english vocabulary LMAO Flashcards
esoteric (adj)
something only understood by a niche or very specialized group of people
“esoteric philosophical debates”
histrionic (adj)
overly theatrical, melodramatic
homily / homiletic(n/adj)
relating to sermons or preaching
dearth (n)
scarcity / lack of
“the dearth of Peruvian manuscripts”
lassitude (n)
a state of weariness, debility, fatigue
“he fell into a general lassitude”
punctilious (adj)
showing great attention to detail / correctness
penitent (adj)
repentant, feeling or showing remorse or sorrow
pugilistic (adj)
relating to boxing or a boxer
pernicious (adj)
having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way
“the pernicious influences of the mass media”
spendthrift (n/adj)
spending money in an irresponsable, extravagante way
“He lived like a spendthrift millionaire”
insolent (adj)
rude, disrespectful, arrogant
“he looked into her face with an insolent stare”
indolent (adj)
lazy, wanting to avoid activity
“they were indolent and addicted to a life of pleasure”
titivate (v)
to make small enhancements or alterations to something
“She slapped on her war paint and titivated her hair”
eschatological (adj)
relating to death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind.
impenitent (adj)
not showing regret or remorse about ones actions / a situation
“because of your hard and impenitent heart”
turpitude (n)
wickedness, depravity
“moral turpitude”
gelid (adj)
extremely cold
“constantly blasted with gelid air”
leitmotif (n)
a dominant recurring theme; something associated with a character or thing
sallow (adj)
unhealthy in appearance, yellowish in color
tawdry (adj)
showy but cheap and poor quality; camp lmao
avuncular (adj)
relating to an uncle
piscatorial (adj)
relating to fishing or the sea
“The captain asked me if I liked piscatorial idylls”
assiduous (adj)
showing great care or perseverance
“she sewed day and night, assiduously”
probity (n)
the quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency
“he was probity personified”
recalcitrant (n/adj)
obstinate; having an uncooperative attitude toward authority
sagacious (adj)
very wise; shrewd
specious (adj)
superficially plausible, but actually wrong
“a specious argument”
“his hesitations were almost always specious”
captious (adj)
tending to find fault or raise petty objections; critical
pithy (adj)
(of language or style) concise and forcefully expressive
“Solomon would have had a few pithy words for the occasion”
desultory (adj)
lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm
facetious (adj)
flippant; treating serious things as if they weren’t serious
“please don’t be facetious, PK. this is a serious matter on which i need some serious advice”
fulgent/effulgent (adj)
shining brightly; of a person, emanating goodness or joy
“again i had the same little effulgent flash of intuition”
tenet (n)
a founding principle or belief, often if a religion or philosophy
“a core tenet of science”
tome (n)
a big, scholarly book
effluvium (n)
an unpleasant or harmful odor or secretion
“No matter how hard a writer tries to recreate the recipe, the sleepless jangle, effluvium of words”
aberration (n)
a (usually negative) deviation from what’s normal or expected
“i ignored the rapid burnout of his love for that first born; i pretended it was an aberration” [The Wife]
doltish (adj)
stupid, idiotic
paramour (n)
a lover; especially illicit, extramarital
contrite (adj)
remorseful
“he was contrite as a cat that had xxx”
ancillary (adj)
providing necessary support to the primary activities or operation of an organization, institution, industry, or system; additional
abeyance (n)
temp state of disuse or suspension
“Matters were held in abeyance until a later date”
profligate (adj)
wasteful or extravagant w money; spendthrift
“A father reproaching his profligate son”
boon (n)
a big help
“it’s a boon for English-speaking readers”
inert (adj)
lacking the ability to move; lacking vigor
“Lying inertly on his back”
lurid (adj)
vivid in color, attractive visually
sordid (adj)
ignoble; morally bad/frowned upon
hubris (n)
extreme pride or arrogance
“claiming that you “know God’s will” is an act of incredible hubris”
verdant (adj)
green with grass or other rich vegetation
referring to the bright green color of grass
“verdant fields just out of reach”
totemic (adj)
regarded as being symbolic or representative of a particular quality or concept
“the signing of laws … a kind of totemic moment”
usury (n)
the illegal action or practice of lending money at unreasonably high rates of interest
inimical (adj)
unfriendly; hostile
“he spoke with a most inimical feeling”
desiccated (adj)
to become thoroughly dried or dried up
“filling her desiccated spirit with nice, cool, sweet lemonade”
Maecenas (n)
a generous patron especially of literature or art
“the doctor had become a maecenas to the weekly [newspaper]”
hale (adj)
free from disease or infirmity; robust; vigorous
“hale and hearty men in the prime of life” 
[nickel boys]
impropriety  (n)
the quality or condition of being improper; incorrectness
maquette (n)
a sculptor’s small or preliminary model or sketch of something
“like a maquette being manipulated by its master”
cobbler (n)
zapatero; someone who mends shoes
perfidy (n)
deliberate breach of faith or trust; faithlessness; treachery
leonine (adj)
like or resembling a lion
succor (n)
assistance and support in times of distress
“seeking succor”
voltaic (adj)
noting or pertaining to electricity or electric currents, especially when produced by chemical action, as in a cell
“his voltaic gait”
coruscate/ coruscation
to emit vivid flashes of light; sparkle
a flash of brilliance or wit
“the night’s coruscation”
aureate (adj)
golden
aplomb (n)
self-confidence, or self-possession
“my sister carried on with what she was doing with remarkable aplomb, even as the other woman wailed and shouted
surreptitious (adj)
obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized; clandestine:
“shoving one [tablet] down his throat surreptitiously so that his supervising officer won’t notice”
levity (n)
lightheartedness; frivolity
“she was glad some levity had returned to his expression”
plaintive (adj)
sad, mournful
perfunctory (adj)
performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial:
“The perfunctory glance she gave me made me feel I was no more to her than a handkerchief” [lsitc]
sessile (adj)
Permanently attached or not freely moving; like a barnacle
loath (adj)
reluctant
“Loath as I am to admit it …”
limpid (adj)
free from obscurity; lucid; clear; completely calm; without distress or worry
“A limpid Roman evening was settling over the roofs”
cognoscenti (n)
persons who have superior knowledge and understanding of a particular field, especially in the fine arts, literature, and world of fashion
“The novel became the object of a cult among the literary cognoscenti”
soporific (adj)
causing sleep or drowsiness
feckless (adj)
ineffective; incompetent; futile
having no sense of responsibility
maudlin (adj)
tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental:
panacea (n)
a remedy for all disease or ills;
an answer or solution for all problems or difficulties
rueful (adj)
feeling, showing, or expressing sorrow, repentance, or regret: especially in a humorous way
provenance (n)
place or source of origin
“Did Mr. Beckman give you any information regarding the provenance of the books?”
asterism (n)
a group of stars
neurasthenic
relating to or having neurasthenia (nervous exhaustion)
frondescence (n)
foliage; leafage
interminable (adj)
seemingly endless; countless
adage (n)
saying; un dicho
“the popular adage”
doxology (n)
a hymn or form of words containing an ascription of praise to God
epicurean (n)
fond of or adapted to luxury or indulgence in sensual pleasures; having luxurious tastes or habits, especially in eating and drinking
“He was in epicurean in his make up, remnants of a farm boyhood” [DoaF]
schism (n)
division or disunion, especially into mutually opposed parties; can have a religious connotation
“I had engineered a schism of my own making” [DoaF]
beguiling (adj)
charming or enchanting, often in a deceptive way
anachronism/istic (n/v)
something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time
“I sensed how anachronistic this character was” [TLT]
oneiric (adj)
of, relating to, or characteristic of dreams
“There are traces of other styles as well; futuristic and oneiric”
corollary (n)
an immediate consequence or easily drawn conclusion;
a natural consequence or resist
sundry (n)
of various kinds; several
“Sonnets can communicate a sundry of details”
oeuvre (n)
the works of a writer, painter, or the like, taken as a whole
“the civilization and barbarism axis in your oeuvre” [TWFU]
tautological (adj)
(of a phrase) needlessly repetitive without adding information or clarity
paltry (adj)
ridiculously or insultingly small; utterly worthless
“their lives were nearly all paltry, lacking in wit or invention” [GBYMR]
coppice/coppiced (n/adj)
a thicket or dense growth of small trees or bushes, esp one regularly trimmed back to stumps so that a continual supply of small poles and firewood is obtained
“… the woman pretended to inspect another of the coppiced trees” [NH]
dirge (n)
a funeral song or tune, or one expressing mourning in commemoration of the dead
“let the dirges disappear” [MW]
cur (n)
a mongrel dog, especially a worthless or unfriendly one.
a mean, cowardly person.
“biting the hand that fed him like the wily cur he was” [TB]
florilegium/florilegia (n)
un compendio, colección, antología o miscelánea de trozos selectos de obras literarias
Editors who compile florilegia can be thought of as gathering a bouquet of sweet literary blossoms. Florilegium initially applied to a collection of flowers, and later to books about flowers, but it wasn’t long before the word began to be used for “a collection of the flowers of literature.”
hirsute (adj)
covered with hair
(of plants or their parts) covered with long but not stiff hairs
(of a person) having long, thick, or untrimmed hair
“two hirsute guys with big hair and big beards”
epistemological (adj)
relating to the branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge
“Claims … which sparked an epistemological crisis in Twyla”
plangent (adj)
resounding loudly, especially with a plaintive sound, as a bell
“October with it’s plangency, it’s glow”
plangent (adj)
resounding loudly, especially with a plaintive sound, as a bell
“October with its plangency, it’s glow”
ersatz (adj)
serving as a substitute; synthetic; artificial:
brio (n)
vigor; vivacity
“The brio of a Harlem street speaker” 
cogent (adj)
to the point; relevant; pertinent / forcefully convincing
“[his] most cogent argument to date”
vituperation (n)
verbal abuse or castigation; violent denunciation or condemnation.
“A tall, vituperative man with a hunched back”
denouement (n)
the final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.
fecund (adj)
producing or capable of producing offspring, fruit, vegetation, etc., in abundance; prolific; fruitful:
“fecund parents; fecund farmland.”
very productive or creative intellectually
lapidary (adj)
characterized by an exactitude and extreme refinement that suggests gem cutting
something that would be engraved on a stone; heavy
“His sentences can be lapidary, but others are intricate, centripetal…”
centripetal (adj)
directed towards a center
protean (adj)
readily assuming different forms or characters; extremely variable.
changeable in shape or form, as an amoeba.
“His style is protean.”
transliterate (v)
to change (letters, words, etc.) into corresponding characters of another alphabet or language:
to transliterate the Greek Χ as ch.
aphorism
a terse saying embodying a general truth, or astute observation
“The title of this exhibit alluded to an aphorism attributed to August …”
picayune (adj)
of little value or account; small; trifling; petty
“a picayune amount”
“Pages and pages of picayune legal detail”
numinous (adj)
of, relating to, or like a numen; spiritual or supernatural.
surpassing comprehension or understanding; mysterious:
inchoate (adj)
not yet completed or fully developed; rudimentary.
just begun; incipient.
not organized; lacking order:
axiomatic (adj)
pertaining to or of the nature of an axiom; self-evident; obvious.
shrew (n)
a woman of violent temper and speech
mouselike rodent with a long snout
“I’m sorry for being a shrew; I feel like I’m ruining the trip for everyone” [TWL]
termagant (n)
a violent, turbulent, or brawling woman.
lineament(s) (n)
distinguishing features; distinctive characteristics
epicene (adj)
lacking the typical characteristics of a particular gender or sex; sexless; androgynous
“Epicene faces”
bilious (adj)
relating to bile; extremely unpleasant or distasteful
“I felt dejected and bilious, and I talked little and ate even less”
philatelist (n)
a person who collects stamps as a hobby or investment:
epigrammatic (adj)
of or like an epigram; terse and ingenious in expression
epigram- any witty, ingenious, or pointed saying tersely expressed.
ingenious- characterized by cleverness or originality of invention or construction
warren (n)
a building or area containing many tenants in limited or crowded quarters.
a place where rabbits breed or abound [?]
celadon (adj)
color; sea greenish; Camila’s sweater
pleonasm (n)
the use of more words than are necessary to express an idea; redundancy.
“… although that sounds like a pleonasm.”
mutable (adj)
changeable; subject to alteration; inconstant
“Our wickedness is mutable (thank God)”
anodyne (adj)
not likely to cause dissent or offense; inoffensive
patrician (n)
a person of noble or high rank; aristocrat.
a person of very good background, education, and refinement.
carapace (n)
a bony or chitinous shield, test, or shell covering some or all of the dorsal part of an animal, as of a turtle
“Shame dealt a blow against the still fragile carapace of his lucidity and self esteem” [3SW]
bulwark (n)
a wall of earth or other material built for defense; rampart.
any protection against external danger, injury, or annoyance
“It had seemed to him that his stubbornness was a bulwark against the complete disintegration of the erudition acquired in his former life” [3SW]
opprobrium (n)
the disgrace or the reproach incurred by conduct considered outrageously shameful; infamy.
a cause or object of such disgrace or reproach.
“He realized, then that the opprobrium had left him” [3SW]
byzantine (adj)
overly complex or detailed; refers to laws in city of
Byzantium (was Constantinople, is now Istanbul)
