Final English Vocab Flashcards
Dissect
Cut apart piece by piece for study; analyze closely
Incisive
Sharp; keen; penetrating
Intersect
Cut across each other; cross
Bellicose
Inclined to fight or quarrel; pugnacious; warlike
Equivocate
Be deliberately ambiguous; use misleading terms so as not to commit oneself
Ingenuous
Innocent and simple; artless; naive
Pusillanimous
Lacking in courage; cowardly; timid
Congregate
Gather into a crowd; assemble
Exodus
Going out; mass departure
Labyrinth
Place full of confusing interconnecting passageways and blind alleys; maze; anything extremely intricate and perplexing
Obsolescent
Going out of use; becoming obsolete
Altruistic
Unselfishly concerned for the welfare of others; unselfish
Contrite
Sorrowful for a misdeed that one has committed; deeply repentant
Gregarious
Seeking or enjoying the company of others; sociable
Impetuous
Acting suddenly without forethought; rash; impulsive
Indolent
Inclined to avoid work; lazy; idle
Obstreperous
Excessively noisy; boisterous; unruly
Parsimonious
Extremely frugal; miserly; stingy; cheep
Sanguine
Confidently optimistic; hopeful
Skeptical
Disbelieving; doubting; not easily convinced
Vindictive
Inclined to seek vengeance; unforgiving; spiteful
Genuflect
Bend the knee, as in reverence or worship; kneel
Gustatory
Having to do with the sense of taste or tasting
Olfactory
Concerned with the sense of smell
Prone
Lying face downward
Having a bent or inclination; predisposed
Tactile
Having to do with the sense of touch
Hold a candle to
Compare favorably with
Hold water
Remain sound, logical, or consistent; stand up
Play the devil’s advocate
Uphold the wrong side of a cause for the sake of argument
red herring
Something used to distract attention from the real issue (from the practice of drawing a red herring across a trail to confuse hunting dogs)
Roll out the red carpet
Show impressive courtesy and ceremonial hospitality ( from the practice of rolling out a red carpet for arriving dignitaries to step on)
Abstract
Considered apart from material or specific instances; existing as a concept; not concrete
Acronym
Word formed from the first letter of letter of other words
Articulate
Capable of speech; able to express oneself effectively
Cliche
Overused expression; trite phase; platitude
Diatribe
Bitter spoken or written attack, angry criticism, denunciation
Epithet
Word or phrase used to negatively characterize a person or thing
Maxim
Concisely expressed statement of a general truth or rule of conduct; a proverbial saying
Oxymoron
Figure of speech that combines contradictory terms
Palindrome
Any word or phrase, or sentence that reads the same backwards as forwards
Pejorative
Having a derogatory meaning or effect;
Downgrading; disparaging
Conciseness
Brevity and compactness in expression resulting from the avoidance of needless words and unnecessary detail
(Concise$
Boycott
Join with others to refuse or deal with
Machiavellian
Crafty; deceitful; cunning
Odyssey
Long, wandering journey
Sadist
Deriving pleasure by inflicting pain on others; deliberately cruel
