MST vocabulary Flashcards
Enmity (adj.)
hostility
Panacea (noun)
a remedy/solution for everything; a cure-all; a nostrum
Adamantine (adj.)
very hard; unmoving
Frangible (adj.)
easily broken
Gossamer (adj.)
thin or fine
Heretical (adj.)
dissenting; deviating from the official or established
Portentous (adj.)
ominous
Impute (verb)
to assign or attribute to someone
Vindicate (verb)
to justify; to clear from blame
Modish (adj.)
fashionable
Specious (adj.)
fallacious, though plausible; tempting but false
Redress (noun)
remedy for; restitution
Macerate (verb)
to soften by soaking
Redound (verb)
to make someone look good
Malign (verb)
to slander; to defame
Extant (adj.)
existing
Recursive (adj.)
returning to the same point repeatedly
Lauren Simpkins’s recursive arguments are infuriating; they do not build on information presented in a discussion, and are adamantly opposed to thoughtful modification in and of themselves.
Disparage (verb)
to mock or belittle
Actuate (verb)
to put into action
Preclude (verb)
to prevent
Wayward (adj.)
willingly disobedient; capricious (in a honey-badger sense of the word)
Inveigh (verb)
to weigh in; to protest or advocate for strongly
Postliminary (adj.)
happening after
Supervening (adj.)
occurring after
Maladroit (noun)
awkward; inept
Disparaging (adj.)
belittling; pejorative
Effluviate (verb)
to give off or emanate, especially something unpleasant
Contravene (verb)
to go against, to contradict
Descry (verb)
to catch sight of
Avuncular (adj.)
relating to the uncle
Hellenistic (adj.)
relating to Greek culture
Predilection (noun)
tendency to think favorably about something in particular; partiality
Rancorous (adj.)
full of resentment or umbridge
Mawkish (adj.)
excessively sentimental; cloying; maudlin; bathetic
Assimilate (verb)
to absorb mentally; to become adjusted
Tortuous (adj.)
very twisted; complicated
Consummate (verb)
1) to fulfill; accomplish; to bring to a state of perfection
2) to complete a contract by signing or making a pledge
Jounce (verb)
to move joltingly or abruptly up and down; to bounce
Espousal (noun)
adoption of a principal; a marriage
Gainsay (verb)
to deny, dispute, or contradict
Equivocal (adj.)
doubtful; uncertain
Occult (adj.)
mysterious; secret; supernatural
Blithe (adj.)
happy
Sententious (adj.)
1) abounding in pithy aphorisms or maxims
2) given to excessive moralizing; self-righteous
Recalcitrant (adj.)
not obedient; resisting authority or control
Sojourn (verb)
to stay temporarily
conciliate (verb)
to win over; to appease
Chimerical (adj.)
unreal or imaginary
artless (adj.)
free from deceit, cunning, or craftiness; ingenuous
Cagey (adj.)
cautious; wary; shrewd
Paucity (noun)
scarcity
Bravura (noun)
a display of darling; a brilliant performance
Opprobrious (adj.)
shameful; abusive; hateful
Beguiling (adj.)
charming or enchanting, sometimes in a deceptive way
Metonymy (noun)
substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself
EX: “they counted heads;” “I need your John Hancock”
Homonym (noun)
when two words are pronounced or spelled the same way, but have different meanings.
Recondite (adj.)
little known; abstruse or obscure
Derelict (adj./noun)
worn and broken-down; abandoned; a person without a job/home/property
Condign (adj.)
well-deserved; fitting for the crime; adequate
Syllogism (noun)
a rule of inference; a formal logical scheme used to draw a conclusion from a set of premises. (major premise; minor premise; conclusion)
Major: All squares are rectangles
Minor: Some rectangles are rhombs
Conclusion: Some squares are rhombs
Stalwart (adj.)
loyal, reliable, hard-working
Doughty (adj.)
steadfastly courageous and resolute; valiant
Discreet (adj.)
prudent, cautious, having good judgment; modest or unostentatious
Cant (n)
a hypocritical statement; insincere in a platitudinous way
Sanctimonious (adj.)
hypocritically self-righteous
Jocund (adj.)
cheerful and lighthearted
Meet (adj.)
suitable; fitting; proper
Clement (adj.)
mild; merciful; gentle
Flagrant (adj.)
shockingly evident; without shame
Enormity (noun)
something outrageous or heinous; a sin or evil act
The enormity of the accidental murder situation was evident.
He committed quite an enormity by not only sexually harassing his female coworkers, but then lying about doing so.
Appellation (noun)
a name or title
Avowal (noun)
a statement asserting the existence or truth of something
Disavowal (noun)
a denial of any connection with or knowledge of
Abrogate (verb)
to repeal, abolish, or rescind
Munificent (adj.)
very generous
genial vs. congenial
genial: pleasant or happy
congenial: pleasant or agreeable BECAUSE that person/thing is suited to one’s inclinations or preferences
Portentous (adj.)
1) ominous; 2) pompous or overly-solemn
Secret societies at William & Mary are characteristically portentous: masks and hoods are excessively ceremonial marks of their rites and rituals, but their trivial mission statements are incongruous with this almost sacred behavior.
Portend (verb)
to be a sign of warning; to be a signal of; to presage; to prognosticate
Prognosticate (verb)
to foretell or prophesy (a future event)
Penchant (noun)
strong habitual tendency; inclination; proclivity
Prerogative (noun)
1) a right or privilege exclusive to an individual or a class; 2) a faculty or property distinguishing a person or class
Premonition (noun)
a strong feeling of something about to happen, especially something unpleasant
Importune (verb)
to ask for pressingly and persistently
SYN: pester; bother; pressure; molest; solicit
Plangent (adj.)
loud, reverberating, and often melancholy
LOS CAMPESINOS!
Malfeasance (noun)
wrongdoing, especially by a public official
The Magna Carta guarded against malfeasance on the king’s part, among other provisions.
Propitious (adj.)
favorably disposed; auspicious; opportune
Clandestine (adj.)
kept secret or done secretively, especially due to an illicit nature
SYN: surreptitious; furtive; privy
Hectoring (verb)
to talk to someone in a bullying way
Adjure (verb)
to urge or request someone solemnly or earnestly to do something
I adjure you to tell me the truth.
Kate adjured me to get back together with her; it was really sad.
Presentiment (noun)
an intuitive feeling about the future, especially one of foreboding
SYN: premonition; hunch; augury; presage
Picayune (adj.)
petty; worthless
SYN: paltry; trifling; piddling
insidious (adj.)
treacherous; crafty - proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects
SYN: sly; treacherous; crafty; perfidious
Lascivious (adj.)
revealing an overt and often offensive sexual desire
He gave her a lascivious wink.
SYN: lude; lustful; lecherous; voluptuous; salacious
Emendation (noun)
a correction from critical editiong
Obfuscation (noun)
bewilderment; confusion resulting from a failure to understand
I became angrily obfuscated after failing to understand the correct answer on the practice set.
Elucidate (verb)
to explain; to clear up
Commensurate (adj.)
corresponding in size, degree, or extent
ascetic (adj.)
extreme self-discipline, typically for religious reasons
ineluctable (adj.)
inevitable; inescapable; not able to be avoided
truculent (adj.)
quick to fight; pugnacious; bellicose
Invective (noun vs. adj.)
noun: insulting, abusive, critical language; a verbal attack
adj. : offensive, insulting
Vassal (noun)
servant or slave; a feudatory
Patsy (noun)
A duped person; the victim of a scam
Adroit (adj.)
clever or skillful in using the hands or mind
Abnegate (verb)
to renounce or reject (esp. something desirable)
Catechize (verb)
to teach by questioning
inimitable (adj.)
too good to be duplicated, or to exist in the plural; Sarah
Callow (adj.)
inexperienced; immature
Palliation (noun)
an apology or excuse
Promulgation (noun)
announcement
SYN: proclamation
Exhortation (noun)
a speech intending to persuade (to do or not to do)
SYN: admonition (not to do)
Intimation (noun)
a hint or implication
Explicate (verb)
to analyze or develop an idea in detail
Solipsism (noun)
the theory that the self is all that you truly know to exist
Victuals (noun)
foor or consumable provisions
Scintillating (adj.)
1) brilliantly and excitingly clever or skillful; 2) shining brightly or sparkling
