Lesson 4 Flashcards
Ameliorate (v)
To make better
ex. Ally ameliorated her pain with comforting words
Allay (v)
To lessen fear; to calm; to relieve pain
ex. when jack had a nightmare, his mother was able to allay his fears.
Amicable (adj)
Showing goodwill; friendly
ex. The new girl is amicable. She is already known for her friendliness.
Arrogant (adj)
Proud; haughty
ex. that girl is arrogant because of her beauty
Assuage (v)
To soothe; to lessen pain or conflict; pacify
ex. the woman was attempting to assuage the screaming infant
Braggart (n)
One who boasts a great deal
ex. That man over there is acting like such a braggart by showing off his new car.
Cliché (n)
An idea or expression that has become stale due to overuse
ex. all Korean dramas are cliché.
Complacent (adj)
Self-satisfied; smug
A COMPLACENT person might be heard saying, “Ehh, don’t worry about it!” — when there really is something to worry about.
Conciliate (v)
To reconcile; to make peace
ex. When the waiter spilled a drink on Tom, the manger tried to conciliate Tom by picking up the tab for his meal.
Contemptuous (adj)
Lacking respect; scornful
“You disgust me,” is one of the simplest and most CONTEMPTUOUS things you can say to someone.
Disdainful (adj)
Full of bitter scorn and pride; aloof
ex. Arrogant people with their nose in the air are disdainful.
Egotistical (adj)
Excessively self-absorbed; very conceited
Someone who is EGOTISTICAL is full of himself
Grandiloquent (adj)
Using big and fancy words when speaking for the purpose of impressing others
ex. She is a grandiloquent girl. She acts fancy in every way.
Haughty (adj)
Having great pride in oneself and dislike for others
A HAUGHTY person acts superior and looks down on others
Insolent (adj)
Boldly disrespectful in speech or behavior
Ex. The insolent student rolled her eyes when the teacher read passages aloud from the vocabulary textbook.
Lackluster (adj)
Lacking vitality, energy, or brightness; boring
Ex. She was upset because her mother bought her a lackluster prom dress. The dress was very dull.
Loquacious (adj)
Very talkative; garrulous
ex. Sam sat next to a loquacious person during dinner party so all he did was smile and eat.
Mediate (v)
To negotiate disputes between people or opposing sides
ex. When Toby’s best friends were not talking to each other, Toby tried to mediate a peace between them.
Mitigate (v)
To make or become less severe; to lessen pain or damage
Sunscreen is used to MITIGATE the effects of the sun on your skin.
Mollify (v)
To pacify, soothe, or appease; to make less severe or violent
ex. I was angry that the guy took my seat, but i was mollified when he offered me one closer to the band
Mundane (adj)
Commonplace; ordinary
ex. Superman hid his heroic feats by posing as his mundane alter ego, Clark Kent
Narcissism (n)
Extreme self-adoration and feeling of superiority
Narcissus, a beautiful youth in Greek mythology who fell in love with his reflection in a body of water had narcissism
Ostentatious (adj)
Showy; pretentious
ex. The party was ostentatious. It had gourmet catering, an enormous cake, and music by the famous string orchestra.
Pacify (v)
To calm; to make peaceful; to restore to a tranquil state
squalling baby undergoes when a Pacifier is placed within his mouth
Placate (v)
To make calm; soothe
ex. After the big fight, the husband tried to placate his wife with flowers and chocolates.
Platitude (n)
Quality of being dull; an obvious remark uttered as if it were original
ex. the employees were sick of listening to meaningless clichés in the speech and told the bods to cut the platitudes.
Prattle (v)
To speak on and in in a senseless and silly manner; to talk foolishly
ex. i wanted to leave the meeting when the boss began to prattle on about rules and regulations again.
Presumptuous (adj)
Too forward or bold; overstepping proper bounds
ex. It was presumptuous for he to join us for dinner uninvited.
Pretentious (adj)
Claiming or pretending increased importance; arrogant
ex. The party was full of pretentious people. They all tried to act like they are more important or knowledgeable than they really are.
Ramble (v)
To talk on and on pointlessly, without clear direction
ex. Don rambled in front of the class because he was so nervous.
Rant (v)
To talk very loudly, even wildly; rave
ex. She was ranting on the roller coaster. She kept screaming and talking so loudly about how excited she was.
Rhetorical (adj)
Relating to speech that is used to persuade or have some effect
ex. My friend kept asking me rhetorical questions
Supercilious (adj)
Looking down on others; proud and scornful
Think of them as a “super silly ass,” and you’ll remember the basic sense of supercilious.
ex. Fred, a proud and wealthy businessman, gave the crowd a supercilious smile.
Swagger (v)
To walk around in a proud, showy manner; to boast in a loud manner
ex. The group of boys swaggered down the hallway.
Trite (adj)
Unoriginal and stale due to overuse
ex. The singer wrote a trite song. It was a love song with lyrics about holding hands in the sunshine
Vapid (adj)
Lacking liveliness, animation, or interest
ex. At the historical museum,there was a group of vapid schoolgirls.
Verbose (adj)
Using too many words; wordy; long-winded
ex. Jack wrote a verbose history pape. he tried to take up space with words.
Voluble (adj)
Talking a great deal with ease; glib
ex. Julie regretted meeting voluble talkers. they just kept talking on and on.
