Magoosh Common Words 3 and 4 Flashcards
derive
come from
e.g. “Some maintain that he derived the idea of civil disobedience from Thoreau”
Synonyms: stem, descend, spring, draw
elucidate
make (something) clear; explain
e.g. “Having grabbed the attention he then used the interview to elucidate the argument.”
Synonyms: decode, enlighten, exemplify, explicate, illuminate.
abstain
restrain oneself from doing or enjoying something.
e.g. “The terms stipulate that he must abstain from the consumption of alcohol and controlled substances”
Synonyms: cease, forgo, pass up, quit, refrain, withhold
treacherous
tending to betray; unpredictable
e.g. “A holidaymaker was swept away by treacherous currents”
Synonyms: traitorous, disloyal, perfidious
Synonyms: hazardous, perilous, unsafe, precarious, deceptive
juxtapose
place or deal with close together for contrasting effects
e.g. “The black-and-white photos of slums were starkly juxtaposed with color images.”
Synonyms: compare, collocate, colligate
forlorn
- pitifully sad and abandoned or lonely
- to show hopelessness
e.g. “When I called, the tiny forlorn figure sat up and reached out towards us.”
Synonyms: miserable, sorrowful, dejected, despondent, wretched, morose
derivative
To draw strongly on something already in existence
e.g. “Petroleum is a derivative of coal tar.”
Synonyms: cognate, secondary, subordinate, variation
contrive
to pull off a plan or scheme
e.g. “The prisoners contrived a way to escape.”
Synonyms: plan, plot, project, rig, concoct, devise
ameliorate
make (something bad or unsatisfactory) better
e.g. “The reform did much to ameliorate living standards”
Synonyms: alleviate, lighten, mitigate, amend
vilify
slander; speak or write about in an abusively disparaging manner
e.g. “He has been vilified in the press for his comments on Israel”
Synonyms: disparage, denigrate, defame, slander
travesty
- a mockery
- a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something.
e.g. “the absurdly lenient sentence is a travesty of justice”
Synonyms for 1: parody, caricature, burlesque, mock
Synonyms for 2: misrepresentation, distortion, perversion, corruption
rudimentary
to be in the early stages of development
e.g. “When baseball was in its rudimentary stages, different teams played by different rules.”
Synonyms: primitive, crude, embryonic, vestigial
negligible
so small or unimportant as to be not worth considering; insignificant
e.g. “He said that the risks were negligible”
Synonyms: trivial, trifling, nugatory, minute
subsume
include or absorb (something) in something else.
e.g. “most of these phenomena can be subsumed under two broad categories”
Synonyms: integrate, contain, incorporate, assimilate
mollify
to make someone angry less angry
e.g. “nature reserves were set up around the power stations to mollify local conservationists”
Synonyms: appease, placate, pacify, conciliate
refractory
hard or impossible to manage; stubbornly disobedient
e.g. “To make his life easier, the store owner decided to fire the refractory workers who were difficult to manage.”
Synonyms: unmanageable, difficult, stubborn, contentious, intractable
magnanimous
generous or forgiving, especially towards a rival or less powerful person
e.g. “In a magnanimous gesture, she gave her co-writer the award”
Synonyms: altruistic, charitable, considerate, selfless
tenacious
stubbornly unyielding
e.g. “He is very tenacious when he thinks he’s on to a good story”
Synonyms: determined, steadfast, staunch, resolute, unswerving
eminent
to be higher than others in terms of quality(s) or position
e.g. “one of the world’s most eminent statisticians”
Synonyms: illustrious, distinguished, renowned, venerable, lionized
languid
slow and relaxed; not inclined towards physical exertion
e.g. “She was pale, languid, and weak as if she had delivered a child”
Synonyms: weary, fatigued, enervated, feeble, sluggish
denote
be a sign of; indicate.
e.g. “This mark denotes purity and quality”
Synonyms: designate, indicate, betoken, signify, signal
frustrate
to hinder or prevent
e.g. “the rescue attempt was frustrated by bad weather”
Synonyms: thwart, obstruct, derail, hamper, hinder, check
tantamount
equivalent in seriousness to; virtually the same as
e.g. “The resignations were tantamount to an admission of guilt”
Synonyms: commensurate, identical
staunch
very loyal and committed in attitude
e.g. “a staunch supporter of the anti-nuclear lobby”
Synonyms: ardent, come-through, loyal, reliable, stalwart, steadfast
fallacious
based on a mistaken belief
e.g. “The idea that nuclear power can solve the coming energy crisis is therefore totally fallacious.”
Synonyms: erroneous, false, untrue
insidious
to work in a subtle but destructive way
e.g. “It was an insidious disease and the effects were noticed too late”
Synonyms: stealthy, subtle, surreptitious, sneaking
jubilant
feeling or expressing great happiness and triumph
e.g. “a large number of jubilant fans ran onto the pitch”
Synonyms: overjoyed, exultant, triumphant, euphoric, ecstatic
incongruous
lacking compatibility; not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings or other aspects of something.
e.g. “The duffel coat looked incongruous with the black dress she wore underneath”
Synonyms: bizarre, contradictory, inappropriate, incoherent, incompatible
immutable
unchanging over time or unable to be changed
e.g. “The Koran is seen as the direct and immutable word of God.”
Synonyms: fixed, set, rigid, inflexible, unyielding
ascetic
characterized by severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence
e.g. “An ascetic life of prayer, fasting, and manual labour”
Synonyms: austere, self-denying, abstinent, spartan
disaffected
dissatisfied, especially with people in authority or a system of control.
e.g. “a military plot by disaffected elements in the army”
Synonyms: dissatisfied, disgruntled, renegade, insurgent, rebellious
avaricious
to be excessively greedy
e.g. “avaricious corporate bosses looking to maximize profits”
Synonyms: rapacious, mercenary, covetous
vehement
- showing strong feeling
- forceful, passionate, or intense
e.g. “On the subject of chastity until marriage, she is just as vehement.”
Synonyms: ardent, furious, enthusiastic, fervent, fierce
jingoism
fanatical patriotism
e.g. Stop this jingoism that is leading this and other nations to war
Synonyms: zealous, fanaticism, chauvinism, nationalism
circumvent
to cleverly find a way out of one’s duties/obligations
e.g. “if you come to an obstruction in a road you can seek to circumvent it”
Synonyms: sidestep, dodge
haughty
to show arrogant superiority and disdain towards others
e.g. “She gave him a haughty look and turned away”
Synonyms: arrogant, conceited, snobbish, patronizing, smug, scornful
quotidian
of or occurring every day; daily.
e.g. “The car sped noisily off through the quotidian traffic”
Synonyms: commonplace, ordinary
ecletic
deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources
e.g. “universities offering an eclectic mix of courses”
Synonyms: wide, broad, mixed
itinerant
traveling from place to place
e.g. “Soon the word spread, and itinerant travelers began to squat there.”
Synonyms: peripatetic, wandering, peregrinate
panache
flamboyant confidence of style or manner.
e.g. “he entertained London society with great panache”
Synonyms: brio, charisma, flair, flamboyance
belligerent
hostile and aggressive
e.g. “The rail companies are taking a belligerent attitude towards the disputes.”
Synonyms: bellicose, combative, contentious, pugnacious, irascible
delineate
describe in detail
e.g. “the law should delineate and prohibit behavior which is socially abhorrent”
Synonyms: define, depict, lay out
precocious
one who matures or develops exceptionally early
e.g. “The point is made early on that Daniel is an intellectually precocious child.”
Synonyms: talented, clever, intelligent
ephemeral
lasting a short time
e.g. “fashions are ephemeral: new ones regularly drive out the old”
Synonyms: transitory, transient, temporary
guileless
innocent and without deception
e.g. “There was an innocence about those days - something wanton yet guileless.”
Synonyms: artless, ingenuous, naivety
unequivocal
to have only one meaning or interpretation and leading to only one conclusion
e.g. “They must be so unequivocal that there will be no doubt about the construction.”
Synonyms: absolute, indisputable, obvious, straightforward
supplant
take the place or move into the position of
e.g. “Domestic production has been supplanted by imports and jobs have been lost”
Synonyms: overthrow, succeed, supersede
spurious
plausible but false
e.g. “I could find all sorts of spurious reasons why I needed to continue smoking.”
Synonyms: bogus, false, specious
heretic
A heretic is someone whose beliefs or actions are considered unorthodox (wrong by most people, because they disagree with beliefs that are generally accepted)
e.g. “He was considered a heretic and was ridiculed and ostracized for his ideas.”
Synonyms: freethinker, iconoclast, schismatic, renegade, agnostic
contingent
- dependent on
Synonyms: accidental, chance, dependent
- a gathering of persons representative of some larger group
e.g. “his fees were contingent on the success of his search”
Synonyms: batch, cohort
blatant
(of bad behavior) done openly and unashamedly
e.g. “He told a blatant lie to all students last time round.”
Synonyms: unabashed, audacious, insolent, impudent
discrete
constituting a separate entity or part
e.g. “speech sounds are produced as a continuous sound signal rather than discrete units”
Synonyms: distinct, various, detached
idiosyncrasy
a mode of behavior or way of thought peculiar to an individual.
e.g. “one of his little idiosyncrasies was always preferring to be in the car first”
Synonyms: peculiar, quirk, whimsical, eccentricity
unscrupulous
having no morals or principles
e.g. “As a result, many people lost money, some no doubt cheated by unscrupulous speculators.”
Synonyms: venal, corrupt, crafty, crooked, deceitful
exalt
praise or glorify
e.g. “the party will continue to exalt their hero”
Synonyms: lionize, lauded, venerate, acclaim
exonerate
to free someone from guilt
e.g. “The police report exonerated Lewis from all charges of corruption.”
Synonyms: absolve, clear, acquit, vindicate, exculpate
confound
to mistake one thing for another; cause confusion
e.g. “the inflation figure confounded economic analysts”
Synonyms: baffle, bewilder, discombobulate, dumbfound, perplex
tortuous
full of twists and turns
e.g. “the route is remote and tortuous”
Synonyms: circuitous, convoluted, indirect, labyrinthine, meandering, twisting
implausible
(of an argument or statement) not seeming reasonable
e.g. “This is a blatantly implausible claim”
Synonyms: dubious, farfetched, flimsy, improbable, inconceivable
ignoble
not honourable in character or purpose.
e.g. “ignoble feelings of intense jealousy”
Synonyms: sordid, degraded, corrupt, unscrupulous, unprincipled
opaque
difficult to understand
e.g. “He is far more insecure than the opaque hard man many imagine.”
Synonyms: arcane, equivocal, incomprehensible, abstruse
adamant
refusing to be persuaded or to change one’s mind
e.g. “Andrew was adamant that his son would not suffer the horrors he had.”
Synonyms: determined, insistent, intransigent, resolute, rigid
aberrant
- deviating from the norm
- departing from an accepted standard.
e.g. “This somewhat aberrant behavior requires an explanation”
Synonyms: atypical, anomalous, digressive, irregular, nonconformist, rogue
exacting
requiring and demanding accuracy
e.g. “She was an exacting woman to work for.”
Synonyms: imperious, onerous, demanding
pundit
an expert in a particular subject or field who is frequently called upon to give their opinions to the public.
e.g. “political pundits were tipping him for promotion”
Synonyms: buff, cognoscenti, expert
soporific
tending to induce drowsiness or sleep.
e.g. “the motion of the train had a somewhat soporific effect”
Synonyms: sedative, tranquilizing
indifference
to not seem to care
e.g. “It is a matter of indifference as far as the Legal Aid is concerned.”
Synonyms: disinterest, disregard, inattention, inertia, insensitivity, lack, negligence
largess
generosity in bestowing money or gifts upon others
e.g. “presumably public money is not dispensed with such largesse to anyone else”
Synonyms: munificent, benefaction, magnanimity
underscore
to emphasize; give extra weight to
e.g. “These failures underscore the difficulty of what we’re attempting to do.”
Synonyms: emphasize, reinforce, underline, accentuate
eradicate
to completely destroy
e.g. “It is extremely difficult to eradicate prejudices so deeply rooted and natural.”
Synonyms: abolish, annihilate, eliminate, erase, expunge, extirpate
provincial
having opinions and ideas that are limited, old-fashioned and simple
e.g. “He makes me wait as he summons a provincial police officer to accompany us.”
Synonyms: pedestrian, parochial, myopic
pragmatic
to be based on practical experience rather than theory
e.g. “he favoured a pragmatic approach to the problem”
Synonyms: practical, realistic
espouse
to support/adopt an idea or cause
e.g. “He used his books to lend weight to the causes he espoused.”
Synonyms: adopt, embrace, endorse, advocate
copious
in abundance; ample supply
e.g. “There was a copious amount of work to get through”
Synonyms: profuse, ample, lavish
bumbling
- to lack physical movement
- acting in a confused or ineffectual way; incompetent
e.g. “The drunk man was bumbling around the bar, knocking over tables.”
Synonyms: lurch, stumble, wobble, falter
intransigent
not willing to change the course of action or belief
e.g. “He was stubbornly intransigent when asked to share some of his inheritance”
Synonyms: adamant, inflexible, obstinate, resolute
hackneyed
(of a phrase or idea) having been overused; unoriginal and trite
e.g. “Folktales are hackneyed old sayings”
Synonyms: platitude, trite, banal, vapid
reconcile
make (one account) consistent with another
e.g. “It is not necessary to reconcile the cost accounts to the financial accounts”
Synonyms: accommodate, appease, assuage, conform, harmonize.
construe
interpret (a word or action) in a particular way.
e.g. “his words could hardly be construed as an apology”
Synonyms: define, infer, interpret, parse
burgeon
begin to grow or increase rapidly; flourish.
e.g. “the city’s suburbs have burgeoned, sprawling out from the center”
Synonyms: prosper, snowball, sprout
expound
- clarify the meaning
- explain in depth
e.g. “he was expounding a powerful argument”
Synonyms: delineate, exemplify, explain, explicate, clarify
laudable
(of an action, idea, or aim) deserving praise
e.g. “laudable though the aim might be, the results have been criticized”
Synonyms: noteworthy, exemplary, reputable, honourable, sterling
petulant
(of a person or their manner) childishly sulky or bad-tempered
e.g. “he acted like a petulant child who had been refused what he wanted”
Synonyms: cranky, fractious, impatient, sullen, peevish, whiny
ostentatious
characterized by pretentious or showy display; designed to impress
e.g. “She wears an ostentatious diamond ring and a pearl the size of a marble.”
Synonyms: extravagant, gaudy
abstruse
difficult to understand; obscure.
e.g. “an abstruse philosophical inquiry”
Synonyms: arcane, equivocal, incomprehensible
refute
prove (a statement or theory) to be wrong or false; disprove.
e.g. “these claims have not been convincingly refuted”
Synonyms: disprove, quash, contend, repudiate
pedantic
excessively concerned with minor details or rules; overscrupulous.
e.g. “his analyses are careful and even painstaking, but never pedantic”
Synonyms: overscrupulous, fastidious
incorrigible
(of a person or their behavior) not able to be changed or reformed.
e.g. “He’s an incorrigible liar and will continue to lie and deceive.”
Synonyms: inveterate, habitual, irredeemable, hardened, incurable
forthcoming
- verb - easy-going while talking to others
- adjective - available when required or as promised
e.g. “she had never been forthcoming about her time in the States”
Synonyms: anticipated, approaching, impending
acerbic
(especially of a comment or style of speaking) sharp and forthright
e.g. “His prose is peppered with acerbic wit and keen insight.”
Synonyms: caustic, harsh, sharp, scathing
myopic
lacking foresight or intellectual insight.
e.g. “the government still has a myopic attitude to public spending”
Synonyms: pedestrian, parochial, provincial
denigrate
criticize unfairly; disparage.
e.g. “doom and gloom merchants who denigrate their own country”
Synonyms: besmirch, defame, disparage, impugn, slander, blister
temperance
the quality of moderation or self-restraint.
e.g. “the whole multitude of men lack temperance in their lives, either from ignorance or from want of self-control”
Synonyms: abstinence, self-denial, austerity, asceticism
implacable
incapable of being less hostile;
e.g. “Grattan from the first denounced the scheme with implacable hostility.”
Synonyms: inexorable, intractable, relentless, ruthless
ingratiate
gain the favor of someone by flattering or trying to please them
e.g. “a sycophantic attempt to ingratiate herself with the local aristocracy”
Synonyms: fawn, obsequious, toady
apocryphal
(of a story or statement) of doubtful authenticity
e.g. “there is an apocryphal story about a disgraced rock star who ended up in bankruptcy court”
Synonyms: fictitious, made-up, untrue, fabricated, false, spurious
admonitory
a firm warning or reprimand.
“he received numerous admonitions for his behavior”
Synonyms: reprimand, rebuke, reproof, remonstrance, reproach, lambast
decorum
behavior in keeping with good taste and propriety.
e.g. “he had acted with the utmost decorum”
Synonyms: etiquette, decency, propriety
