Essential Words XV Flashcards
Savor
A characteristic taste of flavor (usually pleasant); appreciate fully, taste or smell with pleasure
Scant
Not enough or barely enough
Scathing
Severe, injurious; bitterly harsh or critical
Secular
Not religious or holy; pertaining to worldly things
Sedulous
Persevering, persistent, diligent in one’s efforts
Sentient
Conscious; experiencing sensation or perceiving with the senses
Simultaneous
At the same time
Skeptic
Person inclined to doubting or questioning generally accepted beliefs
Skirt
Border, lie along the edge of, go around; evade
Slack
Loose, negligent, lazy, weak; neglect to do one’s duties; loosen up, relax; period of little
Slew
A large number or quantity
Slight
Small not very important, slender or delicate; treat as though not very important; snub, ignore; an act of treating in this way, a discourtesy
Solicitous
Concerned or anxious (about another person), expressing care; eager or desirous; very careful
Soporific
Causing sleep; sleepy, drowsy; something that causes sleep
Sound
Measure the depth of (usually of water) as with a sounding line; penetrate and discover the meaning of, understand (usually as sound the depths)
Spartan
Very disciplined and stern; frugal, living simply, austere; suggestive of the ancient Spartans
Spate
Sudden outpouring or rush; flood
Spearhead
Be the leader of
Specious
Seemingly true but actually false; deceptively attractive
Spectrum
A broad range of nevertheless related quality or ideas, esp. those that overlap to create a continuous series (as in a color spectrum, where each color blends into the next in a continuous way)
Speculate
Contemplate; make a guess or educated guess about; engage in a risky business transaction, gamble
Sporadic
Occasional, happening irregularly or in scattered locations
Sportive
Playful, merry, joking around, done “in sport” (rather than intended seriously)
Standing
Status, rank, reputation; existing indefinitely, not movable
Stark
Complete, total, utter; harsh or grim; extremely simple, severe, blunt, or plain
Static
Fixed, not moving or changing, lacking vitality
Status quo
Existing state or condition
Stingy
Not generous with money, reluctant to spend or give
Stoic or stoical
Indifferent to pleasure or pain, enduring without complaint; person indifferent to pleasure or pain
Stolid
Unemotional, showing little emotion, not easily moved
Stymie or stymy
Block, hinder, or thwart; an obstacle
Subjective
Existing in the mind or relating to one’s own thoughts, opinions, emotions, etc.; personal, individual, based on feelings
Subside
Sink, settle down, become less active; return to a normal level
Substantiate
Support with evidence or proof; give a material existence to
Succeeding
Coming after or following
Supersede
Replace, take the position of, cause to be disregarded as void or obsolete
Supplicate
Pray humbly; ask, beg, or seek in a humble way
Surfeit
Excess, excessive amount, overindulge
Surmise
Guess, infer, opine
Sycophant
Servile flatterer, today .
Synchronous
Happening at the same time; occurring at the same rate and thus happening together repeatedly
Table
Lay aside to discuss later, often as a way to postpone discussion indefinitely
Tacit
Understood without being said; implied, not stated directly
Taciturn
Not talking much, reserved; silent, holding back in conversation
Tangential
Only slightly relevant, going off-topic
Temperance
Moderation, self-control, esp. regarding alcohol or other desires or pleasures; total abstinence from alcohol
Tenuous
Flimsy, having little substance; long and thin, slender
Timely
Well-timed, happening at a suitable time
Timorous
Fearful, timid
Tirade
Bitter, abusive criticism or verbal attack
