Princeton Review I Flashcards
Prevarications
Deviate from the truth
“Government officials prevaricated about the real costs of the project.”
Duplicitous
Marked by contradictory doubleness of thought; deceptive in words or action
“warned her not to trust the duplicitous art dealer”
Balmy (2)
(1) Warm, calm, and pleasant weather or wind
“a pleasant, balmy breeze”
(2) Crazy or foolish
“a completely balmy but harmless old man who talked intently to plants and believed they answered back”
Fawning
To exhibit affection or attempt to please, to seek favor or attention by flattery and obsequious behavior
“Repulsed by fawning, the executive informed his staff that he preferred constructive criticism to calculated flattery.”
Obsequiousness
Characterized by or showing servile complaisance or deference; fawning
“Repulsed by obsequiousness, the executive informed his staff that he preferred constructive criticism to calculated flattery.”
Probity
Integrity and uprightness; honesty
“He was a gentlemanly Georgian, a person of early American probity.”
Hegemony
The dominance or leadership of one social group or nation over others
“The hegemony of a single member state is not compatible with a genuine democracy.”
Inchoate
In an initial, early stage; imperfectly formed or developed
“Shirla had liked the band better when it was still in its inchoate stages and not yet fully committed to a single style of music.”
Nascent
Coming into existence; emerging, starting to develop; being born
“Shirla had liked the band better when it was still in its nascent stages and not yet fully committed to a single style of music.”
Hackneyed
Overfamiliar through overuse; made commonplace or trite; stale
“Hackneyed sayings and phrases”
Chary
(1) Very cautious; wary:
“was chary of the risks involved.”
(2) Not giving or expending freely; sparing
“was chary of compliments.”
Paucity
Smallness of number; fewness
“While hiking through the forest, Sylvie noticed a paucity of wildlife, much less than she had observed during her previous outing.”
Compendium (2)
(1) A short, complete summary; an abstract.
(2) A list or collection of various items.
“His book is a delightful compendium of miscellaneous knowledge.”
Surfeit
To feed or supply to excess, satiety, or disgust, to overindulge.
“ended up with a surfeit of volunteers who simply got in each other’s way”
Iconoclasts
A person who destroys religious images or opposes their veneration, a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions
“Widely perceived as iconoclasts, the Johnson family paid scant heed to the opinions of their neighbors.”
Pariahs
A member of a low caste of southern India, one that is despised or rejected, outcast
“his angry outbursts have made him a pariah”
Inordinate
Archaic, disorderly, unregulated, exceeding reasonable limits, immoderate
“I waited an inordinate amount of time.”
Pernicious
Highly injurious or destructive, deadly
“Nuclear power, which can be utilized to generate electricity as well as weapons-grade plutonium, is known as a “dual use technology;” it can be applied to peaceful and pernicious purposes alike.”
Bombastic
Speech or writing that is meant to sound important or impressive but is not sincere or meaningful
“a bombastic speech intended to impress the voters in her congressional district”
Intrepid
Bold, without fear
“The intrepid explore set off down the river.”
Rail
To revile or scold in harsh, insolent, or abusive language; complain
“She would often rail against her boyfriend’s habits, but everyone could tell that her needling was mostly facetious.”
Fulminate
To utter or send out with denunciation; complain
“She would often fulminate against her boyfriend’s habits, but everyone could tell that her needling was mostly facetious.”
Synthesis
Something that is made by combining different things (such as ideas, styles, sounds, chemicals etc.)
“Cheri enjoyed the synthesis of different cuisines offered at the new restaurant. However, this same eclecticism caused the professional food critic to lambaste the chef for his compromise of tradition. What the critic saw as effrontery, Cheri interpreted as successful creativity.”
Lambaste
To criticize very harshly
“Cheri enjoyed the synthesis of different cuisines offered at the new restaurant. However, this same eclecticism caused the professional food critic to lambaste the chef for his compromise of tradition. What the critic saw as effrontery, Cheri interpreted as successful creativity.”
Effrontery
A very confident attitude or way of behaving that is shocking or rude; shameless boldness, insolence
“Cheri enjoyed the synthesis of different cuisines offered at the new restaurant. However, this same eclecticism caused the professional food critic to lambaste the chef for his compromise of tradition. What the critic saw as effrontery, Cheri interpreted as successful creativity.”
Penury
The state of being very poor : extreme poverty
“lived in a time when single women like herself faced a lifetime of penury”
Lambaste
To criticize harshly, to assault physically or verbally
“The coach lambasted the team for its poor play”
Disabuse
To show or convince (someone) that a belief is incorrect
“let me disabuse you of your foolish notions about married life”
Revamp
Remake, revive, change
“While any self-respecting theoretician will revamp her theory when presented with evidence that her assumptions are unfounded, many scientific disciplines will cling to outmoded theories. As long as even the faintest shred of support exists to bolster currently-held theories, many fields will ignore new theories even in the face of overwhelming evidence.”
Dissemble
To hide your true feelings, opinions, to hide under a false appearance
“he dissembled happiness at the news that his old girlfriend was getting married”
Obfuscate
To make obscure
“Politicians keep obfuscating the issues”
Occlude
To close up or block off
“the blood clot had occluded the vein in his heart”
Stratify
To form, deposit, or arrange in strata (layers), to divide or arrange into classes, castes, or social strata
Bile
Anger or hatred
“Although known as a cohesive defensive unit on the baseball diamond, the infield trio of Tinker, Evers, and Chance was far from harmonious off the field. Professional stress and personal bile caused two of the three, Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers, to refuse even to speak to each other for thirty three years until a happy and tearful reunion in 1938 ended their acrimony.”
Rancorous
Marked by bitterness, ill-will;deeply malevolent
“a rancorous autobiography in which the author heaps blame on just about everyone who had the misfortune of knowing him”
Timorousness
Of a timid disposition
“reproached myself with being so timorous and cautious”
Amity
Friendship; especially : friendly relations between nations
“an era of international amity”
Détente
The relaxation of strained relations or tensions (as between nations)
“as the countries move toward détente”
Assignations
A meeting between lovers; the act of assigning or the assignment made
“returned from an assignation with his mistress”
Ambivalent
Simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings, continual fluctuation
“Michael felt ambivalent because the couch was the nicest in his price range, but he knew that the country in which it was made often did not enforce safe labor practices, and he did not want to be complicit in supporting unsafe working conditions.”
Despondent
Feeling or showing extreme discouragement, dejection, or depression
“despondent about his health”
compunction
a feeling of guilt or moral scruple that follows the doing of something bad.
“spend the money without compunction”
fetid
smelling extremely unpleasant.
“the fetid water of the marsh”
vitriolic
cruel, caustic, filled with bitter criticism or malice.
“vitriolic attacks on the politicians”
calumnious
slanderous
“They uttered calumnies against him.”
“He was the target of calumny for his unpopular beliefs.”
categorical
unconditional, absolute, unqualified
He issued a categorical denial about his involvement in the deal.
consign
to hand over, commit permanently
“she consigned the letter to the wastebasket”
undermine
“this could undermine years of hard work”
damage or weaken
tetchy
“The fact that the CEO was overly-tired may have explained her tetchy attitude”
bad-tempered and irritable.
petulant
“The fact that the CEO was overly-tired may have explained her petulant attitude”
childishly sulky or bad-tempered.
deferential
showing deference; respectful.
“people were always deferential to him”
sanguine
optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation.
“he is sanguine about prospects for the global economy”
enigmatic
puzzling, difficult to interpret or understand; mysterious.
“he took the money with an enigmatic smile”
impertinence
lack of respect; rudeness, insolence
“one man in the audience has the impertinence to suggest that his conclusions were wrong”
ingenuity
cleverness
acuity
insight
“intellectual acuity”
beguiling
deceptive, bewitching
“every prominent American artist has been beguiled by Maine”
untoward
improper
“both tried to behave as if nothing untoward had happened”
vestments
a garment, especially a ceremonial or official robe.
bijoux
jewel or trinket
“When shopping for new bijoux…”
azure
dark blue
verdigris
dark green
garishly
too bright or colorful
“effect of her garishly bright red hair”
