May 7th Flashcards
Solipsistic
The theory that only the self exists or can be proved to exist.
Solipsism is the philosophical theory that what’s in your mind is the only reality that can be known and verified.
Obsequious
Obedient or attentive to a servile degree
Prodigal
Recklessly spendthrift
Efficacy
the power to produce an effect
Gainsay
To deny or dispute
Gainsay, a verb, means “contradict” or “speak out against.” When you challenge authority, you gainsay, as in teachers don’t like it when unruly students gainsay them.
Precipitate
To bring about hastily or suddenly
Precipitate usually means “bringing something on” or “making it happen” — and not always in a good way. An unpopular verdict might “precipitate violence” or one false step at the Grand Canyon could precipitate you down into the gorge.
Exculpate
To clear from charge of guilt
To exculpate means to find someone not guilty of criminal charges. If you’ve been wrongly accused of robbery, you’d better hope a judge will exculpate you, unless you want to go to jail because you’ve heard prison food is amazing.
Capricious
Impulsive, Unpredictable
Capricious is an adjective to describe a person or thing that’s impulsive and unpredictable, like a bride who suddenly leaves her groom standing at the wedding altar.
Facetious
Waggish. Joking or jesting often inappropriately.
Ameliorate
To make better or more tolerable. Medicine to ameliorate the pain.
Denigrate
Defame. To attack the reputation of. Belittle
To denigrate is to say bad things — true or false — about a person or thing. Your reputation as a math whiz might be hurt if your jealous classmate manages to denigrate you, even though the accusations are unfounded.
Intransigent
Uncompromising
Intransigent means inflexible, stubborn, entrenched. Argue all you like with an intransigent three-year-old. He will never back down from the position that he wants the lollipop NOW.
Stolid
Unemotional
A stolid person can’t be moved to smile or show much sign of life, in much the same way as something solid, like a giant boulder, is immovable. Both are expressionless.
Hackneyed
Lacking in freshness or originality
Craven
Dastardly
Pusillanimous
Cowardly
Craven and its synonyms “dastardly” and “pusillanimous” are all basically fancy words for “cowardly.” Don’t be afraid to use them - here’s a little information to help you recognize the subtle distinctions in their connotations. “Craven” suggests extreme defeatism and complete lack of resistance. One might speak of “craven yes-men.” “Dastardly” often implies behavior that is both cowardly and treacherous or skulking or outrageous, as in this example: “a dastardly attack on unarmed civilians.” “Pusillanimous” suggests a contemptible lack of courage (e.g., “After the attack, one editorialist characterized the witnesses as ‘the pusillanimous bystanders’”).
Sedulous
Hardworking. Diligent
Perfidy
Disloyal
If you shared your most embarrassing secrets with a friend who then told them to everyone he knows, his betrayal could be described as perfidy.
Alacrity
promptness in response. Cheerful readiness
Someone with alacrity shows cheerful willingness and eager behavior, like a kid whose mother has told him he can buy anything in a candy store.
Dissemble
To hide your true feelings or opinions.
To dissemble is to hide under a false appearance, to deceive. “When confronted about their human rights record, the Chinese government typically dissembles.”
Demur
Raise objection or show reluctance.
Propitiate
Appease.
“the pagans thought it was important to propitiate the gods with sacrifices”
If you forgot flowers on your Mom’s birthday, you can still propitiate her by sending a bouquet the next day. Propitiate means to appease someone or make them happy by doing a particular thing. Handy strategy for lovers, too.
Calumny
Slander
Use the noun calumny to characterize verbal attacks that are meant to destroy reputations or friendships. You’ve probably seen political ads during election time that rely on calumny to move voters.
Didactic
intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive.
“a didactic novel that set out to expose social injustice”
Profligate
recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources.
Salubrious
health-giving; healthy.
Abjure
solemnly renounce (a belief, cause, or claim).
Abjure means to swear off, and it applies to something you once believed. You can abjure a religious faith, you can abjure your love of another person, and you can abjure the practice of using excessive force in interrogation.
Repudiate
Reject
To repudiate something is to reject it, or to refuse to accept or support it. If you grow up religious, but repudiate all organized religion as an adult, you might start spending holidays at the movies, or just going to work.
Prevaricate
Speak or act in an evasive way
When you prevaricate, you lie or mislead. Now, go ahead and tell me whether you already knew that meaning, and don’t prevaricate about it — give me the story straight!
Bucolic
relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life.
Gauche
unsophisticated and socially awkward.
Obdurate
stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or course of action.
Obdurate is a formal word meaning stubborn. If you want to major in English, but your parents are obdurate that you should go pre-med, they might go so far as to threaten not to pay your tuition.
This adjective descends from Latin obdurare “to harden.” A near synonym is adamant, from Latin adamas “hard metal, diamond.” So both of these synonyms derive from the quality of hardness being associated with a stubborn personality.
Hyperbole
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
Paucity
the presence of something in only small or insufficient quantities or amounts.
Disinterested
not influenced by considerations of personal advantage.
Equivocate
use ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself.
Taciturn
(of a person) reserved or uncommunicative in speech; saying little.
Perfidious
deceitful and untrustworthy.
Phlegmatic
(of a person) having an unemotional and stolidly calm disposition.
Yes, phlegmatic has roots in that colorless, mucousy stuff called phlegm, but people who are phlegmatic aren’t called that because they have lots of mucus. They are just a little dull in expressing feelings or showing emotion.
Untenable
(especially of a position or view) not able to be maintained or defended against attack or objection.
“this budget is clearly untenable”
If something is untenable, you can’t defend it or justify it. If your disagreement with your teacher puts you in an untenable position, you better just admit you made a mistake and get on with it.
Egregious
outstandingly bad; shocking.
“egregious abuses of copyright”
Deleterious
causing harm or damage.
If something is deleterious, it does harm or makes things worse. Smoking has obvious deleterious effects on your health, not to mention your social life.
Dilatory
slow to act.
Something dilatory creates a delay. If you are a high school student, once in a while you might have used dilatory tactics if you forgot to do your homework.
Incongruous
not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings or other aspects of something.
“the duffel coat looked incongruous with the black dress she wore underneath”
Languid
of a person, manner, or gesture) having or showing a disinclination for physical exertion or effort.
“his languid demeanour irritated her”
