manhattan #9 essential Flashcards
aver
declare or affirm with confidence, say. “Despite your insistence that ethics are completely situational” said the professor, “I aver that the existence of natural rights inevitably leads to certain immutable ethical boundaries”. Contain the root ver (truth) which also appears in verify, veracious, and verisimilitude.
daunt
discourage, dishearten, lessen the courage of. “Amazingly undaunted after his accident, devon vowed to complete a marathon in his wheelchair. Not even a dented rim on mile 19 could daunt him - he dauntlessly completed the race anyway. Related words cow (intimidate, destroy the courage of) Daunt shares a root with domesticate (to tame)
conversant
knowledgeable about or experienced with “for an opera singer, she is unusually conversant in physics - she just explained the purpose of the large hadron collider. Related words include abreast - keeping up with, staying aware of, or remaining equal in progress with. Coversant does not mean talkative, it means having enough knowledge to be able to carry an intelligent conversation about a topic.
mollify
calm or soothe (an angry person) lesson or soften. The cellular company’s billing practices were so infuriating to customers that the customer service representatives spent every workday mollifying angry customers.” related words include appease, placate, and assuage. Mollify shares a root with emollient (an ointment or lotion)
affection
fake behavior (such as in speech or dress) adopted to give a certain impression). “I’m annoyed whenever americans move to england and suddenly start speaking with an affected british accent, such affectations, when practiced by celebrities, are only likely to alienate their fans.” Related words include artifice. In slang some people call affected behavior “being a poser” ( poseur)
restive
restless, impatient or uneasy under the control of another. “The company was purchased by a larger competitor, and the employees grew restiveas the new bosses curtailed their freedoms and put ahold on their projects.”
solicitous
concerned or anxious (about another person) expressing care; eager or desirous, very careful. A solicitous host, derek not only asked each person how they were doing but asked by name about everyone’s spouses and kids. Solicitous of fame, she would do anything to get near celebrities.
layperson
a person who is not a member of the clergy or not a member of a particular profession. “The actress jenny McCarthy has written a book about autism. While her experience as a parent is interesting to anyone in a similar situation, it’s still important to remember that McCarthy is a layperson, not a doctor. Laity refers to the church’s member (not the clergy)
hearken
listen, pay attention to. “Hearken, students! We are going to sing hark the herald angels sing. Hearken back or hark back is much more common in modern usage and means to turn back to something earlier or return to a source.
gradation
a progression, a process taking place gradually, instages; one of these stages, one of these stages. “The hill’s gradation was so gradual that even those on crutches were able to enjoy the nature of the trail. The novel’s language graded from the vernacular to the erudite so gradually that you practically didn’t realize until the end that the speaker had become educated almost before your eyes.”
obstinate
stubborn or hard to control. It’s difficult to get an obstinate child to eat food he doesn’t want to eat. When toby realized that his son would rather sit and starve than eat mahi-mahi, he gave in and made him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Intractable is a synonym. Obdurate (stubborn, hardhearted, hardened in wrongdoing), can mean obstinate but is often more negative. From the latin stinare meaning stand. Obstinate people certainly do stand their ground.
inchoate
just begun, undeveloped, unorganized. “The first few weeks of language class went well, but her inchoate french was all but useless when she found herself at an academic conference in quebec.” Related words included nascent and incipient. Inchoate has more of a sense of vagueness. And inchoate idea for a novel probably means you don’t’ know where to start writing. A nascent project, although just beginning, may be right on track.
surfeit
excess, excessive amount, overindulgence, “the soup kitchen would like to announce that it has a serious surfeit of those cans of filled cranberries that no one seems to want, but it could still use at least 10 thanksgiving turkeys” Related words include replete with (supplied in abundance, filled, gorged,), glut, surplus and plethora (excess, overabundance) “sur” means over and the rest of the word is related to the latin facere meaning to make. The literal meaning is overproduce.
craven
very cowardly, lacking courage, “the nervous soldier feared he would turn craven in his first firefight, but he actually acted quite bravely. Related words include timorous (timid, fearful), pusillanimous (cowardly), dastardly (cowardly in a treacherous, sneaky way)
illiberality
narrowmindedness, bigotry, strictiness or lack of generosity. Students protested the illiberality of an admissions policy that made no allowances for those from disadvantaged areas or backgrounds who many not have had access to advanced classes and tutors. Related words included chauvinism (fanatical patriotism or blind enthusiasm for military glory, undue or biased devotion to any group), bigot (obstinately prejudiced person), xenophobia (fear of foreigners), jingoism (extreme chauvinism plus warlike foreign policy), insular (pertaining to an island, isolated illiberal)
