Hit Parade #2 Flashcards
Abate
to lessen in intensity or degree
Accolade
an expression of praise
Adulation
excessive praise; intense adoration
Aesthetic
dealing with, appreciative of, or responsive to beauty or art
Ameliorate
to make better or more tolerable
Ascetic
one who practices self-denial especially as an act of religion devotion
Avarice
greed for wealth
Axiom
a universally recognized principle
Burgeon
to grow rapidly or flourish
Bucolic
rustic or pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants
Cacophony
harsh, jarring, discordant sound
Canon
an established set of principles or rules
Castigation
severe criticism or punishment
Catalyst
a person or thing that causes change;
a substance that accelerates the rate of chemical reaction without itself changing
Caustic
burning or stinging; causing corrosion
Chary
Wary; cautious
Cogent
convincing;
appealing forcibly to the mind or reason
Complaisance
the willingness to comply with the wishes of others
Contentious
argumentative;
quarrelsome;
causing controversy
Contrite
regretful;
penitent;
seeking forgiveness
Culpable
deserving blame
Dearth
smallness of quantity or number;
scarcity
Demur
to question or oppose
Didactic
intended to teach or instruct
Discretion
cautious reserve in speech;
ability to make responsible decisions
Disinterested
free of bias or self-interest;
impartial
Dogmatic
expressing a rigid opinion based on unproved or improvable principles
Ebullience
the quality of lively enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings
Eclectic
composed of elements drawn from various sources
Elegy
a mournful poem especially one lamenting the dead
Emollient
soothing to the skin
Empirical
based on observation or experiment
Enigmatic
mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand
Ephemeral
brief; fleeting
Esoteric
Intended to be understood by a small, specific group
Eulogy
speech honoring the dead
Exonerate
to remove blame
Facetious
playful; humorous
Fallacy
invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief
Furtive
marked by stealth; covert; surreptitous
Gregarious
sociable; outgoing
Harangue
to deliver pompous speech or tirade
Heretical
violating accepted dogma
Hyperbole
an exaggerated statement, often used as a figure of speech
Impecunious
lacking funds; without money
Incipient
beginning to come into being or become apparent
Inert
unmoving; lethargic; sluggish
Innocuous
harmless
Intransigent
refusing to compromise
Inveigle
to obtain by deception or flattery
Morose
sad; sullen
Odious
evoking intense aversion or dislike
Opaque
not reflecting light; impenetrable by light
Oscillation
the act of swinging back and forth
Penurious
penny-pinching; excessively thrifty
Pernicious
extremely harmful; potentially causing death
Peruse
to examine with great care
Pious
extremely reverent or devout; showing strong religious devotion
Precursor
one that precedes and indicates or announces another
Preen
to dress up; to primp; to groom oneself
Prodigious
abundant in size, force or extent
Prolific
producing large volumes or amounts; productive
Putrefy
to rot
Quaff
to drink deeply
Quiescience
stillness; motionless; quality of being at rest
Redoubtable
awe-inspiring; worthy of honor
Sanction
tended to enforce compliance; to give permission or authority to
Satire
a literary work that ridicules or criticizes human vices through humor or derision
Squalid
sordid; wretched or dirty as from neglect
Stoic
indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; steadfast
Supplant
to take the place of; to supersede
Torpid
lethargic; sluggish; dormant
Ubiquitous
existing everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered; widespread
Urbane
sophisticated; refined; elegant
Vilify
to defame; to characterize harshly
Viscous
thick; sticky
