Lesson 3 Flashcards
Alacrity (n)
Cheerful readiness; eagerness
ex. She opened her birthday gifts with alacrity
Affable (adj)
Easy-going; friendly
ex. the new girl in school is very affable.
Augment (v)
To make greater, as in size, extent, or quantity; to supplement
ex. When the president decided to augment taxes, the citizens were furious.
Austere (adj)
Strict or harsh; without decoration
ex. his austere manner made it hard for Tom to meet new people and make friends
Averse (adj)
Strongly disinclined
ex. my father is averse to people smoking in the house.
Banal (adj)
Drearily commonplace; predictable; trite
ex. Her storyline was banal. She used cliché and dull topics.
Bolster (v)
To support or prop up
ex. She bolster Lisa when she failed her major test.
Brevity (n)
Briefness or conciseness in speech or writing
ex. The speech was notable more for its brevity than for its clarit
Burgeon (v)
To grow and flourish
ex. The town burgeoned into a city
Concord (n)
Agreement
ex. the two countries came to a concord regarding trade.
Concur (v)
To agree
ex. her mother did not concur with her opinion.
Conspicuous (adj)
Easy to notice; obvious
ex. you have conspicuous errors in your homework.
Copious (adj)
Plentiful; having a large quantity
ex. there are copious amount of apples in the basket
Delusion (n)
A false opinion or belief
ex. Mary’s delusion was that Tom still loved her.
Demur (adj)
Modest and reserved
ex. he demurred at my suggestion to work on sunday
Diffidence (n)
Timidity and shyness
ex. the new teacher was diffidence and could not conduct a lesson without hiding behind her computer
Distend (v)
To swell out or expand from internal pressure, as when overly full
ex. the abdomen distended rapidly
Docile (adj)
Submissive to instruction; willing to be taught
ex. after many hours of training, the wild horse became more docile.
Dogmatic (adj)
Stubbornly attached to one’s beliefs
ex. the old professor was dogmatic in his views and would not admit error even when his mistakes were clear.
Expedient (adj)
Speedy
ex. I could have travelled by car, but found it more expedient to take the train.
Fastidious (adj)
Carefully attentive to detail; difficult to please
ex. she was very fastidious about her personal appearance
Grandiose (adj)
Great in scope or intent; grand
ex. he never reached his goals because they are so grandiose
Hackneyed (adj)
Overused; unimaginative
ex. the ad campaign used the same old tired hackneyed slogans.
Innocuous (adj)
Having no adverse effect; harmless
ex. Mary was scared that the dog was going to hurt her baby, but after a while she found that the dog was innucuous.
Insipid (adj)
Uninteresting; unchallenging; lacking taste or savor
ex. My cat that i bought from the pet shop is getting insipid and just not interested on anything around him.
Intransigence (n)
Refusal to moderate a position or to compromise
ex. Little will get accomplished if the legislators of both parties maintain their intransigent attitude
Jocular (adj)
Joking
ex. the neighbors were jocular, they kept other neighbors laughing.
Meticulous (adj)
Extremely careful and precise
ex. those students who are meticulous in their studies make the best of their education.
Placid (adj)
Calm or quiet; undisturbed
ex. Her expression was placid and peaceful whenever she painted - it gave her a feeling of peace
Prodigious (adj)
Enormous
ex. my mother’s library was prodigious. There were thousands of books just for one section.
Profundity (n)
Great depth of intellect, feeling, or meaning
ex. the professors’ lectures aren’t known for their profundity, but the students find them very entertaining.
Prosaic (adj)
Unimaginative; dull
ex. Prosaic finds are not the type of people who will entertain you.
Quiescent (adj)
Quiet, still, or at rest; inactive
ex. she became passive and quiescent after she took her dose of medicine.
Redouble (v)
To make twice as great; to double
ex. I redoubled my amount of money
Scintillating (adj)
Brilliant; stimulating
ex. Her scintillating personality made her a great actress.
Soporific (adj)
Inducing or tending to induce sleep
ex. the soporific lecture given by the professor caused everyone to yawn.
Transient (adj)
Passing quickly in time or space
ex. It was a transient phase, her being interested in him; we knew it wouldn’t last.
