June 2013 Flashcards

Question

**Convolute** (adj. / v. transitive) kon-voh-lewt

Answer 1

*DEFINITIONS* **_rolled_**** **or **_coiled together_** in overlapping whorls, like certain leaves, petals and shells: to make **_unnecessarily complex_**: *You can divert, rationalize, _convolute_, and obscure the minor details to your heart's content but one irrefutable fact remains... * *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms**: curled, coiled **antonyms**: uncoil **expand**: convolve, convlvuli, convolvulus, convolution

Answer 2

*DEFINITIONS* showing a **_lack of judgement_** or **_experience_**:* **People like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck make a huge personal profit, both politically and monetarily, by playing on the fear of the _credulous_, and claiming this equals that when it plainly does not.* apt to believe on slight evidence; **_unsuspecting_**: *He came down firmly against discrimination, attacking the notion of _credulous_ sellers and conniving buyers.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** naive, unquestioning, gullible, believing **antonyms:** incredulous **expand:** credulity

Answer 3

*DEFINITIONS* lacking **_self-confidence_**: *a _diffident_ youth* **_reserved_** in manner: *Mr. V.V. stood by a spindly table, carefully examining a small but costly vase, the property of Mr. Heth, of the Cheroot Works; and now he went on with a kind of _diffident_ resolution, the air of one who gives a confidence with difficulty, but must do so now, for his honor.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** distrustful, bashful, timid, doubtful **antonyms:** **expand:** diffide

Answer 4

*DEFINITIONS* asserting to **_make positive statements_** of an opinion, doctrine or fact **_without presenting arguments or evidence_**: *Please, it may be shocking to you, and objectionable to your religious convictions, but there IS a valid basis for accepting such a hypothesis that does not require blind faith in _dogmatic_ scripture.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** magisterial, narrow-minded, overbearing **antonyms:** empiric **expand:** dogmatise, dogmatical

Answer 5

*DEFINITIONS* selecting or employing individual elements form a variety of sources, systems or styles: *an _electic_ taste of music; an _eclectic_ approach to manage the company* made up of or **_combining elements_** form a variety of sources: *A popular bar patronized by an _eclectic_ collection of artists, writers, secretaries and aging soldiers on reserve duty.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** selecting **antonyms: ** **expand:** electicism, eclectist

Answer 6

*DEFINITIONS* characterised by being **_learned_**, taught or has an extensive reading or knowledge: *A**s a teacher, while he could not be called _erudite_, he was uncommonly interesting and inspiring.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** learned, instructed, knowledgeable, scholarly **antonyms:** unlearned **expand:** erudition

Answer 7

*DEFINITIONS* capable of **_being estimated_** or **_valued_**: *estimable damage* worthy of esteem and respect; **_admirable_**: *But the action was nonetheless '_estimable_' and the navy commandos intercept the Mavi Marmara on its way to break the...* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** valuable, previous, respectable, worshipful **antonyms:** abominable, contemptible **expand:** estimate

Answer 8

*DEFINITIONS* an urgent occasion that requires **_immediate aid_** or **_remedy_**:* **Now, under the law, police may enter a home without knocking if certain so-called _exigent_ circumstances exist.* requiring much **_accuracy_**, **_effort_** or **_expense_** *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** pressing, demanding, critical, necessary **antonyms: ** **expand:** exigency

Answer 9

*DEFINITIONS* to come, exist or occur **_before in order of time_**: *The poured-out bottle might suggest that he thought of me as a pocket-sized prohibitionist minister, a vocation he respected; but the nickname may _precede_ my fears.* to **_surpass_** or **_outrank_** in rank or importance: *Christ; wherefore Gregory says in a homily (Hom. vii in Evang.) that therefore did John baptize, "that, being consistent with his office of precursor, as he had _preceded_ our Lord in birth...* to **_go before**_, _**go in front_** of: *The answer is that their syntax had already been fixed by conventional usage when they passed into English from French, whose adjectives typically follow rather than _precede_ nouns.* to **_preface_**; introduce: S*he _preceded_ her lecture with a funny anecdote* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms: ** **antonyms: ** **expand:** precedent, precedence

Answer 10

*DEFINITIONS* **_Incapable_** of being **_penetrated_**: *a material _impervious_ to water* **_Incapable_** of being **_affected_**: *_impervious_* *to fear: * *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** impenetrable, impassable, immune, resistant **antonyms: ** **expand:** imperviable

Answer 11

*DEFINITIONS* Characterised by **_sudden and forceful energy**_ of emotions; _**impulse_**: Having or marked by **_violent force_**: *_impetuous_, heating waves* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** passionate, fierce, hotheaded, hasty, rapid, vehement **antonyms:** deliberate, apathetic** ** **expand:** impetuosity, impetus, impetuousness

Answer 12

*DEFINITIONS* An **_initial or early stage_**; incipent; not completely formed or established; **elementary**: *It was an image, a kind of _inchoate_ anxiety about the future, rather than anything you could put your finger on.* **_imperfectly formed_** or developed: *You can still hear it, loud and clear, on this messy, _inchoate_, rock'n'roll masterpiece; the Rolling Stones in excelsis.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** beginning, rudimentary, elementary, early **antonyms: ** **expand:** inchoative, inchoation

Answer 13

*DEFINITIONS* **_Lack of cunningness**_, worldliness; _**artless_**: *Through her combination of ingenuous charm, waif-like solitude and physical attractiveness, she hypnotises all the men around her.* **_Unsophisicated_**; simple: *Frank-faced, fresh-colored, almost _ingenuous_ in expression, eyes blue and wide apart, he drew and held the gaze of more than one woman far above him in the social scale.* Demonstrating **_childlike simplicity_**: *His features displayed a good deal of serene pride, self-respect, fortitude, a kind of _ingenuous_ sensuality, and something of instinctive wisdom, without any sharpness of intellect.* Unable to **_mask feelings_**: *His ingenuous delight in it was a delight to her, and a new and mutual love-thrill was theirs -- because of a flower.* Openly frank; candid; **_straightforward_**: *And into my face I strove to throw all the wan wistfulness of famished and ingenuous youth of mendicancy.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** open, artless, unreserved, generous **antonyms:** disingenuous **expand:** ingenuities, ingenue, ingenuity,

Answer 14

*DEFINITIONS* injurious or **_harmful in effect**_; _**adhersive_**: *But it was also important that the big windows not lure birds to their deaths with _inimical_ reflections.* _unfriendly_; **_hostile_**: *The two continued to look into each other's eyes, and something, it could hardly be called _inimical_, rather an aloofness from the tie of blood, was visible to each in the other's steadfast gaze.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** unfriendly, unfavourable, repugnant **antonyms: ** **expand:** inimicable,

Answer 15

*DEFINITIONS* **_lacking flavour_** or zest; not tasty: *The Hijazi is a round fruit, sweet, but _insipid_, which is also the reproach of the Sawadi, or black grape.* lacking flavours that **_stimulate, excite or interest_**:* **Carly Flynn, who managed to be "the nice one" without being _insipid_, which is a tricky balance to manage (not that I've ever tried).* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** vapid, lifeless, uninteresting **antonyms: ** **expand:** insipidity

Answer 16

*DEFINITIONS* resolutely **_courageous_**; invulnerable to fear: *A similar danger recalled the _intrepid_ prince to the defence of the front; and, as he galloped through the columns, the centre of the left was attacked, and almost overpowered by the furious charge of the Persian cavalry and elephants.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** daring, heroic, undaunted, valiant, brave **antonyms: ** **expand: **

Answer 17

*DEFINITIONS* prone to outbursts of temper; **_easily angered_**: *Recalling his _irascible_ nature, I had to smile, and his presence was so real that I began speaking to his statue: 'How strange it is, Father, that you who ignored English in college and read none of the great novels, who concentrated solely on your engineering work, should have written a book of such merit that they put up a statue of you.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** impatient, touchy, cranky, snappish **antonyms:** calm, peaceful, patient **expand:** irascibly, irascibility

Answer 18

*DEFINITIONS* expressing much in few words; **_conciseness of language_** - chiefly used in the plural: *He brings a new meaning to the word laconic and his choice of words is as accurate as his spicing.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** concise, cruel, unflinching, pithy **antonyms:** verbose, long-winded, bombastic **expand:** laconism

Answer 19

*DEFINITIONS* **_hardened by wrongdoing or wickedness_**, hence unwilling to believe in anything else: *_obdurate_ conscience of the old sinner* **_Not giving in persuasion_**; intractable: *George passed from life with the kind of _obdurate_ resistance and strength of spirit with which he had lived.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** unbending, impertinent, unyielding **antonyms: ** **expand:** obduracy, obduration

Answer 20

*DEFINITIONS* **_promptly (or especially eager to be) obedient_** or submissive to the will of another:* **The waiters at the club were all white-jacketed middle-aged black men who could not be called _obsequious_ but belonged culturally to another generation, one that knew how to be selectively deaf and to pretend that the clientele they served held them in high regard.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** obedient, servile, yielding, devoted **antonyms:** arrogant, rebellious, self-satisfied, impudent **expand:** obsequience

Answer 21

*DEFINITIONS* representing perfidy; **_disloyal_**:* **If soldiers are entitled to deal harshly with wounded enemy soldiers who might be engaged in _perfidious_ acts, surely that entitlement can’t be contingent on holding a mini-trial right there to determine the matter.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** treacherous, faithless, unfaithful **antonyms:** perfit, perficient, perfix, perfidy **expand:** imperviable

Answer 22

*DEFINITIONS* **_Done routinely_** and with **_little interest_** or care: *The perator answered the phone with a _perfunctory_ greeting.* Acting with **_indifference_**: *Sequences that could sing with tension and excitement ar done in _perfunctory_ fashion.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** indifferent, carelss, obligatory, mechnical, automatic **antonyms: ** **expand:**

Answer 23

*DEFINITIONS* **_unreasonably irritable_** or ill-tempered; peevish: *The islands show dimly grey amid a welter of grey water, brekaing angrily in short, _petulant_ seas, which buffet boats confusedly and put the helmsmen's skills to high test.* **_Contemptuous in speech_** or behaviour: *Jones declined to characterise Astro as 'arrogant', saying he might use the term '_petulent_' instead.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** querulous, forward, insolent **antonyms:** easyoing **expand:** petulancy, petulance

Answer 24

*DEFINITIONS* rashly or **_wastefully extravagant_**: *_prodigal_ expenditures on unneeded weaponry* Giving or **_given in abundance_**; lavish or profuse: *_prodigal_ praise* * * * RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** wasteful, lavish, abundant, generous **antonyms:** frugal **expand:** prodigality

Answer 25

*DEFINITIONS* being quiet, still or at rest; **_inactive_**: *the average school seems empowered only to teach the minimum necessary to produce _quiescent_, docile employees who can work for a minimum wage at a fast food franchise.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** still, unagitated, resting, silent **antonyms: ** **expand:** quiesce

Answer 26

*DEFINITIONS* **_Incapable_** of being **_penetrated_**: *a material _impervious_ to water* **_Incapable_** of being **_affected_**: *_impervious_* *to fear: * *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** impenetrable, impassable, immune, resistant **antonyms: ** **expand:** imperviable

Answer 27

*DEFINITIONS* **_Inducing sleep_**: *enduring _soporific_ meetings* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** drowsy, dormitive, hypnotic, opiate, narcotic **antonyms:** stimulating **expand:** soporiferous

Answer 28

*DEFINITIONS* having the ring of truth or **_plausibility_** but actually **_fallacious_**:* a specious argument.* **_deceptively attractive_** *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** ostensible, plausible, insincere, flimsy, meretricious **antonyms:** sincere **expand: **

Answer 29

*DEFINITIONS* having or revealing **_little emotion or sensibility_**: *the incredibly massive and _stolid_ bureaucracy of the Soviet system.* *RELATING WORDS* **synonyms:** dull, impassive, foolish, stupid **antonyms: ** **expand: **

Answer 30

*DEFINITIONS* **_habitually untalkative_**: *One of the advantages of being _taciturn_ is that it is rare for your words to get you into trouble.*

Answer 31

*DEFINITIONS* **_acuteness of vision_** or perception: *She just turned 90, and her mental _acuity_ is better than most people half her age.*

Answer 32

*DEFINITIONS* to deduct from an amount; **_substract_**: *the declines came after a strong week for the euro as worries about Greece appeared to _abate_.* to **_fall off in degree_** or intensity: *I don't think the protests are going to _abate_ anytime soon short of Mubarak leaving.*

Answer 33

*DEFINITIONS* to **_make impure_** by adding extraneous, improper or inferior ingredients: *Meanwhile anti-foreign snetiments grew in the Tang court culminating in a decree in 845 ordering monks of the 'Religion of the Light' to reutrn to lay life 'so that they will not _adulterate_ the customs of China.'* * *

Answer 34

*DEFINITIONS* to make great, **_enlarge_** out **_conceptions, authority and distress_**: *I'm sure every creative innovator has moments of terrible self doubbt says she, attempting to _aggrandise_ a very unimportant issue.*

Answer 35

*DEFINITIONS* to **_surrender_** under specified conditions; come to terms: *So, this may be more about their inability to secure a locale than a desire to '_capitulate_' to the Cheney clan.* to give up all resistance; acquiesce

Answer 36

*DEFINITIONS* to **_inflict severe punishment on_**: *wished to _castigate_ his abuse of power* to _c**riticise severely**_: *When you hear these folks, it doesn't matter what side of the debate they're on who are willing to kind of _castigate_ somebody who may have a good idea, stand up and let them have it. *

Answer 37

*DEFINITIONS* to **_strengthen or support_** with other evidence; make more certain: *_corroborate_ their stories*

Answer 38

*DEFINITIONS* to **_dry out thoroughly_**: *Do yourself a favour and put only enough bread crumbs in so as not to _desicate_ or overpower the crab.* **_lacking spirit or animation:_** *there was only the sun-bruised and _desiccate_ feeling in his mind.* to make dry, dull and **_lifeless_**: *what that means is that the juiciest of tips, when subjected to research, tend to _desiccate_ and crumble.* to **_preserve (foods)_** by removing the moisture: *Finally, they shrink as much as half as they _desiccate_ naturally.*

Answer 39

*DEFINITIONS* to **_free_** from a **_falsehood or misconception_**: *I must disabuse you of your feelings of grandeur.*

Answer 40

*DEFINITIONS* to diguise or **_conceal behind a false appearance, nature, motives or feelings_**: *by 2009, he certainly knew better, but so invested was he in the story, and so useful had it been in his rise, that he continued to _dissemble_, even before millions of schoolchildren.*

Answer 41

*DEFINITIONS* an **_easily deceived_** person: a person who functions as the tool of another person:

Answer 42

*DEFINITIONS* to weaken or **_destroy the strength_** or vitality of: *presumably, if nothing else, our fear of hell purports to _enervate_ good behaviour.* **_deprived of strength_**: *a body already _enervated_ and emaciated, that at first the patient 'was thought to be falling into the agonies of death.'*

Answer 43

*DEFINITIONS* to **_bring into existence_**; give rise to: *every cloud _engenders_ not a storm.* to **_procreate_**; propagate:

Answer 44

*DEFINITIONS* to use equivocal language intentionally to avoid making an explicit statement

Answer 45

*DEFINITIONS* to increate the **_severity, violence or bitterness_**: *a speech that exacerbated racial tensions*

Answer 46

*DEFINITIONS* to **_clear of guilt_** or blame:

Answer 47

*DEFINITIONS* to **_exhibit affection or attempt to please_**, as a dog does by wagging its tail: to **_seek favour_** or attention by flattery and obsequious behaviour:

Answer 48

*DEFINITIONS* to **_feign illness_** or other incapacity in order to avoid duty or work:

Answer 49

*DEFINITIONS* to moderate (a quality or condition) in force or intensity to become milder

Answer 50

*DEFINITIONS* to calm in temper or feeling to lessen in intensity