P Flashcards
Pacify
To calm someone down; to placate
Painstaking
Extremely careful; taking pains
Palliate
To relieve or alleviate something without getting rid of the problem; to assuage; to mitigate
Palpable
Capable of being touched; obvious; tangible
Paltry
Insignificant; worthless
Panacea
Something that cures everything
Paradigm
A model or example
Paradox
A true statement or phenomenon that nonetheless seems to contradict itself; an untrue statement or phenomenon that nonetheless seems logical
Parochial
Narrow or confined in point of view; provincial
Parody
A satirical imitation
Parsimonious
Stingy
Partisan
One who supports a particular person, cause, or idea
Patent
Obvious
Paternal
Fatherly; fatherlike
Pathology
The science of diseases
Patriarch
The male head of a family or tribe
Patrician
A person of noble birth; an aristocrat
Patronize
To treat as an inferior; to condescend to
Paucity
Scarcity
Peccadillo
A minor offense
Pedantic
Boringly scholarly or academic
Pedestrian
Unimaginative; banal
Pejorative
Negative; disparaging
Penchant
A strong taste or liking for something; a predilection
Penitent
Sorry; repentant; contrite
Pensive
Thoughtful and sad
Peremptory
Final; categorical; dicatatorial
Perennial
Continual; happening again and again or year after year
Perfidy
Treachery
Perfunctory
Unenthusiastic; careless
Peripatetic
Wandering; traveling continually; itinerant
Periphery
The outside edge of something
Perjury
Lying under oath
Permeate
To spread or seep through; to penetrate
Paroxysm
A formal word that refers to a sudden strong feeling or uncontrollable expression of emotion
