E Flashcards
Ebullient
Adj
Exhilarated, full of enthusiasm and high spirit:
The ebullient child exhausted the baby-sitter, who lacked the energy to keep up.
Synonym: ardent; avid; zestful
Eclectic
Adj
Selecting from or made up from a variety of sources:
Budapest’s architecture is an eclectic mix of eastern and western styles.
Synonym: broad; catholic; selective
Edify
Verb
To instruct morally and spiritually:
The guru was paid to edify the actress in the ways of Buddhism.
Synonym: educate; enlighten; guide; teach
Efficacy
Noun
Effectiveness:
The efficacy of penicillin was unsurpassed when it was first introduced completely eliminating almost all bacterial infections.
Synonym: dynamism; force; power; strength
Effigy
Noun
Stuffed doll; likeness of a person:
In England, effigies of the historic rebel guy Fawkes are burned to celebrate his capture.
Synonym: dummy; figure; image
Effrontery
Noun
Impudent boldness; audacity:
The receptionist had the effrontery to laugh out loud when the CEO tripped over a computer wire and fell flat on his face.
Synonym: brashness; gall; nerve
Elegy
Noun
A sorrowful poem or speech:
Though Thomas gray’e elegy is about death and loss, it urges its readers to endure this life, and to trust in spirituality.
Synonym: dirge; lament
Eloquent
Adj
Persuasive and moving, especially in speech
Embellish
Verb
To add ornamental or fictitious details
Emulate
Verb
To copy or try to equal or excel
Encomium
Noun
Warm praise:
Georgia’s “Encomium to Helen” was written as a tribute to Helen of Troy.
Synonym: eulogy; citation
Endemic
Adj
Belonging to a particular area; inherent:
The health department determined that the outbreak was endemic to the small village, so it quarantined the inhabitants before the virus could spread.
Synonym: indigenous; local; native
Enervate
Verb
To reduce in strength:
Holly enervated Ronda in the first round enough to knock her out in second round.
Synonym: debilitate; enfeeble; abate; attenuate
Engender
Verb
To produce, cause, or bring about:
His fear and hatred of clowns was engendered when he witnessed a bank robbery carried out by men wearing clown suits and make-up.
Synonym: proliferate; generate
Enigma
Noun
A puzzle, a mystery:
Speaking in riddles and dressed in old robes, the artist gained a reputation as something of an enigma.
Synonym: conundrum; perplexity
Enumerate
Verb
To count, list, itemize:
Before making his decision, Jacob asked the waiter to enumerate the different varieties of ice cream that the restaurant carried.
Synonym: catalog; index; tabulate
Ephemeral
Adj
Lasting a short time:
The lives of mayflies seem ephemeral to us, since the flies’ average life span is a matter of hours.
Synonym: evanescent; fleeting; momentary
Epicure
Noun
Person with refined taste in food and wine:
Lisa is an epicure who always throws the most splendid dinner parties.
Synonym: Bon vivant; connoisseur; gourmet
Equivocate
Verb
To use expression of double meaning in order to mislead:
When faced with criticism of his policies, the political equivocated and left all parties thinking he agreed with them.
Synonym: hedge; waffle
Erratic
Adj
Wandering and unpredictable:
The plot seemed predictable until it suddenly took a series of erratic turns that surprised the audience.
Synonym: capricious; inconstant; irresolute
Ersatz
Adj
Fake; artificial:
Edda, a fashion maven, knew instantly that her friend’s Kate Spade bag was really an ersatz version purchased on the street.
Synonym: false; imitation
Erudite
Adj
Learned, scholarly, bookish:
The annual meeting of philosophy professors was a gathering of the most erudite, well published individuals in the field.
Synonym: wise
Eschew
Verb
To shun, to avoid (as something wrong or distasteful):
The filmmaker eschewed artificial light for her actors, resulting in a stark movie style.
Synonym: elude; escape
Esoteric
Adj
Known or understood only by a few:
Only a handful of experts are knowledgable about the esoteric world of particle physics.
Synonym: abstruse; arcane
Estimable
Adj
Admirable:
Most people consider it estimable that mother Teresa spend her life helping the poor of India.
Synonym: laudable
Ethos
Noun
Belief or character of a group:
It is the Boy Scouts’ ethos that one should always be prepared.
Synonym: culture; ethic
Eulogy
Noun
Speech in praise of someone
Synonym: encomium; elegy; panegyrics
Euphemism
Noun
Use of an inoffensive word or phrase in place of a more distasteful one:
The funeral director preferred to use the euphemism ‘sleeping’ instead of the word ‘dead’.
Euphony
Noun
Pleasant, harmonious sound:
To their loving parents, the children’s orchestra performance sounded like euphony, although others would’ve probably called it a cacophony.
Synonym: harmony; melody
Exacerbate
Verb
To make worse:
Synonym: aggravate; annoy
Exculpate
Verb
To clear from blame, to prove innocent:
The legal system is intended to convict those who are guilty and exculpate those who are innocent.
Synonym: absolve; exonerate; vindicate
Exigent
Adj
Urgent; requiring immediate action:
The patient was losing blood so rapidly that it was exigency to stop the source of the bleeding.
Synonym: critical; imperative; needed
Exonerate
Verb
To clear from blame
Explicit
Adj
Clearly stated or shown; forthright in expression
Synonym: candid; unequivocal
Exponent
Noun
One who champions or advocates:
The Vice President was an enthusiastic exponent of computer technology.
Synonym: supporter
Expurgate
Verb
To censor:
Government propagandists expurgated all negative references to the dictator from the film.
Synonym: cut
Enfeeble
Verb
Make weak or feeble:
Trade unions are in an enfeebled state.
Synonym: weaken; debilitate
Evocative
Adj
Bringing strong images, memories, or feelings to mind:
The purpose of the evocative ad is to motivate people to fly home for holidays.
Synonym: reminiscent; redolent
Encroachment
Noun
Intrusion on a person’s territory, right etc:
Minor encroachments on our individual liberties.
Equivocal
Adj
open to more than one interpretation; ambiguous.
“the equivocal nature of her remarks”
synonyms: ambiguous, indefinite, noncommittal, vague, imprecise, inexact, inexplicit
Extemporaneous
Adj
Spoken or done without preparation:
An extemporaneous speech
Egalitarian
Adj
Believing in the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities:
A fairer, more egalitarian society is a goal that’s constantly being challenged.
Espousal
Noun
An act of adopting or supporting a cause, belief, or a way of life:
He dedicated his life to his espousal of the leftist cause.
Elation
Noun
Great happiness and exhilaration:
Angela’s elation at regaining quality of life was short lived.
Synonym: euphoria, ecstasy.
Envisage
Verb
Contemplate or conceive of as a possibility or a desirable future event:
What level of profit do you envisage?
Synonym: envision
设想
