General Vocabulary 11 Flashcards
De jure (adj)
By right according to law
He was the de jure king after his fathers death
De facto (adj)
In fact in reality
Although his title was PM he was the de facto president.
Elision (n)
The omission of a passage in text book movie etc
The elisions in the movie rendered it less entertaining.
Montage (n)
The technique of creating a new whole from fragments of pictures, scenes, sounds etc
Transmogrification (n)
Transform in a magical or surprising manner.
You’ve seen something transmogrify completely.
Transfiguration (n)
A complete change in form for the better.
In this light the junk undergoes a transfiguration; it shines
Languid (adj)
Showing no desire for physical exertion.
His languid demeanour irritated her.
Fungible (adj)
A commodity that’s freely exchangeable with another.
For e.g Gold as ingots, bars or coins.
Factitious (adj)
Artificial, not produced naturally.
A largely factitious national identity.
Frangible (adj)
Fragile easily broken.
The frangible skull of an infant.
Cachet (n)
The state of being admired or respected.
He wanted to achieve power and cachet
Missive (n)
A long letter.
Nouveau (adj)
[Nueva]
In accordance with the most fashionable ideas or style.
Nouveau wines were served at the party.
Horology (n)
The art and science of watch making.
Coruscating (adj)
Flashing Sparkling brilliance.
A coruscating kaleidoscope of colors
Vitreous (adj)
Glass like in appearance and properties.
Hebephrenia (n)
A form of schizophrenia .
Cachinnate (v)
[Kakinate]
Laugh loudly.
The joke made them cachinnate aloud.
Appellation (n)
The name or title.
The city fully justifies its appellation as the “Pearl of the Orient”
Pulchritude (n)
Beauty.
The incredible pulchritude of her friend
Encrustation (n)
A hard white coating in the surface of an object .
Sesquipedalian (adj)
Characterized by long winding phrases and excess words.
The sesquipedalian prose of scientific journals
Interloper (n)
A person who interferes in matters where they are not required.
Interlocutor (n)
One who participates in a conversation representing someone else.
Consigliere (n)
An adviser especially to a crime boss.
The President’s trusted consigliere and chief adviser.
Fray (n)
An environment of intense competition OR
become worn by constant rubbing.
Cheap fabric soon frays.
Reverie (n)
[Revurie]
A state of being pleasantly lost in ones thoughts.
A knock on the door broke her reverie.
Felicity (n)
Intense happiness .
Incessantly (adv)
Continuously without a break.
Harken (v)
Mention or remember something from the past.
He is said to harken back to a better time.
Continence (n)
Exercising self restraint especially sexually.
Sine qua non (n)
The essential condition.
Desideratum (n)
Things wanted or needed
“Happily-ever-after” and “eternal love” appear to be the desiderata of the current generation.
Surrogates (n)
A substitute deputing for another.
Pestiferous (adj)
A nuisance or annoyance.
He was regarded as the most pestiferous past president.
Recuse (v)
Excuse oneself from a case because of conflict of interest.
He recused himself from the case.
Forage (v)
Search for food
A girl foraging grass for oxen.
Eugenics (n)
The science of improving a population by controlled breeding .
Parturition (n)
The act of child birth.
Aperitif (n)
An alcoholic drink taken before meals to stimulate appetite.
Adamantine (adj)
That which cannot be broken.
Adamantine chains.
Discarnate (adj)
Not having a physical body.
Methods for communicating with discarnate spirits.
Abridgment (n)
A shorter version of a larger piece of text.
Arbitrage (n)
The simultaneous buying and selling of securities on different markets to use price difference.
Conterminous(adj)
Continuous sharing a boundary
The 48 conterminous states of the union.
Assail(v)
To make a violent attack on.
He assailed a group of editors for their alleged excesses.
Doctrine (n)
A set of beliefs advanced by the Church.
Insentient (adj)
Incapable of feeling or understanding.
It’s cruel to assume animals to be insentient beings.
Momentous (adj)
Of great importance or significance.
Adamantine (adj)
Unbreakable.
Her adamantine will saw her through.
Conterminous (adj)
Sharing the same boundary.
The 48 conterminous states of America.
Irreverence (n)
An attitude of not taking things seriously.
The general irreverence with which people view politicians is not surprising.
Farrago (n)
A motley assortment of things.
Apocalypse (n)
An universal or widespread destruction.
The apocalypse of a nuclear war.
Moonshiner (n)
An illicit distiller of alcohol.
Bibulous (adj)
Excessively fond of drinking.
It would be a long, bibulous evening.
Vapid (adj)
Bland not stimulating.
Pejorative (adj)
Expressing contempt or disapproval.
Permissiveness is almost always used as a pejorative term.
Vacuous (adj)
Lack of thought or intelligence, mindless.
A vacuous smile.
Acuity (n)
Sharpness or keenness of thought or vision.
Intellectual acuity.
Highfalutin (adj)
Pompous bombastic.
You don’t want any highfalutin jargon.
Squeamish (adj)
Easily made to feel sick or disgusted.
She felt squeamish about asking guys for a date.
Gaffe (n)
Social awkwardness or blunder.
At work l made a few gaffes in my first days.
Goobledegook (n)
Speech which is nonsense.
Ruse (n)
A trick or artifice.
It as a ruse to avoid work.
Pheromones (n)
A chemical substance emitted by an animal or insect to draw the attention of its species.
Brusquely (adj)
Abrupt or offhand in speech or manner.
She could be brusquely abrupt and impatient.
Innuendo (n)
An oblique or allusive remark or hint.
Guffaw (n)
Loud thunderous laughter.
Dogged (adj)
Persistence in effort.
Success required dogged determination.
Kludge (n) (v)
A badly assembled collection of parts to serve a purpose.
Hugh had to kludge something together.
Memento (n)
An object used as a reminder of a past event.
Ogre (n)
[ow-gur]
A cruel wicked person.
Existential (adj)
Relating to existence .
Scurrilous (adj)
Coarse vulgar abuse.
A scurrilous attack on his integrity.
Frisson (n)
A sudden sensation of excitement or fear.
A frisson of excitement.
Masticate (adj)
To chew.
Portentous (adj)
Of enormous or ominous significance.
This portentous year in Canadian history.
Execrable (adj)
Hateful loathing.
Execrable cheap wine.
Spiel (n)
High flown speech intended to attract attention.
He delivers a breathless and effortless spiel in promotion of his new novel.
Trellis (n)
An outdoor garden frame.
Ingrate (adj)
Ungrateful person.
Croupier (n)
A person who collects bets and pays out winnings at a gambling table.
Chafe (v)
To become sore by rubbing against.
The collar chafed his neck.
Raspy (adj)
Hoarse or harsh sounding.
His voice was raspy from days of non-stop campaigning.
Leery (adj)
Cautious due to realistic suspicions.
A city leery of gang wars.
Impelled (adj)
Drive forward or be propelled.
Vital energies impel him in unforeseen directions.
Trundle (v)
To move slowly.
Vintage cars trundled past us.
Pastiche (n)
An artistic style imitating elements of other styles, artists.
Sedulous (adj)
Showing dedication and diligence.
He watched over himself with the most sedulous care.
Sparge (v)
Sprinkle water over something.
The grains were sparged before brewing.
Verdure (n)
Fresh green vegetation.
Atavistic (adj)
Reversion to an earlier type; throwback.
These councils have been seeking amendments in the Hindu Marriage Act to support their atavistic views.
Snot (n)
Mucus from the nose.
Suss (v)
To investigate.
If you want to suss out the cleanliness level of any hotel go by the backdoor.
Bluster (v)
To roar loudly.
He blusters about revenge but does nothing.
Chicanery (n)
Trickery or deception.
He resorted to the worst chicanery to win the job.
Commiserate (v)
To feel or express sorrow or sympathy for.
She went over to commiserate with Rose.
Tittering (n)
To laugh in a restrained, or affected way,
When I stopped, the tittering had ceased; silence saluted me.
Scuffed (v)
To rub or scrape (one’s foot or feet) over something.
