General Vocabulary 19 Flashcards
Consilience (n)
Evidence or study from multiple, independent sources “converge,” or are in agreement, to support a conclusion.
Gerontocracy (n)
A state with oligarchic rule where the rulers are much older than the populace.
Whippersnapper (n)
A young upstart immature and overly confident.
I know her better than you, you whippersnapper.
Hermeneutics (adj)
The theory and methodology of interpretation especially of religious and philosophical text.
There is no objective determination in the matter, something that the courts have always in their hermeneutical foolishness tried to maintain.
Tribune (n)
A popular leader someone who champions peoples rights.
Subliminal (adj)
(Of a stimulus or mental activity) below the threshold of sensation or consciousness.
Humanoid (adj) (n)
Having the appearance or characteristics of a human.
The crew watches in horror as a tall, emaciated humanoid appears behind him and brutally murders him.
Autochthonous (adj)
Indigenous rather than descending from immigrants or colonists.
Nor would anyone deny that there are still some virulent autochthonous anti-semites in Europe
Provost (n)
Head or senior administration officer of an university.
Discommode (v)
Cause (someone) trouble or inconvenience.
I am sorry to have discommoded you.
Twaddle (n)
Trivial or foolish speech or writing; nonsense.
He dismissed the novel as self-indulgent twaddle.
Tragediennes (n)
[TRA JI DIAN]
An actress who specializes in tragic roles.
Tableau (n)
A scene showing, for example, events and people from history, that is presented by a group of actors who do not move or speak
Teetering (v)
Move or balance unsteadily; sway back and forth.
She teetered after him in her high-heeled sandals.
Castanets (n)
Small concave pieces of wood, ivory, or plastic, joined in pairs by a cord and clicked together by the fingers as a rhythmic accompaniment to Spanish dancing.
The gypsies appeared with their pebble filled castanets.
Curlicued (adj)
Having decorative curls or twists.
A page of elaborately curlicued and unintelligible script.
Arrhythmia (n)
A condition in which the heart beats with an irregular or abnormal rhythm.
A heartbeat that fluctuated between frantic arrhythmia and calm comatose.
Loutishness
Rude offensive behavior.
Brawling on and off the field has sparked a debate about increasing loutishness by sports figures.
Avowal (n)
A statement in which you say or admit something that you believe, support, or intend to do.
They were imprisoned for their avowal of anti-government beliefs
Garnet (n)
A precious stone consisting of a deep red vitreous silicate mineral.
A garnet ring.
Cower (v)
To move back or into a low position because of fear.
Outside the night cowered in its own terrors.
Hecate (n)
A Greek goddess associated with the underworld, night and witchcraft.
Palimpsest (n)
A manuscript or piece of writing material on which later writing has been superimposed on effaced earlier writing.
Sutton Place is a palimpsest of the taste of successive owners.
Centaur (n)
Creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man and the body and legs of a horse.