Emerson Vocab Flashcards
firmament
n. the heavens or the sky, esp. when regarded as a tangible thing
sage
n. a profoundly wise man, esp. one who features in ancient history or legend
bard
n. a poet, traditionally one reciting epics and associated with a particular oral tradition.
piquancy
n. a pleasantly sharp and appetizing flavor
conciliate
v.stop (someone) from being angry or discontented; placate; pacify
phlegmatic
adj. having an unemotional and stolidly calm disposition
capitulate
v. cease to resist an opponent or an unwelcome demand; surrender
éclat
n. brilliant display or effect
Lethe
n. a river in Hades whose water when drunk made the souls of the dead forget their life on earth.
disconcert
v. disturb the composure of; unsettle
metaphysics
n. the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space.
squalid
adj. extremely dirty and unpleasant, esp. as a result of poverty or neglect
contrite
adj. feeling or expressing remorse or penitence; affected by guilt
iconoclasm
n. the action of attacking or assertively rejecting cherished beliefs and institutions or established values and practices.
ephemeral
adj. lasting for a very short time
mendicant
adj. given to begging
sycophant
n. a person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage
rabble
n. a disorderly crowd; a mob
churlish
adj. rude in a mean-spirited and surly way
ameliorate
v. make (something bad or unsatisfactory) better
deprecate
v. express disapproval of
aboriginal
adj. inhabiting or existing in a land from the earliest times or from before the arrival of colonists; indigenous.
soliloquy
n. an act of speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, esp. by a character in a play.
jubilant
adj. feeling or expressing great happiness and triumph
gaudy
adj. extravagantly bright or showy, typically so as to be tasteless
