Macbeth Flashcards
Very bare, bleak
Austere
Hazy, vague, indistinct or confused
Nebulous
Dark, gloomy and serious
Somber
Give in
Capitulate/succumb
Believe on uncertain or tentative grounds
Conjecture/surmise
Destroy or debase the moral purity of; corrupt
Destroy or debase the moral purity of; corrupt
To reluctantly agree to do something you consider beneath you
Deign
To be indecisive
Dither
To bring out or develop something
Educe
Wipe out, obliterate
Efface
To evade, escape
Elude
Drag someone into a mess
Embroil
Evince
To bring out or develop
To obtain something by force, threats or other unfair means
Extort
To chain, restrain
Fetter
To fill with something, especially a strong feeling or opinion
Imbue
To initiate or provoke an action or event
Instigate
To seize a position of power or importance) illegally or by force
Usurp
A plague, disease; something that destroys hope
Blight
An event with disastrous consequences
Calamity
A false or baseless rumor or belief, often intended to deceive or mislead
Canard
Difference, failure of things to correspond
Discrepancy
Crafty dishonesty
Duplicity
A person who agitates
Incendiary
A wet swampy bog; figuratively, something that traps and confuses
Morass
The worst moment; the lowest point
Nadir
A grossly inferior imitation
Travesty
Flagrantly wicked or impious
Nefarious
A superficial or deceptively attractive appearance, façade
Veneer
Reeks of humiliation, looks like the lowest of the lows
Abject
Without definite shape or type
Amorphous
Showing modest reserve; lacking self-confidence
Diffident
Hungry, greedy or eager for something
Esurient
Brave in the face of danger
Intrepid
Practical, or an easy way to achieve a goal that’s not necessarily moral
Expedient
Extremely distressing, disturbing or emotionally traumatic
Harrowing
Cannot be unraveled or disentangled
Inextricable
Ghastly, sensational
Lurid
Kept secret, especially because it would not be approved of
Surreptitious
Present everywhere, pervasive
Ubiquitous
Excessive, uncontrolled and cruel
Wanton
Showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks
Audacious
Clear, sharp, direct
Incisive
Fictitious, false, wrong
Apocryphal
Cold, harsh, apathetic
Callous
Able to perceive things that others cannot
Clairvoyant
Jumping from one thing to another; disconnected
Desultory
Moving in an uncontrolled, irregular or unpredictable way
Errant
Shifting in character, inconstant
Fickle
Glib
Fluent and persuasive in speech, often in an insincere or superficial manner
Harmful, antagonistic or opposing something
Inimical
Dishonest or untruthful in speech or conduct
Mendacious
Attractive on the surface but having no value or substance in reality
Meretricious
Superficially plausible, but actually wrong
Specious/spurious
Thin, affording no ease or reassurance
Tenuous
Effective, articulate, clear-cut
Trenchant
Annoyed, frustrated or worried
Vexed
Vengeful; unwilling to forgive
Vindictive
Characterized by bitter, harsh or caustic language, criticism or behavior
Vitriolic
Characterized by ready or rapid speech; fluent
Voluble
Crafty, sly
Wily
Very clever at assessing situations and turn them to one’s advantage; perceptive and shrewd
Astute
Simple and natural, without deception
Artless
Intellectually convincing
Cogent
Feeling or expressing pain or sorrow; wanting to atone for having done something wrong
Contrite
Determined by chance or whim rather than by necessity or reason
Capricious
Dignified, proper and in good taste
Decorous
Feeling extreme discouragement or dejection
Despondent
Fleeting, momentary
Evanescent/ephemeral
Frenzied, hectic, frantic
Frenetic
Separated and narrow-minded; tight-knit, closed off
Insular
Easily provoked to anger; irritable
Irascible
Foul, rundown and repulsive; morally degraded
Sordid
To desire enviously
Covet
Unpleasant or dangerous and develops gradually without being noticed
Insidious
To spread throughout, saturate
Permeate
Bravery or ability to face tough situations
Mettle
A person who is guided by materialism and is disdainful of intellectual or artistic values
Philistine
Deep, bitter resentment
Rancor/acrimony
Praising people in authority in a way that is not sincere, usually in order to get some advantage from them
Sycophantic
Holding onto a purely formal title without any real authority
Titular
