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Deck 7 Flashcards

1
Q

Quotidian

A

(adjective): daily. Think: QUOTA. The meter maid met her daily QUOTA of parking tickets by her QUOTIDIAN patrolling of the streets.

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2
Q

Apotheosis

A

(noun): a perfect example. Think: A POTENT THESIS. My professor said he gave me only A in the class because my paper was the APOTHEOSIS of a persuasive essay: it had A POTENT THESIS.

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3
Q

Promulgate

A

(verb): to make known. Think: PROMOTE MULLET. The hillbilly hairstylist would often PROMOTE MULLETS by PROMULGATING about them to new clients.

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4
Q

Celerity

A

(noun): quickness. Think: ACCELERATE. After Cee Lo switched to an all-celery diet, he lost 0 pounds and his ability to ACCELERATE increased, as did his CELERITY.

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5
Q

Fitful

A

(adjective): irregular; intermittent. Think: FIT-FULL. Our new baby only sleeps FITFULLY - the night seems FULL of his crying FITS.

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6
Q

Amenable

A

(adjective): willing; cooperative. Think: AMEN-ABLE. After she shouted, “AMEN!” I was able to tell that she was AMENABLE to my plan.

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7
Q

Taciturn

A

(adjective): not talkative. Think: TAKES HIS TURN. If he’s passive and TACITURN at the debate and just politely TAKES HIS TURN when speaking, he’ll never win.

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8
Q

Rarefied

A

(adjective): lofty; reserved only for a select few. Think: RARE FIND. The truffle your pig dug up is a RARE FIND, peasant - you dare not eat such a RAREFIED delicacy - save it for his Majesty.

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9
Q

Encroaching

A

(verb): gradually invading one’s rights or property. Think: ROACHES. My apartment’s ROACHES are ENCROACHING upon my space: they now occupy the kitchen.

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10
Q

Notorious

A

(adjective): famous for being bad. Think: NOTORIOUS B.I.G. The NOTORIOUS B.I.G. got away with calling himself NOTORIOUS since he sold crack as a youth.

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11
Q

Juggernaut

A

(noun): something very powerful. Think: JUGGLER-KNOT. That JUGGLER tied that huge KNOT by juggling six balls of yarn - it’ll be a JUGGERNAUT to untie.

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12
Q

Aegis

A

(noun): protection. Think: EGG US! Go ahead, try to EGG US - our house has the AEGIS of the police, since my dad’s a cop.

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13
Q

Nondescript

A

(adjective): plain. Think: NO DESCRIPTION. The little desert island was so NONDESCRIPT that it had NO DESCRIPTION in our guidebook.

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14
Q

Restive

A

(adjective): restless; fidgety. Think: REST on STOVE. Good luck taking a REST on a STOVE - you’ll feel too RESTIVE to sleep because you’ll worry it will turn on.

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15
Q

Pugnacious

A

(adjective): wanting to fight. Think: PUG NATION. Imagine how PUGNACIOUS a PUG NATION would be - those little dogs definitely would be fighting all the time.

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16
Q

Conniving

A

(verb): secretly plotting to do bad things. Think: CON KNIVES. Mean girls act nice, but don’t be CONNED: they’re CONNIVING to stick KNIVES in your back.

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17
Q

Amortize

A

(verb): to gradually pay off or reduce. Think: A MORTGAGE. Unless you have a ton of money, when you buy a house, you probably AMORTIZE the loan with A MORTGAGE.

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18
Q

Adamant

A

(adjective): stubborn; unyielding. Think: ADAM… DAMN IT! God was ADAMANT that ADAM not return to the Garden of Eden: “I said no, DAMN IT!”

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19
Q

Defunct

A

(adjective): no longer existing. Think: DE-FUNCTION. When I can fly in my dreams, the law of gravity seems to be DEFUNCT, like it has been “DE-FUNCTIONED”.

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20
Q

Sybarite

A

(noun): one devoted to pleasure. Think: SIT at a BAR. If you go SIT at a BAR every night to watch sports and drink beer, you might be a SYBARITE.

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21
Q

Virulent

A

(adjective): infectious; harmful; hostile. Think: VIRUS. The swine flu VIRUS is so VIRULENT that it can kill a previously healthy person.

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22
Q

Obstinate

A

(adjective): stubborn. Think: OBSTACLE IN IT. The OBSTINATE horse behaved as though there was an OBSTACLE to movement IN IT.

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23
Q

Umbrage

A

(noun): offense; annoyance. Think: UMBRELLA RAGE. Someone who takes UMBRAGE at his UMBRELLA probably felt RAGE when it broke during a storm.

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24
Q

Mendicant

A

(noun): a beggar. Think: MEND? I CAN’T. If you tell a MENDICANT to sew up the holes in his clothes, he’d probably say, “MEND? I CAN’T! They’re about to fall apart.”

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25
Cordial
(adjective): affectionate. Think: CORDIAL (noun). The alcohol in the CORDIAL (noun) made me act more CORDIAL (adjective).
26
Sectarian
(adjective): narrow-minded. Think: SECTOR. SECTARIAN views are shallow because they only consider one SECTOR of the whole issue.
27
Cupidity
(noun): greedy desire for. Think: CUPID. After being shot by CUPID'S arrow, Sarah developed such CUPIDITY for her valentine that she called him daily.
28
Repugnant
(adjective): gross. Think: UGLY PUG. Although some people think PUGS' upturned faces and wheezing are cute, many find the breed to be REPUGNANT.
29
Abound
(verb): to be numerous. Think: ABUNDANT. Kangaroos ABOUND in Australia; they're ABUNDANT, bouncing around wherever you look.
30
Turgid
(adjective): swollen. Think: TURKEY IN. After Thanksgiving dinner, my belly was so TURGID that it looked like I had eaten the whole TURKEY.
31
Novitiate
(noun): a beginner. Think: NOVICE INITIATE. The NOVITIATE is a NOVICE frat brother, so they'll INITIATE him by making him run around campus wearing a thong.
32
Quixotic
(adjective): idealistic; impractical. Think: QUICK EXOTIC. It's QUIXOTIC to think that you should earn some QUICK cash by becoming an EXOTIC dancer.
33
Subversive
(adjective): seeking to undermine or disturb. Think: SUBVERSIVE VERSES. The political poet was detained by government officials for her "SUBVERSIVE VERSES."
34
Stolid
(adjective): unemotional. Think: SOLID. The STOLID butler was SOLID and expressionless; he never broke down and cried.
35
Gamboled
(verb): danced around happily; frolicked. Think: GAME BALL. After she scored three goals and led the team to victory, the coach awarded her the GAME BALL and she GAMBOLED all over the place.
36
Puerile
(adjective): childish. Think: PUBERTY. The high school freshman's PUERILE sense of humor was typical of a boy who was going through PUBERTY.
37
Circuitous
(adjective): roundabout; not direct. Think: CIRCUIT-ISH. The crooked cabdriver took a CIRCUITOUS route; his path was CIRCUIT-ISH to increase the fare.
38
Adept
(adjective): very skilled. Think: ADAPT. Mountain lions can ADAPT to almost any climate and environment; they're ADEPT at survival.
39
Prudent
(adjective): wise. Think: PRUDE STUDENT. In high school, PRUDE STUDENTS are PRUDENT, since it's not a great idea to be 6 and pregnant.
40
Unassuming
(adjective): modest. Think: UN-ASSUME. The millionaire's UNASSUMING car definitely didn't make us ASSUME he was wealthy.
41
Upbraided
(verb): criticized severely. Think: UPSIDE BRAID. The hippie UPBRAIDED me so much that I was afraid she was going to slap me UPSIDE the head with her giant BRAID.
42
Gambit
(noun): a move made to try to gain an advantage. Think: GAMBLE IT. When you play chess, sometimes you have to GAMBLE IT and use a GAMBIT by sacrificing a piece for a better position.
43
Pacific
(adjective): soothing. Think: PACIFIER. The infant's PACIFIER had a PACIFIC effect, and she was soon asleep.
44
Prodigious
(adjective): impressively large; extraordinary. Think: PRODIGY. The child PRODIGY could multiply PRODIGIOUS numbers in his head.
45
Imminent
(adjective): about to happen. Think: IN A MOMENT. The evil-looking storm clouds told us a downpour was IMMINENT - it would happen IN A MOMENT.
46
Fortitude
(noun): strength. Think: FORTRESS. The Bulgarian weightlifter's mental FORTITUDE during training gave him a body that looked like a FORTRESS.
47
Stultify
(verb): to make ineffective. Think: STUPID DOLT. If you STULTIFY yourself by punching yourself in the skull, you'll become a STUPID DOLT.
48
Diminutive
(adjective): tiny. Think: DIMINISH U. If I DIMINISH U with my magic wand, you'll become DIMINUTIVE.
49
Gauche
(adjective): awkward. Think: GO DOUCHE. The GAUCHE thing about Summer's Eve commercials is that they're basically telling you to GO DOUCHE.
50
Altruistic
(adjective): unselfish concern for others. Think: ALWAYS TRUE STICK. My wingman is ALTRUISTIC: he's ALWAYS TRUE and STICKS by my side when I hit on chicks, even if he's not interested in any of them.
51
Precocious
(adjective): very talented at a young age. Think: PRE-COACHING. Sadie was PRECOCIOUS at piano PRE-COACHING; she taught herself to play Mozart at the age of two.
52
Insipid
(adjective): bland; dull. Think: IN SIPPY. FYI: if your drinks are served IN SIPPY cups, you're probably a baby - that's why they feed you INSIPID, mushy foods.
53
Grandiose
(adjective): affecting grandness by showing off or exaggerating. Think: GRAND IDEAS. I have a lot of GRAND IDEAS: for example, my GRANDIOSE plan to jump the Grand Canyon with my rocket car.
54
Disputatious
(adjective): inclined to argue. Think: DISPUTE. After being pulled over, the DISPUTATIOUS lawyer unwisely DISPUTED the accuracy of the cop's radar gun.
55
Modicum
(noun): a small amount. Think: MODEST AMOUNT. My pet mouse is cheap to feed because a MODICUM, or MODEST AMOUNT, of food will fill up his little belly.
56
Piebald
(adjective): many-colored; varied. Think: PIES. The horse's coat was PIEBALD, pebbled with blotches of so many colors that it looked like PIES were thrown at it.
57
Otiose
(adjective): useless; lazy. Think: TORTOISE fetch. Playing fetch with this TORTOISE is OTIOSE.
58
Concomitant
(adjective): accompanying, especially in a less important way. Think: CAN COME WITH IT. Drinking too much carries the CONCOMITANT risk of depression that CAN COME WITH IT.
59
Raucous
(adjective): noisy; disorderly. Think: ROCKS US. The Beastie Boys' RAUCOUS track, "Fight For Your Right to Party", ROCKS US.
60
Abashed
(adjective): embarrassed. Think: BASHFUL the dwarf. When Snow White kisses him, BASHFUL gets so ABASHED that he blushes.
61
Whimsical
(adjective): playful; random; fanciful. Think: WHIM. The princess's WHIMSICAL ideas included her sudden WHIM to travel to Antarctica.
62
Cardinal
(adjective): of main importance. Think: CARDINAL bird. You'd think the bright red male CARDINAL (noun) was the most CARDINAL (adjective) bird because of its vivid color.
63
Solipsistic
(adjective): being extremely self-centered. Think: SOLD LIPSTICK. The model whose image SOLD LIPSTICK became SOLIPSISTIC due to all the compliments she received.
64
Titular
(adjective): relating to a title. Think: TITLE. The TITULAR character in Harry Potter is Harry Potter because his name is also the TITLE of the book.
65
Inimitable
(adjective): not capable of being imitated. Think: IN-IMITATE-ABLE. Michelangelo's art is INIMITABLE and IN-IMITATE-ABLE; it has a magic that cannot be reproduced.
66
Dudgeon
(noun): a tantrum caused by being offended. Think: DUNGEON GRUDGE. I was in high DUDGEON after they threw me in the DUNGEON for jaywalking, and I held a GRUDGE.
67
Incorrigible
(adjective): unable to be reformed. Think: IN-CORRECTABLE. Despite his teachers' best efforts to make him sit still, the hyperactive little boy seemed INCORRIGIBLE and IN-CORRECTABLE.
68
Encomium
(noun): praise. Think: IN COMIC-CON. IN COMIC-CON, the entertainment convention, nerds give ENCOMIUM to the latest comic-book movies.
69
Exodus
(noun): the departure of many people. Think: EXIT US. During the Syrian civil war, there was a mass EXODUS of refugees who must have been thinking, "EXIT US!"
70
Milieu
(noun): setting or environment. Think: MY LOO. I prefer to use MY LOO in my own MILIEU - other people's bathrooms are gross!
71
Storied
(adjective): having an interesting/celebrated history. Think: STORIES. Dos Equis' "most interesting man in the world's" STORIED history makes people tell his STORIES.
72
Droll
(adjective): funny. Think: ROLL (with laughter). DROLL humor makes me ROLL with laughter.
73
Bonhomie
(noun): a pleasant and friendly mood. Think: ABUNDANCE of HOMIES. When I have an ABUNDANCE of HOMIES, I have BONHOMIE.
74
Hiatus
(noun): an interruption or break. Think: HYATT. The Hawaiian HYATT ad urged us to take a HIATUS from work to stay at its luxurious hotel for a few days.
75
Deplete
(verb): to use up. Think: DELETE. DEPLETED uranium has had some of its radioactivity DELETED.
76
Perfidy
(noun): treachery; treason. Think: PERFORATED FIDELITY. When I realized my friend spread rumors about me, I felt like he had PERFORATED FIDELITY because of his PERFIDY.
77
Assuage
(verb): to make less severe. Think: MASSAGE. Getting a long MASSAGE will ASSUAGE those sore muscles.
78
Sumptuary
(adjective): made to prevent overindulgence. Think: CONSUMPTION-ARY. CONSUMPTION of harmful things, like cigarettes or alcohol, can be limited with a SUMPTUARY tax.
79
Recidivist
(noun): someone who relapsed into crime. Think: SID's DIVISION. Sid had two sides to his personality: the law-abiding side and the RECIDIVIST.
80
Evinced
(verb): revealed. Think: EVIDENCE. Vince EVINCED the villain by providing EVIDENCE.
81
Despoiled
(verb): stripped of value. Think: SPOILED. Desperate for oil, the U.S. drilled in Alaska and DESPOILED the land, and act which SPOILED it for future generations.
82
Anomaly
(noun): something unusual. Think: ABNORMALLY KNOBBY KNEE. I have an ABNORMALLY KNOBBY KNEE; my doctor tells me it's an ANOMALY.
83
Pariah
(noun): an outcast. Think: MARIAH'S anthem. MARIAH Carey became a PARIAH after butchering the national anthem in front of 80,000 fans.
84
Unconscionable
(adjective): unreasonable; not guided by conscience. Think: UN-CONSCIENCE. It would be UNCONSCIONABLE to leave your two-year-old alone at home - you'd have to have no conscience - an "UN-CONSCIENCE".
85
Panacea
(noun): a cure-all. Think: PAN OF Vitamin C. The hippie advised me that eating a PAN OF vitamin C is a PANACEA for illness.
86
Revanche
(noun): revenge. Think: REVENGE. Motivated by REVENGE, the French monarch ordered her general to take REVANCHE on those who had captured the island.
87
Uniform
(adjective): always the same. Think: Army UNIFORM. Throughout the U.S., the UNIFORM (noun) that Army soldiers wear is UNIFORM (adjective).
88
Husbandry
(noun): careful management. Think: HUSBAND. In the 950s, a woman's HUSBAND usually practiced HUSBANDRY of their finances.
89
Tenuous
(adjective): lacking substance or strength. Think: TENTATIVE. At the debate, the TENTATIVE speaker's argument was unsurprisingly judged to be TENUOUS.
90
Spendthrift
(noun): someone who spends wastefully. Think: SPEND before THRIFT. SPENDTHRIFT means someone for whom SPENDING comes before being THRIFTY.
91
Streamlined
(adjective): simplified; modernized. Think: STREAM LINE. The STREAMLINED shape of a trout lets it swim through even a rushing STREAM in a straight LINE.
92
Illiberal
(adjective): narrow-minded. Think: ILL LIBERAL. Unlike his fellow open-minded Democrats, Jack was so ILLIBERAL that people thought he must be a mentally ILL LIBERAL.
93
Hackneyed
(adjective): trite or overused. Think: HACKED KNEES. The veteran soccer player had HACKED KNEES; his knees were HACKNEYED from overuse.
94
Jingoism
(noun): extreme nationalism, belligerent foreign policy. Think: RINGO-ISM. The British man's JINGOISM went so far as to make him campaign for the Beatles' RINGO Starr to rule the free world.
95
Halcyon
(adjective): happy; peaceful; prosperous. Think: HELL'S SHE ON? In her HALCYON years, people would ask "What the HELL'S SHE ON?" because she was constantly happy.
96
Askew
(adjective): slanted to one side. Think: SKEW. Your picture is ASKEW because the earthquake SKEWED it from hanging evenly.
97
Apposite
(adjective): appropriate. Think: A POSITIVE SITE. Wikipedia is A POSITIVE SITE because it's APPOSITE for all kinds of research.
98
Proximity
(noun): closeness. Think: APPROXIMATELY. APPROXIMATELY means "close to"; PROXIMITY means closeness.
99
Rapacious
(adjective): greedy; predatory; ravenous. Think: RAPES US. The RAPACIOUS new tax law takes so much of our earnings that it effectively RAPES US.
100
Melodramatic
(adjective): overly dramatic. Think: DRAMATIC MELODY. It's MELODRAMATIC to hire a violinist to follow you around and play a DRAMATIC MELODY when you enter a room.

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