essentials Flashcards
abate
v. to decrease; reduce.
NASA announced that it would delay the launch of the manned spacecraft until the radiation from the solar flares abated.
abdicate
v. to give up a position, right, or power.
the appeals judge has abdicated his responsibility to review the findings of the high court.
aberrant
adj. deviating from what is normal.
when a person’s behaviour becomes aberrant, his or her peers may become concerned that the individual is becoming a deviant.
abeyance
n. temporary suppression or suspension.
a good judge must hold his or her judgement in abeyance until all the facts in a case have been presented.
abject
adj. miserable, pitiful.
the novel portrays the abject poverty of many people during the great depression.
abjure
v. to reject; abandon formally.
for a foreigner to become a US citizen, he or she must take an oath abjuring allegiance to any other country and pledging to take up arms to defend the united states.
abscission
n. the act of cutting; the natural separation of a leaf or other part of a plant.
the verb abscise means to cut off or away.
abscond
v. to depart secretly.
a warrant is out for the arrest of a person believed to have absconded with three million dollars.
abstemious
adj. moderate in appetite.
some research suggests that people with an abstemious lifestyle tend to live longer than people who indulge their appetites.
abstinence
n. the giving up of certain pleasures.
the monk’s vow of abstinence includes all intoxicating substances.
abysmal
adj. very bad.
accretion
n. growth in size or increase in amount.
accrue
v. to accumulate; grow by additions.
adamant
adj. uncompromising, unyielding, immovable, unshakeable.
adjunct
n. something added, attached, or joined.
admonish
v. to caution or reprimand.
adulterate
v. to corrupt or make impure.
aesthetic
adj. relating to beauty or art.
affected
adj. pretentious, phony.
affinity
n. fondness; liking; similarity.
she has a natural affinity with animals and birds.
aggrandize
v. to make larger or greater.
one of the concerns of the farmers of the us constitution was that one branch of government would try to aggrandize itself at the expense of the others.
aggregate
adj. amounting to a whole; total.
the aggregate wealth of a country includes private as well as public resources and possessions.
aggregate is also a verb meaning to collect into a mass.
aggregate is also a noun meaning collective mass or sum.
alacrity
n. cheerful willingness; eagerness; speed.
the football coach was pleased to see the team get to work on the task of improving its tackling skills with alacrity.
alchemy
n. medieval chemical philosophy based on changing metal into gold; a seemingly magical power or process of transmutation.
none of their friends could understand the mysterious alchemy that caused two people as different from one another as rob and barbara to fall in love.
allay
v. to lessen; ease; soothe.
improvements in antivirus software have allayed many people’s fears of having their computers infected with malicious software.
alleviate
v. to relieve; improve partially.
alloy
n. a combination; a mixture of two or more metals.
Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.
allure
n. the power to entice by charm.
attraction or glamour.
amalgamate
v. to combine into a unified whole.
in early 1999, six municipalities were amalgamated into an enlarged city of Toronto, canada.
ambiguous
adj. unclear or doubtful in meaning.
ambivalence
n. the state of having conflicting emotional attitudes.
john felt some ambivalence about getting married before finishing college.
the adj. is ambivalent.
ambrosia
n. something delicious; the food of the gods.
the combination of flavors in the moroccan baked eggplant was pure ambrosia.
the adj. is ambrosial.
the food critic praised the chef for preparing what he called an ambrosial meal.
ameliorate
v. to improve.
amenable
adj. agreeable; cooperative; suited.
the young writer is amenable to suggestions for improving her prose style to make it more interesting.
amenity
n. something that increases comfort.
many amenities considered normal and necessary by people in developed countries, such as indoor plumbing, were luxuries only a few generations ago.
amulet
n. ornament worn as a charm against evil spirits.
the early christian church forbade the use of amulets, which had become common in the roman empire at the time the christian church began to develop.
anachronism
n. something out of the proper time.
the action of attributing something to a period in which it does not belong.
analgesic
n. medicine that reduces or eliminates pain.
aspirin is a powerful analgesic that was introduced in 1899 and is still one of the most effective medicines available to alleviate pain, fever, and inflammation.
analogous
adj. comparable.
anology is a noun meaning a similarity in some ways between things that are otherwise dissimilar.
anarchy
n. absence of government; state of disorder.
anodyne
n. something that calms or soothes pain.
some people use alcohol as an anodyne to numb their emotional pain.
anodyne is an adj. that means relaxing, or capable of soothing pain.
anomalous
adj. irregular; deviating from the norm.
the noun is anomaly.
the psychologist discounted the anomalous behavior of the soldier saying it was merely a short term effect of the stress of battle.
antecedent
n. something that comes before.
antediluvian
adj. prehistoric.
antipathy
n. dislike, hostility.
he feels great antipathy for someone.
apathy
n. indifference. lack of interest.
apathy was high in the election because there was no major controversy or issue to arouse voter interest.
apex
n. the highest point.
apogee
n. the point in an orbit most distant from the body being orbited; the highest point.
apothegm
n. a terse; witty saying.
appease
v. to calm; pacify.
appellation
n. name or title.
the discovery of the bones of a person with the appellation kennewick man in the state of washington in 1996 has raised important questions about who the earliest people to populate america were.
apposite
adj. strikingly appropriate and relevant.
the writer searched two dictionaries and a thesaurus before finding the perfectly apposite word he was looking for.
apprise
v. to inform.
nadine’s biography of the blues singer dinah keeps the reader apprised of the racism black americans had to endure.
approbation
n. praise; approval.
the congressional medal of honor is the highest approbation an american soldier can receive.
appropriate
v. to take possession for one’s own use; confiscate.
the invading army appropriated supplies from the houses of the local people.
apropos
adj. relevant.
arabesque
n. ornate design featuring intertwined curves; a ballet position in which one leg is extended in back while the other supports the weight of the body.
the ballerina stunned the audience with her perfectly executed arabesque.
archeology
n. the study of material evidence of past human life.
ardor
n. great emotion or passion. eagerness.
arduous
adj. extremely difficult; laborious.
the task of writing a research paper is arduous, but if it is broken down into logical steps it becomes less daunting.
argot
n. specialized vocabulary used by a group.
writers of crime fiction often use the argot of criminals and detectives to create a realistic atmosphere.
arrest
v. to stop; to seize.
temporary arrest of the patient’s respiration made it easier for the doctor to perform surgery on him.
artifact
n. item made by human craft. an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest.
artless
adj. natural; naive; simple; honest
ascetic
n. one who practices self denial.
asperity
harshness; severity; irritability.
aspersion
n. false rumor.
assiduous
adj. hard working.
the assiduous people of hong kong live in a territory with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world.
assuage
v. to make less severe.
astringent
adj. harsh; severe.
bob tends to nick himself when he shaves, so he uses an astringent aftershave to stop the bleeding.
asylum
n. place of refuge or shelter.
atavism
n. in biology, the reappearance of a characteristic in an organism after several generations of absence; individual or part that exhibits atavism; return of a trait after a period of absence.
attenuate
v. to weaken.
modern digital radio equipment allows even signals that have been greatly attenuated to be transmitted by one station and received by another station.
audacious
adj. bold; daring.
he made an audacious remark!
austere
adj. stern; serious
autonomous
adj. self governing; independent.
avarice
n. greed. extreme greed for wealth or material gain.
aver
v. to affirm; declare to be true.
yogis aver that everyone has a guru, whether it be a person, god, or the experience of the world, that helps him or her practice the yoga that is in accordance with his or her nature, and assists on the path toward enlightenment.
avocation
n. secondary occupation.
dan became so professional at his avocation that he is thinking of giving up his job as a teacher to do it full time.
avuncular
adj. like an uncle.
he had an avuncular manner that made him one of america’s most trusted personalities.
axiomatic
adj. taken for granted.
bacchanalian
pertaining to revelry.
for some people, new years eve is an occasion for bacchanalian revelry.
banal
adj. commonplace; trite; ordinary; common.
the writer has a gift for making even the most banal observation seem important and original.
banter
n. playful conversation.
the governor engaged in some banter with reporters before getting to the serious business of the news conference.
bard
n. poet.
the great bards of english literature have all been masters of the techniques of verse.
bawdy
adj. obscene; rude
beatify
v. to bless; to ascribe a virtue to.
bedizen
v. to dress in a vulgar, showy manner.
paul went to the costume party bedizened as a seventeenth century french aristocrat.
behemoth
n. huge creature; anything very large and powerful.
belie
v. to contradict; misrepresent; give a false impression.
beneficent
adj. kindly; doing good. humane; humanitarian.
bifurcate
v. to divide into two parts.
contemporary physicists generally bifurcate their discipline into two parts; classical physics and modern physics.
blandishment
n. flattery.
despite the salesperson’s blandishments, donna did not buy the car.
blandish is the verb meaning to coax with flattery.
blase
adj. bored because of frequent indulgence; unconcerned.
we were amazed by john’s blase attitude toward school, he seems to have made it a rule never to open a book.
bolster
v. to give a boost to; prop up; support.
the president has visited the state several times to bolster his sagging popularity there.
bombastic
using inflated language; pompous.
boorish
adj. rude; insensitive.
bob apologized for his boorish behavior at the party, saying he hadnt realized that it was such a formal occasion.
bovine
adj. cowlike.
brazen
adj. bold; shameless.
the brazen student irritated his teacher by saying that he could learn more from a day spent surfing than a day spent in school.
broach
v. to mention for the first time.
bucolic
adj. characteristic of the countryside; rustic; pastoral.
the south end of toronto’s beautiful high park is a bucolic expanse of land that is perfect for anyone wanting a quiet walk.
burgeon
v. to flourish.
after world war ii, the increased speed of industrialization and the burgeoning world population resulted in such an increase in pollution that it began to be recognized by some people as a threat to the human habitat, earth.
burnish
v. to polish.
the poet eliot burnished his reputation as one of the master poets of the twentieth century with four quarters, four long poems published between 1936 and 1942.
buttress
v. to reinforce; support.
cacophonous
adj. unpleasant or harsh sounding. loud and noisy.
cacophonous rock music blared from the speakers.
cadge
v. to beg; sponge.
an enduring image of the great depression in america is the out of work man cadging money with the line hey mister, can you spare a dime for a cup of coffee?
callous
adj. thick skinned; insensitive. heartless.
jim’s terrible experience in the war have made him callous about the suffering of others.
calumny
n. false and malicious accusation; slander.
canard
n. false, deliberately misleading story.
most politicians do not want to be associated with the old canard that big government in washington can solve all america’s problems.
canon
n. an established principle. a basis or standard for judgement. a group of literary works.
cant
n. insincere talk; language of a particular group.
cantankerous
grumpy; ill humored.
many of us have in our mind the stereotype of the cantankerous old man who is constantly complaining about something or other.
capricious
adj. unstable; fickle. inconstant.
a capricious climate.
captious
adj. faultfinding; intended to entrap, as in an argument.
the pedantic and captious critic seems incapable of appreciating the merits of even the most highly regarded books.
cardinal
adj. of foremost importance.
the cardinal rule of any weight loss diet must be limiting the intake of calories.
carnal
adj. of the flesh or body. related to physical appetites.
the yogi’s goal is to achieve nirvana through, among other things, the overcoming of carnal desires.
carping
v. to find fault. complain.
cartography
science of making maps.
caste
class, social class, order.
castigation
n. punishment; criticism.
many british writers recall with loathing the castigation they received at school.
cataclysm
n. a violent upheaval that causes great destruction and change. disaster. catastrophe.
the french revolution of 1789 was a cataclysm whose effects are still felt today.
catalyst
n. something causing change.
categorical
adj. absolute. without exception.
a categorical assurance that the government will not rise VAT.
caucus
n. smaller group within an organisation.
the workers formed an informal caucus to discuss their difficulties.
causal
adj. involving a cause.
caustic
adj. sarcastically biting; burning.
the columnist’s caustic comments on government policy did not win her any friends among government officials.
celestial
adj. concerning the sky or heavens; sublime.
centrifugal
adj. moving away from a center.
centripetal
adj. moving or directed toward a center.
champion
v. to defend or support.
robin hood is famous for championing the underdogs of england.
chasten
v. to correct by punishment or reproof; to restrain or subdue.
the child’s behaviour improved after she had been chastened by punishment.
chicanery
n. trickery; fraud.
the governor ordered an audit to investigate alleged financial chicanery.
chivalry
n. the qualities idealized by knighthood such as bravery and gallantry toward women.
churlish
adj. rude; boorish.
a knight was never supposed to be churlish, especially toward noble ladies, to whom he was supposed to be infailingly gentle.
circuitous
adj. roundabout
clairvoyant
n. one who can predict the future; psychic.
clamor
n. noisy outcry.
the crowd clamored their disapproval of the plan.
over the past 12 years or so the clamor for better protection of the earth’s rain forests has increased dramatically.
clique
n. a small, exclusive group.
cloister
v. to confine (enclose); seclude.
the writer cloistered herself in a country house to finish her novel.
coagulate
v. thicken; congeal.
in normal individuals, blood begins to coagulate about 20 seconds after a wound is sustained, thus preventing further bleeding.
