Group 2 Flashcards by Bryce Ervin

Abate (verb)

to lessen in intensity or degree

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Accolade (noun)

an expression of praise

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Adulation (noun)

excessive praise; intense adoration

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Aesthetic (adj)

dealing with, appreciative of, or responsive to art or the beautiful

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Ameliorate (verb)

to make better or more tolerable

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Ascetic (noun)

one who practices rigid self-denial, esp. as an act of religious devotion

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Avarice (noun)

greed, esp. for wealth

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Axiom (noun)

a universally recognized principle

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Burgeon (verb)

to grow rapidly or flourish

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Bucolic (adj)

rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants

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Cacophony (noun)

harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance

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Canon (noun)

an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature

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Castigation (noun)

severe criticism or punishment

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Catalyst (noun)

a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction without itself changing; a person or thing that causes change

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Caustic (adj)

burning or stinging; causing corrosion

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Chary (adj)

wary; cautious; sparing

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Cogent (adj)

appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing

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Complaisance (noun)

the willingness to comply with the wishes of others

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Contentious (adj)

argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement

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Contrite (adj)

regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness

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Culpable (adj)

deserving blame

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Dearth (noun)

smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; a lack

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Demur (verb)

to question or oppose

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Didactic (adj)

intended to teach or instruct

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Discretion (noun)

cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decisions

Disinterested (adj)

free of bias or self-interest; impartial

Dogmatic (adj)

expressing a rigid opinion based on unproved or improvable principles

Ebullience (noun)

the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings

Eclectic (adj)

composed of elements drawn from various sources

Elegy (noun)

a mournful poem, esp. one lamenting the dead

Emollient (adj) / (noun)

soothing, esp. to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying; an agent that softens or smoothes the skin

Empirical (adj)

based on observation or experiment

Enigmatic (adj)

mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand

Ephemeral (adj)

brief; fleeting

Esoteric (adj)

intended for or understood by a small, specific group

Eulogy (noun)

a speech honoring the dead

Exonerate (verb)

to remove blame

Facetious (adj)

playful; humorous

Fallacy (noun)

an invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief

Furtive (adj)

marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious

Gregarious (adj)

sociable; outgoing; enjoying the company of other people

Harangue (verb) / (noun)

to deliver a pompous speech or tirade; a long pompous speech

Heretical (adj)

violating accepted dogma or convention

Hyperbole (noun)

an exaggerated statement, often used as a figure of speech

Impecunious (adj)

lacking funds; without money

Incipient (adj)

beginning to come into being or to become apparent

Inert (adj)

unmoving; lethargic; sluggish

Innocuous (adj)

harmless; causing no damage

Intransigent (adj)

refusing to compromise

Inveigle (verb)

to obtain by deception or flattery

Morose (adj)

sad; sullen; melancholy

Odious (adj)

evoking intense aversion or dislike

Opaque (adj)

impenetrable by light; not reflecting light

Oscillation (noun)

the act or state of swinging back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm

Penurious (adj)

penny-pinching; extremely thrifty; ungenerous

Pernicious (adj)

extremely harmful in a way that is not easily seen or noticed

Peruse (verb)

to examine with great care

Pious (adj)

extremely reverent or devout; showing strong religious devotion

Precursor (noun)

one that precedes and indicates or announces another

Preen (verb)

to dress up; to primp; to groom oneself with elaborate care

Prodigious (adj)

abundant in size, force, or extent; extraordinary

Prolific (adj)

producing large volumes or amounts; productive

Putrefy (verb)

to rot; to decay and give off a foul odor

Quaff (verb)

to drink deeply

Quiescence (noun)

stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest

Redoubtable (adj)

awe-inspiring; worthy of honor

Sanction (noun) / (verb)

authoritative permission or approval; a penalty intended to enforce compliance; to give permission or authority

Satire (noun)

a literary work that ridicules or criticizes a human vice through humor or derision

Squalid (adj)

sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect

Stoic (adj)

indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; stead-fast

Supplant (verb)

to take the place of; to supersede

Torpid (adj)

lethargic; sluggish; dormant

Ubiquitous (adj)

existing everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered; widespread

Urbane (adj)

sophisticated; refined; elegant

Vilify (verb)

to defame; to characterize harshly

Viscous (adj)

thick; sticky