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Deck 9 Flashcards

1
Q

Vex

A

(verb): to annoy. Think: HEX. In Harry Potter, casting a HEX, or spell designed to cause pain, on someone will definitely VEX him.

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2
Q

Puffery

A

(noun): hype; exaggerated promotion. Think: PUFFED UP. My manager’s PUFFERY made me feel PUFFED up with pride as I began the press conference.

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3
Q

Wizened

A

(adjective): shrunken and wrinkled, usually due to age. Think: WIZARD. WIZARDS like Gandalf and Dumbledore are usually WIZENED since they’re really old.

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4
Q

Adroit

A

(adjective): skillful. Think: A DROID. A DROID is an ADROIT cell phone since it can do so much.

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5
Q

Partisan

A

(adjective): biased toward one side. Think: PARTY’S SON. The chairman of the Democratic PARTY’S SON was understandably PARTISAN about politics.

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6
Q

Interloper

A

(noun): one who intrudes. Think: INTERRUPT ELOPE. The INTERLOPER INTERRUPTED them from ELOPING when the priest said, “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

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7
Q

Tumid

A

(adjective): swollen. Think: TUMOR. The cancer patient’s large TUMOR caused his abdomen to be TUMID.

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8
Q

Verbose

A

(adjective): wordy. Think: VERB BOSS. They call me a VERB BOSS since I am VERBOSE and know a zillion different words.

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9
Q

Prosaic

A

(adjective): dull or boring. Think: PROS SAY ICK. I was going to watch the new Adam Sandler movie, but the movie critic PROS SAY, “ICK - the film is PROSAIC”.

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10
Q

Eradicate

A

(verb): to wipe out. Think: RADIATE. You can RADIATE food to ERADICATE the bacteria in it.

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11
Q

Platitude

A

(noun): an overused expression. Think: BLAH ATTITUDE. Dude, she’s giving you that BLAH ATTITUDE cause your pickup line was a PLATITUDE.

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12
Q

Abridge

A

(verb): to shorten. Think: A BRIDGE. A BRIDGE would ABRIDGE my commute, which involves driving around the canyon.

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13
Q

Pusillanimous

A

(adjective): cowardly. Think: PUSSYCAT. The PUSSYCAT is an animal that is PUSILLANIMOUS when scared - hence the expression “scaredy-cat”.

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14
Q

Punctilious

A

(adjective): marked by following the rules strictly. Think: PUNCTUAL. The teacher’s pet was both PUNCTILIOUS and PUNCTUAL, but most wanted to punch him.

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15
Q

Paroxysm:

A

(noun): an attack, spasm, or outburst. Think: PARADOX SPASM. If you drink ocean water, you’ll have a PAROXYSM - it’s a PARADOX that it’s water but it causes SPASMS if you swallow it.

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16
Q

Repudiate

A

(verb): to refuse to accept; to reject. Think: REFUSE POO I ATE. If I ate shit, my stomach would REFUSE the POO I ATE and REPUDIATE it by vomiting uncontrollably.

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17
Q

Abeyance

A

(noun): temporary inactivity; suspension. Think: “OBEY” ENDS. When our lieutenant’s command to OBEY ENDS, our work plans are held in ABEYANCE because we’re lazy.

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18
Q

Morass

A

(noun): a situation that makes you stuck. Think: MOLASSES. Don’t tailgate a MOLASSES truck - if you run into it and it spills on you, you’ll be in a MORASS.

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19
Q

Estranged

A

(verb): separated in a negative way. Think: STRANGER. Gotye’s ESTRANGED girlfriend cut him out and treated him like a STRANGER and it felt so rough.

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20
Q

Painstaking

A

(adjective): very careful. Think: TAKING PAINS. TAKING PAINS to not infect the patient means being PAINSTAKING when you wash your hands before surgery.

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21
Q

Pathos

A

(noun): a quality that evokes feelings of sadness or pity. Think: SYMPATHY OHHHS. Your painting of a starving puppy has so much PATHOS that it always gets SYMPATHY “OHHHS” from viewers.

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22
Q

Picayune

A

(adjective): unimportant; small-minded. Think: PICKY ONE. The PICAYUNE bridezilla was quite the PICKY ONE, worrying about every single detail of her wedding.

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23
Q

Desecrate

A

(verb): to violate something sacred. Think: DE-SACRED. If you peed on an altar, you would DESECRATE it, or “DE-SACRED” it - it would no longer be sacred.

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24
Q

Provincial

A

(adjective): narrow-minded. Think: PROVINCE. If you never leave your Canadian PROVINCE, your worldview will probably be somewhat PROVINCIAL.

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25
Pragmatic
(adjective): practical. Think: PRACTICAL AUTOMATIC. To be PRACTICAL, buy an AUTOMATIC car instead of a stick shift - it's more PRAGMATIC for city driving.
26
Affable
(adjective): friendly. Think: LAUGHABLE GIRAFFE. Since they want tourists to feed them, zoo GIRAFFES are so AFFABLE that it's LAUGHABLE.
27
Gaudy
(adjective): flashy in a tasteless way. Think: GAWD UGLY. The rapper's inch-thick gold chain was so GAUDY that even his fans said, "GAWD that's UGLY!"
28
Synoptic
(adjective): giving a summary. Think: SYNOPSIS. The SYNOPTIC nature of Spark Notes provides a SYNOPSIS of a novel's plot at the expense of its beauty.
29
Scintillating
(adjective): sparkling; brilliant. Think: SQUINT. Her sequined shirt was so SCINTILLATING that I had to SQUINT to see it.
30
Idyllic
(adjective): pleasingly, naturally simple. Think: IDEAL. The IDYLLIC forest grove, with its sunbeams, babbling brook, and butterflies, seemed an IDEAL campsite.
31
Juvenescence
(noun): the state of being youthful or growing young. Think: JUVENILE ADOLESCENT. Creating JUVENESCENCE by partying in Vegas for his 0th birthday made the man feel like a JUVENILE ADOLESCENT again.
32
Farce
(noun): a comical, unrealistic, mocking display or show. Think: FARTS. I know your play is a FARCE because of how many times the characters FART.
33
Renowned
(adjective): famous in a good way. Think: RE-KNOWN. RENOWNED celebrities are often KNOWN in their era then RE-KNOWN on reality T.V. shows several years later.
34
Equivocal
(adjective): intentionally unclear. Think: EQUALLY VOCAL. The EQUIVOCAL politician was EQUALLY VOCAL about both sides of the issue.
35
Magnate
(noun): a powerful or influential person. Think: chick MAGNET. You'd be a chick MAGNET, too, if you were an oil MAGNATE like me.
36
Propitious
(adjective): favorable; promising. Think: PROP IT UP. In "A Charlie Brown Christmas", Linus thought the little tree was PROPITIOUS, so he decided to PROP IT UP.
37
Vitiate
(verb): to impair or degrade. Think: WISH YOU ATE. If you eat Taco Bell, it will VITIATE your stomach and make you WISH YOU ATE something else.
38
Bucolic
(adjective): rustic; rural. Think: BLUE COLLAR. I'm just a BUCOLIC broccoli farmer - a BLUE COLLAR worker - I don't understand what those suits are talking about!
39
Workmanlike
(adjective): good but not great. Think: WORKMAN's DESIGN. A WORKMAN will produce a WORKMANLIKE house design, but hire an architect if you want originality.
40
Impetuous
(adjective): impulsive; spontaneous. Think: IMPATIENT US. IMPATIENT people like US make IMPETUOUS decisions like betting on horses with cool names without researching them first.
41
Didactic
(adjective): designed to teach. Think: DICTIONARY TACTIC. The definitions in a DICTIONARY use the TACTIC of explaining words clearly in order to be DIDACTIC.
42
Jocose
(adjective): given to joking. Think: JOKE COACH. It was no surprise that the JOCOSE high school student grew up to be a JOKE COACH.
43
Mores
(noun): customary rules and standards. Think: MORALS. Our society's MORES include MORALS like helping others who are less fortunate.
44
Devoid
(adjective): completely lacking. Think: THE VOID. THE VOID of deep space is DEVOID of air, warmth, and life.
45
Besmirch
(verb): to damage the reputation of. Think: SMEAR. SMEARING a scarlet letter on her forehead to show the village she committed adultery will BESMIRCH her reputation.
46
Unruly
(adjective): difficult to discipline or manage. Think: UN-RULE-ABLE. My two-year-old is UNRULY; he is UN-RULE-ABLE and says "No!" to me every time I tell him to do something.
47
Abstruse
(adjective): hard to comprehend. Think: ABSTRACT and CONFUSING. The ABSTRACT strudel directions will CONFUSE the new cook because they are ABSTRUSE.
48
Refulgent
(adjective): brightly shining. Think: REFUELS IT. The campfire gets REFULGENT after he REFUELS IT.
49
Inundated
(adjective): flooded. Think: NUNS DATE. After the church allowed NUNS to DATE, they INUNDATED Match.com.
50
Debilitate
(verb): to weaken. Think: DECREASE ABILITY. Cancer will often DEBILITATE its victims and can DECREASE their ABILITY to be active.
51
Miserly
(adjective): stingy or cheap with money. Think: MISERABLE Scrooge. Scrooge was MISERABLE at making friends because he was too MISERLY to ever chip in for the dinner tab.
52
Sequacious
(adjective): something that imitates another's idea. Think: SEQUEL. Your movie is so SEQUACIOUS of mine that it feels like a SEQUEL.
53
Expatriate
(noun): one who has moved to a foreign country. Think: EX-PATRIOT. We said our EXPATRIATE friend was an anti-American EX-PATRIOT since he moved to France.
54
Extirpate
(verb): to get rid of completely. Think: EXTERMINATE. If you have pests in your house that you want to EXTIRPATE, call someone who will EXTERMINATE them.
55
Platonic
(adjective): not related to romance or sex. Think: PLATO DATE. If you only talk to your date about the philosopher PLATO, you'll end up as her PLATONIC friend.
56
Pretext
(noun): a fake excuse. Think: PEE TEXT. She pretends to have to PEE and leaves on the PRETEXT of using the restroom so she can TEXT without getting caught.
57
Perspicacious
(adjective): sharp; clever. Think: PERSPECTIVE for the ACES. A PERSPICACIOUS poker player uses her clear PERSPECTIVE to know who has the ACES.
58
Audacious
(adjective): fearlessly bold; arrogantly bold. Think: AWED US. Walking up to Obama and swiping his pen as he was about to sign the bill was so AUDACIOUS that it AWED US.
59
Finicky
(adjective): difficult to please. Think: NIT-PICKY. The princess was NIT-PICKY - she was so FINICKY that she refused to sleep on the mattress with a pea under it.
60
Surreptitious
(adjective): sneaky or stealthy. Think: REPTILES. REPTILES like snakes are good at camouflage because they're SURREPTITIOUS.
61
Hapless
(adjective): unlucky. Think: HAPPY LESS. The HAPLESS are often HAPPY LESS because of their rotten luck.
62
Predilection
(noun): a preference. Think: PREDICTED DIRECTION. Google PREDICTED the DIRECTION of my search when I typed "how to find" by showing "how to find love", because it knows people have a PREDILECTION to seek romance.
63
Impromptu
(adjective): without preparation. Think: IMPROVISE. If you forget your lines, I'm not going to prompt you, so just IMPROVISE and make some IMPROMPTU remarks.
64
Covert
(adjective): not openly shown. Think: COVERED. The CIA agent was on a COVERT mission, so he COVERED his true identity.
65
Estimable
(adjective): worthy. Think: ESTEEM-able. If someone is ESTIMABLE they are "ESTEEM-ABLE", i.e., they're deserving of your positive regard.
66
Pluck
(noun): courage; spirit. Think: PLUCK a feather. You showed PLUCK by attempting to PLUCK a feather from a live ostrich; too bad it decided to peck you in the eye.
67
Impassive
(adjective): unemotional. Think: I'M PASSIVE. I'M PASSIVE, and I remained IMPASSIVE so the bully who stole my Dippin' Dots wouldn't hit me.
68
Apocryphal
(adjective): of doubtful truthfulness. Think: APOCALYPSE predictions. The prediction that the APOCALYPSE would happen in 0 turned out to be APOCRYPHAL.
69
Acrid
(adjective): bitter and unpleasant. Think: ACID. Lemon juice tastes ACRID because it contains a lot of citric ACID.
70
Dispatch
(noun): speed; efficiency. Think: DISPATCHER. If you want a job as a DISPATCHER - using the radio to direct police - you'd better have DISPATCH.
71
Nepotism
(noun): unfairly hiring family members. Think: NEPHEW FAVORITISM. They said I practiced NEPHEW FAVORITISM and accused me of NEPOTISM when I promoted my -year-old nephew to vice president of the company.
72
Slipshod
(adjective): careless; sloppy. Think: SLIP SHODDY. I SLIP when I walk on your SHODDY living room floor because its construction is really SLIPSHOD.
73
Vaunted
(adjective): widely praised. Think: VAULTED well. The gymnast VAULTED so well that she was VAUNTED by the judges.
74
Demotic
(adjective): popular; common. Think: DEMOCRATIC. Obama uses DEMOTIC language in his speeches to seem more DEMOCRATIC.
75
Malleable
(adjective): able to be shaped. Think: MALLET-ABLE. -karat gold is so MALLEABLE that you can dent it with a wooden hammer - it's "MALLET-ABLE."
76
Cohesive
(adjective): holding together well. Think: ADHESIVE. A COHESIVE argument holds together even when attacked - as if it's strengthened by an ADHESIVE.
77
Torpid
(adjective): sluggish. Think: TAR PIT. Once I walked into the sticky TAR PIT, my pace became TORPID.
78
Conversant
(adjective): familiar with. Think: CONVERSE IT. If you're CONVERSANT with something, you can CONVERSE about it intelligently.
79
Vainglorious
(adjective): boastful. Think: VAIN. The evil queen in Snow White is VAINGLORIOUS - because she's VAIN and thinks she's GLORIOUS.
80
Wry
(adjective): cleverly and/or ironically humorous. Think: PB&J on RYE. Surprising me by serving a PB&J sandwich on RYE bread is a good example of my mother's WRY humor.
81
Parody
(noun): a mocking or satirical imitation. Think: PARROT-Y. Pro tip: a good way to make fun of someone is to repeat what he just said in a squawky PARROT-Y voice, to PARODY him.
82
Antedate
(verb): to come before. Think: AUNTIE DATE. Chances are that your AUNTIE has a birth DATE that ANTEDATES yours.
83
Obeisance
(noun): a gesture to show respect. Think: OBEY STANCE. When the natives bowed to the conqueror in OBEISANCE, it was like an "OBEY STANCE".
84
Condign
(adjective): deserved; appropriate. Think: CAN DIG. I CAN DIG the murderer's conviction because it was CONDIGN.
85
Aggrandized
(verb): made greater; enhanced. Think: GRAND-SIZED. I AGGRANDIZED my social status by throwing a lavish party - it gave me A GRAND-SIZED reputation.
86
Flummoxed
(adjective): confused. Think: FLUME OX. At the water park, I was completely FLUMMOXED when, in the FLUME ride, I saw an OX swimming along.
87
Doggedness
(noun): stubborn determination. Think: DOG-NESS. The fighter's DOGGEDNESS, even after he was knocked down, was like that of a fearless BULLDOG.
88
Demur
(verb): to object. Think: MURMUR. THE MURMUR from the class suggests they DEMUR to my idea that they do more homework.
89
Homogeneous
(adjective): having the same composition throughout. Think: HOMOGENIZED milk. Milk is HOMOGENIZED to mix in the cream and make a HOMOGENEOUS liquid.
90
Subvert
(verb): to weaken or ruin. Think: SUB HURT. Captain - the torpedo from that SUB HURT our ship and SUBVERTED our morale.
91
Ennui
(noun): dissatisfaction resulting from boredom. Think: ENNUI THERE YET? Take a seven-year-old on a long car ride, and you'll hear the ENNUI in his voice when he repeatedly asks, "ENNUI THERE YET?"
92
Bravado
(noun): a false show of bravery; swagger. Think: BRAVE AVOCADO. Though its trash-talking seemed BRAVE, the AVOCADO and its BRAVADO didn't scare me, since I knew it was just a piece of fruit.
93
Cumbersome
(adjective): awkward due to large size. Think: CUCUMBER. It felt CUMBERSOME to walk down the beach with a gigantic CUCUMBER down the front of my Speedo.
94
Diffident
(adjective): timid. Think: DIFFICULT DENTURES. I'm DIFFIDENT when in public because I'm self-conscious about how weird my DIFFICULT DENTURES look.
95
Implicit
(adjective): suggested but not directly expressed. Think: IMPLIED. It became IMPLICIT that the evening was over when my date IMPLIED that if she didn't leave now she would be too tired to work the next day.
96
Pristine
(adjective): pure. Think: LISTERINE. LISTERINE mouthwash tastes bad but it kills bacteria and makes your mouth PRISTINE.
97
Denigrate
(verb): to attack the reputation of or to put down. Think: DENY I'M GREAT. If you DENY I'm GREAT, you DENIGRATE me.
98
Sovereign
(adjective): independent. Think: REIGN. If you're SOVEREIGN, you REIGN over your world and no one else does.
99
Perennial
(adjective): constant; persistent; recurring. Think: PER ANNUAL. PER the ANNUAL tradition, it's time to start the PERENNIAL search for the next American Idol.
100
Plaintive
(adjective): melancholy. Think: COMPLAINT. When I hear the PLAINTIVE cry of a seagull, it always sounds like a COMPLAINT about the bird's woes or travails.

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