English Vocabulary Flashcards
Remuneration
“She was given generous remunerations for her work.”
Payment for work done
Enfranchise
“Antis feared that giving women the right to vote would enfranchise Black citizens.”
To give voting rights
Nuance
(“In every silky statement from General Musharraf about the need for a short—in other words: limited—war, and in every nuance of the Pakistani official posture, I was sure I detected the local version of Schadenfreude.”)
Something subtle; a fine shade of meaning
Engender
“The issue has engendered a considerable amount of debate.”
Cause
Abet
“Did he abet the commission of a crime?”
To aid, help, encourage
Abase vs. abate?
Abase is to humiliate or degrade, while to abate is to reduce or lessen
Abject
“… the time would come that no human being should be humiliated or be made abject.”
Wretched, pitiful
Abjure
“…a strict religious sect that abjures the luxuries, comforts, and conveniences of the modern world.”
Reject, renounce
Abridge
To cut down, shorten
Abrogate
(“We may not always like what we hear but we are always the poorer if we close down dialogue; if we abrogate free speech, and the open exchange of ideas.”)
To abolish, usually by authority
Acrimonious
(“Each man came out of their acrimonious 200-meter showdown on July 23 with an injured hamstring and a decidedly negative vibe.”)
Angry, bitter
Alimentary
“The esophagus is considered part of the alimentary canal because it is one of the passageways for food.”
Nourishment, sustenance
Anachronism
(“The spy thriller is a genre that arguably should have died fifteen years ago, and its continued popularity seems an anachronism at first glance.”)
From another time
Ascetic
(“Plain patients, despite their apparently ascetic lifestyles, have average household incomes roughly similar to those of Americans in general.”)
Abstinent, non-indulgent
Aplomb
(“Stefan Soltesz conducts the excellent chorus and orchestra with aplomb, and television director Brian Large does his usual exemplary job.”)
Assurance, self-confidence
Expedient
“Marley found it expedient to maintain social relationships with gunmen and politicans from both political parties.”
Suitable for achieving a particular end in a given circumstance
Impunity
Exemption or freedom from punishment, harm, or loss
Indomitable
Incapable of being subdued, unconquerable
Unscrupulous
“An unscrupulous businessman manipulated them into selling their land for practically nothing.”
Unprincipled
Laud
Praise, extol
Sedulous
“An impressively sedulous suitor, he was constantly sending her flowers and other tokens of his affection.”
Involving or accomplished with careful perseverance
Spurious
(“Of all the potentially spurious phrases regularly found lurking on book jackets, none should be approached with greater wariness than ‘This is his first novel.’”)
Of illegitimate birth or outwardly similar or corresponding to something without having its genuine qualities
Reticent
“…his friends and associates are conspicuously reticent to discuss him in public.”
Inclined to be silent or uncommunicative in speech or restrained in expression
Redoubtable
(“There is a new biography of the redoubtable Winston Churchill.”)
(“his next opponent, the reigning champion, would be by far the most redoubtable adversary the young boxer had ever faced”)
Causing fear or alarm or worthy of respect
Puerile
“told the teenagers that such puerile behavior would not be tolerated during the ceremony”
Juvenile
Assuage
“Life contains sorrows that cannot be assuaged, and it is important to be honest in acknowledging this.”
To ease
Avarice
(“Adherence to the Baldwin model is usually more a sin of thoughtlessness and convenience than of conscious avarice, though it is always an appropriation of moral power, a stealing of thunder.”)
Extremely greedy
Inane
(“All around us swirls the battering of gargantuan films, Styrofoam epics with megatons of special effects, gleefully inane adolescent films, horror films that really are horrible.”)
lacking significance, meaning, or point; silly
Virile
(“Images of these men on horseback or in classical profile began appearing on posters and handkerchiefs and even crockery, the pinup boys of the revolutionary age–virile and virtuous and handsome.”)
having traditionally masculine traits especially to a marked degree
Wont
(“She paced about the room, as she is wont to do whenever she is agitated”
accustomed; apt
Harangue
“He delivered a long harangue about the evils of popular culture.”
noisy, attacking speech
Nullify
“The law has been nullified by the U.S. Supreme Court.”
to counter; make unimportant
Plaintiff
“The judge ruled that the plaintiff’s lawsuit was groundless, and he dismissed it.”
petitioner (in court of law)
Accost
(“Though Antoinette was normally quite calm, when the waiter spilled soup on her for the fourth time in 15 minutes she stood up and accosted the man.”)
to confront verbally
Accretion
“Stalactites are formed by the accretion of minerals from the roofs of caves.”
slow growth in size or amount
Acerbic
“Jill became extremely acerbic and began to cruelly make fun of all her friends.”
biting, bitter in tone or taste
Acquiesce
(“Though Mr. Correlli wanted to stay outside and work in his garage, when his wife told him that he had better come in to dinner, he acquiesced to her demands.”)
to agree without protesting
Acrimony
(“Though they vowed that no girl would ever come between them, Biff and Trevor could not keep acrimony from overwhelming their friendship after they both fell in love with the lovely Teresa.”)
bitterness, discord
Acumen
“Because of his mathematical acumen, Larry was able to figure out in minutes problems that took other students hours.”
keen insight
Beleaguer
(“American officials have felt an affinity for officials in Taipei for decades, a natural sense of solidarity with a democratic government beleaguered by a communist regime.”)
To cause problems for; besiege
Belie
“Their actions belie their claim to be innocent.”
Give false impression
Belligerent
“Coots are belligerent, territorial, quick-tempered birds. Nothing irritates a coot like another coot …
Hostile
Strident
“The strident tone in his voice revealed his anger.”
Characterized by harsh, insistent, and discordant sound
Indict
“A grand jury is expected to indict him for murder.”
to charge with a crime by the finding or presentment of a jury (such as a grand jury) in due form of law
Perjure
“The court ruled that the minister in charge of welfare had perjured herself.”
the voluntary violation of an oath or vow either by swearing to what is untrue or by omission to do what has been promised under oath
Bicuspid
(“Smith announced the diagnosis Saturday in an Instagram post and said the open heart surgery will fix a bicuspid aortic valve.”)
A human premolar tooth
Lampoon
“He said such ridiculous things that he was often the target of lampoons in the press.”
A harsh satire usually directed against an individual
Repudiate
(“During the Algerian war of independence, the United States had also repudiated France’s claimed right to attack a town in neighboring Tunisia that succored Algerian guerrillas …”)
To refuse to accept
Portend
“The distant thunder portended a storm.”
To give an omen or anticipatory sign of
Pellucid
“the pellucid waters that lap upon that island’s beaches”
Reflecting light evenly from all surfaces
Bowdlerize
“bowdlerize a classic novel by removing offensive language”
To censor; expurgate
Brazen
“He exhibited a brazen disregard for other people’s feelings.”
Bold
Brusque
“She asked for a cup of coffee and received a brusque reply: ‘We don’t have any.’”
Abrupt in one’s mannerisms
Bungler
“The government bungled badly in planning the campaign.”
Amateur, incompetent
Vicarious
“Most people caged in the humdrum routines of modern life are eager for vicarious glimpses of pain, joy, and especially vitality.”
experienced or realized through imaginative or sympathetic participation in the experience of another
Dilatory
“the homeowner is claiming that local firefighters were dilatory in responding to the call”
tending or intended to cause delay
Gregarious
“Morgan was attracted to bright, self-possessed women who met him on his own ground, felt at home in society, and shared his gregarious instincts and sybaritic tastes.”
marked by or indicating a liking for companionship
Plaudit
“the proud parents bragged that their daughter had received many plaudits for her academic achievements”
Statement giving strong praise
Adulation
“Though the book was pretty good, Marcy did not believe it deserved the adulation it received.”
Extreme praise
Adumbrate
“The coach adumbrated a game plan, but none of the players knew precisely what to do.”
To sketch out in a vague way
Capacious
“that car has a capacious trunk that makes it a good choice for families”
Spacious
Castigate
(“Ever since Huber’s death, Gittings’ social media feed had been overwhelmed with people writing to either praise Huber as a hero or castigate him as a criminal.”)
Punish
Caustic
“His [Roosevelt’s] caustic cousin, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, called him a sissy and a mama’s boy.”
Corrosive; sarcastic
Ensconce
(“The sculpture is safely ensconced behind glass.”)
(“He ensconced himself in front of the television.”)
shelter/conceal; establish/settle
Affable
“People like to be around George because he is so affable and good-natured.”
friendly, amiable
Chaff
“chaffed her about the brightly colored shirt she had received as a gift”
Banter; worthless thing; husk of corn
Chicanery
“that candidate only won the election through chicanery”
The use of deception
Chimerical
“for the time being, interplanetary travel remains a chimerical feature of life in the 21st century”
Illusory; imagination
Compunction
“a brutal murderer who killed without compunction”
Feeling remorse
Concomitant
(“The Lincoln and Johnson plans for settling the problems of peace and freedom never seriously touched on the concomitant problem of equality.”)
Naturally accompanying
Obdurate
(“the obdurate refusal of the crotchety old man to let the neighborhood kids retrieve their stray ball from his backyard”)
Stubborn
Reprieve
(“And many murderers have been reprieved because they were condemned for the wrong murder, quite probably just as many as have been executed for the only murder they did not in fact commit.”)
To delay the punishment of; to give relief or deliverance to for a time
Affront
“Bernardo was very touchy, and took any slight as an affront to his honor.”
An insult
Aggrandize
“Joseph always dropped the names of the famous people his father knew as a way to aggrandize his personal stature.”
To increase or make greater
Coniferous
(“The following fall, the survey found just 35 squirrels living in their mixed conifer forest habitat on the upper 2,000 feet of the mountain.”)
Needle-like or scale-like
Conjecture
(“Whether Columbus brought syphilis to the New World—or to the Old World—has been the subject of conjecture for at least 500 years.”)
Guess; spectulation
Consternation
(“By next year, diabetic patients enrolled in Medicare Part D will be able to purchase insulin for a maximum of just $35 per month, eliminating a major source of consternation for some of the most vulnerable Americans.”)
Anxious; dismayed
Contentious
“In the perpetual skirmish between science and religion, biological evolution is a contentious battle ground.”
Likely to cause argument
Contiguous
“And in the west, contiguous to Lebanon, was the mountain stronghold of Latakia…”
Next; together
Tautology
“’A beginner who has just started’ is a tautology.”
needless repetition of an idea, statement, or word
Minion
“most of the top appointments went to the new governor’s personal minions and political cronies”
a servile dependent, follower, or underling
Tawdry
“The scandal was a tawdry affair.”
Of little value, gaudy
Blighted
“… the physicians who work here in some of the nation’s most blighted neighborhoods …”
Damaged, destroyed, ruined
Credulous
“Few people are credulous enough to believe such nonsense.”
Gullible, ready to believe anything
Aggregate
The dictator tried to aggregate as many people into his army as he possibly could.”
A whole or total
Aggrieved
“The foreman mercilessly overworked his aggrieved employees.”
Distressed, wronged, injured
Contingent
(“Her dismissal was contingent upon her showing up to court, and once there she was arrested by waiting immigrations officers.”)
Subject to change
Convivial
“the hiking club attracts a wide range of convivial people who share a love of the outdoors.”
Friendly, lively
Corpulent
“a corpulent, elegantly dressed opera singer came out and sang, and we knew it was over”
Fat
Corroborate
(“Studies that are wrong will be superseded by better studies with different results. Studies that are right will be corroborated by other good studies.”)
Confirm, verify
Craven
“ a craven refusal to deliver the unwelcome news personally”
Cowardly
Inveigh
“always inveighing against the high property taxes that they were forced to pay”
Speak violently; to protest or complain bitterly or vehemently
Gaiety
“The party had none of the gaiety we’ve seen in past years.”
Cheerfulness; merrymaking; high spirits
Mundane
(“How did our ancestors pass from the mundane activity of counting to the concept of ‘number’ in the abstract, devoid of any particular collection of objects to label?”)
Wordly; commonplace
Beatific
“a beatific smile”
having a blissful appearance; displaying utmost bliss
Chaffing
“chaffed her about the brightly colored shirt she had received as a gift”
the seed coverings and other debris separated from the seed in threshing grain; the seed coverings and other debris separated from the seed in threshing grain; to banter
Curtail
“School activities are being curtailed due to a lack of funds.”
to make less by or as if by cutting off or away some part
Enervate
“a lifetime of working in dreary jobs had enervated his very soul”
lacking physical, mental, or moral vigor
Equivocal
“Conley seemed to give very equivocal answers around that, and what happened.”
uncertain; subject to two or more interpretations and usually used to mislead or confuse
Exorbitant
(“As owner of Securus, Gores has exploited incarcerated people and their families — who are overwhelmingly Black and low-income — with exorbitant fees for prison phone calls.”)
not coming within the scope of the law; exceeding the customary or appropriate limits in intensity, quality, amount, or size
Obfuscate
“Their explanations only serve to obfuscate and confuse.”
Deliberately make something difficult to understand
Repudiate
(When witnessing abuse, boys will identify with the seemingly powerful father who appears to be a “winner” and will repudiate the mother, who seems to be the ‘loser.’”)
Shun; eschew
Alacrity
(“For some reason, Chuck loved to help his mother whenever he could, so when his mother asked him to set the table he did so with alacrity.”)
Eagerness, speed
Allay
“The chairman of the Federal Reserve gave a speech to try to allay investors’ fears about an economic downturn.”
To soothe, ease
Credulity
“Her description of the event strains credulity.”
Readiness or willingness to believe especially on slight or uncertain evidence
Culpable
“Culpable negligence”
Deserving blame
Dearth
(“The dearth of data on EpiVacCorona echoes what was seen in August, when Russia approved its first COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V.”)
Scarcity
Decant
“decanted the wine before the meal”
To pour
Decrepit
“My decrepit car barely starts.”
Elderly, worn out from age
Deference
“returned early in deference to her parents’ wishes”
Respect, submission
Deleterious
(“In developing countries, the imposition of boundaries around national parks and protected areas has been deleterious for both people and wildlife.”)
Harmful
Demagogue
(“Before the U.S. could begin to help Haiti rebuild its ravaged democracy last week, it first had to remove a raving demagogue.”)
Agitator; a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power; a leader championing the cause of the common people in ancient times
Hapless
“hapless beings caught in the grip of forces we can do little about”
Having no luck
Hilarity
“My attempt to carve the turkey was a source of great hilarity at the dinner table.”
Boisterous merriment or laughter
Overweening
“a director who has little patience for overweening actors who think they are above taking advice and criticism”
Arrogant, presumptious
Pert
“a pert retort that irritated the teacher”
saucily free and forward; flippantly cocky and assured
Plumb
“I plumb forgot about the party.”). (“Plumb the toilet”
straight down or up; in a direct manner (exactly or immediately); absolutely
Tedium
“The movie was three hours of tedium.”
the quality or state of being tedious; boredom
Boredom
Crepuscular
(“The shipyard was still for the day, and only the occasional police helicopter overhead broke the lush crepuscular silence.”)
Active at dawn and dusk
Rescind
(“But Maria convinced Leverich that she had the authority to rescind the executor’s decision to appoint him as biographer.”)
Retract, repeal; to make void by action of the enacting authority or a superior authority
Amenable
“Our father was amenable when we asked him to drive us to the farm so we could go apple picking.”
Willing; compliant
Amenity
“Bill Gates’ house is stocked with so many amenities, he never has to do anything for himself.”
An item that increases comfort
Desiccate
“that historian’s dryasdust prose desiccates what is actually an exciting period in European history”
To dry out
Despot
“The company is run by a benevolent despot.”
A ruler with absolute power
Diatribe
“Our manager privately subjected a few of us to a lengthy diatribe about how terrible the company’s new policy is.”
Bitter verbal attack
Abstruse
“you’re not the only one who finds Einstein’s theory of relativity abstruse”
Difficult to understand; obscure
Blunderbuss
“leave it to that blunderbuss to bungle a job that a child could do”
Ancient weapon (type of gun); clumsy person
Envenom
“Testing the Constitution will further envenom the atmosphere.”
To cause bitterness and bad feeling
Hedonism
“their spring break trip to Mexico became an exercise in heedless hedonism”
Self-indulgence; pleasure-seeking
Laconic
(“We would rather have a smiling, shape-shifting Democrat we don’t trust than a frowning, laconic Republican we trust more.”)
Using few words; brief; to the point
Anathema
“I never want to see that murderer. He is an anathema to me.”
A cursed, detested peson
Didactic
(“Slaves related human as well as animal trickster tales; they told Bible stories, explanatory tales, moralistic and didactic tales, supernatural tales and legends.”)
To instruct
Diffident
(“Being suspicious of conventions, demotic equals were often at a loss in their daily encounters: shall one act diffident or clamant of one’s rights?”)
Shy, lacks self-confidence
Dilatory
“ the homeowner is claiming that local firefighters were dilatory in responding to the call”
Slow; unhurried; tardy
Dilettante
(“Being a powerhouse herself in ways that make today’s feminist superwomen look like dilettantes, she inevitably clashed with star directors like Maurice Tourneur and Ernst Lubitsch.”)
Amateur
Dirge
“bagpipes played a haunting dirge at the funeral for the fallen leader”
Funeral hymn, mournful music
Tenacious
“But raw capitalism has also proved tenacious, evolving its own means of endlessly restimulating consumption …”
Stubborn; resolute; holding firm to a purpose`
Bolster
“She came with me to bolster my confidence.”
Support; prop up
Ephemeral
(“… several rather inflated pages of material about an ephemeral love affair Fitzgerald allegedly had with an English woman named Bijou …”)
Short-lived
Animated
“When he begins to talk about drama, which is his true passion, he becomes very animated.”
Lively
Annex
(“After defeating them in battle, the Russians annexed Poland.”)
(“He likes to do his studying in a little annex attached to the main reading room in the library.”)
To incorporate territory or space, or a room attached to a larger room or space
Discomfit
“constant interruptions discomfited her in her attempt to finish the speech, and she finally gave up”
To embarrass
Disconsolate
“Campaign workers grew increasingly disconsolate as the results came in.”
Unhappy, doleful
Disingenuous
“Joe Biden and Harris couldn’t be more disingenuous and evasive.”
Insincere
Disparage
“Voters don’t like political advertisements in which opponents disparage one another.”
To belittle
Dissembler
“he dissembled happiness at the news that his old girlfriend was getting married—to someone else”
Hypocrite
