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Deck 5 Flashcards

1
Q

Prowess

A

(noun): exceptional bravery and/or skill. Think: PROWL LIONESS. While on the PROWL, the LIONESS displayed her PROWESS by bringing down a woolly mammoth.

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2
Q

Morose:

A

(adjective): gloomy. Think: NO ROSE. “The Bachelor” contestant was MOROSE because after the ceremony was over she had NO ROSE.

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3
Q

Transitory

A

(adjective): existing only briefly. Think: TRANSIT STORY. I found romance on the subway, but alas, our love was TRANSITORY: it was a public TRANSIT STORY that only lasted until her stop.

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4
Q

Venal

A

(adjective): corrupt or corruptible. Think: VENEREAL disease. Nuns with VENEREAL disease are, most likely, VENAL: they broke their oaths of chastity.

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5
Q

Ignominy

A

(noun): deep disgrace. Think: IGNORED MANY. Joe Paterno IGNORED MANY of the crimes that were being committed at Penn State; his legacy is now one of IGNOMINY.

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6
Q

Flounder

A

(verb): to act clumsily or ineffectively. Think: FLOP UNDER. Bad dancers FLOUNDER (verb) through clubs like flounders (noun) that FLOP UNDER the seat of the boat once they’re caught.

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7
Q

Luminary

A

(noun): one regarded for his brilliant achievements. Think: ILLUMINATE. It would take a LUMINARY like Stephen Hawking to ILLUMINATE quantum physics for me.

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8
Q

Sedentary

A

(adjective): inactive; lazy. Think: SOFA DENT. SEDENTARY people make SOFA DENTS because they sit on the cushions for hours at a time.

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9
Q

Mitigate

A

(verb): to lessen or make less severe. Think: MITT GATE. The thief wore oven MITTS to climb the spiked GATE of the mansion to MITIGATE the pain in his hands.

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10
Q

Dyspeptic

A

(adjective): grumpy. Think: PEPTO-Bismol. This PEPTO-Bismol will prevent indigestion and the resulting DYSPEPTIC mood.

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11
Q

Pepper

A

(verb): to hit rapidly and repeatedly. Think: PEPPER (noun). When I first met my girlfriend’s father, he PEPPERED me with questions so much that I felt as if they were little bits of PEPPER hitting me.

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12
Q

Sophomoric

A

(adjective): immature. Think: SOPHOMORE-ONIC. SOPHOMORES act MORONIC since they’re immature and are more SOPHOMORIC than seniors.

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13
Q

Barbarous

A

(adjective): crude; uncivilized; cruel; violent. Think: BARBARIAN. Are you surprised that the BARBARIAN you’re dating was BARBAROUS enough to try to eat your goldfish?

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14
Q

Legerdemain

A

(noun): sleight of hand; a display of skill. Think: LEDGER’S DOMAIN. Heath LEDGER’s DOMAIN was the silver screen; his acting LEGERDEMAIN captivated audiences.

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15
Q

Usurp

A

(verb): to illegally take by force. Think: U SLURP. I know you’re an anteater, but if you USURP my ant farm and U SLURP up my ants, I’ll be really angry.

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16
Q

Resigned

A

(adjective): reluctantly accepting of a bad situation. Think: RESIGNATION. After being implicated in Watergate, Nixon was RESIGNED and offered his RESIGNATION from office.

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17
Q

Grandstand

A

(verb): to show off. Think: HANDSTAND. If you’re doing a HANDSTAND, it’s probably to GRANDSTAND for an audience.

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18
Q

Daunt

A

(verb): to intimidate or discourage. Think: DON’T! My mean old aunt Mildred would often DAUNT me when I was younger by screaming, “DON’T!” whenever I got too loud.

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19
Q

Onus

A

(noun): burden; obligation. Think: ON US. Since we broke the vase, the ONUS is ON US to pay for it.

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20
Q

Physiological

A

(adjective): related to the body. Think: PHYSICAL. I knew I wasn’t just imagining I was ill because my PHYSIOLOGICAL symptom, a fever of 0, was PHYSICAL.

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21
Q

Loquacious

A

(adjective): very talkative. Think: QUACK QUACK. The LOQUACIOUS duck just wouldn’t shut up: “QUACK QUACK, I’m a duck, QUACK QUACK, blah blah blah.”

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22
Q

Aver

A

(verb): to state confidently; to declare. Think: VERIFY. After I VERIFY that the blood sample from the crime scene matches your DNA, I’ll AVER that you are the killer.

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23
Q

Corroborate

A

(verb): to support with evidence. Think: CO-ROBBER. When robbing a bank, use a CO-ROBBER who will CORROBORATE your story.

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24
Q

Fallible

A

(adjective): capable of making an error. Think: FAIL-ABLE. Jenkins! The rookie agent you picked is FALLIBLE - for him, the mission is extremely FAIL-ABLE.

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25
Ingenious
(adjective): extremely clever. Think: GENIE GENIUS. The GENIE granted me one wish, which I used to wish for unlimited wishes. "You're a GENIUS!" he said. I know, I know.
26
Tempestuous
(adjective): stormy. Think: TEMPERS. Our hot TEMPERS make US have a TEMPESTUOUS relationship.
27
Squelch
(verb): to crush or silence. Think: SQUASH and SQUISH. SQUELCH the ant uprising! SQUASH them! SQUISH them!
28
Frenetic
(adjective): wildly excited or active. Think: FRENZY of ENERGY. Have you ever watched a pug play? It's FRENETIC - like a chubby little FRENZY of ENERGY.
29
Badger
(verb): to annoy or pester. Think: BAD JERK. Good jerks can get laughs, but a BAD JERK will just BADGER you with his attempts at humor.
30
Vacuous
(adjective): stupid. Think: VACUUM. The beauty pageant contestant's answer was so VACUOUS that the judges thought her brain had been VACUUMED out of her head.
31
Fastidious
(adjective): having very picky standards. Think: FAST TO TIDY. My roommate is FASTIDIOUS about cleaning; she gets mad if I am not FAST to TIDY UP the apartment.
32
Lumber
(verb): to move with clumsiness. Think: LUMBER (noun). Frankenstein would LUMBER (verb) around as if his limbs were made of LUMBER (noun).
33
Vernacular
(noun): the way a certain group uses language. Think: VERB KNACK. Once you develop a KNACK for the way we use VERBS, you'll have become familiar with our VERNACULAR.
34
Politesse
(noun): politeness. Think: POLITENESS. French maids are trained to show POLITENESS at all times; their POLITESSE is without equal.
35
Nuance
(noun): a subtle or slight distinction. Think: NEW ANTS. Forgive me for not picking up on the NUANCE of today's experiment - I couldn't tell it had NEW ANTS compared to yesterday's - ants all look the same to me.
36
Substantiate
(verb): to support with proof or evidence. Think: SUBSTANCE. You won't be able to SUBSTANTIATE your claim that I ate your lunch without evidence that has more SUBSTANCE.
37
Machination
(noun): a crafty scheme. Think: MACHINE NATION. I don't trust C-PO and RD; I bet they have MACHINATIONS designed to create a MACHINE NATION in which we are slaves.
38
Apothegm
(noun): a short, wise remark. Think: POCKET THE GEM. "POCKET THE GEM!" is a good APOTHEGM to remember if you're training to be a jewelry store robber.
39
Dupe
(verb): to trick. Think: DOPE. A DOPE is easy to DUPE.
40
Nonplussed
(adjective): bewildered or confused. Think: NO PLUS. The calculator you loaned me made me NONPLUSSED during the test because it had NO PLUS button.
41
Tangible
(adjective): able to be touched. Think: TANGO-BLE If you can dance the TANGO with someone - if she's TANGO-BLE - then she's perforce TANGIBLE.
42
Soporific
(adjective): causing sleep. Think: SLEEPOVER-IFIC. That boring movie is perfect for our slumber party - it's SLEEPOVER-IFIC because it's SOPORIFIC.
43
Importune
(verb): to nag; to persistently insist. Think: "I'M POOR" TUNE. The homeless man at the end of my block always IMPORTUNES us for money with his little "I'M POOR" TUNE.
44
Circumvents
(verb): avoids; gets around something. Think: CIRCUMFERENCE VENTS. She CIRCUMVENTS the guards by crawling around the enemy base's CIRCUMFERENCE through the VENTS.
45
Articulate
(adjective): using clear, expressive language. Think: ARTICLE. Oscar Wilde was so ARTICULATE that his conversational speech could be used as a newspaper ARTICLE without any editing.
46
Winsome
(adjective): charming and pleasing. Think: WIN SOME hearts. She'll probably WIN SOME hearts at the dance due to her WINSOME manner.
47
Patois
(noun): the speech/slang used by a certain group. Think: PATIO SPEECH. PATIO SPEECH during barbecues is more likely to contain PATOIS than speech in the office.
48
Diaphanous
(adjective): so flimsy as to be see-through. Think: DIANA'S FAN. Princess DIANA's delicate rice-paper FAN was DIAPHANOUS.
49
Sedulous
(adjective): careful; hardworking; diligent. Think: SCHEDULE US. Our SEDULOUS hairstylist is always able to SCHEDULE US since she's so efficient.
50
Primordial
(adjective): original; existing since the beginning. Think: PRIMARY ORDER. The Big Bang is PRIMORDIAL because it has the PRIMARY position in the ORDER of events.
51
Circumspect
(adjective): cautious. Think: CIRCLE INSPECT. When you rent a car, walk in a CIRCLE to INSPECT it for dents; if you're not CIRCUMSPECT now, they may charge you later.
52
Divisive
(adjective): creating disunity. Think: DIVIDE. Yoko Ono had a DIVISIVE effect on The Beatles, DIVIDING the group into two parts.
53
Schadenfreude
(noun): enjoyment from others' troubles. Think: SHADY FREUD. If your psychologist giggles about your divorce he has SCHADENFREUDE and is a SHADY FREUD.
54
Embroiled
(verb): in a difficult situation. Think: ON BROIL. I was EMBROILED in a dangerous situation when I got locked in an oven set on "BROIL".
55
Reductive
(adjective): related to making something smaller or simpler. Think: REDUCE. REDUCTIVE Spark Notes REDUCE brilliant works of literature into basic summaries.
56
Ingenuous
(adjective): completely sincere; naive. Think: GENIUS WITHOUT THE "I" IS NO GENIUS AT ALL. The young actress, being an innocent INGENUE, was too INGENUOUS to realize the director was trying to seduce her.
57
Totalitarian
(adjective): relating to a government with total power. Think: TOTAL power. Our TOTALITARIAN dictator uses his TOTAL power to make us eat TOTAL cereal daily - he's a control freak.
58
Idiosyncrasy
(noun): a weird trait. Think: 'N SYNC-CRACY. I might seem idiotic to suggest an 'N SYNC-CRACY where 'N SYNC rules our nation, but it's just my IDIOSYNCRASY.
59
Penchant
(noun): a liking for something. Think: PENDANT ENCHANT. If a girl wears a low hanging PENDANT to ENCHANT the boys, they'll soon have a PENCHANT for her.
60
Composure
(noun): calmness. Think: COMPOSER'S CALM POSE. Even though he was performing his music for kings and queens, the composer's CALM POSE showed his COMPOSURE.
61
Sophistry
(noun): deceptive reasoning. Think: SOPHISTICATED TRICKERY. Sophocles' SOPHISTRY was so SOPHISTICATED that his TRICKERY made his character Oedipus kill his dad and marry his mom.
62
Naysayer
(noun): one who denies, opposes, or refuses something. Think: NAY SAYER. Of course the NAYSAYER was the only one to SAY "NAY" to my plan.
63
Novel
(adjective): strikingly new. Think: NOVICE. When I was an internet NOVICE, the idea of email was NOVEL to me.
64
Aseptic
(adjective): sterile; extremely clean. Think: ANTISEPTIC. Purell, an ANTISEPTIC, renders germs harmless and makes your hands ASEPTIC.
65
Macabre
(adjective): gruesome; horrible. Think: MASSACRE. The MASSACRE of the tourists by jungle cannibals was truly MACABRE.
66
Magisterial
(adjective): having strong authority; kingly. Think: MAJESTY. If people are greeting you by saying "Your MAJESTY", you're probably looking MAGISTERIAL - wear that outfit again!
67
Timorous
(adjective): fearful. Think: TIMID OF US. Tim felt TIMID around US since he was TIMOROUS.
68
Alleviate
(verb): to soothe or lessen the severity of. Think: ALEVE. Allison's headache was so bad that she took four ALEVE pills to ALLEVIATE the pain.
69
Surpassing
(adjective): really, really great. Think: SUPER PASS. If you're SUPER at running, you'll PASS everyone due to your SURPASSING speed.
70
Reprobate
(adjective): evil. Think: RE-PROBED IT. The aliens who gave Cartman an anal probe on "South Park" would be even more REPROBATE if they RE-PROBED IT.
71
Perverse
(adjective): bad; wrong; corrupt. Think: PERVERTS. PERVERTS like peeping toms are PERVERSE; they should be locked up.
72
Scofflaw
(noun): a contemptuous law-breaker. Think: SCOFF at the LAW. A SCOFFLAW will SCOFF at the LAW he just broke since he has no respect for it.
73
Raconteur
(noun): a good storyteller. Think: RECOUNT. Jack White named one of his bands The RACONTEURS because they were so good at RECOUNTING stories via song.
74
Retrospection
(noun): the act of thinking about the past. Think: RETRO. RETROSPECTION about the 980s is a RETRO-INSPECTION that can lead to wearing neon clothes and leg warmers.
75
Refracted
(verb): distorted or changed from an initial direction. Think: REFLECTED FRACTURED. The prism REFRACTED the white light and REFLECTED it, FRACTURED, into a rainbow of colors.
76
Voluminous
(adjective): large or numerous. Think: VOLUMES. I gave up on reading her diary after realizing how VOLUMINOUS it was - it had 8 VOLUMES!
77
Automaton
(noun): one who acts in a robotic way. Think: AUTOMATION. Working on an assembly line where AUTOMATION has replaced creativity can make you feel like an AUTOMATON.
78
Myopic
(adjective): shortsighted. Think: MY OLD PIC. Putting MY OLD PIC on Match.com was MYOPIC; in person, people said I was older than they'd thought I'd be.
79
Clemency
(noun): mercy. Think: CLEMENS MERCY. The pitcher Roger CLEMENS was shown MERCY by the jury and found not guilty - an act of CLEMENCY, since he was accused of taking steroids.
80
Stratagem
(noun): a clever scheme. Think: STRATEGY GEM. The general's battlefield STRATEGY was such a GEM that most historians call it a STRATAGEM.
81
Conflate
(verb): to confuse. Think: CON INFLATED. The CON artist INFLATED the value of the racehorse by grooming it, making me CONFLATE sleek appearance with speed.
82
Voracious
(adjective): having a huge appetite. Think: CARNIVORE ATE US. The CARNIVORE ATE US because of its VORACIOUS appetite.
83
Milquetoast
(noun): a timid person. Think: MILHOUSE / MILKY TOAST. MILHOUSE is a MILQUETOAST - he's about as tough as a piece of soggy, milky toast, since Bart Simpson bosses him around.
84
Statuesque
(adjective): attractively tall. Think: STATUE ESQUIRE. I wanted to make a STATUE of the Esquire model because she was so STATUESQUE.
85
Acidulous
(adjective): somewhat harsh. Think: ACID-ISH. I like Sour Patch Kids because their ACIDULOUS taste is ACID-ISH without being too painful.
86
Bludgeon
(verb): to hit forcefully. Think: BLUDGERS. In Quidditch, the BLUDGERS are ten-inch, black, iron balls that fly around and sometimes BLUDGEON players.
87
Eschew
(verb): to avoid. Think: AH-CHOO. ESCHEW people who say "AH-CHOO!" unless you want to catch their colds.
88
Turbid
(adjective): stirred up and made unclear or muddy. Think: TAR BED. The lake became TURBID when storms disturbed particles from the TAR BED underneath its waters.
89
Ragamuffin
(noun): a dirty, poor person or child. Think: RAGS on MUFFIN. The RAGS on your little MUFFIN make him look like a RAGAMUFFIN - shop at Baby Gap next time.
90
Blase
(adjective): apathetic; unconcerned. Think: BLAH SAY. I'm a rock star, so I'm BLASE and "BLAH BLAH BLAH" is all I SAY even when blazingly hot girls try to talk to me.
91
Pander:
(verb): to appeal to someone's desire for selfish reasons. Think: PANDA logo. The American company that used a PANDA as its logo was accused of PANDERING to the Chinese market.
92
Recrudescent
(adjective): reactivating. Think: RECRUITS SENT. The conflict in Afghanistan must be RECRUDESCENT since more RECRUITS are SENT there daily.
93
Sacrosanct
(adjective): holy. Think: SACRED SANCTUARY. The temple was a SACRED SANCTUARY and was declared SACROSANCT to protect it from real estate developers.
94
Vigilant
(adjective): watchful; alert. Think: VIGILANTE. If you want some street justice, hire a VIGILANTE - they are VIGILANT by nature.
95
Adulation
(noun): excessive admiration. Think: A DULL ADORATION. ADULATION is A DULL ADORATION because it can get boring when someone is too into you.
96
Foment
(verb): to encourage the growth of. Think: FORM IT! In Star Wars, Princess Leia FOMENTED the rebel group by telling the rebels to "FORM IT!"
97
Sardonic
(adjective): mocking (in a mean way). Think: SARCASTIC SARDINES. When the seniors saw I ate sardines for lunch every day, they made SARDONIC, SARCASTIC comments.
98
Sojourn
(noun): a temporary stay. Think: JOURNEY. If you JOURNEY somewhere, it's probably for a SOJOURN unless you bought a one-way ticket.
99
Terse
(adjective): brief and abrupt. Think: TERSE VERSE. Haikus are VERSES / That are as TERSE as the lives / Of gentle fruit flies.
100
Synergy
(noun): combined action that produces mutually helpful results. Think: 'N SYNC ENERGY. By forming a boy band and using SYNERGY, 'N SYNC created more ENERGY than they would had they all gone solo.

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