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English Vocalbulary > General Vocabulary 8 > Flashcards

General Vocabulary 8 Flashcards

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1
Q

Euphony (n)

A

Any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds.

He fell asleep to the music of the wind chimes

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2
Q

Astride (adv)

A

With one leg on each side.

She sat astride the chair.

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3
Q

Discursive (adj)

A

Tending (of e.g. speech and writing) to depart from the main point or cover a wide range of subjects.

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4
Q

Sanctimony (n)

A

The quality of being hypocritically devout.

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5
Q

Sepulchral (adj)

A

Suited to or suggestive of a grave or burial.

Sepulchral gloom.

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6
Q

Mendacious (adj)

A

Given to lying, intentionally untrue.

A mendacious child.

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7
Q

Nettled (adj)

A

Aroused to impatience or anger

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8
Q

Innocuous (adj)

A

Innocent, lacking intent or capacity to injure.

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9
Q

Craven (adj)

A

Lacking even the rudiments of courage, abjectly fearful

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10
Q

Stride (n)

A

A step in walking or running, the distance covered by a step.

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11
Q

Ostensibly (adv)

A

From appearances alone.

Irrigation often produces bumper crops from ostensibly desert land.

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12
Q

Burgeon (v)

A

Grow and flourish.

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13
Q

Conspicuous (adj)

A

Obvious to the eye or mind.

A tower conspicuous at a great distance.

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14
Q

Guy (n)

A

A cable, wire, or rope that is used to brace something (especially a tent)

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15
Q

Lascivious (v)

A

Driven by lust, preoccupied with or exhibiting lustful desires.

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16
Q

Harangue (adj)

A

A loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion.

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17
Q

Lissome (adj)

A

Gracefully thin and bending and moving with ease.

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18
Q

Fracas (n)

A

Noisy quarrel.

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19
Q

Bellwether (n)

A

Someone who assumes leadership of a movement or activity.

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20
Q

Puissant (adj)

A

Powerful.

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21
Q

Cruciform (adj)

A

Shaped like a cross.

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22
Q

Facetious (adj)

A

Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant.

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23
Q

Dilettante (adj)

A

Showing frivolous or superficial interest, amateurish.

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24
Q

Equivocate (v)

A

Be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information.

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25
Q

Heathen (adj)

A

Not acknowledging the God of Christianity and Judaism and Islam.

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26
Q

Bristle (n)

A

A stiff hair, a stiff fiber (coarse hair or filament).

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27
Q

Subsistence (n)

A

Minimal (or marginal) resources for subsisting.

Social security provided only a bare subsistence.

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28
Q

Alcove (n)

A

A small recess opening off a larger room.

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29
Q

Anomalous (adj)

A

Deviating from the general or common order or type.

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30
Q

Cohere (v)

A

Come or be in close contact with, stick or hold together and resist separation.

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31
Q

Frescoes (n)

A

A durable method of painting on a wall by using watercolors on wet plaster.

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32
Q

Altruism (n)

A

The quality of unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

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33
Q

Inure (v)

A

Cause to accept or become hardened to, habituate.

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34
Q

Divest (v)

A

Reduce or dispose of, cease to hold (an investment)

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35
Q

Baneful (adj)

A

Deadly or sinister.

The Florida eagles have a fierce baleful look.

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36
Q

Inviolable (adj)

A

Not capable of being violated or infringed.

Inviolable human rights.

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37
Q

Vainglory (n)

A

Outspoken conceit

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38
Q

Emasculate (adj)

A

Having unsuitable feminine qualities OR

Remove the testicles of a male animal.

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39
Q

Fortuitous (adj)

A

Occurring by happy chance.

Profits were enhanced by a fortuitous drop in the cost of raw materials.

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40
Q

Forswear (v)

A

Formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure.

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41
Q

Dapper (adj)

A

Marked by up-to-date in dress and manners.

A dapper young man.

42
Q

Ascetic (adj)

A

Practicing great self-denial, pertaining to or characteristic of an ascetic or the practice of rigorous self-discipline.

43
Q

Repudiate (v)

A

Refuse to acknowledge, ratify, or recognize as valid.

44
Q

Allegory (n)

A

A short moral story (often with animal characters).

45
Q

Demure (adj)

A

Affectedly modest or shy especially in a playful or provocative way.

46
Q

Intrepid (adj)

A

Invulnerable to fear or intimidation.

Intrepid explorers.

47
Q

Voluble (adj)

A

Marked by a ready flow of speech.

48
Q

Vaunt (n)

A

Extravagant self-praise.

49
Q

Demagogue (n)

A

A political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular passions and prejudices.

50
Q

Cesspool (n)

A

A covered cistern, waste water and sewage flow into it.

51
Q

Elegy (n)

A

A mournful poem, a lament for the dead.

52
Q

Genealogy (n)

A

The study or investigation of ancestry and family history.

53
Q

Anagram (n)

A

A word or phrase spelled by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.

54
Q

Adduce (v)

A

Advance evidence for.

55
Q

Aesthete (n)

A

One who professes great sensitivity to the beauty of art and nature.

56
Q

Bemuse (v)

A

Cause to be confused emotionally.

57
Q

Profligate (adj)

A

Unrestrained by convention or morality.

Congreve draws a debauched and profligate aristocratic society.

58
Q

Indignant (adj)

A

Angered at something unjust or wrong.

An indignant denial.

59
Q

Cavern (n)

A

A large cave or a large chamber in a cave.

60
Q

Expedient (adj)

A

Serving to promote your own interest.

Was merciful only when mercy was expedient.

61
Q

Blithe (adj)

A

Carefree and happy and lighthearted.

She was loved for her blithe spirit.

62
Q

Abrogate (v)

A

Revoke formally

63
Q

Flotsam (n)

A

The floating wreckage of a ship.

64
Q

Upbraid (v)

A

Express criticism towards.

The president upbraided the general for his irresponsible behavior.

65
Q

Pernicious (adj)

A

Working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way.

66
Q

Acerbic (adj)

A

Harsh or corrosive in tone.

An acerbic tone piercing otherwise flowery prose.

67
Q

Carte (n)

A

A list of dishes available at a restaurant.

The carte was in French.

68
Q

Belabour (v)

A

Beat soundly, to work at or to absurd length.

Belabor the obvious.

69
Q

Abrade (v)

A

Wear away.

70
Q

Mirthful (adj)

A

Arousing or provoking laughter.

A mirthful film with a steady stream of pranks and pratfalls.

71
Q

Sceptre (n)

A

A ceremonial or emblematic staff, the imperial authority symbolized by a scepter.

72
Q

Dystopia (n)

A

A work of fiction describing an imaginary place where life is extremely bad because of deprivation or oppression or terror.

73
Q

Celerity (n)

A

A rate that is rapid.

74
Q

Inimical (adj)

A

Not friendly.

75
Q

Itinerant (adj)

A

Traveling from place to place to work.

Itinerant labor

76
Q

Cloister (n)

A

Residence that is a place of religious seclusion (such as a monastery).

77
Q

Abstruse (adj)

A

Difficult to penetrate, incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge.

78
Q

Pallid (adj)

A

Abnormally deficient in color as suggesting physical or emotional distress.

79
Q

Cavort (v)

A

Play boisterously,

The children frolicked in the garden.

80
Q

Behoove (v)

A

Be appropriate or necessary,

It behooves us to reflect on this matter.

81
Q

Canoodle (v)

A

Fondle or pet affectionately

82
Q

Capricious (adj)

A

Determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason

83
Q

Epicurean (adj)

A

Displaying luxury and furnishing gratification to the senses.

84
Q

Parable (n)

A

A short moral story (often with animal characters)

85
Q

Churl (n)

A

A crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement

86
Q

Progenitor (n)

A

An ancestor in the direct line.

87
Q

Contravene (v)

A

Deny the truth of, go against, as of rules and laws.

88
Q

Bedraggled (adj)

A

Limp and soiled as if dragged in the mud.

The beggar’s bedraggled clothes.

89
Q

Patrimony (n)

A

A church endowment, an inheritance coming by right of birth (especially by primogeniture)

90
Q

Bigot (n)

A

A prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from his own.

91
Q

Canny (adj)

A

Showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others.

92
Q

Ennui (n)

A

The feeling of being bored by something tedious.

93
Q

Tirade (n)

A

A speech of violent denunciation.

94
Q

Gravitas (n)

A

Formality in bearing and appearance.

He behaved with great Gravitas.

95
Q

Tranche (n)

A

A portion of something (especially money).

96
Q

Supplicate (v)

A

Ask humbly (for something).

He supplicated the King for clemency.

97
Q

Musculature (n)

A

The muscular system of an organism

98
Q

Tremulous (adj)

A

(of the voice) Quivering as from weakness or fear

99
Q

Rapacious (adj)

A

Devouring or craving food in great quantities.

Rapacious vultures

100
Q

Pomade (n)

A

Hairdressing consisting of a perfumed oil or ointment

English Vocalbulary (31 decks)

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