New Words Flashcards
Turret
n. a small tower on top of a larger tower or at the corner of a building or wall, typically of a castle; a mollusk with a large, slender, pointed spiral shell, typically brightly colored adn living in tropical seas
Dotage
n. ther period of life in which a person is old and weak
Hermeneutic
adj. concerning interpretation, especially of the Bible or literary texts; a method or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist
Solipsism
n. quality of being very self-centered or selfish; the view or theroy that the self is all that can be known to exist
Inchoate
adj. just begun and so not fully formed or developed; rudimentary; (of an offense) anticpiating or preparatory to further criminal act
Bloviate
v. talk at length, especially in an inflated or empty way
Progenitor
n. a person of thing from which a person, animal, or plant is descended or originates; an ancestor or parent; a person who originates an artistic, political or intellectual movement
Philistinism
the attitude or quality of not caring about, understaning, or likign good art, music or literature; (Nietzsche atamonized what he called the culture-Philistine; that is the person whose minf fed on middling ideas and “genteel” tastes halfway between those of the populace and those of genuinely cultivated (Britannica))
Riposte
n. quick, clever reply to an insult or criticism; a quick return thrust following a parry; v. make a quick, clever reply to an insult or critcism
Avuncular
adj. relating to an uncle; relating to the relationship between men and their siblings’ children
Verisimilitude
n. the appearance of being true or real
Hermeticism
(of a seal or closure) complete and airtight; relating to the ancient occult tradition encompassing alchemy, astrology, and theosophy
Triptych
n. a picture or relief of carvings on three panels, typically hinged together side by side and used as an alterpiece; a set of three associated artistic, literary, or musical works intended to be appreciated together
Tautologically
adv. using two words or phrases that express the same meaning, in a way that is unnecessary and usually unintentional; in a way that is always true (used in logic (= a formal scientific method of examining ideas))
Polemical
adj. expressing or consulting a strongly critical attack on or controversial opinion about someone or something
Flotsam
n. the wreckage of a ship or its cargo found floating on or washed up by the sea; people or things that have been rejected and are regarded as worthless
Acuity
n. sharpness or keenness of thought, vision, or hearing
Amalgams
n. a mixture or blend; an alloy of mercury with another metal, especially one used for dental fillings
Platitudinous
adj. (of a remark or statement) used too often to be interesting or thoughtful; hackneyed
Pugnacious
adj. eager or quick to argue, quarrel, or flight
Winnowing
v. below a current of air through (grain) in order to remove the chaff; (of the wind) blow
Archetypal
adj. very typical of a certain kind of person or thing; recurrent as a symbol or motif in literature, art, or mythology; relating to or denoting an original that has been imitated
Ornithology
n. the scientific study of birds
Synecdoche
n. a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa (ex. the word hand in “offer your hand in marriage”; mouths in “hungry mouths to feed”; and wheels referring to a car
Prerogative
n. a right or privilege exclusive to a particular individual or class
adj. arising from the prerogative of the Crown (usually delegated to the government or the judiciary) and based in common law rather than statutory law
Ineluctable
adj. unabel to be resisted or avoided; inescapable
Invidious
adj. (of an action or situation) likely to arouse or incur resentment or anger in others; (of a comparison or distinction) unfairly discriminating; unjust
Plangent
adj. (of a sound) loud, reverberating, and often melancholy
Nugatory
adj. of no value or importance; useless or futile
Denouement
n. the final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved; the climax of a chain of events, usually when something is decided or made clear
Pedantic
adj. of or like a pedant
Antediluvian
adj. of or belonging to the time before the biblical flood; ridicously old fashioned
Pusillanimous
adj. showing a lack of courage or determination, timid
Jejune
adj. naive, simplistic, and superficial; (of ideas or writings) dry and uninteresting
Insurgencies
n. an active revoly or uprising
Imbibe; Imbibement
v. drink (alcohol); absorb or assimilate (ideas or knowledge); (especially of seeds) absorb (water) into ultramircoscopic spaces or pores; imbibement = the act or process of imbibing
Disencumber
v. free from relieve of an encumberance
Belies
v. (of an appearance) fail to give a true notion or impression of (something); disguise or contradict; fail to fulfill or justify (a claim or expectation); betray
Demarcates
v. set the boundaries or limits of; separate or distinguish from
Antedates
v. precede in time; come before (something) in date; indicate or discover that (a document, event or word) should be assigned to an earlier date
Apocryphal
adj. (of a story or statement) of doubtful authenticity, although widely ciculated as being true; of or belonging to the Apoccrypha
Superannuation
n. regular payment made into a fund by an employee toward a future pension; a pension paid to a retired employee who has contributed to a fund; the retirment of an employee; especially with a pension
Senescence
n. the condition or process of deterioration with age
Fastidious
adj. very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail; very concerned about matters of cleanliness
Illustrious
adj. well-known, respected, and admired for past achievements
Anachronism
n. a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, especially a thing that is conspicuously old fashioned
Quagmire
n. a soft boggy area of land that gives way underfoot; an awkward, complex, or hazardous situation
Inculcate
v. instill (an attitude, idea or habit) by persistent instruction; teach (someone) an attitude, idea, or habit by persistent instruction
Foment
v. instigate or stir up (an undesirable or violent sentiment or course of action); bathe (a part of the body) with warm or medicated lotions
Providential
adj. occurring at a favorable time; opportune; involving divine foresight or intervention
Rancor
n. bitterness or resentfulness, especially when long-standing
Capitulate
v. cease to resist an opponent or an unwelcome demand; surrender
Peregrination
n. a journey, especially a long or meandering one
Atavistic
adj. relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral
Cataclysm
n. a large-scale and violent event in the natural world; a sudden upheaval, especially in a political or social world
Facile
adj. (especially of a theory or argument) appearing neat and comprehensive only by ignoring the true complexities of an issue; superficial
Gerontophobia
an irrational or disproportionate fear of old age, especially growing old
Erudition
n. the quality of having or showing great knowledge or learning; scholarship
Ineluctable
adj. unable to be resisted or avoided; inescapable
Ephemeral
adj. lasting for a very short time; n. an ephemeral plant
Troglodyte
n. a person who lived in a cave; a hermit; a person who is regarded as being deliberately ignorant or old-fashioned
Climacteric
n. a critical period or event; adj. having extreme and far-reaching implications or results; critical
Rotogravure
n. a printing system using a rotary press with intaglio cylinders, typically running at high speeds and used for long print runs of magazines and stamps; a sheet or magazine printed by rotogravure, especially the color magazine of a Sunday paper
Intransigence
n. refusal to change one’s views or to agree about something
Corpulence
n. the state of being fat; obesity
Innocuous
adj. not harmful or offensive
Convalescence
time spent recovering from an illness or medical treatment; recuperation
Languor
n. the state or feeling, often pleasant, of tiredness or inertia
Sangfroid
n. composure or coolness, sometimes excessive, as shown in danger or under trying circumstances
Hermeticism
a philosophical and religious system based on the purported teachings of Hermes Trismegistus
Transient
lasting only for a short time; impermanent
Salaciousness
arousing or appealing to sexual desire or imagination
Atavistic
adj. relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral
Ossuary
n. a container or room in which the bones of dead people are placed
Profundity
n. deep insight; great depth of knowledge or thought; great depth or intensity of a state, quality, or emotion; a statement or idea that shows great knowledge or insight
Pernicious
dj. having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way
Reliquary
n. a container for holy relics
Puerile
adj. childishly silly and trivial
Profligate
adj. recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources; (n) a licentious, dissolute person
Faits Accomplis
n. a thing that has already happened or been decided before those affected heat about it, leaving them with no option but to accept it
Languid
adj. (of a person, manner, or gesture) displaying or having a disinclination for physical exertion or effort; slow and relaxed; weak or faint from illness or fatigue
Propitious
adj. giving or indicating a good chance of success; favorable; favorably disposed toward someone
Internecine
adj. destructive to both sides in a conflict; relating to conflict within a group or organization
Assiduous
dj. showing great care and perseverance
Hendecasyllabic
a classical Greek and Latin metrical line consisting of 11 syllables
Lacustrine
adj. relating to or associated with lakes
Propitious
adj. giving or indicating of a good chance of success; favorable
Vacillation
n. the inability to decide different opinions or actions; indecision
Impertinence
n. lack of respect; rudeness
Ignoble
adj. not honorable in character or purpose
Prognostication
n. the action of foretelling or prophesying future events
