Medium Flashcards
Onus
Def: burden
Turbid
Def: (of a liquid) cloudy, opaque, or thick with suspended matter
Fulcrum
Def: a prop or support; the point of rest which a lever turns in a moving body
Extrapolate
Def: to infer from something that is known; conjecture
Sinews
Def: strength; power; resilience
Adroitness
Def: cleverly skillful; resourceful
Indolent
Def: having or showing a disposition to avoid exertion; slothful
Aperture
Def: a hole or gap
Indelible
Def: making marks that cannot be removed; not to be forgotten or removed
Languish
Def: to be or become weak or feeble; to undergo neglect or experience prolonged inactivity
Skulk
Def: to hide for a bad reason, or to lie in wait to attack
Virulent
Def: extremely infectious, poisonous
Extricate
Def: to free or release from entanglement
Complicit
Def: choosing to be involved in an illegal act
Sychophant
Def: a self-seeking servile flatterer
Intractable
Def: not easily controlled or directed; not docile or manageable
Perverse
Def: willfully determined or disposed to go counter to what is expected or desired; persistent or obstinate in what is wrong
Obfuscate
Def: to confuse or bewilder; to make obscure
Depraved
Def: corrupt, wicked, perverted
Haughty
Def: disdainfully proud; snobbish; scornfully arrogant
Pinioned
Def: to bind a persons arms or hands so they cannot be used
Sanguine
Def: cheerfully optimistic, confident
Cosseted
Def: to treat as a pet; to coddle
Effusive
Def: unduly demonstrative; lacking reserve, flowing out
Ignominious
Def: discreditable; humiliating
Taciturn
Def: inclined to silence; reserved in speech; reluctant to join conversation
Censure
Def: strong or vehement expression of disapproval; an official reprimand
Inimical
Fed: adverse in effect; unfavorable; harmful
Mollified
Def: to soften in feeling or temper; pacify or appease
Dissemble
Def: to give a false or misleading appearance to; to conceal the truth of; to put on the appearance of; feign
Winnow
Def: a process of separating and distinguishing
Ribald
Def: vulgar or indecent speech; coarsely mocking
Reticent
Def: disposed to be silent or not speak freely; reserved
Caprice
Def: a sudden, unpredictable change; a tendency to change one’s mind without apparent reason
Extol
Def: to praise highly; laud
Equivocation
Def: use of ambiguous statements, especially with intent to mislead
Voluptuous
Def: sexually attractive; curvaceous; relating to sensual pleasure
Belligerent
Def: showing readiness to fight; aggressively hostile
Plaintive
Def: expressing sorrow or melancholy
Insipid
Def: bland; boring; without distinctive or interesting qualities
Spurious
Def: not genuine, authentic, or true; counterfeit
Pernicious
Def: causing insidious harm; injurious; hurtful; deadly
Subversive
Def: tending to undermine, or destroy an established system
Desultory
Def: lacking consistency, constancy or order; digressing from the main subject
Inordinate
Def: not within proper or reasonable limits; unrestrained in conduct
Pontificating
Def: to speak in a pompous or dogmatic manner
Amalgamation
Def: to mix, merge, or blend; to make a combination
Assiduous
Def: constant in effort; diligent; persevering
Deprecate
Def: to express earnest disapproval; to protest against
Lionize
Def: treat like celebrities
Misogynist
Def: one who hates, despises, mistrusts or mistreats women
Preclude
Def: to prevent the presence or existence or occurrence of; to make impossible; to exclude or debar
Paradox
Def: a statement that seems self-contradictory or absurd, but actually expresses a possible truth
Metaphor
Def: a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable
Indefatigable
Def: incapable of being tired out; not yielding to fatigue
Intimate
Def: to indicate or make known indirectly; imply; suggest
Licentious
Def: sexually unrestrained; unrestrained by law or general morality
Cynic
Def: a person who believes that selfishness motivates human actions, and who minimized selfless acts
Acclimate
Def: to accustom or become accustom to, used to a new environment
Deplorable
Def: causing or being a subject of grief; lamentable; being a cause for reproach
Trepidation
Def: tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation; trembling, quivering
Probation
Def: the act of testing someone; testing their qualifications, conduct, or character
Circumspect
Def: watchful; discreet; cautious; well-considered
Dynamics
Def: branch of mechanics that deals with motion as equilibrium of systems under action of forces; the motivating or driving forces; the pattern of growth, change, and development
Nebulous
Def: vague; hazy; indistinct
Gimmick
Def: to equip or embellish with unnecessary features, especially to increase salability
Hubris
Def: excessive pride and self-confidence
Marginalize
Def: to place in a position of reduced influence or power
Complaisant
Def: agreeable; obliging; willing to please others
Pander
Def: to gratify or indulge
Gentleman (per Amazon ebook)
Def: one who treats others with respect and holds himself to a very high standard of what is considered proper and chivalrous conduct
Generosity (Guide to Being a Gentleman)
Def: providing help to someone when you realize they are in need
Cajole
Def: to persuade someone to do something through flattery or coaxing
Complacent
Def: smug self-satisfaction with one’s accomplishments
Perfunctory
Def: carries out with minimal effort or reflection
Cultivate
Def: to prepare or use land for crops; to acquire or develop
Despondent
Def: feeling or showing profound hopelessness, dejection, discouragement
Proliferation
Def: the rapid and often excessive spread or increase
Prevaricate
Def: to speak falsely or misleadingly; deliberately misstate
Promiscuous
Def: characterizes by and involving indiscriminate mingling or association, especially having to do with sexual relations
Soporific
Def: tending to induce frostiness or sleep; a drug that induced sleep (noun)
Levity
Def: humor or frivolity, especially treatment of a serious situation with humor
Eloquent
Def: fluent or persuasive in speaking or writing
Gratuitous
Def: uncalled for; lacking good reason; unwarranted
Facile
Def: superficial; appearing neat and comprehensive, but only by ignoring the true complexity of the issue
Concatenate
Def: to link together in a chain or series
Effrontery
Def: insolent or impertinent behavior
Impertinence
Def: lack of respect; rude
Spurious
Def: fake; not being what it purports to be
Perfunctory
Def: carried out with minimal effort
Exonerate
Def: absolve someone of blame or fault for wrongdoing
Corollary
Def: a proposition that follows from one already proved
Approbation
Def: approval or praise
Pervasive
Def: spreading widely through an area or group of people
Pensive
Def: engaged in, or involving, deep or serious thought
Chronic
Def: persisting for a long time or constantly recurring
Flagrant
Def: conspicuously, or obviously offensive
Tangential
Def: diverging from a previous course; peripheral; hardly touching a matter
Co-opt
Def: divert to or use for a role different from the usual or original one
Self-righteous
Def: having or characterized by a certainty, especially an unfounded one, that one is totally correct or morally superior
Facile
Def: affable, agreeable, easily influenced
Panoply
Def: a complete or impressive collection of things
Morose
Def: bad tempered, sulky, gloomy
Salacious
Def: having or conveying undue or inappropriate interest in sexual matters
Arrogate
Def: to take or claim without justification
Pedantic
Def: overly concerned with minor details; or emphasizing one’s own expertise in a narrow or unimportant subject matter.
Didactic
Def: intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction or ulterior motive
Dialectic
Def: of, relating to, or of the nature of logical argumentation; logical argumentation
Demur
Def: to show reluctance; reserved, modest, shy
Relegate
Def: consign or dismiss to an inferior rank or position
Exposition
Def: to expound on a topic or explain something
Ersatz
Def: not real or genuine; made or used as a substitute
Recalcitrant
Def: a person with an obstinately uncooperative attitude; uncooperative
Ethereal
Def: extremely light or delicate that seems to perfect for this world
Efficacy
Def: ability to produce a desired or intended result
