Lesson 28 Flashcards
propinquity (noun)
Syn: nearness in time or place; adjacency; neighborhood
→ Astronauts are alert to the propinquity of sudden accidents.
vulnerable (adjective)
Syn: open to attack; susceptible; weak
→ The egotist is vulnerable to slights and insults.
cacophony (noun)
Syn: discord; harsh sound; dissonance
→ Electronic music is considered nothing more or less than cacophony by many.
exploit (verb)
Syn: profit by; utilize; abuse; manipulate
→ Advertisers spend large sums to exploit the lucrative teenage market.
bedlam (noun)
Syn: confusion; uproar; noise
→ The winning team’s dressing room was a scene of bedlam.
a white elephant (idiom)
Syn: a costly and useless possession
→ When he discovered the 30-volume encyclopedia, dated 1895, in his attic, he knew he had a white elephant on his hands.
disgruntled (adjective)
Syn: unhappy; displeased; annoyed
→ It is the prevalent mood for youngsters to be disgruntled with the world situation.
panacea (noun)
Syn: cure-all
→ Many people hoped that the United Nations would be the panacea for the problems of our time.
eradicate (verb)
Syn: wipe out; destroy; erase
→ The criminal tried to eradicate all of the witnesses to the bizarre murder.
infallible (adjective)
Syn: exempt from error; right; perfect
→ An infallible sign of spring is the blooming of the crocus.
impede (verb)
Syn: interfere; block; hinder
→ Nothing could impede the bigot from his vitriolic verbal attack.
lock, stock, and barrel (idiom)
Syn: entirely; completely
→ The company moved its operations to another state lock, stock, and barrel.
sedate (adjective) (verb)
Syn: (adj)quiet; still; undisturbed; sober; calm; (v) relieve
→ There is something absurd about a well-dressed, sedate man throwing snowballs.
serenity (noun)
Syn: peaceful repose; cool
→ The serenity of the countryside was shattered by the explosion.
equanimity (noun)
Syn: evenness of mind; composure; calmness
→ The speaker lost his equanimity and began to use invective when the audience started to laugh.
compatible (adjective)
Syn: harmonious; well-matched; suitable
→ The boy and girl discovered they had many compatible interests.
revere (verb)
Syn: honor; respect; admire
→ There are not many people in this world whom one can revere.
a feather in one’s cap (idiom)
Syn: something to be proud of
→ If she could get the movie star’s autograph, she knew it would be a feather in her cap.
avarice (noun)
Syn: greed; passion for riches
→ Who is not vulnerable to some measure of avarice?
insatiable (adjective)
Syn: cannot be satisfied; greedy
→ The American consumer appears to have an insatiable need for new products.
nadir (noun)
Syn: lowest point; depths; minimum
→ He looked upon the last-place finish of his team with equanimity from this nadir the only place to go was up.
irrational (adjective)
Syn: unreasonable; absurd; silly
→ We ought to expect some irrational behavior from a senile person.
moribund (adjective)
Syn: dying; at the point of death; expiring
→ With the expansion of the supermarket, the small, local grocery store is in a moribund state.
out on a limb (idiom)
Syn: in a dangerous or exposed position
→ He went out on a limb and predicted he would win the election by a wide margin.
