Hit Parade 4 Flashcards
Acerbic
(adj.)
having a sour or bitter taste or character; sharp; biting
(E) an acerbic temper
Aggrandize
(verb)
to increase in intensity, power, influence or prestige
(E) to aggrandize one’s image
Alchemy
(noun)
medieval science aimed at the transmutation of metals, esp. base metals into gold (an alchemist is one who practices alchemy)
(E) if only we could Major in Alchemy, we’d be rich!
Amenable
(adj.)
agreeable; responsive to suggestion
(E) let me know if you find this contract amenable
Anachronism
(noun)
something or someone out of place in terms of historical or chronological context
(E) solar power being marketed in the 80’s seemed to be an anachronism; too forward for that day and age
Astringent
(adj.)
having a tightening effect on living tissue; harsh; severe; something with tightening effect on tissue
(E) astringent lotion; astringent fruits; astringent food critic
Contiguous
(adj.)
sharing a border; touching; adjacent
(E) inscribed within the circle, as in contiguous to the circle
Convention
(noun)
a generally agreed-upon practice or attitude
(E) no tipping was the convention in Japan
Credulous
(adj.)
tending to believe too readily; gullible (noun form: credulity)
(E) too credulous and gullible for her own good
Cynicism
(noun)
an attitude or quality of belief that all people are motivated by selfishness (adj. form: cynical)
(E) suspicious people tend to be cynics
Decorum
(noun)
polite or appropriate conduct or behavior (adj. form: decorous)
(E) observe proper decorum
Derision
(noun)
scorn, ridicule, contemptuous treatment (adj. form: derisive; verb form: deride)
(E) continuous derision of his inability to do small household chores
Dessicate
(verb)
to dry out or dehydrate; to make dry or dull
(E) desiccated cocunut
Dilettante
(noun)
one with amateurish or superficial interest in the arts or a branch of knowledge
(E) lots of dilettantes due to the age of social media and the need to show off
Disparage
(verb)
to slight or belittle
(E) no need to disparage and bring him down
Divulge
(verb)
to disclose something secret
(E) she begged him to never divulge her secret to their other friends
Fawn
(verb)
to flatter or praise excessively
(E) fawning attentiveness
Flout
(verb)
to show contempt for, as in a rule or convention
(E) you may flout and turn up your faces now but later on…
Garrulous
(adj.)
pointlessly talkative; talking too much
(E) she was known to be garrulous but funny!
Glib
(adj.)
marked by ease or informality; nonchalant; lacking in depth; superficial
(E) they kept coming up with glib and useless solutions
Hubris
(noun)
overbearing presumption or pride; arrogance
(E) the millennial, in all his hubris and entitlement
Imminent
(adj.)
about to happen; impending
(E) the imminent doom for Mindanao
Immutable
(adj.)
not capable of change
(E) she feared she was immutable; insensitive to the pressure to change
Impetuous
(adj.)
hastily and rashly energetic; impulsive and vehement
(E) breaking decorum, he impetuously let out his rage
Indifferent
(adj.)
having no interest or concern; showing no bias or prejudice
(E) indifferent wherever they decided to eat for dinner
Inimical
(adj.)
damaging; harmful and injurious
(E) authoritarian forces inimical to democracy
Intractable
(adj.)
not easily managed or directed; stubborn; obstinate
(E) breaking up causes intractable pain
Intrepid
(adj.)
steadfast and courageous
(E) an intrepid leader
Laconic
(adj.)
using few words; terse
(E) he was reticent and laconic, he had few words to spare for those he deemed unworthy of his presence
Maverick
(noun)
an independent individual who does not go along with group or party
(E) they began their own faction, being the mavericks they were
Mercurial
(adj.)
characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in mood
(E) a woman’s mercurial nature
Mollify
(verb)
to calm or soothe; to reduce in emotional intensity
(E) before you furious, try to mollify yourself internally and think of the best way to respond to the situation
Neophyte
(noun)
a recent convert; a beginner or novice
(E) a neophyte to the whole architecture thing
Obfuscate
(verb)
to deliberately obscure; to make confusing
(E) seemed like they wanted to obfuscate the fact because they wanted to conceal it
Obstinate
(adj.)
stubborn; hard-headed and uncompromising
(E) that dogmatic person had an obstinate resistance to any other reasoning than hers
Ostentatious
(adj.)
characterized by or given to pretentious display; showy
(E) she wanted a simple wedding, not an ostentatious one
Pervade
(verb)
to permeate through (adj. form: pervasive)
(E) it’s in our best interest for our practice to pervade and be known within the lay people and those within the industry
Phlegmatic
(adj.)
calm; sluggish and unemotional
(E) all his reactions were phlegmatic, no sign of what he was truly thinking or feeling
Plethora
(noun)
an overabundance; a surplus
(E) the dictionary has a plethora of words
NO JOKE
Pragmatic
(adj.)
practical rather than idealistic
(E) be pragmatic but don’t be complaisant
Presumptuous
(adj.)
overstepping due bounds (as of propriety or courtesy); taking liberties
(E) she began to presumptuously talk to her boss on her last day of work
Pristine
(adj.)
pure; uncorrupted; clean
Probity
(noun)
adherence to highest principles; complete and confirmed integral; uprightness
(E) a leader who upheld the values of integrity and probity
Proclivity
(noun)
a natural predisposition or inclination
(E) she had no proclivity or propensity when it came to dancing
Profligate
(verb)
excessively wasteful; recklessly extravagant (noun form: profligacy)
(E) that prodigal son of mine how he profligates the land we gave him
Propensity
(noun)
a natural inclination or tendency; penchant
(E) a high propensity for the arts because he grew up with a curator for a mom
Prosaic
(adj.)
dull; lacking spirit or imagination
(E) worst thing is for something to think you to be prosaic an artist
Pungent
(adj.)
characterized by a strong, sharp smell or taste
(E) the pungent fumes of the neglected areas
Quixotic
(adj.)
foolishly impractical; marked by lofty romantic ideals
Quotidian
(adj.)
occurring or recurring daily; commonplace
(E) quotidian routine of our pet animals
Rarefy
(verb)
to make or become thin, less dense; to refine
(E) they wanted to rarefy the substance
Recondite
(adj.)
hidden; concealed; difficult to understand; obscure
(E) his motives were recondite
Refulgent
(adj.)
radiant; shiny; brilliant
(E) Bogum’s refulgent smile
Renege
(verb)
to fail to honor a commitment; to go back on a promise
(E) he was fickle-minded, prone to disappointing and reneging whatever he said he would do
Sedulous
(adj.)
diligent; persistent and hard-working
(E) those who lived as if today was their last, lived sedulously
Shard
(noun)
a piece of broken pottery or glass
Soporific
(adj.)
causing drowsiness; tending to induce sleep
(E) she claimed books to be her nightly soporific go-to
Sparse
(adj.)
thin; not dense; arranged in widely spaced intervals
(E) the sparse schedule of the second lead actress
Spendthrift
(noun)
one who spends money wastefully
(E) the spendthrift grandsons of those who worked hard to earn the money in the first place
Subtle
(adj.)
not obvious; elusive; difficult to discern
Tacit
(adj.)
implied; not explicitly stated
(E) her blush was a tacit answer
Terse
(adj.)
brief and concise in wording
(E) the hermit’s terse words
Tout
(verb)
to publicly praise or promote
(E) touted as the best party ever
Trenchant
(adj.)
sharply perceptive; keen and penetrating
(E) try to give a trenchant analysis; trenchant comments and remarks
Unfeigned
(adj.)
genuine; not false or hypocritical
(E) the others believed his confession to be a joke but it seemed to be unfeigned
Untenable
(adj.)
uninhabitable; not viable; indefensible
(E) the neglected house was untenable
Vacillate
(verb)
to waver indecisively between one course of action or opinion and another
(E) vacillate from one trend to another
Variegated
(adj.)
multi-colored; characterized by a variety of patches of different colors
(E) variegated orchids
Vexation
(noun)
annoyance; irritation (verb form: vex)
(E) much to his vexation, she continued her garrulous ways
Vigilant
(adj.) alertly watchful (noun form: vigilance)
Vituperate
(verb)
to use harsh condemnatory language; to abuse or censure severely or abusively
(E) the bullies tend to censure and vituperate those they see as weaklings
Volatile
(adj.)
readily changing to a vapor; changeable; fickle; explosive
(noun form: volatility)
(E) she had volatile temper and suspicious
Extirpate
(verb)
Tear up roots or destroy completely
Conflate
(verb)
To fuse into one entity
