List A5 Flashcards
tyranny
n. arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority
n. tyrant
adj. tyrannical
interlocutor
n. someone who takes part in a conversation, esp. formally
hospitable
adj. Friendly, kind, and solicitous toward guests; receptive or open
melee
n. a noisy, confused fight
acrimony
n. bitter, sharp hostility in speech or behavior
adj. acrimonious
martial
adj. warlike
fitful
adj. occurring in irregular outbursts; occurring in spurts
rapport
n. concord; trustful relationship; harmony
nihilism
n. a belief that rejects all moral or religious values; the belief that the destruction of political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement
pejorative
adj. downgrading, demeaning
chasten
v. to correct by punishment or criticism; to restrain
officious
adj. interfering; trying to give unwanted advice
cataclysm
n. a disastrous event, usually one that brings about great change
adj. cataclysmic
mandate
n. a command; an order
colloquy
n. a conversation, esp. a formal one
plausible
adj. appearing worthy of belief or trust
n. plausibility
demur
v. to object; to disagree with something
conviction
n. a strong belief or opinion
prowess
n. superior skill or ability
reproof
n. an expression of disapproval; a rebuke
v. reprove
crop
v. to cut or bite the ends off; to trim
theology
n. the study of the nature of God and religious truth
n. theologian
own
v. to admit, esp. taking personal responsibility for one’s own actions or thoughts
qualm
n. a sudden feeling of sickness; an uneasy feeling about the moral rightness of an action
circumlocution
n. an indirect or wordy way of expressing an idea
lachrymose
adj. causing tears; weeping or inclined to weep
start
v. to move suddenly or involuntarily
surly
adj. sullen and rude
covet
v. to desire strongly
adj. covetous
comport
v. to conduct or behave oneself; to be compatible or in agreement with
grapple
v. to struggle with something; to grip and hold
awry
adv. away from the correct course; wrong; deviant
pliant
adj. easily bent; pliable; adaptable or compliant
paean
n. a song of joy, triumph, or praise
tribulation
n. a great misery or distress
fetter
v. to confine, restrain, or keep down; n. chains; shackles
graphic
adj. described in vivid and explicit detail
coerce
v. to force by threat or intimidation
n. coercion
contemplate
v. to look at or think about carefully; to consider as a possibility
n. contemplation
adj. contemplative
auspicious
adj. marked by favorable circumstances
comply
v. to yield or act in accordance with requests, conditions, etc.
adj. compliant
n. compliance
abide
v. to tolerate
repugnant
adj. causing disgust or aversion; distasteful; offensive
n. repugnance
depreciate
v. to reduce in price or value
n. depreciation
desolate
adj. left alone; lonely; deserted
n. desolation
hefty
adj. heavy
n. heft
haunt
v. to visit often or continually
n. haunts
decadence
n. a period of decline, as in morals
n. decadent
disposition
n. personality; temperament
ultimatum
n. a final demand of statement of terms
humane
adj. kind; compassionate
debacle
n. an overwhelming defeat or failure
contingent
adj. unpredictable because dependent on chance; dependent on something uncertain
n. contingency
speculate
v. to form an idea without having definite or complete evidence
n. speculation
renege
v. to fail or carry out a promise
exact
v. to demand and obtain by force or authority
n. exaction
exalt
v. to raise in status or character; to increase the effect or intensity of
adj. exalted
distort
v. to alter; to change into an unusual form
n. distortion
efface
v. to rub out, as from a surface; to erase
torrent
n. a swift-flowing stream; an uncontrolled outpouring
quagmire
n. wet, boggy ground; a difficult situation
overt
adj. open; not hidden
banish
v. to drive away; to force to leave a place by official decree
meritocracy
n. a system in which promotion is based on individual ability or achievement
equilibrium
n. a state of balance or equality between opposing forces
smug
n. showing offensive satisfaction with oneself
bilk
v. to swindle; to cheat
n. authoritarian
n. demanding unquestioning obedience
conducive
adj. tending to bring about
flora
n. plants as a group, esp. of a specified region or time
squabble
n. a noisy argument, esp. over an unimportant matter
hedge
v. to protect against possible loss by taking compensatory measures; to avoid making a direct statement
usurp
v. to take over by force (e.g., property or rights) without legal authority
n. usurpation
quandary
n. a state of uncertainty, esp. about what course of action to take
infer
v. to reason or conclude from evidence
n. inference
sonorous
adj. having a full, deep sound; impressive in style of speech
n. sonority
antidote
n. a cure for a disease or poison
munificent
adj. generous
n. munificence
premises
n. land and the buildings that are on it
threadbare
adj. old and worn out
refute
v. to disprove
clemency
n. mercy, or leniency towards an offender
hover
v. to float as if suspended; to be in a state of uncertainty
brusque
adj. abrupt and curt of manner
hoodwink
v. to deceive; to mislead
turgid
adj. excessively ornate or complex in style; swollen, as from fluid
n. turgidity
leviathan
n. something enormous and powerful; a sea monster
opulence
n. extreme wealth; luxuriousness; abundance
adj. opulent
refuge
n. a shelter or sanctuary
masquerade
v. to wear a disguise; to put on a false appearance
trite
adj. worn out, used too often
n. triteness
subside
v. to settle down
misanthrope
n. one who hates or mistrusts mankind
adj. misanthropic
n. misanthropy
formidable
adj. inspiring fear or dread
charlatan
n. a fake; one who pretends to have expert knowledge
antithesis
n. direct contrast; opposition
adj. antithetical
jovial
adj. full of hearty, playful good humor
tome
n. a large, often scholarly book
err
v. to make a mistake
adj. erroneous
pretentious
adj. claiming dignity or importance, esp. when undeserved
n. pretension
dreary
adj. depressing or boring
chronicle
n. a recording of events in order of time
n. chronicler
impale
v. to pierce with something sharp; to make helpless
suffrage
n. the right to vote
androgynous
adj. having both male and female characteristics
optimum
adj. the most favorable point or condition
sate
v. to satisfy (any appetite or desire) fully
stricture
n. a restraint or limit
grimace
n. a facial expression that shows disapproval or pain; v. to make such an expression
succumb
v. to give in or yield
ruse
n. an action or device intended to deceive
gape
v. to open wide; to stare with the mouth open
adj. gaping
fickle
adj. unreliable in faith; changing in affections
declaim
v. to recite a speech, poem, etc; to announce formally
exert
v. to put forth or bring to bear
n. exertion
grave
adj. serious; dignified; formal
n. gravity
grovel
v. to beg; to lower oneself to please another
obfuscate
v. to make difficult to understand; to make indistinct
n. obfuscation
discursive
adj. covering a wide range of subjects; rambling
obligatory
adj. legally or morally required
limpid
adj. perfectly clear; transparent
divulge
v. to reveal or make known
philander
v. of a man, to engage in sexual affairs, esp. casually
n. philanderer
fatalistic
adj. believing that all events are predestined and unavoidable
n. fatalism
remiss
adj. careless in, or negligent about, attending to a task
denigrate
v. to disgrace a reputation; to blacken; to belittle
coherent
adj. logically consistent and orderly
n. coherence
v. cohere
misogyny
n. hatred of women
n. misogynist
adj. misogynistic
disingenuous
adj. not straightforward or candid; crafty
oasis
n. a fertile place in a desert due to the presence of water; any place or thing offering relief from difficulty or dullness
blatant
adj. offensively obvious; unpleasantly noisy
sheer
afj. transparently thin; utter or complete; nearly vertical
flux
n. flow; continuous change or movement
dais
n. a raised platform
frivolous
adj. of little importance
n. frivolity
galvanize
v. to rouse; to stir; to spur
adj. galvanic
mendacious
adj. lying; false, esp. habitually
averse
adj. opposed, reluctant; repelled
chastise
v. to punish by beating; to scold or condemn sharply
impassive
adj. not feeling emotion; not showing emotion
prosperity
n. wealth; good fortune
adj. prosperous
gnarled
adj. twisted; knotty
oligarchy
n. a government in which only few people have power
n. oligarch
adj. oligarchic
prudent
adj. marked by careful planning; discreet
n. prudence
incapacitate
adj. to make unable to function in normal activities; disable
prevail
v. to triumph over; to be or become most common
servile
adj. slavish; abjectly submissive
n. servility
carnage
n. massacre; slaughter; bloodshed
cogent
adj. appealing forcibly to the mind; convincing
forgery
n. something counterfeit; an illegally produced imitation
v. forge
treatise
n. a formal piece of writing, usually long, on a particular subject
nexus
n. a connection or intersection
chronic
adj. continuing for a long time; recurrent
forbear
v. to be patient or avoid doing
bliss
n. perfect happiness
putative
adj. put forth or accepted as true or inadequate grounds; supposed
deity
n. a god
gingerly
adv. very carefully; cautiously
loathe
v. to dislike something greatly
n. loathing
adj. loathsome
ebullient
adj. in high spirits; boiling or seeming to boil
n. ebullience
chasm
n. a large gap
eerie
adj. causing inexplicable fear or uneasiness, often because of an apparently supernatural origin
conventional
adj. following ordinary practice; unoriginal
fallacy
n. a false notion, esp. one based in incorrect reasoning
adj. fallacious
hibernate
v. to sleep through the winter
volatile
adj. tending to vary widely; unstable; quickly evaporating
n. volatility
prevaricate
v. to avoid telling the truth
n. prevarication
encrypt
v. to put into code
n. encryption
nostalgia
n. a general longing for the past or to return home
adj. nostalgic
reimburse
v. to repay
increment
n. an increase in quantity; v. to increase
peruse
v. to read carefully
arbitrate
v. to settle a dispute or a fight between two parties
n. arbitration
anthropomorphism
n. the attribution of human characteristics to animals or inanimate objects
adj. anthropomorphic
v. anthropomorphize
cache
n. a hiding place for storage of provisions or valuables
corpulent
adj. very fat; obese
n. corpulence
livid
adj. extremely angry; discolored, as from a bruise; pale, ashen
austere
adj. stern or severe in appearance; without luxury
n. austerity
myriad
n. an indefinitely large number
impinge
v. to have an effect on something, esp. a negative one; to encroach
android
n. an automaton that resembles a human being
turbid
adj. cloudy, muddy; in a state of turmoil
n. turbidity
dismay
v. to destroy courage or resolution; to cause to lose enthusiasm; to disillusion
facade
n. an outward appearance; the face of a building
cadence
n. a rhythmic beat
encumber
v. to burden or weigh down
n. encumbrance
caricature
n. a drawing or description that ridiculously exaggerates features
occasion
v. to cause; to provide an appropriate opportunity for
impostor
n. a person using a false identity
ingratiate
v. to bring oneself into another’s favor or good graces by conscious effort
sanctify
v. to make holy; to make legitimate or binding
abash
v. to embarrass
avant-garde
n. a group active in inventing and applying new techniques, esp. in the arts
enervate
v. to weaken
liberal
adj. generous; giving freely
vulgar
adj. lacking refinement or taste; crude
n. vulgarity
fictitious
adj. not real; false
pastiche
n. something (esp. a work of art, literature, or music) created from many different sources
factitious
adj. produced artificially; not genuine
malignant
adj. very harmful; threatening death; cancerous (of a tumor)
n. malignancy
