Hello Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
1
Q

amenable

A

ADJ If you are amenable to something, you are willing to do it or accept it.

  • Synonyms: willing, inclined
  • Antonyms: unamenable, unwilling, disinclined

ADJ An amenable child can be easily persuaded by his teacher or his parents.

  • Synonyms: obedient
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

venerate

A

V-T If you venerate someone or something, you value them or feel great respect for them.

  • Synonyms: revere
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

involved

A

ADJ If a situation or activity is involved, it has a lot of different parts or aspects, often making it difficult to understand, explain, or do.

  • Synonyms: complicated, complex, elaborate
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

laconic

A

ADJ If you describe someone as laconic, you mean that they use very few words to say something, so that they seem casual or unfriendly.

  • Synonyms: terse
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

undermine

A

V-T If you undermine something such as a feeling or a system, you make it less strong or less secure than it was before, often by a gradual process or by repeated efforts.

  • Synonyms: weaken
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

galvanize

A

V-T To galvanize someone means to cause them to take action, for example by making them feel very excited, afraid, or angry.

  • galvanize support for
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

aberration

A

N-VAR An aberration is an incident or way of behaving that is not typical.

  • exception, deviation, anomaly, abnormality
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

censure

A

V-T If you censure someone for something that they have done, you tell them that you strongly disapprove of it.

  • Synonyms: castigate, rebuke, reprimand
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

mercurial

A

ADJ If you describe someone as mercurial, you mean that they frequently change their mind or mood without warning.

  • Synonyms: moody, volatile, capricious, temperamental
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

intimate

A

V-T If you intimate something, you say it in an indirect way.

  • Synonyms: hint, suggestion
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

prevaricate

A

V-I If you prevaricate, you avoid giving a direct answer or making a firm decision.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

castigate

A

V-T If you castigate someone or something, you speak to them angrily or criticize them severely.

  • Synonyms: rebuke, censure, reprimand, chastise
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

demur

A

V-I If you demur, you say that you do not agree with something or will not do something that you have been asked to do.

  • Synonyms: object, dissent, refuse
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

auspicious

A

ADJ Something that is auspicious indicates that success is likely.

  • an auspicious beginning
  • Synonyms: favorable, promising, propicious
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

ambivalent

A

ADJ If you say that someone is ambivalent about something, they seem to be uncertain whether they really want it, or whether they really approve of it.

  • Synonyms: uncertain
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

restive

A

ADJ If you are restive, you are impatient, bored, or dissatisfied.

  • The audience grew restive.
  • The stakes are high: Investors have become increasingly restive as the scandal continues to spread.
  • Synonyms: restless
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

amalgam

A

N-COUNT Something that is an amalgam of two or more things is a mixture of them.

  • Synonyms: mixture, blend
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

maintain

A

V-T If you say that someone maintains that something is true, you mean that they have stated their opinion strongly but not everyone agrees with them or believes them.

  • Synonyms: insist, assert
19
Q

anomalous

A

ADJ Something that is anomalous is different from what is usual or expected.

  • abnormal, aberrant, unusual
20
Q

egregious

A

ADJ Egregious means very bad and offensive.

  • the most egregious abuses of human rights
  • Synonyms: shocking
21
Q

impertinent

A

ADJ If someone talks or behaves in a rather impolite and disrespectful way, you can say that they are being impertinent.

  • Synonyms: rude, impolite, disrespectful
22
Q

acrimony

A

N-UNCOUNT Acrimony is bitter and angry words or quarrels.

  • bitterness, anger, ill feeling, ill will, resentment
23
Q

parochial

A

ADJ If you describe someone as parochial, you are critical of them because you think they are too concerned with their own affairs and should be thinking about more important things.

  • Synonyms: narrow-minded
24
Q

disinterested

A

ADJ Someone who is disinterested is not involved in a particular situation or not likely to benefit from it and is therefore able to act in a fair and unselfish way.

  • Synonyms: impartial, detached, dispassionate
25
Q

parsimonious

A

ADJ Someone who is parsimonious is very unwilling to spend money.

  • Synonyms: cheap, mean, miserly, ungenerous, stingy
26
Q

vindicate

A

V-T If a person or their decisions, actions, or ideas are vindicated, they are proved to be correct, after people have said that they were wrong.

  • Even seven Tour de France wins cannot vindicate Lance Armstrong in the eyes of the public.
27
Q

frugal

A

ADJ People who are frugal or who live frugal lives do not spend much money on themselves.

  • Monte was no miser, but was simply frugal, wisely spending the little that he earned.
  • Synonyms: thrifty
28
Q

prodigal

A

ADJ Someone who behaves in a prodigal way spends a lot of money carelessly without thinking about what will happen when they have none left.

  • Synonyms: wasteful, extravagant, profligate, spendthrift

ADJ You can describe someone as a prodigal son or daughter if they leave their family or friends, often after a period of behaving badly, and then return at a later time as a better person.

29
Q

amorphous

A

ADJ Something that is amorphous has no clear shape or structure.

  • the amorphous egg group(Pokemon)
  • an amorphous plan/proposal
  • amorphous silicon
30
Q

belie

A

V-T If one thing belies another, it hides the true situation and so creates a false idea or image of someone or something.

  • Belial(Diablo III)
  • Her looks belie her age.
  • Synonyms: disguise
31
Q

betray

A

V-T If you betray a feeling or quality, you show it without intending to.

  • The wrinkles betray her age.
  • Synonyms: reveal
32
Q

indignation

A

N-UNCOUNT Indignation is a feeling of shock and anger when you think that something is unjust or unfair.

  • She was filled with indignation at the conditions under which the miners were forced to work.
33
Q

equivocal

A

ADJ If you are equivocal, you are deliberately vague in what you say, because you want to avoid speaking the truth or making a decision.

  • Synonyms: vague, ambiguous

ADJ If something is equivocal, it is difficult to understand, interpret, or explain, often because it has aspects that seem to contradict each other.

  • The findings of the study were equivocal.
34
Q

gregarious

A

ADJ Someone who is gregarious enjoys being with other people.

  • People do not typically associate nerdy programmers of having a gregarious personality.
  • Synonyms: sociable, outgoing

ADJ Gregarious animals or birds normally live in large groups.

  • gregarious bird species
  • Synonyms: social
35
Q

qualify

A

V-T If you qualify a statement, you make it less strong or less general by adding a detail or explanation to it.

  • Boyd qualified his opinion, noting that the evidence could be interpreted in other ways.
36
Q

veracious

A

ADJ habitually truthful or honest

  • a veracious witness
  • a veracious account
  • Synonyms: honest, truthful
37
Q

calumny

A

N-VAR Calumny or a calumny is an untrue statement made about someone in order to reduce other people’s respect and admiration for them.

  • Synonyms: slander, libel
38
Q

chastise

A

V-T If you chastise someone, you speak to them angrily or punish them for something wrong that they have done.

  • Synonyms: reprimand, castigate, rebuke
39
Q

harangue

A

N-COUNT A harangue is a long pompous speech or tirade.

  • Synonyms: tirade
40
Q

innocuous

A

ADJ Something that is innocuous is not at all harmful or offensive.

  • Synonyms: harmless
41
Q

upbraid

A

V-T If you upbraid someone, you tell them that they have done something wrong and criticize them for doing it.

  • Synonyms: scold, reprimand, chastise, rebuke,
42
Q

venal

A

ADJ If you describe someone as venal, you disapprove of them because they are prepared to do almost anything in return for money, even things that are dishonest or immoral.

43
Q

enervate

A

V-T If something is enervated, it is deprived of strength or vitality.

  • Synonyms: weaken, debilitate, exhaust