Deck 6 Flashcards
Steep
v
- To soak in liquid in order to cleanse, soften, or extract a given property from.
- To infuse or subject thoroughly to.
- To make thoroughly wet; saturate.
Singular
adj
3.
a. Being beyond what is ordinary, especially in being exceptionally good; remarkable: “Dinners with [our two friends] became the evenings we looked forward to with singular pleasure” (David Halberstam).
b. Strange or unusual: “I accordingly obeyed forthwith what I still considered a very singular summons” (Edgar Allan Poe).
Strut
n
- A structural element used to brace or strengthen a framework by resisting stress or compression.
Limpid
adj
- Characterized by transparent clearness; pellucid.
- Free from clouds or haze: a limpid sky.
- Easily intelligible; clear: writes in a limpid style.
- Easily or pleasantly heard; distinct: playing the violin with a limpid tone.
- Flowing or moving gracefully: limpid movements of a dancer.
Wag
n
A humorous or droll person; a wit.
Table
v
To postpone or remove from consideration of (a piece of legislation, a parliamentary motion, for example); shelve.
Stand
n
A group of trees
Scurvy
adj
Contemptible; despicable. “A scurvy knave.”
Anathema
n
- A formal ecclesiastical ban, curse, or excommunication.
- A vehement denunciation; a curse: “the sound of a witch’s anathemas in some unknown tongue” (Nathaniel Hawthorne).
- One that is cursed or damned.
- One that is greatly reviled, loathed, or shunned: “Essentialism—a belief in natural, immutable sex differences—is anathema to postmodernists.”
Tender
v
- To proffer; To offer formally: “tender a letter of resignation.”
- Law To offer (payment or performance) pursuant to an obligation.
Waffle
v
To speak or write equivocally, evasively. To be unable to make a decision, waver.
Asseverate
v
Aver, assert. To declare seriously or positively; affirm.
Cavil
n
To argue or find fault over trivial matters; raise petty objections. Quibble; Carp.
Contumacious
adj
Obstinately disobedient or rebellious; insubordinate.
Descry
v
- To catch sight of (something difficult to discern).
“From the top of the hill I descried a solitary rider.” - To discover by careful observation or scrutiny; detect: “descried a message of hope in her words.”
Exegesis
n
Critical explanation or analysis, especially of a text. Explication.
Celerity
n
Swiftness of action or motion; speed. Alacrity. (Think of “accelerate”)
Fatuous
adj
Foolish or silly, complacently or inanely foolish; especially in a smug or self-satisfied way: “an era of delicious, fatuous optimism shaped by the belief that enough good will on the part of people like ourselves could repair anything” (Shirley Abbott). See Synonyms at foolish.
Diaphanous
adj
adj.
- Sufficiently thin or airy as to be translucent: “a diaphanous gown; diaphanous gauze.”
- Of such fine composition as to be easily damaged or broken; delicate: “diaphanous butterfly wings.”
Nonplussed
adj
- To be at a loss as to what to think, say, or do; bewildered.
“The scientists were completely nonplussed—the apparatus had not acted at all as they had expected.”
Usage problem: the word is frequently used to mean “to make indifferent, bore,” as if the plus part of the word meant “to overcome with excitement.” This usage is still controversial and should probably be avoided.
Pellucid
adj
- Admitting the passage of light; transparent or translucent.
- Transparently clear in style or meaning. Limpid: “pellucid prose.”
Sententious
adj
- Terse and energetic in expression; pithy.
2. Full of or given to using aphorisms, especially in a pompously moralizing manner. Epigrammatic.
Exscind
v
To cut out; excise
Lubricious
adj
1.
a. Full of or displaying sexual desire: “They fell immediately into an orgy of lubricious kissing” (Joseph Heller).
b. Sexually stimulating; salacious: “a book of lubricious photographs.”
2. Having a slippery or smooth quality: “Throughout the empire a lubricious glaze of venality came to coat every governmental surface” (Cullen Murphy).
Peroration
n
- the concluding part of a speech, which recapitulates the principal points.
- a long speech, often flowery and highly rhetorical.
Which of your words means:
To proffer; offer.
Tender
v
Imbroglio
n
a. A difficult, intricate or perplexing political or interpersonal situation; an entanglement.
Which of your words means:
To postpone or remove from consideration of; shelve.
Table
v
Which of your words means:
A structural element used to brace or strengthen a framework
Strut
n
Ossified
adj
Tending to become more rigid, conventional, sterile amd reactionary with age. Literally “to change into bone.”
Which of your words means:
To saturate of completely soak.
Steep
v
Which of your words means:
A group of trees
Stand
n
Which of your words means:
Exceptional, unusual, odd.
Singular
adj
Which of your words means:
Contemptible, despicable.
Scurvy
adj
Which of your words means:
A vehement denunciation; a curse.
One that is cursed or damned.
One that is greatly reviled, loathed, or shunned.
Anathema
n
Which of your words means:
A humorous or droll person; a wit.
Wag
n
Which of your words means:
To speak or write equivocally, evasively. To be unable to make a decision, waver.
Waffle
v
Which of your words means:
Full of or given to using aphorisms, especially in a pompously moralizing manner. Epigrammatic.
Sententious
adj
Which of your words means:
- the concluding part of a speech.
- a long, flowery and highly rhetorical speech.
Peroration
n
Which of your words means:
Characterized by transparent clearness; pellucid.
Limpid
adj