Direct Hits: Science Flashcards
Catalyst
Any agent that provokes or triggers change.
Caustic
Causing damage; hurting or burning
Crystallize
To give definite form to an idea or plan
Osmosis
The gradual, often unconscious process of ASSIMILATION
Sedentary
Settled and therefore accustomed to sitting or doing little exercise
Virulent
The quality of being bitterly hostile, hateful and antagonistic (esp. language)
Empirical
Guided by practical experience, not theory.
Entomology
The scientific study of insects
Gestate
To conceive and develop in the mind
Cathartic
Purgative, either physically or emotionally, cleansing
Paradigm
A framework or model of thought.
Cupidity
Excessive desire for material wealth; greed; covetousness
Avarice
Excessive desire for material wealth; greed; covetousness
Plethora
A surplus or excess of something
Surfeit
A surplus or excess of something
Glut
A surplus or excess of something
Impoverished
Very poor, lacking basic resources
Indigent
Very poor, lacking basic resources
Destitute
Very poor, lacking basic resources
Opulent
Very rich, having abundant resources
Affluent
Very rich, having abundant resources
Munificent
Very generous
Parsimonious
Excessively cheap with money; stingy
Remunerate
To compensate; to make payment for; to pay a person
Accord
A formal concurrence, agreement or harmony of minds
Enlighten, Edify
To inform, instruct, illuminate, remove darkness and ignorance
Appeasement
The policy of granting concessions to maintain peace
Nullify
To make null; to declare invalid
Pretext
An excuse; an alleged cause
Watershed
Critical point that marks a change of course; a turning point
Despot
A ruler or other person with unlimited power and authority
Autocrat
A ruler or other person with unlimited power and authority
Manifesto
A public declaration of beliefs, policies or intentions
Enfranchise
To endow with the rights of citizenship, esp. the right to vote
Disenfranchise
To deprive of some privilege or right, esp. the right to vote
Coerce
To force to act or think in a certain way by use of pressure, threats, or torture; to compel
Egalitarian
Favoring social equality; believing in a society in which all people have equal political, economic and civil rights
Inquisition
A severe interrogation; a systematic questioning
Ameliorate
To make a situation better
Exacerbate
To make a situation worse
Desiccated
Thoroughly dried out; lifeless; totally arid
Contiguous
Sharing an edge or boundary; touching
Pertinent
Relevant; to the point; clearly illustrative of a major point
Complicity
Association or participation in a wrongful act
Exculpate
To free from guilt or blame
Exonerate
To free from guilt or blame
Indisputable
Not open to question; undeniable; irrefutable
Precedent
An act or instance that is used as an example in dealing with subsequent similar instances
Unprecedented
Without previous example, never known before
Malfeasance
Misconduct or wrongdoing, esp. by a public official; intentionally performing an act that is illegal
Probity
Integrity and uprightness; honesty; high moral standards.
