Lesson 22 Flashcards
juxtapose (verb)
Syn: to place side by side
→ If we were to juxtapose our philosophies, your materialism would conflict with my idealism
incompatibility (noun)
Syn: quality of being mismated; lack of harmony
→ Judge Felder commented with asperity upon the wife’s charge of incompatibility.
cope (verb)
Syn: to be a match for; to be able to handle
→ Just how our club’s president is able to cope with so many disparate personalities is something I’ll never understand.
plight (noun)
Syn: predicament; dangerous situation
→ The plight of the refugees who wandered about in a desultory fashion moved us to tears.
covert (adjective)
Syn: secret; hidden; veiled; underhand
→ Woodrow Wilson stated that he found covert agreements to be reprehensible.
plea bargain (idiom)
Syn: to agree to plead guilty to a lesser charge so as to avoid trial for a more serious offense.
→ The defendant finally took his lawyer’s advice and agreed to a plea bargain of third-degree assault.
fabricate (verb)
Syn: to lie; concoct; assemble
→ Dave’s metamorphosis from an honest person to one who could fabricate an alibi so adroitly was amazing.
connubial (adjective)
Syn: related to marriage; matrimonial
→ The widow grew maudlin as she reminisced about her former connubial bliss.
demur (verb)
Syn: to object; to disagree; doubt
→ I will have to demur even if I receive a bona fide invitation to run for the G.O. council.
appellation (noun)
Syn: a name; title
→ Because he was the scion of the richest family on our block, Lenny was given the appellation of “Rockefeller”.
incapacitated (adjective)
Syn: disabled; make unfit; lay up
→ He was ashamed to admit that a pesky skin rash incapacitated him for weeks at a time.
in apple pie order (idiom)
Syn: in neat order; good condition
→ The house was in dreadful condition when Mrs. Maslow arrived, but when she left it was in apple pie order.
escalation (noun)
Syn: an increase; intensification
→ Many derogatory statements were heard from those who were opposed to further escalation of the conflict.
indifference (noun)
Syn: lack of concern; disregard
→ With complete indifference toward his personal safety, Lt. Regan openly challenged the puissant forces of the enemy.
potential (adjective)
Syn: possible; talent
→ When destitution grips an area, there is excellent potential for trouble.
cumulative (adjective)
Syn: accumulated; increasing
→ The cumulative effect of the summer’s sultry weather was to shorten everyone’s temper.
recondite (adjective)
Syn: secret; hidden; obscure
→ The poet’s recondite language precluded any understanding of her theme.
apple polishing (idiom)
Syn: trying to gain favor by gifts or flattery
→ If the way to advancement in this company is through apple polishing, I quit!
acknowledge (verb)
Syn: admit; allow; accept
→ Monte refused to acknowledge the extrinsic pressures that were causing him to do poorly in his sophomore year.
delude (verb)
Syn: to fool; cheat; deceive
→ We must not allow fulsome praise to delude us about our actual abilities.
palliate (verb)
Syn: alleviate; relieve without curing; mollify; calm
→ The drugs could only palliate the symptoms, not provide the cure.
prelude (noun)
Syn: introduction; start
→ As a prelude to his performance, the bullfighter vowed to do penance for his sins.
chimerical (adjective)
Syn: visionary; imaginary; fantastic
→ The scheme sounded chimerical, but we were indoctrinated to believe that it could work.
the Draconian Code (idiom)
Syn: a very severe set of rules
→ The head counselor ran our camp according to his own Draconian Code.
