Hit Parade 1 & 2 Flashcards
Abscond
to depart clandestinely; to steal off and hide
“the suspect absconded to Canada”
Aberrant/aberration
deviating from the norm
“a year of aberrant weather”
Alacrity
eager and enthusiastic willingness
“She accepted the invitation with an alacrity that surprised me.”
Anomaly/anomalous
deviation from the normal order, abnormality
“We couldn’t explain the anomalies in the test results”
Approbation
praise or approval
“the company has even received the approbation of its former critics”
Arduous
strenuous, taxing, requiring significant effort
“he went through a long and arduous training program”
Assuage
to ease or lessen; to appease or pacify
“he couldn’t assuage his guilt over the divorce”
Audacious/audacity
daring and fearless; recklessly bold
“they have audacious plans for the new school”
Austere/austerity
without adornment; bare; severely simple, ascetic
“They choose austere furnishings for the office.”
Axiomatic/axiom
taken as a given; possessing self-evident truth
“It is axiomatic that good athletes have a strong mental attitude”
Canonical/canon
following or in agreement with accepted, traditional standards
“the canonical books of the Bible”
Capricious
inclined to change one’s mind impulsively; erratic, unpredictable
“employees who are at the mercy of a capricious manager”
Censure
to criticize severely; to officially rebuke
“the country faces international censure for its alleged involvement in the assassination”
Chicanary
trickery or subterfuge
“He wasn’t above using chicanery to win votes.”
Connoisseur
an informed and astute judge in matters of taste, expert
“a wine connoisseur”
Convoluted
complex or complicated
“a convoluted explanation that left the listeners even more confused”
Disabuse
to undeceive, to set right
“let me disabuse you of that false belief”
Discordant (2)
(1) conflicting
“she has the difficult task of bringing together a number of discordant elements
(2) dissonant or harsh in sound
“discordant tones coming from the poorly tuned instrument”
Disparate
fundamentally distinct or dissimilar
“disparate notions among adults and adolescents about when middle age begins”
Effrontery
extreme boldness; presumptuousness; reckless shame
“the little squirt had the effrontery to deny eating any cookies, even with the crumbs still on his lips”
Eloquent/eloquence
well-spoken, expressive, articulate
“he is a very eloquent speaker”
Enervate
to weaken, to reduce in vitality
“a lifetime of working in dreary jobs had enervated his very soul”
Ennui
dissatisfaction and restlessness resulting from boredom or apathy
“the kind of ennui that comes from having too much time on one’s hands”
Equivocate/equivocal
to use ambiguous language with a deceptive intent
“The applicant seemed to be equivocating when we asked him about his last job.”
Erudite/Erudition
very learned; scholarly
“he most erudite people in medical research attended the conference”
Exculpate
exonerate; to clear of blame
“The court exculpated him after a thorough investigation”
Exigent
urgent, pressing; requiring immediate action or attention
“started his workday with a flood of exigent matters that required his quick decision”
Extemporaneous
improvised; done without preparation
“caught by surprise, I had to make an extemporaneous speech at the awards banquet”
Filibuster
intentional obstruction; using prolonged speech to delay legislative action
“they engaged in a filibuster that lasted over a week”
Fulminate
to loudly attack or denounce
“she was fulminating about the dangers of smoking.”
Ingenuous
artless, frank and candid, lacking sophistication
“ingenuous in their brutality”
Inured
accustomed to accepting something undesirable
“Does violence on television inure children to violence in real life?”
Irascible
easily angered; prone to temperamental outbursts
“an irascible old football coach”
Laud/laudatory
to praise highly
“an actor who in his lifetime received all the laud and honor that the theater world could bestow”
Lucid
clear; clearly understood
“the lucid argument”
Magnanimity/magnanimous
the quality of being generously noble in mind and heart, esp. forgiving
“She was too magnanimous to resent all the things others had said to her.”
Martial
associated with war and the armed forces
“martial law”
Mundane
of the world, typical of or concerned with the ordinary
“mundane chores, like washing dishes”
Nascent
coming into being, in early developmental stages
“one of the leading figures in the nascent civil-rights movement”
Nebulous
vague; cloudy; lacking clearly defined form
“These philosophical concepts can be nebulous.”
Neologism
a new word, expression, or usage; the creation or use of new words or senses
“the psychotic patient kept uttering his own neologisms that no one else understood”
Noxious
harmful, injurious
“the noxious fumes filled the house”
Obtuse
lacking sharpness of intellect; not clear or precise in thought or expression
“the obtuse student scored low on the test”
Obviate
to anticipate and make unnecessary
“The new medical treatment obviates the need for surgery”
Onerous
troubling; burdensome
“The government imposed onerous taxes on imports.”
Paean
a song or hymn of praise and thanksgiving
“his retirement party featured many paeans for his long years of service to the company”
Parody
a humorous imitation intended for ridicule or comic effect, esp. in literature and art
“the Disney musical parody made me laugh”
Perennial
recurrent through the year or many years; happening repeatedly; happening all year long
“the perennial flowers bloom all year long”
Perfidy/perfidious
intentional breach of faith, treachery
“he decided to forgive his wife’s perfidy, choosing to ascribe it to a moment of uncharacteristic weakness”
Perfunctory
cursory; done without care or interests
“the violinist delivered a perfunctory performance that displayed none of the passion and warmth he was once known for”
Perspicacious/perspicacity
acutely perceptive; having keen discernment; notice things that are not obvious
“he is a perspicacious detective”
Prattle
to babble meaninglessly, talking in an empty and idle manner
“They prattled on into the night, discussing school, music, and friends.”
Precipitate (adj.)
acting with excessive haste or impulse
“he precipitated a response to quickly”
Precipitate (verb)
to cause or happen before anticipated or required
“his death precipitated a family crisis”
Predilection
a disposition in favor of something; preference
“a young lad with a predilection for telling tall tales”
Prescience/prescient
foreknowledge of events, knowing of events prior to their happening
“he predicted their response with amazing prescience.”
Prevaricate
to deliberately avoid the truth; to mislead
“during the hearings the witness was willing to prevaricate in order to protect his friend.”
Qualms
misgivings; reservations; causes of hesitancy
“do you have any qualms about his action”
Recant
to retract, esp. a previously held belief
“he decided to recant his belief about ghosts”
Refute
to disprove; to successfully argue against
“he refuted her arguments”
Relegate
to forcibly assign, esp. to a lower place or position
“The bill has been relegated to committee for discussion.”
