List 32 Flashcards
nauseate
nauseateV. /令人作呕的/cause to become sick; fill with disgust. The foul smells began to nauseate him.
nautical
nauticalADJ. /航海的/pertaining to ships or navigation. The Maritime Museum contains many models of clipper ships, logbooks, anchors and many other items of a nautical nature.
navigable
navigableADJ. /可以通航的/wide and deep enough to allow ships to pass through; able to be steered. So much sand had built up at the bottom of the canal that the waterway was barely navigable.
nebulous
nebulousADJ. /暧昧的，混浊不清的/vague; hazy; cloudy. After twenty years, she had only a nebulous memory of her grandmother’s face.
necromancy
necromancyN. /巫术，妖术，招魂术/black magic; dealings with the dead. The evil sorceror performed feats of necromancy, calling on the spirits of the dead to tell the future.
nefarious
nefariousADJ. /十恶不赦的/very wicked. The villain’s crimes, though various, were one and all nefarious.
negligence
negligenceN. /疏忽，没能尽力的/neglect; failure to take reasonable care. Tommy failed to put back the cover on the well after he fetched his pail of water; because of his negligence, Kitty fell in.
negligible
negligibleADJ. /可忽略不计的/so small, trifling, or unimportant that it may be easily disregarded. Because the damage to his car had been negligible, Michael decided he wouldn’t bother to report the matter to his insurance company.
nemesis
nemesisN. /复仇的人；寻衅者/someone seeking revenge. Abandoned at sea in a small boat, the vengeful Captain Bligh vowed to be the nemesis of Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers.
neologism
neologismN. /新生词/new or newly coined word or phrase. As we invent new techniques and professions, we must also Invent neologisms such as “microcomputer” and “astronaut” to describe them.
neophyte
neophyte N. /新入教者；新信徒/recent convert; beginner. This mountain slope contains slides that will challenge experts as well as neophytes.
nepotism
nepotismN. /偏袒的人（亲戚）/favoritism (to a relative). John left his position with the company because he felt that advancement was based on nepotism rather than ability.
nettle
nettleV. /烦恼；激怒；荨麻/annoy; vex. Do not let him nettle you with his sarcastic remarks.
nicety
nicetyN. /准确，精密/precision; minute distinction. I cannot distinguish between such niceties of reasoning.
nihilist
nihilistN. /虚无主义者/one who believes traditional beliefs to be groundless and existence meaningless; absolute skeptic; revolutionary terrorist. In his final days, Hitler revealed himself a power-mad nihilist, ready to annihilate all of Western Europe, even to destroy Germany itself, in order that his will might prevail. The root of the word nihilist is nihil, Latin for nothing. nihilism, N.
nip
nipV. /夹，捏；剪断；阻止/stop something’s growth or development; snip off; bite; make numb with cold. The twins were plotting mischief, but Mother intervened and nipped that plan in the bud. The gardener nipped off a lovely rose and gave it to me. Last week a guard dog nipped the postman in the leg; this week the extreme chill nipped his fingers till he could barely hold the mail.
nirvana
nirvanaN. /涅磐/in Buddhist teachings, the ideal state in which the individual loses himself in the attainment of an impersonal beatitude. Despite his desire to achieve nirvana, the young Buddhist found that even the buzzing of a fly could distract him from his meditation.
nocturnal
nocturnalADJ. /夜的/done at night. Mr. Jones obtained a watchdog to prevent the nocturnal raids on his chicken coops.
noisome
noisomeADJ. /有害的，有毒的；恶臭的/foul-smelling; unwholesome. The noisome atmosphere downwind of the oil refinery not only stank, it damaged the lungs of everyone living in the area.
nomenclature
nomenclatureN. /命名法；术语学/terminology; system of names. Sharon found Latin word parts useful in translating medical nomenclature: when her son had to have a bilateral myringotomy, she figured out that he just needed a hole in each of his eardrums to end the earaches he had.
noncommittal
noncommittalADJ. /不明朗的，不表态的；中庸的，未决的/neutral; unpledged; undecided. We were annoyed by his noncommittal reply for we had been led to expect definite assurances of his approval.
nonentity
nonentity N. /不存在/person of no importance; nonexistence. Because the two older princes dismissed their youngest brother as a nonentity, they did not realize that he was quietly plotting to seize the throne.
nonplus
nonplusV. /使迷惑；使为难；混淆/bring to halt by confusion; perplex. Jack’s uncharacteristic rudeness nonplussed Jill, leaving her uncertain how to react.
notoriety
notorietyN. /臭名昭著的/disrepute; ill fame. To the starlet, any publicity was good publicity: if she couldn’t have a good reputation, she’d settle for notoriety. notorious,ADJ.
noxious
noxiousADJ. /有害的/harmful. We must trace the source of these noxious gases before they asphyxiate us.
nuance
nuanceN. /细微差别/shade of difference in meaning or color; subtle distinction. Jody gazed at the Monet landscape for an hour, appreciating every subtle nuance of color in the painting.
nullify
nullifyV. /使无效/to make invalid. Once the contract was nullified, it no longer had any legal force.
numismatist
numismatistN. /硬币收藏家/person who collects coins. The numismatist had a splendid collection of antique coins.
nuptial
nuptialADJ. /婚姻的/related to marriage. Reluctant to be married in a traditional setting, they decided to hold their nuptial ceremony at the carousel in Golden Gate Park.
oaf
oafN. /愚蠢的人/stupid, awkward person. “Watch what you’re doing, you clumsy oaf!” Bill shouted at the waiter who had drenched him with iced coffee.
obdurate
obdurateADJ. /执拗的；顽固的/stubborn. He was obdurate in his refusal to listen to our complaints.
obese
obeseADJ. /肥胖的/fat. It is advisable that obese people try to lose weight.
obfuscate
obfuscateV. /迷惑，困惑；增加不必要的复杂性/confuse; muddle; cause confusion; make needlessly complex. Was the president’s spokesman trying to clarify the Whitewater mystery, or was he trying to obfuscate the issue so the voters would never figure out what went on?
obituary
obituaryADJ. /讣告/death notice. I first learned of her death when I read the obituary column in the newspaper. also N.
oblique
obliqueADJ. /间接的；倾斜的；无诚意的/indirect; slanting (deviating from the perpendicular or from a straight line). Casting a quick, oblique glance at the reviewing stand, the sergeant ordered the company to march “Oblique Right.”
obliterate
obliterateV. /彻底摧毁/destroy completely. The tidal wave obliterated several island villages,
oblivion
oblivionN. /遗忘；赦免/obscurity; forgetfulness. After a decade of popularity, Hurston’s works had fallen into oblivion; no one bothered to read them any more.
oblivious
obliviousADJ. /遗忘的；出神的/inattentive or unmindful; wholly absorbed. Deep in her book, Nancy was oblivious to the noisy squabbles of her brother and his friends.
obnoxious
obnoxiousADJ. /讨厌的；冒犯的/offensive. I find your behavior obnoxious; please mend your ways.
obsequious
obsequiousADJ. /谄媚的；拍马屁的；奴性的/slavishly attentive; servile; sycophantic. Helen liked to be served by people who behaved as if they respected themselves; nothing irritated her more than an excessively obsequious waiter or a fawning salesclerk.
