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English Vocalbulary > General Vocabulary 13 > Flashcards

General Vocabulary 13 Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

Skittish (adj)

A

Nervous or excitable; easily scared.

My skittish and immature mother.

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2
Q

Boondoggle (n)

A

An unnecessary, wasteful, or fraudulent project.

He characterized the defense program as an unworkable boondoggle.

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3
Q

Dirigisme (n)

[Dirigism]

A

State control of economic and social matters.

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4
Q

Buffeted (v)

A

Strike repeatedly and violently, battered.

Rough seas buffeted the coast.

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5
Q

Volksgeist (n)

A

The spirit of an individual people, its “national spirit” or “national character”.

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6
Q

Redact (v)

A

Prepare for publication by correcting revising or adapting.

Redact a book on lexical semantics.

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7
Q

Rustler (n)

A

An cattle thief.

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8
Q

Broadside (n)

A

A Fierce verbal attack.

He launched a broadside against the economic reforms.

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9
Q

Syncretic (adj)

A

Describing the amalgamation of different cultures, religions or schools of thought.

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10
Q

Indignant (adj)

A

Showing anger at what is felt to be unfair treatment.

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11
Q

Refied (adj)

A

To give definite content and form to (a concept or idea)

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12
Q

Legatee (n)

A

A beneficiary who inherits a legacy or will.

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13
Q

Pederasty (n)

A

Sexual activity between a man and a boy.

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14
Q

Overweening (adj)

A

Showing excessive confidence or pride.

Overweening ambition led to his downfall.

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15
Q

Undergirded (v)

A

Secure or fasten from the underside OR provide firm support for.

That’s a philosophy that needs to undergird retailers’ business plans this year

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16
Q

Verities (n)

A

True principles or beliefs.

The eternal verities of life.

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17
Q

Panjandrum (n)

A

A person who claims to have a great deal of author influence.

The greatest scientific panjandrum of the 19th century

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18
Q

Rodomontade (n)

A

Boastful or inflated talk.

He soon finds out there’s nothing to be gained by rodomontading.

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19
Q

Omnibus (n)

A

A volume of books previously published separately.

An omnibus of her first trilogy.

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20
Q

Sacerdotal (adj)

[Sasedotal]

A

Denoting a doctrine which ascribes sacrificial functions and spiritual or supernatural powers to ordained priests.

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21
Q

Etiolation (adj)

A

Place and drawn out due to lack of light.

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22
Q

Benighted (adj)

A

In a state of pitiful or contemptible moral or intellectual ignorance.

They saw themselves as bringers of culture to poor benighted peoples.

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23
Q

Incubus (n)

A

A male demon having sexual intercourse with sleeping women OR a cause of difficulty or anxiety.

Debt is a big incubus in developing countries

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24
Q

Brinkmanship (n)

A

The art of pursuing a dangerous policy to the limit of endurance especially in politics.

In any game of brinkmanship, it is possible that one side will collapse suddenly.

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25
Q 
Casus belli (n)
[Kesis bella]
A

An act or situation that provokes a war.

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26
Q

Tendentious (adj)

A

Tending to promote a particular thought or view, especially controversial.

A tendentious reading of history.

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27
Q

Skittish (adj)

A

Nervous, excitable, easily scared.

A skittish chestnut mare.

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28
Q

Boondoggle (n)

A

An unnecessary wasteful project.

He characterized the defense program as an unworkable boondoggle.

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29
Q

Dirigisme (n)

A

State control of economic and social matters.

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30
Q

Irremediably (adj)

A

Impossible to correct or set right.

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31
Q

Coltan (n)

A

A dull metallic mineral.

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32
Q

Pro-rata (adj)

A

Proportional.

As the pound has fallen costs have risen on a pro-rata basis.

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33
Q

Defenestrated (v)

A

Remove from a position of power or authority.

The overwhelming view is that he should be defenestrated before the next election.

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34
Q

Withering (adj)

A

Intense scorching.

A protective cover to escape withering heat.

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35
Q

Sensorium (n)

A

The sensory apparatus considered as a whole.

The magic of cinema comes pouring into our sensorium.

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36
Q

Animus (n)

A

Intense feeling of dislike or hostility.

the author’s animus towards her.

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37
Q

Cobble (v)

A

Assemble or produce something from available parts or elements.

The film was imperfectly cobbled together from two separate stories.

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38
Q

Chattel (n)

A

In Law: An item of property other than freehold land.

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39
Q

Infructuous (adj)

A

Pointless or unnecessarily.

All previous guarantees extended by the company are infructuous.

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40
Q

Prospective (adj)

A

Likely to happen at a future date.

Threats of prospective punishment deter kids from misbehaving.

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41
Q

Bloviate(v)

A

To speak verbosely in a pompous manner.

He bloviated in his speech to the convention.

42
Q

Apotheosis (n)

A

The glorification of something to the level making it divine.

43
Q

Hospice (n)

A

A place of palliative care for the terminally ill.

44
Q

Cornice (n)

A

A horizontal decorative mounding that crowns a building or furniture.

45
Q

Iniquities (n)

A

Grossly unfair behavior.

A den of iniquity.

46
Q

Recrudescene (n)

A

The recurrence of an undesirable condition.

Recrudescence of the disease is a real possibility.

47
Q

Cupidity (n)

A

Greed for money or possessions.

New wealth, however tainted by cupidity and egoism, tends to be favorable for the arts.

48
Q

Trope (n)

A

A figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression.

Both clothes and illness became tropes for new attitudes toward the self.

49
Q

Scourged (v)

A

Cause great suffering to.

Political methods used to scourge and oppress workers.

50
Q

Swoon (v)

A

Be overcome with admiration, adoration, or other strong emotion.

You can have them swooning over you with a few well-placed words.

51
Q

Straitened (adj)

A

Characterized by poverty.

They lived in straitened circumstances.

52
Q

Swingeing (adj)

A

Severe or extreme in size, amount, or effect.

Swingeing cuts in public expenditure.

53
Q

Lancet (n)

A

A small, broad two-edged surgical knife or blade with a sharp point.

54
Q

Prissy (adj)

A

Fussily and excessively respectable.

A middle-class family with two prissy children.

55
Q

Harness (v)

A

Control and make use of (natural resources), especially to produce energy.

Attempts to harness solar energy.

56
Q

Levees (n)

A

A formal reception of visitors or guests.

The great stop on the Washington social circuit was the diplomat’s levee.

57
Q

Suborn (v)

A

Bribe or otherwise induce (someone) to commit an unlawful act such as perjury.

He was accused of conspiring to suborn witnesses.

58
Q

Arcadia (n)

A

An idyllic vision of unspoiled wilderness.

59
Q

Squirearchy (n)

[Square rarchy]

A

Landowners collectively, especially when considered as a class having political or social influence.

60
Q

Firman (n)

A

An oriental sovereign’s edict or permit.

61
Q

Reified (v)

A

Make (something abstract) more concrete or real.

These instincts are, in man, reified as verbal constructs”.

62
Q

Indigenes (n)

A

An indigenous people.

63
Q

Sot (n)

A

A habitual drunkard.

64
Q

Paternalist (adj)

A

Relating to or characterized by the restriction of the freedom and responsibilities of subordinates or dependents in their supposed interest.

The paternalistic attitude of colonial Victorians.

65
Q

Furlough (n)

A

Leave of absence, especially that granted to a member of the services or a missionary.

A civil servant home on furlough.

66
Q

Luxuriated (v)

A

Enjoy (something) as a luxury; take self-indulgent delight in.

She was luxuriating in a long bath.

67
Q

Redoubts (n)

A

A temporary or supplementary fortification, typically square or polygonal and without flanking defenses.

The British stormed the rebel redoubt.

68
Q

Fripperies (n)

A

Showy or unnecessary ornament in architecture, dress, or language.

A strictly business building with not a hint of frippery.

69
Q

Querulous (adj)

A

Complaining in a rather petulant or whining manner.

She became querulous and demanding.

70
Q

Sweetmeats (n)

A

An item of confectionery or sweet food.

He hurried back to his room like a schoolboy who has stolen a sweetmeat.

71
Q

Prospector (n)

A

A person who searches for mineral deposits, especially by drilling and excavation.

For modern-day prospectors, panning for gold is a chance to experience the thrill of finding buried treasure.

72
Q

Reeled (v )

A

Feel shocked, bewildered, or giddy.

The Prime Minister was reeling from a savaging inflicted in the Commons.

73
Q

Prefigure (v)

A

Be an early indication or version of (something).

The Hussite movement prefigured the Reformation.

74
Q

Anapests (n)

A

A metrical foot consisting of two short or unstressed syllables followed by one long or stressed syllable.

75
Q

Habeas Corpus (n)

A

A writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person’s release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention.

His application for habeas corpus.

76
Q

Trifecta (n)

A

A run of three wins or grand events.

He will attempt a trifecta of the long jump, triple jump, and 110-meter high hurdles”.

77
Q

Mofussil (n)

A

Parts of a country outside an urban center.

78
Q

Perversity (n)

A

A deliberate desire to behave in an unreasonable or unacceptable way; contrariness.

They responded with typical perversity.

79
Q

Jurisprudence (n)

A

The science or philosophy of law.

80
Q

Metonym (n)

A

A word, name, or expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated.

Washington is a metonym for the US government.

81
Q

Stevedores (n)

[Steve-e-dore]

A

A person employed at a dock to load and unload ships.

82
Q

Redound (v)

A

Contribute greatly to (a person’s credit or honor).

His latest diplomatic effort will redound to his credit.

83
Q

Sundering (v)

A

Split apart.

A universe sundered ages ago in a divine war.

84
Q

Barefaced (adj)

A

Shameless and undisguised.

A barefaced lie.

85
Q

Derisory (n)

A

Expressing contempt or ridicule.

He gave a harsh, derisive laugh.

86
Q

Divide et Impera

A

Divide and Rule.

87
Q

Triumvirate (n)

A

A triumvirate (Latin: triumvirātus) is a political regime ruled or dominated by three powerful individuals known as triumvirs.

88
Q

Bookended (v)

A

Be positioned at the end or on either side of (something).

The narrative is bookended by a pair of incisive essays”.

89
Q

Assailed (v)

A

Criticize strongly.

He assailed a group of editors for their alleged excesses.

90
Q

Tryst (n)

A

A private romantic rendezvous between lovers.

A moonlight tryst.

91
Q

Otiose (adj

A

Serving no practical purpose or result.

There were occasions when I felt my efforts were rather otiose.

92
Q

Fealty (n)

A

A feudal tenant’s or vassal’s sworn loyalty to a lord.

They owed fealty to the Earl rather than the King.

93
Q

Inculpate (v)

A

Accuse or blame.

He blamed himself, but also inculpated his fiancée.

94
Q

Countenance (v)

A

Admit as acceptable or possible.

He was reluctant to countenance the use of force.

95
Q

Interpose (v)

A

Intervene between parties.

The legislature interposed to suppress these amusements.

96
Q

Bumptious (adj)

A

Irritatingly self-assertive.

An impossibly bumptious and opinionated ass.

97
Q

Immiseration

A

Economic impoverishment.

Rapid modernization had an impact on the level of urban immiseration.

98
Q

Gibbets (n)

A

The four ringleaders were sentenced to the gibbet.

99
Q

Blunderbuss (n)

A

An action or way of doing something regarded as lacking in subtlety and precision.

Economists resort too quickly to the blunderbuss of regulation.

100
Q

Strafing (v)

A

Attack repeatedly with bombs or machine-gun fire from low-flying aircraft.

Military aircraft strafed the village.

English Vocalbulary (31 decks)

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