General Vocabulary 5 Flashcards
Offertory (n)
The offerings of the congregation at a religious service.
Inveigled (v)
Influence or urge by flattering.
Remit (n)
Cancel a debt or punishment OR send money in payment or as a gift.
The fines imposed on the minister were remitted.
Hearth (n)
Home symbolized as a part of the fireplace.
He was driven from hearth and home.
Eschew (v)
Avoid and stay away from deliberately.
He appealed to the crowd to eschew violence.
Sodden (adj)
Thoroughly wet.
Stood at the door drenched (or sodden) by the rain.
Gruel (n)
A thin porridge (usually oatmeal or cornmeal).
Gnomon (n)
Indicator provided by the stationary arm whose shadow indicates the time on the sundial.
Burble (v)
Make a continuous murmuring noise.
The steady burble of running water
Spout (n)
An opening that allows the passage of liquids or grain.
Ecumenical (adj)
Representing a number of different Christian Churches.
He was a member of ecumenical committees.
Expostulate (v)
Reason with (somebody) for the purpose of dissuasion.
He found Brian expostulating with a young man.
Precipitate (v)
Cause (an event or situation) to happen suddenly, or prematurely.
The incident precipitated a political crisis.
Gratuitous (adj)
Without cause, unnecessary and unwarranted.
A gratuitous insult.
Tarpaulin (n)
Waterproofed canvas.
Edify (v)
Make understand.
Can you edify me, I don’t understand this proposal.
Felicitous (adj)
Exhibiting an agreeably appropriate manner or style.
The view was the room’s only felicitous feature.
Insidious (adj)
Proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with very harmful effects.
Sexual harassment is a serious and insidious problem
Foment (v)
Bathe with warm water or medicated lotions.
His legs should be fomented.
Gall (n)
The trait of being rude and impertinent.
The bank had the gall to demand a fee.
Pouted (v)
Make a sad face and thrust out one’s lower lip.
She lounged on the steps, pouting.
Lumber (v)
Move in a slow, heavy, awkward way.
A truck lumbered past.
Prattle (n)
Idle or foolish talk.
She began to prattle on about her visit to the dentist.
Lurid (adj)
Presented in vividly shocking or sensational terms.
The lurid details of the massacre were too frightening.
Extenuate (v)
Lessen the seriousness or extent of.
Peremptorily (adv)
In an imperative and commanding manner.
Just do it!’ came the peremptory reply.
Grungy (adj)
Thickly covered with ingrained dirt or soot.
A miner’s grungy face.
Hagiology (n)
Literature narrating the lives of the saints.
Whine (v)
A complaint uttered in a plaintive way.
She whined about how hard she had to work.
Revere (v)
Feel deep respect or admiration for (something).
He was revered by his contemporaries.
Inchoate (adj)
Only partly in existence, imperfectly formed.
A still inchoate democracy.
Wiles (n)
The use of tricks to deceive someone.
She had been trying out her feminine wiles on Sam
Siren (n)
Women or winged creatures whose singing lured unwary sailors on to rocks.
Maudlin (adj)
Effusively or insincerely emotional.
A bout of maudlin self-pity.
Prelate (n)
A bishop or other high ecclesiastical dignitary.
Restitution (n)
Money paid in compensation for loss or injury.
He was ordered to pay £6,000 in restitution.
Chancel (n)
Area around the altar of a church for the clergy and choir.
Effacement (n)
Withdrawing into the background, making yourself inconspicuous OR To wipe out or do away with.
Probity (n)
The quality of having strong moral principles.
Financial probity is a must for the job.
Ebullient (adj)
[ee ba lient]
Joyously unrestrained.
She sounded ebullient and happy.
Putative (adj)
Generally considered or reputed to be.
The putative benefits of the medicine.
Recreant (adj)
Lacking even the rudiments of courage, abjectly fearful.
What a recreant figure must he make.
Staid (adj)
Characterized by dignity and propriety.
Staid law firms
Simper (n)
A silly self-conscious smile.
Raffish (adj)
Marked by a carefree unconventionality or disreputably.
From an early age, Mr. Trump encountered these raffish types with their unscrupulous methods.
Runes (n)
Letters of Germanic alphabets used before adoption of the Latin script.
Runic inscription.
Risque (adj)
Suggestive of sexual impropriety.
A risqué joke.
Risible (adj)
Arousing or provoking laughter.
An amusing film with a steady stream of pranks and risible pratfalls.
Officious (adj)
Intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner.
He security people were very officious.
Blurb (n)
A short description of a book, film for promotional purposes.
This is the first time I have blurbed a whole line of books
Misanthrope (n)
Someone who dislikes people in general.
Polemic (adj)
A strong verbal or written attack.
His polemic against the cultural relativism.
Sinew (n)
Possessing muscular strength, OR
A cord or band of inelastic tissue connecting a muscle with its bony attachment.
Philistine (adj)
Ignorant or indifferent, hostile to artistic and cultural values.
I am a complete philistine when it comes to paintings.
Wanton (adj)
Casual and unrestrained in sexual behavior. OR deliberate and unprovoked.
Sheer wanton vandalism.
Truculent (adj)
Defiantly aggressive
A truculent speech against the new government.
Docent (n)
A teacher immediately below professorial rank.
Swain (n)
A young lover or suitor.
Mahout (n)
The rider and keeper of an elephant.
Sullen (adj)
Darkened by clouds, showing a brooding ill humor.
Portent (n)
A sign of something about to happen.
He looked for an omen before going into battle.
Squally (adj)
Characterized by brief periods of violent wind or rain.
Squally showers.
Tousled (adj)
[taʊz(ə)l]
In disarray, extremely disorderly or untidy.
Her clothing was disheveled and tousled.
Posit (n)
A proposition that is accepted as true in order to provide a basis for logical reasoning.
Predicate (n)
One of the two main constituents of a sentence, the predicate contains the verb and its complements
OR
Something which is affirmed or denied concerning an argument of a proposition.
Epithet (n)
Descriptive word or phrase.
Existentialism (n)
A 20th-century philosophical movement chiefly in Europe.
Machismo (n)
Exaggerated masculinity.
The exaggerated machismo displayed by the boys.
Expiate (v)
Make amends for
Expiate one’s sins.
Venal (adj)
Capable of being corrupted.
Compunction (n)
A feeling of deep regret (usually for some misdeed).
They used their tanks without moral compunction.
Mantle (n)
A loose sleeveless cloak or shawl, worn especially by women OR an important role or responsibility.
Musing (n)
Deep or serious thought and reflection.
His musings were interrupted by the sound of the telephone.
Engender (v)
To cause to happen, make (offspring) by reproduction.
The issue engendered continuing controversy.
Quay (n)
Wharf usually built parallel to the shoreline.
Decry (v)
Express strong disapproval of.
We decry the racism in South Africa.
Scourge (n)
A whip used to inflict punishment OR something that causes great suffering.
The scourge of mass unemployment.
Easel (n)
An upright tripod for displaying something (usually an artist’s canvas).
Vicarious (adj)
Experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another person.
This catalog brings vicarious pleasure in luxury living
Repose (n)
A state of rest, sleep, or tranquility.
In repose her face looked relaxed.
Pusillanimous (adj)
Showing a lack of courage or determination.
Spurious (adj)
False or fake, not what it appears to be.
A spurious work of art.
Morphology (n)
The branch of biology that deals with the structure of animals and plants.
Emendation (n)
A correction by emending, a correction resulting from critical editing.
Sarcophagus (n)
A stone coffin usually bearing sculpture or inscriptions.
Mortification (n)
The action of subduing one’s bodily desires.
Mortification of the flesh has a long tradition in some religions.
Thurible (n)
A container for burning incense and swung on a chain in a religious ritual.
Noisome (adj)
Offensively malodorous, a foul odor.
Sardonic (adj)
Disdainfully or scornful and mocking.
Starkey attempted a sardonic smile.
Contingency (n)
A future event or circumstance which is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty.
Allow an extra fifteen per cent on the budget for contingencies.
Diminutive (adj)
Very small diminutive in stature.
A diminutive figure dressed in black.
Mien (n)
Dignified manner or conduct.
He has a cautious, academic mien.
Remission (n)
An abatement in intensity or degree or forgiveness.
The prisoners earn one day’s remission of their sentence.
Arraign (v)
Call before a court to answer an indictment.
Her sister was arraigned on charges of attempted murder.
Doctrinaire (adj)
Stubbornly insistent on theory without regard for practicality or suitability.
The administration’s doctrinaire economic policy.
Stringent (adj)
Demanding strict attention to rules and procedures.
They had stringent guidelines on air pollution.
Conciliatory (adj)
Intended to placate.
Spoke in a conciliating tone.
Eviscerate (adj)
To remove the entrails of or to remove the essential character of.
The goat had been skinned and eviscerated.
Affront (n)
A deliberately offensive act or something producing disrespect.
He took his son’s desertion as a personal affront.
Incendiary (adj)
Tending to inflame the senses, arouse strife and tension.
Incendiary speeches intended to cause trouble.
