Essential Words VII Flashcards
Aesthetic
Concerning the appreciation of beauty or good taste, pertaining to the science of what is beautiful; a set of principles or testes guiding an artistic practice.
Affable
Warm and friendly, pleasant, approachable
Affectation
Fake behavior (such as in speech or dress) adopted to give a certain impression.
Aggrandize
Make greater; exaggerate
Aggregate
Gather together, amount to (verb); constitution a whole made up of constituent parts
Alacrity
Cheerful or speedy willingness
Alienate
Cause to become unfriendly, hostile, or distant
Alleviate
Lessen, make easier to endure
Ambiguous
Not clear, hard to understand, open to having several meanings or interpretations.
Ambivalent
Uncertain; unable to decide, or wanting to do two contradictory things at once
Analogous
Comparable, corresponding in some particular way (making a good analogy)
Anarchy
Absence of law or government; chaos, disorder
Anoint
Rub or sprinkle oil on; make sacred, such as by a ceremony that includes applying oil to someone
Anomaly
Deviation from what is common; inconsistency
Antagonize
Make hostile or unfriendly
Antipathy
Deep dislike, aversion, or repugnance, sometimes without reason
Apathy
Not caring; absence of feeling; lack of interest or concern
Apocryphal
Of questionable authenticity; false
Appease
Pacify, satisfy, relieve; concede to belligerent demands, sometimes at the expense of principles
Appreciable
Enough to be perceived, considerable
Arbitrary
Based entirely on one’s discretion; capricious, unreasonable, or having no basis
Arcane
Know or understood by only a few; obscure, secret
Archaic
Characteristic of an earlier period, ancient, primitive
Arduous
Very difficult, strenuous; severe, hard to endure
Articulate
Using language in a clear, fluent way; speak distinctly or give clarity to an idea
Artifact
Any object made by humans, especially those from an earlier time, such as those excavated by archeologists
Artless
Free of deceit or craftiness, natural, genuine; lacking skill or knowledge, crude, uncultured
Ascertain
Find out with certainty
Ascetic
Abstinent or austere in lifestyle; a person who leads an austere and simple life without material pleasures, esp. someone who does this for religious reasons.
Assuage
Make milder, relieve; soothe, pacify, or calm
Audacious
Very bold or brave, often in a rude or reckless way; extremely original
Augment
Make larger
Austere
Severe in manner or appearance; very self-disciplined, ascetic; without luxury or ease; sober or serious.
Aver
Declare or affirm with confidence, say
Avid
Enthusiastic, dedicated, passionate; excessively desirous
Balk
Refuse to proceed or to do something
Base
Morally low, mean, dishonorable; of little or no value; crude or unrefined; counterfeit
Belie
Contradict or misrepresent
Benign
Harmless; favorable; kindly, gentle, or beneficial; not cancerous
Bogus
Fake, fraudulent
Bolster
Strengthen or support
Boor
Rude, ill-mannered, or insensitive person; a peasant or country bumpkin
Buffer
Something that shields, protects, absorbs shocks, or cushions
Bureaucracy
Government characterized by many bureaus and petty administrators or by excessive, seemingly meaningless requirements
Burgeon
Grow or flourish rapidly; put forth buds or shoots
Buttress
Support or encourage; a support or prop, esp. projecting from and supporting the wall of a building
Bygone
Past, former; that which is in the past
Cacophony
Harsh, discordant, or meaningless mixture of sounds
Candid
Open, sincere, honest
Canonical
Authorized, recognized; pertaining to the canon, or body of accepted rules, standards, or artistic works.
