Master Deck Flashcards
purlieu
- an outlying or adjacent district
- a frequently visited place
“The boy, desperately nervous, continued to descend the zig-zag paths that would take him into the very purlieus of his father’s house.”
crepuscular
of, relating to, or resembling twilight; dim
“Rabbits are crepuscular feeders, which means they tend to leave their burrows in the twilight hours around sunset and sunrise to eat.”
usufructuary
one having the use or enjoyment of something
ruminate
- to engage in contemplation; meditate
- to chew again what has been chewed slightly and swallowed; chew the cud
“For her final column of the year, Francine ruminated on the subject of new beginnings.”
dreidel
a 4-sided toy marked with Hebrew letters and spun like a top in a game of chance
“The adults chatted in the living room while the children amused themselves by playing dreidel.”
wassail
to indulge in riotous drinking; carouse
“Every year at Christmastime the magazine publishes a recipe for a traditional drink that can be used to wassail one’s friends, neighbors, and family members.”
rejuvenate
- to make young or youthful again; give new vigor to
- to restore to an original or new state
“The new arts complex and adjacent businesses have rejuvenated the city and turned downtown into a destination for visitors.”
zeitgeist
the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era
“The movie does an excellent job of capturing the zeitgeist of the dot-com boom.”
solicitous
- showing attentive care or protectiveness
- full of concern or fears; apprehensive
“Lyle has developed a reputation as one of the best tailors in the area because he is solicitous of his customers and their needs.”
beleaguer
to cause distress to; besiege
“Despite being beleaguered by injuries, the scrappy football team fought hard and managed to make the playoffs.”
ultima
the last syllable of a word
“For the last line of her poem, Sheila needed a word with an ultima that rhymed with ‘green,’ so she tried “magazine.””
veridical
truthful; not illusory
“In this book, therefore, ‘perception’ is used to cover all sensory experience, whether veridical or not.”
Kwanzaa
an African-American cultural festival held from December 26 to January 1
“A joyous family spirit pervaded the Allen family’s Kwanzaa celebration as three generations came together for a delightful meal and a beautiful candle-lighting ceremony.”
oligopsony
a market situation in which each of a few buyers exerts a disproportionate influence on the market
“The small number of supermarkets in the region has created an oligopsony in which the stores can dictate the price they pay to farmers for meat and fresh produce.”
baleful
- deadly or destructive in influence
- foreboding or threatening evil
“His face might have been chiselled out of marble, so hard and set was its expression, while its eyes glowed with a baleful light.”
