Lesson 6 Flashcards
Sally (n.) (vt.)
Syn: suddenly rush forth; attack
- Some prisoners planned a disturbance, while others would sally toward the gates.
Affluent (adj.)
Syn: rich; wealthy
- Under duress from the tax officer, the beggar admitted that he was truly affluent.
Consternation (n.)
Syn: dismay; fear
- To the consternation of the sergeant, there was a paucity of volunteers for the dangerous mission.
Feasible (adj.)
Syn: possible; achievable
- It’s feasible to build an electric auto, but wouldn’t you need a terribly long extension cord.
Discern (vt.)
Syn: perceive; discover; recognize
- When we could discern city lights, we knew we were safe at last.
I’m from Missouri (idiom)
Syn: a skeptic, one who is not easily convinced
- You might swallow his promises, but I’m from Missouri.
Precocious (adj.)
Syn: developed; ahead; reaching maturity early
- The children in Shakespeare’s plays are so precocious that they all sound like grandparents.
Perfunctory (adj.)
Syn: hasty; hurried; done without care
- Edith gave only perfunctory attention to the new millennium, skipping our New Year’s Eve party.
Deride (vt.)
Syn: to ridicule; scoff at
- The Wright brothers didn’t become distraught, when a skeptic would deride their work.
Perverse (adj.)
Syn: contrary; persisting in error; stubborn
- When I correct my kid brother’s math errors, he is perverse enough to insist that he is right.
Chagrin (n.)
Syn: feeling of disappointment; humiliation
- To the chagrin of taxpayers, some citizens seem to cheat the government with impunity.
Red-letter day (idiom)
Syn: day of happiness; time for rejoicing
- My red-letter day came when I was chosen as senior class president.
Laudable (adj.)
Syn: praiseworthy
- The paradox is that Javert’s inexorable pursuit of Jean Valjean was both loudable and despicable.
Disparage (vt.)
Syn: to discredit; belittle
- The affluent store owner disparaged the efforts of his small competitors, saying that he could always tolerate that kind of rivalry.
Masticate (vt.)
Syn: to chew up
- To aid in digestion, you must masticate each piece of meat one dozen times.
Fiasco (n.)
Syn: complete failure
- In an acrimonious letter, her father described the project as a complete fiasco.
Eschew (vt.)
Syn: avoid; refrain from
- Once he sought the limelight, but now he eschews all interviews.
To let sleeping dogs lie (idiom)
To let well enough alone; To avoid stirring up old hostilities
- The lawyer wanted to open up the old case, but his partner advised him to let sleeping dog lie.
Dubious (adj.)
Syn: doubtful; hesitant; uncertain
- When the duplicity was revealed, the jury became dubious about Ed’s innocent.
Quell (vt.)
Syn: put an end to; finish; extinguish
- In order to quell the riot, the police sallied forth with tear gas.
Confidant (n.)
Syn: One to whom you confide your secrets
- A teenage boy’s father should be his true confidant.
Obsolescence (n.)
Syn: process of wearing out; put an end to; dying out
- The obsolescence built into many products could be regarded as a flagrant insult toward the duped consumer.
Voluble (adj.)
syn: talkative; chatty
- I could not doze in the chair because of the voluble barber.
Thumb’s down (idiom)
Signal of rejection
- My father turned thumb’s down on our plan to hitchhike to Florida during Easter.
