Michael O-Level Flashcards
ingenuous /ɪnˈdʒenjuəs/
(formal, sometimes disapproving)
honest, innocent and willing to trust people
[synonym] naive
“With ingenuous sincerity, he captivated his audience. “
“it was rather ingenuous of him to ask a complete stranger to take care of his luggage.”
reprobate /ˈreprəbeɪt/
[noun] [adj only before noun] (formal)
a person who behaves in a way that is not respectable or morally incorrect; a person of bad character and habits:
“Every time I see you, you’re drunk, you old reprobate!”
endemic
- (of a disease or illness) regularly found and very common among a particular group or in a particular area
“Polio was then endemic among children my age. “
“Malaria is endemic in many of the hotter regions of the world.” - (of a condition or problem) very common and strong, and cannot be dealt with easily
“Street crime is virtually endemic in large cities. “
“Ambition often stems from endemic dissatisfaction.”
impecunious /ˌɪmpɪˈkjuːniəs/
(formal or humorous)
having little or no money
[synonym] penniless, poor
“I first knew him as an impecunious student living in a tiny apartment.”
“They provide access to justice for the impecunious claimant with a valid claim.”
obdurate /ˈɒbdjərət/
(formal, usually disapproving)
refusing to change your mind or your actions in any way
[synonym] stubborn
“Some members of the committee are likely to prove obdurate on this matter.”
“The president remains obdurate on immigration.”
espouse /ɪˈspaʊz/
(espouse something) to give your support to a belief, policy, cause, etc.
“Vegetarianism is one cause she does not espouse.”
“They espoused the notion of equal opportunity for all in education.”
candour /ˈkændə(r)/ = candor
the quality of saying what you think openly and honestly
[synonym] frankness
“‘I don’t trust him,’ he said in a rare moment of candour.”
““I really don’t know what to do about it,” she said with surprising candour.”
inveterate /ɪnˈvetərət/
(of a person or a habit) always doing something or enjoying something, and unlikely to stop
“I never trust anything he says - the man’s an inveterate liar / gambler.”
“She has the inveterate laziness that prevents her from achieving her goals”
rectitude /ˈrektɪtjuːd/
[uncountable] (formal)
the quality of thinking or behaving in a correct and honest way
[synonym] uprightness
“She is a model of rectitude.”
“Most of them led lives of selfless moral rectitude.”
“An austere man of unquestioned moral rectitude, Nava inspired deep devotion in those who worked for him.”
approbation
[uncountable] (formal)
approval or agreement
“Teenagers are losing any sense of self until it is shored up by the approbation of their peers. “
“The result has not met universal approbation.”
“The council has finally indicated its approbation of the plans.”
quibble
- [verb] (quibble + about/over something)
to argue or complain about a small matter or an unimportant detail
“It isn’t worth quibbling over such a small amount.” - [noun] a small and unimportant complaint about something.
“These are minor quibbles.”
quiche /kiːʃ/
an open savoury tart /pie with a rich custard filling to which bacon, onion, cheese, etc, are added
aggrandise /əˈɡræn.daɪz/
to increase the power, wealth, prestige, scope, etc.
“The dictator sought to aggrandize himself by new conquests.”
“The king sought to aggrandize himself at the expense of his people.”
vaunt /vɔːnt/
to speak proudly about or praise something, especially in a way that is more than acceptable or reasonable
“The local people like to vaunt the glories of their faded past.”
consign /kənˈsaɪn/
to send something to someone; to put sb/sth somewhere in order to get rid of them/it
“The goods have been consigned to you by air.”
“I consigned her letter to the wastebasket.”
delimit == delimitate
[delimit something] to decide what the limits of something are, to mark or prescribe the limits or boundaries of; demarcate
“Police powers are delimited by law.”
desecrate /ˈdesɪkreɪt/
[desecrate something] to damage a holy thing or place or treat it without respect
“The mosque/shrine was desecrated by vandals.”
“It’s a crime to desecrate the country’s flag.”
indelible /ɪnˈdeləbl/
impossible to forget or remove; incapable of being erased or obliterated
“The blood had left an indelible mark on her shirt.”
“The experience made an indelible impression on me.”
“Her unhappy childhood left an indelible mark.”
epicurean /ˌepɪkjʊəˈriːən/
[adj] (formal) taking great pleasure in things, especially food and drink, and enjoying yourself
“I had an epicurean feast”
charlatan /ˈʃɑːlətən/
a person who pretends to have skills or knowledge that they do not have, especially in medicine
“He knows nothing about medicine—he’s a complete charlatan.”
“That charlatan! I lost thousands of dollars because I followed his advice.”
prosaic /prəˈzeɪɪk/
without interest, imagination, and romance
“If only she’d been called Camilla or Flavia instead of the prosaic Jane.”
“My diary entries are filled with prosaic happenings.”
puerile /ˈpjʊəraɪl/
silly; suitable for a child rather than an adult
[synonym] childish
“I find his sense of humour rather puerile.”
“His puerile pranks sometimes offended his more mature friends.”
fortuitous /fɔːˈtjuːɪtəs/
(formal) happening by chance, especially a lucky chance that brings a good result
“A series of fortuitous circumstances advanced her career.”
“The collapse of its rivals was a fortuitous opportunity for the company.”
felicitous /fəˈlɪsɪtəs/
chosen well; very suitable; giving a good result
[synonym] apt, happy
“He opened our proceedings in a felicitous speech.”
“Except for the felicitous pretense of deafness I had not tried to pretend anything.”
peremptory /pəˈremptəri/
[adj] expecting to be obeyed immediately and without any questions
“The email was peremptory in tone.”
“He started issuing peremptory instructions.”
“She developed a peremptory and fussy disposition.”
whet [sb’s appetite] /wet/
to increase your desire for or interest in something
“I’ve read an excerpt of the book on the Web and it’s whetted my appetite.”
“This success whetted my appetite to go in for more competitions.”
odious /ˈəʊdiəs/
extremely unpleasant; offensive; repugnant
[synonym] horrible
“Herr Schmidt is certainly the most odious man I have ever met.”
snob, snobbish
- a person who respects and likes only people who are of a high social class, and/or
- a person who has extremely high standards who is not satisfied by the things that ordinary people like
“He’s a terrible snob - if you haven’t been to the right school he probably won’t even speak to you.”
accolade /ˈækəleɪd/
praise or an award for an achievement that people admire
“Four restaurants have been awarded the highest accolade of a three-star rating.”
“He was finally awarded the ultimate accolade —British Hairdresser of the Year—five years later.”
“He was finally awarded the ultimate accolade —British Hairdresser of the Year—five years later.”
epithet /ˈepɪθet/
a descriptive word or phrase added to or substituted for a person’s name
“His stubbornness earned him the epithet “Senator No.””
“The singer’s 104-kilo frame earned him the epithet of “Man Mountain” in the press.”
chary /ˈtʃeəri/
characterized by great caution and wariness; fearing possible problems if you do something
[synonym] wary, circumspect
“I’m a bit chary of using a travel agency that doesn’t have official registration.”
“Banks were chary of lending the company more money.”
(the) obverse /ˈɑːbvɜːrs/
(formal) the other or opposite side of something
“No doubt the coin is always fascinated by its obverse.”
“The obverse of love is hate. The obverse of victory is defeat.”
“Nobody liked his conclusions but the obverse was equally unattractive.”
“The obverse of rising unemployment is continued gains in productivity.”
inane /ɪˈneɪn/
[adj] stupid or silly; with no meaning
“The last question was especially inane.”
“I wish you’d stop making these inane remarks!”
[noun] inanity /ɪˈnænəti/ = inaneness (silliness)
neologism /niˈɒlədʒɪzəm/
syllogism /ˈsɪlədʒɪzəm/
euphemism /ˈjuːfəmɪzəm/
neologism: a new word or expression, or a new meaning for an existing word
syllogism: a way of arguing in which two statements are used to prove that a third statement is true, for example:
‘All humans must die; I am a human; therefore I must die.’
euphemism: an indirect word or phrase that people often use to refer to something embarrassing or unpleasant, sometimes to make it seem more acceptable than it really is
“‘Pass away’ is a euphemism for ‘die’.”
“‘User fees’ is just a politician’s euphemism for taxes.”
centenarian
a person who is 100 years old or more
“The baseline survey tried to interview all centenarians in the included areas.”
ostensible
seeming or stated to be real or true, when this is perhaps not the case
“His ostensible purpose was charity, his real goal popularity.”
“The ostensible reason for his absence was illness, but everyone knew he’d gone to a football match.”
febrile /ˈfiːbraɪl/, /ˈfebraɪl/
(of or relating to fever; feverish)
extremely active, or too excited, imaginative, or nervous
“Relapsing fever is an acute febrile illness”
“This horror movie was a product of her febrile imagination”
“What on earth, or in the heavens, went on in that febrile mind?”
crass /kræs/
stupid and showing no sympathy or considerations
[synonym] insensitive; gross
“He made crass comments about her worn-out clothes.”
eschew /ɪsˈtʃuː/
to deliberately avoid or keep away from something; or intentionally to give something up
“He had eschewed politics in favour of a life practising law.”
“We eschew luxuries in order to be able to repay our mortgage more quickly.”
rapturous, rapture
rapturous: expressing extreme pleasure or enthusiasm for somebody/something
[synonym] ecstatic
“The play was greeted with rapturous applause.”
rapture [noun] extreme pleasure and happiness or excitement
“The children gazed at her in rapture.”
“He listened to the music with an expression of pure rapture on his face.”
repertoire /ˈrepətwɑː(r)/
all the plays, songs, pieces of music, etc. that a performer knows and can perform
“He has added considerably to his piano repertoire.”
“An actor has to build a character and extend his own emotional repertoire.”
beleaguered /bɪˈliːɡərd/
- surrounded by enemies
“The rebels continue their push towards the beleaguered capital.” - (formal) experiencing a lot of criticism and difficulties
“The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign.”
“here have been seven coup attempts against the beleaguered government.”
periphery /pəˈrɪfəri/ [noun]
- the outer edge of a particular area
“industrial development on the periphery of the town” - the less important part of a group or activity:
“Many women feel they are being kept on the periphery of the armed forces.
loquacious /ləˈkweɪʃəs/
talking a lot
[synonym] talkative
“He is particularly loquacious on the topic of politics.”
ediface /ˈedɪfɪs/
a large impressive building
“The town hall is the only edifice surviving from the 15th century.”
(figurative) “The whole edifice of our civilization is built on hard work, trust and decency.”
sycophant /ˈsɪkəfænt/
a person who praises important or powerful people too much and in a way that is not sincere, especially in order to get something from them
“The king was surrounded by sycophants.”
avuncular /əˈvʌŋkjələ(r)/
(of or concerned with an uncle)
friendly, kind, or helpful, like the expected behaviour of an uncle
“He adopts an avuncular tone of voice when giving advice to junior colleagues.”
“His avuncular image belies his steely determination.”
epitome /ɪˈpɪtəmi/
(the epitome of something) a perfect example of something
[synonym] embodiment
“Even now in her sixties, she is the epitome of French elegance.”
“They regarded him as the epitome of evil.”
equanimity /ˌekwəˈnɪməti/
a calm mental state, especially after a shock or disappointment or in a difficult situation
“She accepted the prospect of her cancerous lung surgery with equanimity.”
“He received the news of his mother’s death with remarkable equanimity.”
“Three years after the tragedy she has only just begun to regain her equanimity.”
acme /ˈækmi/
the highest stage of development or the most excellent example of something; the culminating point
[synonym] summit; peak
“His work is considered the acme of cinematic art.”
“To act on this world-famous stage is surely the acme of any actor’s career.”
