General Vocabulary 12 Flashcards
Frisson (n)
A sudden feeling of excitement or fear.
A frisson of excitement.
Balustrade (n)
[Bala strade]
A railing made of Balusters especially on a balcony.
Conurbation (n)
A extended urban area of a city and its satellite towns
The major conurbations of London and Birmingham.
Pastiche (n)
A work of art that imitates pieces of other artistic styles. .
The operetta is a pastiche of 18th century style.
Travertine (n)
A light colored calcareous rock used in construction.
They are built of travertine covered with stucco
Hauteur (n)
[a ter]
Proud haughtiness.
She walked into the room with formidable hauteur.
Leer (v)
Look or gaze in a lascivious or unpleasant way.
Bystanders were leering at the nude painting.
Homily (n)
A tedious moralizing discourse.
She delivered her homily on the need for patience.
Ingrate (n)
An ungrateful person.
To behave like an ingrate.
Puckered (adj)
Contract into wrinkles or folds.
The child’s face puckered, ready to cry.
Astringent (adj)
Sharp or severe in manner or style.
Her astringent words had their effect.
Indolent (adj)
Lazy.
They were indolent and addicted to a life of pleasure.
Pretentious (adj)
Attempting to impress by affecting greater importance than deserved.
Pretentious art films.
Parasol (n)
A light umbrella to protect against the sun.
Scour (v)
[scavour]
Clean or brighten the surface of (something) by rubbing it hard.
She scoured the dirty pan.
Squelch (v)
Forcefully silence or suppress.
Property developers tried squelching public opinion.
Steeples (n)
Church tower or spire.
Roiling (v)
Make muddy or turbid by disturbing the sediment.
Winds roil these waters.
Scrum (n)
An ordered formation of players, used to restart play in rugby.
Splayed (v)
Thrust out or spread out.
She splayed her hands out in exasperation.
Akimbo (adv)
With hands on hips and elbows spread out.
She stood with arms akimbo frowning at the boy.
Nondescript (adj)
Lacking interesting features.
She lives in a nondescript apartment block.
Patina (n)
Thin green film on bronze formed by oxidation.
Detritus (n)
Waste matter.
The streets were fouled by detritus.
Spectral (adj)
Resembling a ghost.
A spectral, menacing face.
Atavistic (n)
An evolutionary throwback to the past.
Atavistic fears and instincts were aroused once again.
Phantasmagoria (n)
A sequence of real or imaginary images.
What followed was a phantasmagoria of mystery and horror.
Scrabbling (v)
To scratch or grope around with fingers.
She scrabbled at the grassy slope, desperate for purchase.
Codger (n)
Old man.
Codgers harping over good times.
Cordite (n)
A smoke less explosive used in ammunition.
Derisively (adj)
In a manner expressing contempt.
They derisively referred to clients as muppets.
Ethnography (n)
The study of people and cultures.
Preemption (n)
The purchase of goods or shares by one person or party before the opportunity is offered to others.
The commission had the right of pre-emption.
Anomie (n)
Lack of ethical standards in a group.
The theory that high-rise architecture leads to anomie in the residents is misplaced.
Apocalyptic (adj)
Catastrophic destruction.
Sniffle (v)
To sniff frequently.
She rubbed her nose sniffling loudly.
Foment (v)
To instigate or promote the growth of.
To foment trouble.
Arrogate (v)
To take or claim without justification.
They arrogate to themselves the ability to divine the nation’s true interests.
Bilious (adj)
Associated with nausea or vomiting.
A bilious vernal attack.
Vitriolic (adj)
Filled with bitter criticism and malice.
Her vitriolic speech made the politicians cringe.
Encrustation (n)
A hard surface coating.
The surface was coated by an encrustation of salt.
Interdict (n)
A prohibition by law.
Society will never interdict sex.
Coruscating (adj)
Flashing sparkling brilliance.
The light was coruscating through the walls.
Ossiferous (adj)
Containing bone matter especially fossil bones
These ossiferous remains are richest in the province of Buenos Aires.
Neophyte (n)
A novice or a person new to a task.
Four-day cooking classes are offered to neophytes and experts.
Contiguous (adj)
Sharing a common boundary or part of a sequence.
Superannnuated (adj)
Outdated through age.
Interlude (n)
An interval.
Enjoying a lunchtime interlude.
Catelation (n)
Joy in other people’s misfortune.
I noticed catelation in John’s attitude at Joe’s funeral.
Behooves (v)
Be appropriate or necessary.
It behooves on us to reflect on this matter.
Homophones (n)
Two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meaning.
Ferret (v)
To drive out.
To ferret rabbits from their burrows.
Fervent (adj)
Showing great warmth or intensity of feeling.
She showed a fervent desire to care for the child.
Ferment (adj)
Cause agitation or excitement.
Reading fermented his imagination.
Filibuster (v)
To impede legislation by irregular or obstructive tactics, especially by making long speeches.
Funicular (adj)
Operating by cable with ascending and descending cars counterbalanced(Of railways).
Filial (adj)
Noting the relationship of a child to a parent.
Her filial affections would not come in way of her judgement.
Forage (adj)
The act of hunting for food.
A nightly forage for food.
Entrees (n)
[ahn-trey]
A dish served as the main course of a meal.
Pennant (n)
A tapering flag especially on a ship.
Arbiter (n)
A person who settles a dispute.
The Secretary of State is the final arbiter.
Arbitrator (n)
A person or body officially appointed to settle a dispute.
Intestate (adj)
Not having made a will before one dies.
He died intestate.
Bivouac (n)
A temporary tent.
Belay (v)
Fix a running rope around a rock or pin to secure it.
Secure a climber with a belayed rope.
Indenture (n)
A contract binding one party into the service of another.
An indentured laborer.
Petard (n)
A small bomb used to blow up fortifications.
Hoist (v)
To lift up.
Purveyor (n)
A provider or supplier.
He was a purveyor for counterfeit goods.
Epistolary (adj)
Related to the writing of letters.
They carried on an epistolary relationship for very long.
Omertà (n)
Code of silence in mafia gangs refusing to give cops evidence.
Loyal to the oath of omertà.
Saporous (adj)
A quality in a substance which produces taste or flavor
Cassandra (n)
A Greek god who was a Trojan prophetess.
Cringe (v)
Bend one’s head and body in fear or in a servile manner.
They cringed at the thought of hard labor.
Provocateur (n)
A person who commits or who acts to entice another person to commit an illegal or rash act or falsely implicate them in partaking in an illegal act.
Bugbear (n)
An imaginary frightening creature.
High inflation has been a bugbear for the economy.
Collocate (v)
Be habitually juxtaposed(of a word) with another with a frequency greater than chance.
‘maiden’ collocates with ‘voyage’.
Vocable (n)
A sound that is not considered a word like “la” used in music or “huh” for an exclamation.
They sing tunes with abstract vocables and nonsensical lyrics.
Fraternity (n)
Any group or class of persons having common purposes, interests, etc.
The medical fraternity.
Mildew (n)
White fungus growing on organic materials.
Mold (n)
Red black fungus growing on organic material.
Performative (adj)
Performing an act by the very fact of being uttered, as with the expression “I promise”
Faux pas (n) [Fo pa]
An embarrassing or tactless act or remark.
Ectomorph (n)
A person with a lean and delicate build of body.
Orthogonal (adj)
Not pertinent to the matter under construction.
An issue orthogonal to the debate.
Pretentious (adj)
Attempting to impress by affecting a greater sense of importance then necessary.
The pretentious jargon of wine tasters.
Indenture (n)
A legal agreement with edges indented for easy identification.
Trope (n)
A figurative or metaphorical use of a word or phrase.
He used the two-Americas trope to show how a nation of free people would use unrestrained force.
Legatee (n)
Anybody who inherits a legacy.
His sister Alice was his principal legatee.
Reify (v)
[Ree-efi]
Make (something abstract) more concrete or real.
These instincts are, in man, reified as verbal constructs
Pederasty (n)
Sexual activity involving a man and a boy
Atavistic (adj)
Relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral.
Atavistic fears and instincts.
Verity (n)
A true principle or belief, especially one of fundamental importance.
Eternal verities.
Panjandrum (n)
A person who has or claims to have a great deal of authority or influence.
The greatest scientific panjandrum of the 19th century.
Rodomontade (adj)
Boastful or inflated talk or behavior.
He soon finds out there’s nothing to be gained by rodomontade.
Unedifying (adj)
Distasteful; unpleasant.
The unedifying sight of the two leaders screeching conflicting proposals
Defenestration (n)
The action of throwing someone out of a window.
Death by defenestration has a venerable history.
Coltan (n)
A dull metallic mineral.
Pro rata (adj)
Proportional.
As the pound has fallen costs have risen on a pro rata basis.
Succubus (n)
A female demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping men.
