McCarthy Vocabulary Flashcards
accrued
to happen or result as a natural growth, addition, etc.
acolyte
a person assisting the celebrant in a religious service
affable
pleasantly easy to approach and to talk to; friendly, cordial;warmly polite
anathema
a person or thing detested or loathed
androgyne
a being of ambiguous sexual identity; one that combines major aspects of both the male and the female
cairn
a heap of stones set up as a landmark or monument
consubstantial
of one and the same substance, essence, or nature
conviviality
festive or agreeable
corrugate
to draw or bend into folds or alternate furrows and ridges
coy
shy or reserved. hesitant
crone
a withered, witchlike old woman
culvert
a drain or channel crossing under a road or sidewalk
dolorous
full of, expressing, or causing pain or sorrow, grievous; mournful
doorjamb
either of the two side pieces of a doorframe
fallow
plowed and left unseeded for a season or more, uncultivated
furtive
sly, shifty
gouts
a mass or splash, spurt
hackles
the erectile hair on the back of an animal’s neck
immiscible
incapable of being mixed
incipient
beginning to exist or appear in an initial stage
incunabular
the earliest stages or first traces of anything
invective
a railing accusation
irascible
easily provoked to anger
limpid
clear
malediction
a curse
malevolent
evil
miasma
a dangerous, foreboding or deathlike influence or atmosphere
mortised
a notch, hole, groove, or slot made in a piece of wood made to receive something of the same dimensions
mote
a small particle or speck
oblique
sloping
obsidian
a volcanic glass in thin pieces
palpable
readily or plainly seen, heard, or perceived
pariahs
an outcast
penitent
feeling or expressing sorrow for sin or wrongdoing
phalanx
a military formation. a compact or closely massed body of persons
pinioned
to bind so they cannot be used
portent
an indication or omen of something about to happen
rectitude
rightness of principle,moral virtue
remonstration
forceful protest
ruminative
a repetitive chewing motion
splayed
to spread out, expand, or extend
spume
to eject or discharge as like foam or froth, spew
tableau
a picturesque grouping of persons or objects; a striking scene
tautly
tightly drawn; tense; not slack
triune
three in one, constituting a trinity in unity
verdant
green with vegetation, covered with growing plants or grass
viscera
the interstines, bowels
wending
to pursue or direct, to proceed or go
wry
bitterly or disdainfully ironic or amusing
yaw
to deviate from a course
accretion
an increase by natural growth or by gradual external addition; growth in size or extent.
