted he said and followed his example because he was scrupulous and honest.
39
erudite
adjective: having or showing profound knowledge
Before the Internet, the library was typically where you would find erudite readers.
40
capricious
adjective: determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason
Nearly every month our capricious CEO had a new plan to turn the company around, and none of them worked because we never gave them the time they needed to succeed.
41
nuance
noun: a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude
Because of the nueances involved in this case, I hired an outside consultant to advise us and help.
42
pejorative
adjective: expressing disapproval (usually refers to a term)
Most psychologists object to the pejorative term "shrink", believing that they expand the human mind, not limit it.
43
misconstrue
verb: interpret in the wrong way
44
elicit
verb: call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)
Just smiling - even if you are depressed - can elicit feelings of pelasure and happiness.
45
edifying
adjective: enlightening or uplifting so as to encourage intellectual or moral improvement
I recently read an article in the Times about whether good literature is edifying or not; specifically, does reading more make a person more moral.
46
rebuke
verb: cricize severely or angrily; censure
The police chief rebuked the two officers who irresponsible decisions almost led to the deaths of seven innocent by-standers.
47
imprudent
adjective: not wise
Hitler, like Napoleon, make the imprudent move of invading Russia in winter, suffering even more casualties than Napolean had.
48
transient
adjective: lasting a very short time
49
disseminate
verb: cause to become widely known
Before the effects of anesthesia were disseminated, patients had to experience the full pain of surgery.
50
timorous
adjective: timid by nature or revealing fear and nervousness
Since this was her first time debating on stage and before an audience, Di's voice was timorous and quiet for the first 10 minutes.
51
contrition
noun: the feeling of remorse or guilt that comes from doing something bad
Those who show contrition during their prison terms - especially when under review by a parole board - often get shortened sentences.
52
mundane
adjective:
1) repetitive and boring; not spiritual
Nancy found doing dishes a thoroughly mundane task, although Peter found a kind of Zen pleasure in the chore.
2) relating to the ordinary world
Though we think of the pope as someone always dealing in holy matters, he is also concerned with mundane events, such as deciding when to set his alarm each morning.
53
appease
verb: pacify by acceding to the demands of
Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister during WWII, tried to appease Hitler and in doing so sent a clear message: you can walk over us.
54
arduous
adjective: demanding considerable mental effort and skill; testing powers of endurance
55
askance
adverb: with a look of suspicion or disapproval
The old couple looked askance on the teenagers seated next to then, whispering to each other, "They've got rings through their noses and purple hair!".
56
polemic
noun: a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.
The professor launched into a polemic, claiming that Freudian theory was a pack of lies that absolutely destroyed European literary theory.
57
dispassionate
adjective: unaffected by strong emotion of prejudice
A good scientist should be dispassionate, focusing purely on what the evidence says, without personal attachment.
58
maverick
noun: someone who exhibits great independence in thought and action
Officer Kelly was a maverick, rarely following police protocols or adopting the conventions for speech common among his fellow officers.
59
delenterious
adjective: harmful to living things
The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was deleterious to the fishing industry in the southern states.
60
dilatory
adjective: wasting time
Lawyers use dilatory tactics so that it takes years before the case is actually decided.
61
harried
adjective: troubled persistently espeically with petty annoyances
With a team of new hires to train, Martha was constantly harried with little questions and could not focus on her projects.
62
reproach
verb: to express criticism towards
At first, Sarah was going to yell at the boy, but she didn't want to reproach him for telling the truth about the situation.
63
opulence
noun: wealth as evidence by sumptuous living
64
esoteric
adjective: confined to and understandable by only an elightened inner circle
Map collecting is an esoteric hobby to most, but to geograph geeks it is a highly enjoyable pastime.
65
truncate
verb: reduce the length of something
The soccer game was truncated when the monsoon rain began to fall.
66
bolster
verb: support and strengthen
The case for the suspect's innocence was bolstered considerably by the fact that neither fingerprints not DNA were found at the scene.
67
maladroit
adjective: clumsy
As a child she was quite maladroit, but as an adult, she has become an adept dancer.
68
flux
noun: a state of uncertainty about what should be done (usually following some important event)
Ever since Elvira resigned as the head of marketing, everything about our sales strategy has been in a state of flux.
69
stringent
adjective: demanding strict attention to rules and procedures
Most of the students disliked the teacher because of his stringent homework policy, but many students would later thank him for demanding so much from them.
70
craven
adjective: pathetically cowardly
Though the man could have at least alerted the police, the crouched cravenly in the corner as the old woman was mugged.
71
furtive
adjective: marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed
While at work, George and his boss Regina felt the need to be as furtive as possible about their romantic relationship.
72
duress
noun: compulsory force or threat
The witness said he signed the contract under duress and argued that the court should cancel the agreement.
73
banality
noun: a trite or obvious remark
74
posit
verb: assume as fact
Initally, Eisntein posited a repulsive force to balance grafity, but then rejected that idea as a blunder.
75
fastidious
adjective: overly concerned with details; fussy
Whitney is fastidious about her shoues, arranging them on a shelf in a specific order, each pair evenly spaced.
76
indecorous
adjective: not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society
Eating with elbows on the table is consiered indecorous in refined circles.
77
efficacious
adjective: producing the intended result
Since Maggie's cough syrup, which had experienced five years back, was no longer efficacious, she coughed through the night.
78
economical
adjective: avoiding waste, efficient
79
nonplussed
adjective: unsure how to act or respond
Shirley was totally nonplussed when the angry motorist cut her off and then stuck his finger out the window.
80
antipathy
noun: an intense feeling of dislike or aversion
81
mendacity
noun: the tendency to the untruthful
I can forgive her for her mendacity but only because she is a child and is seeing what she can get away with.
82
specious
adjective:
1) based on pretense; deceptively pleasing
Almost every image on TV is specious and not to be trusted.
2) plausible but false
He made a career out of specious arguments and fictional lab results, but lost his job and reputation when his lies were exposed.
83
ignominious
adjective: (used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame
Since the politician preached ethics and morality, his texting of revealing photographs was ignominious, bringing shame on both himself and his party.
84
erratic
adjective: unpredictable; strange and unconventional
85
indignant
adjective: feeling anger over a perceived injustice
When the cyclist swerved into traffic, it forced the driver to brake and elicited an indignant shout of "Hey, punk, watch where you're going!".
86
telltale
adjective: revealing
The many telltale signs of chronic smoking include yellow teeth, and a persistent, hacking cough.
87
censor
verb: to examine and remove objectionable material
Every fall, high school English teachers are inundated by requests to censor their curriculum by removing The Catcher in the Rye and Scarlet Letter from their reading list.
noun: an official who censors material
The censor insisted that every reference ot drugs should be removed from the manuscript.
88
thoroughgoing
adjective: very thorough; complete
As a thoroughgoing bibliophile, one who had turned his house into a veritable library, he shocked his friends when he bought a Kindle.
89
reprobate
noun: a person without morals who is disapproved of
Mr. Smith's two boys couldn't be more different; one was a hard-working and principled, the other was the town reprobate, always having run-ins with the law.
90
inflammatory
adjective: extremely controversial, incendiary
91
demean
verb: to insult; to cause someone to lose dignity or respect
At first the soccer players bantered back and forth, but as soon as one of the players became demeaning, calling the other's mother a water vuffalo, the ref whipped out a red card.
92
indigenous
adjective: originating in a certain area
93
voracious
adjective: very hungry, approaching an activity with gusto
Steven was a voracious reader, sometimes finishing two novels in the same day.
94
tirade
noun: an angry speech
In terms of political change, a tirade oftentimes does little more than make the person speaking red in the face.
95
acme
noun: the highest point of achievement
The new Cessna airplanes will be the acme of comfort, offering reclining seats and ample legroom.
96
affable
adjective: likeable, easy to talk to
For all his surface affability, Marco was remarkably glum when he wasn't around other people.
97
embroiled
verb: involved in argument or contention
98
miser
noun: a person who doesn't like to spend money (because they are greedy)
Monte was no miser, but was simply frugal, wisely spending the little that he earned.
99
hound
verb: to pursue relentlessly
An implacable foe of corruption, Eliot Ness hounded out graft in all forms - he even helped nab Al Capone.
100
dupe
verb: to trick or swindle
noun: a person who is easily tricked or swindled
101
tender
verb: offer up something formally
The government was loath to tender more money in the fear that it might set off inflation.
102
retiring
adjective: to be shy, and to be inclined to retract from company
Nelson was always the first to leave soirees - rather than nill about with "fashionable" folk, he was retiring, and preferred the solitude of his garret.
103
remiss
adjective: to be negligent in one's duty
Remiss in his duty to keep the school funcitoning efficiently, the principal was relieved of his position after only three months.
104
inundate
verb: to flood or overwhelm
105
vindictive
adjective: to have a very strong desire for revenge
106
serendipity
noun: the instance in which an accidental, fortunate discovery is made
107
bellicose
adjective: warlike; inclined to quarrel
Known for their bellicose ways, the Spartans were once the most feared people.
108
imponderable
adjective: impossible to estimate or figure out
According to many lawmakers, the huge variety of factors affecting society make devising an efficient healthcare system an imponderable task.
109
chauvinist
noun: a person who believes in the superiority of their group
110
animosity
noun: intense hostility
The governor's animosity toward his rival was only imflamed when the latter spread false lies regarding his first term.
111
extenuating
adjective: making less guilty or more forgivaable
The jury was hardly moved by the man's plea that his loneliness was an extenuating factor in his crime of dognapping a prized pooch.
112
fleece
verb: to deceive
Many people have been fleeced by Internet scams and never received their money back.
113
moment
noun: significant and important value
Despite the initial hullabaloo, the play was of no great moment in Hampton's writing career.
114
stem
verb: to hold back or limit the flow or growth of something
To stem the tide of applications, the prestigious Ivy requires that each applicant score at least 330 on the Revised GRE.
115
lassitude
noun: extreme tiredness, either mental or physical
116
becoming
adjective: appropriate, and matches nicely
Her dress was becoming and made her look even more beautiful.
117
paucity
noun: a lack of something
There is a paucity of jobs hring today that require menial skills.
118
vicarious
adjective: felt or undergone as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another
The advent of twitter is a celebrity stalker's dream, as he or she can experience the vicarious thrill of living the life of a famous person.
119
start
verb: to suddenly move in a particular direction
All alone in the masion, Henrietta started when she heard a sound.
120
sanctimonius
adjective: making a show of being pious; holier-than-thou
Even during the quiet sanctity of evening prayer, she held her chin high, a sanctimonious sneer forming on her face as she eyed those who were attending church for the first time.
121
contrite
adjecitve: to be remorseful
Though he stole his little sister's licorice stick with malevolent glee, Chucky soon became contrite when his sister wouldn't stop crying.
122
scintillating
adjective: describes someone who is brilliant and lively
Richard Feynman was renowned for his scintillating lectures.
123
cogent
adjective: clear and persuasive
A cogent argument will change the minds of even the most skeptical audience.
124
raft
noun: a large number of something
125
checkered
adjective: marked by disreputable or unfortunate happenings
One by one, the presidential candidates dropped out of the race, their respective checkered pasts sabotaging their campaigns.
126
preemptive
adjective: done before someone else can do it
Just as Martha was about to take the only cookie left on the table, Noah preemptively swiped it.
127
desecrate
verb: to willfully violate or destroy a sacred place
After desecrating the paraoh's tomb, the archaeologist soon fell victim to a horrible illness.
128
pittance
noun: a small amount (of money)
Vinny's uncle beamed smugly about how he's offered his nephew fifty dollars for his Harvard tuition; even twice the amoung would have been a mere pittance.
129
corroborate
verb: to confirm or lend support to (usually an idea or claim)
Her claim that form populations were falling in Central America was corroborated by locals, who reported that many species of frogs had seemingly vanished overnight.
130
immaterial
adjective: not relevant
The judge found the defendant's comments immaterial to the trial, and summarily dismissed him from the witness stand.
