Group 1 Flashcards
abscond (v)
to depart clandestinely; to steal off and hide
Two prisoners absconded last night.
aberrant (adj)
deviating from the norm (noun form: aberration)
aberrant behaviour/sexuality
alacrity (n)
eager and enthusiastic willingness, speed and eagerness
She accepted the money with alacrity.
approbation (n)
an expression of approval or praise, approval or agreement, often given by an official group
The council has finally indicated its approbation of the plans.
arduous (adj)
strenuous, taxing; requiring significant effort, difficult, needing a lot of effort and energy
an arduous climb/task/journey
assuage (v)
to ease or lessen; to appease or pacify, to make unpleasant feelings less strong
The government has tried to assuage the public’s fears.
audacious (adj)
daring and fearless; recklessly bold (noun from: audacity); showing a willingness to take risks or offend people
He described the plan as ambitious and audacious.
an audacious remark/suggestion
“audacious explorers”; “fearless reporters and photographers”
austere (adj)
very simple and without comfort or unnecessary things, especially because of severe limits on money or goods
an austere childhood during the war
axiomatic (adj)
taken as given; obviously true and therefore not needing to be proved (noun: axiom)
It is an axiomatic fact that governments rise and fall on the state of the economy
canonical (adj)
following or in agreement with accepted, traditional standards (noun form: canon)
capricious (adj)
changing mood or behaviour suddenly and unexpectedly, erratic, unpredictable
a capricious child
censure (n)
strong criticism or disapproval:
His dishonest behaviour came under severe censure.
chicanery (n)
clever, dishonest talk or behaviour that is used to deceive people
The investigation revealed political chicanery and corruption at the highest levels.
connoisseur (n)
a person who knows a lot about and enjoys one of the arts, or food, drink, etc. and can judge quality and skill in that subject
a wine/art connoisseur
a connoisseur of ballet/cigars
convoluted (adj)
describes sentences, explanations, arguments, etc. that are unreasonably long and difficult to understand
His grammar explanations are terribly convoluted.
Her book is full of long, convoluted sentences.
to disabuse (v)
to cause someone no longer to have a wrong idea:
He thought that all women liked children, but she soon disabused him of that (idea/notion).
discordant (adj)
conflicting; dissonant or harsh in sound
disparate (adj)
different in every way
The two cultures were so utterly disparate that she found it hard to adapt from one to the other.
effrontery (n)
extreme rudeness without any ability to understand that your behaviour is not acceptable to other people
He was silent all through the meal and then had the effrontery to complain that I looked bored!
eloquent (adj)
giving a clear, strong message
She made an eloquent appeal for action.
The pictures were an eloquent reminder of the power of the volcano.
to enervate (v)
to lessen the vitality or strength
the surgery really enervated me for weeks afterwards
ennui (n)
a feeling of being bored and mentally tired caused by having nothing interesting or exciting to do
The whole country seems to be affected by the ennui of winter.
equivocate (v)
to speak in a way that is intentionally not clear and confusing to other people, especially to hide the truth
She accused the minister of equivocating, claiming that he had deliberately avoided telling the public how bad the problem really was.
erudite (adj)
very learned; scholarly (noun form: erudition)
He’s the author of an erudite book on Scottish history.
extemporaneous (adj)
done or said without any preparation or thought
an extemporaneous speech
filibuster (v)
to make a long speech in order to delay or prevent a new law being made
Conceivably, supporters of the law could filibuster to prevent it from being revised.
fulminate (v)
to criticize strongly, to loudly attack
I had to listen to Michael fulminating against the government.
ingenuous (adj)
honest, sincere, and trusting, sometimes in a way that seems silly
It has to be said it was rather ingenuous of him to ask a complete stranger to look after his luggage.
inured (adj)
if you become inured to something unpleasant, you become familiar with it and able to accept and bear it
After spending some time on the island they became inured to the hardships.
irascible (adj)
made angry easily
She’s becoming more and more irascible as she grows older.
laud (v)
to praise highly
The German leadership lauded the Russian initiative.
lucid (adj)
clearly expressed and easy to understand, or (of a person) thinking or speaking clearly
She gave a clear and lucid account of her plans for the company’s future.
The drugs she’s taking make her drowsy and confused, but there are times when she’s quite lucid.
magnanimity (n)
the quality of being generously noble in mind and heart, esp. in forgiving (adj. form: magnanimous)
martial (adj)
relating to soldiers, war, or life in the armed forces
mundane (adj)
very ordinary and therefore not interesting:
Mundane matters such as paying bills and shopping for food do not interest her.
nascent (adj)
only recently formed or started, but likely to grow larger quickly
a nascent political party
a nascent problem
nebulous (adj)
(especially of ideas) not clear and having no form
She has a few nebulous ideas about what she might like to do in the future, but nothing definite.
neologism (n)
a new word or expression, or a new meaning for an existing word
noxious (adj)
describes something, especially a gas or other substance, that is poisonous or very harmful; harmful and unpleasant
a noxious smell/influence
They died from inhaling noxious fumes.
obtuse (adj)
lacking sharpness or quickness of sensibility or intellect : insensitive, stupid
difficult to comprehend : not clear or precise in thought or expression
He is too obtuse to take a hint.
to obviate (v)
to anticipate and prevent (as a situation) or make unnecessary (as an action)
The new medical treatment obviates the need for surgery.
onerous (adj)
involving, imposing, or constituting a burden : troublesome
having legal obligations that outweigh the advantages
The government imposed onerous taxes on imports.
paean (n)
a song, film, or piece of writing that praises someone or something very enthusiastically
The song is a paean to solitude and independence.
parody (n)
a literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule
perennial (adj)
lasting a very long time, or happening repeatedly or all the time
The film ‘White Christmas’ is a perennial favourite.
We face the perennial problem of not having enough money.
perfidy (n)
intentional breach o faith; treachery (adj. form: perfidious); an act or an instance of disloyalty
he decided to forgive his wife’s perfidy, choosing to ascribe it to a moment of uncharacteristic weakness
perfunctory (adj)
done quickly, without taking care or interest
His smile was perfunctory.
perspicacious (adj)
quick in noticing, understanding, or judging things accurately
His perspicacious grandfather had bought the land as an investment, guessing that there might be gold underground.
prattle (v)
to talk in a silly way or like a child for a long time about things that are not important or without saying anything important
She’d have prattled on about her new job for the whole afternoon if I’d let her.
Stop your prattling and go to sleep!
precipitate (adj)
describes something as acting with excessive haste or impulse; exhibiting violent or unwise speed
the army’s precipitate withdrawal from the field of battle
to precipitate (v)
to make something happen suddenly or sooner than expected
An invasion would certainly precipitate a political crisis.
Fear of losing her job precipitated (= suddenly forced) her into action.
predilection (n)
If someone has a predilection for something, they like it a lot
Ever since she was a child, she has had a predilection for spicy food.
prescience (n)
foreknowledge of events; knowing of events prior to their occurring
Her prescience as an investor is impressive
prevaricate (v)
to avoid telling the truth or saying exactly what you think
He accused the minister of prevaricating.
qualms (n)
an uncomfortable feeling when you doubt if you are doing the right thing
She had no qualms about lying to the police.
recant (v)
to announce in public that your past beliefs or statements were wrong and that you no longer agree with them
After a year spent in solitary confinement, he publicly recanted (his views).
to refute so/sth (v)
to say or prove that a person, statement, opinion, etc. is wrong or false
to refute a person/theory/argument/claim
relegate (v)
to put someone or something into a lower or less important rank or position
She resigned when she was relegated to a desk job.
The story was relegated to the middle pages of the paper.
reticent (adj)
unwilling to speak about your thoughts or feelings
He is very reticent about his past.
Most of the students were reticent about answering questions.
solicitous (adj)
showing care and helpful attention to someone
He made a solicitous enquiry after her health.
sordid (adj)
dirty and unpleasant
There are lots of really sordid apartments in the city’s poorer areas.
sporadic (adj)
happening sometimes; not regular or continuous
sporadic gunfire
a sporadic electricity supply
More than 100 people have been killed this year in sporadic outbursts of ethnic violence.
squander (v)
to waste money or supplies, or to waste opportunities by not using them to your advantage
They’ll quite happily squander a whole year’s savings on two weeks in the sun.
Ireland squandered several chances, including a penalty that cost them the game.
static (adj)
staying in one place without moving, or not changing for a long time
Oil prices have remained static for the last few months.
stupefy (v)
to amaze, to astonish, to make someone tired and unable to think clearly
stupefied by the ruling that he could not compete because his missed the qualifying age by two days
stymie (v)
to prevent something from happening or someone from achieving a purpose
In our search for evidence, we were stymied by the absence of any recent documents.
synthesis (n)
the composition or combination of parts or elements so as to form a whole
torque (n)
a force that causes something to rotate (= turn in a circle)
tortuous (adj)
with many turns and changes of direction; not direct or simple
He took a tortuous route through back streets.
The path to peace seems at last to be clear, although it may be a long and tortuous one.
truculent (adj)
unpleasant and likely to argue a lot, eager to fight
a truculent teenager
I found him truculent and most unpleasant.
veracity (n)
the quality of being true, honest, or accurate
Doubts were cast on the veracity of her alibi.
virulent (adj)
A virulent disease or poison is dangerous and spreads or affects people very quickly; full of hate and violent opposition
A particularly virulent strain of flu has recently claimed a number of lives in the US.
She is a virulent critic of US foreign policy.
voracious (adj)
very eager for something, especially a lot of food:
He has a voracious appetite (= he eats a lot).
He’s a voracious reader of historical novels (= he reads a lot of them eagerly and quickly).
waver (v)
If you waver between two possibilities, you cannot decide which of them to choose or you keep choosing one way and then the other
“What are you having?” “Er, I’m wavering between the fish soup and the mushroom tart.”
