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Word Smart vocab words > Quick Quizzes 1 - 10 > Flashcards

Quick Quizzes 1 - 10 Flashcards

1
Q

Abash

A

(uh BASH) v to make ashamed, to embarrass

Meredith felt abashed by her inability to remember her lines in the play.

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2
Q

Abate

A

(uh BATE) v to subside; to reduce

George burned himself and had a lot of pain, then gradually the agony abated.

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3
Q

Abdicate

A

(AB duh kayt) v to step down from a position of power or responsibility
King Edward VIII turned in his crown and abdicated.

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4
Q

Aberration

A

(ab uh RAY shun) n something not typical; a deviation from the standard
A snowstorm in June is an aberration; snow doesn’t usually fall in June.

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5
Q

Abhor

A

(AB hor) v to hate very, very much; to detest

Aaron abhorred having anvils dropped on his head.

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6
Q

Abject

A

(AB jekt) adj hopeless; extremely sad and servile; defeated

While most people would quickly recover from a banana-peel accident, Mia felt abject humiliation.

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7
Q

Abnegate

A

(AB nuh gayt) v to deny oneself things; to reject; to renounce
Ascetics practice self-abnegation because they believe it will bring them closer to spiritual purity.

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8
Q

Abortive

A

(uh BOR tiv) adj unsuccessful

Fred’s attempt to climb the mountain was abortive; he fell off when he was halfway up.

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9
Q

Abridge

A

(uh BRIJ) v to shorten; to condense

The thoughtful editor abridged the massive book by removing the boring parts.

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10
Q

Absolute

A

(AB suh loot) adj total; unlimited
An absolute ruler is ruled by no one else. An absolute mess is a total mess. Can also be a noun, meaning something that is total, perfect or unlimited.

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11
Q

Absolve

A

(ab ZOLV) v to forgive or free from blame; to free from sin, to free from an obligation
The priest absolved the sinner who had come to the church to confess. The act of absolving is called absolution.

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12
Q

Abstinent

A

(AB stuh nunt) adj abstaining; voluntarily not doing something, especially something pleasant that is bad for you or has a bad reputation
Cynthia, who was dieting, tried to be abstinent, but when she saw the chocolate cake she realized that she would probably have to eat the entire thing.

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13
Q

Abstract

A

(AB strakt adj theoretical; impersonal

To like something in the abstract is to like the idea of it.

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14
Q

Abstruse

A

(ab STROOS) adj hard to understand

The professor’s article on the meaning of meaning, was abstruse. Jon couldn’t even pronounce the words in it.

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15
Q

Abysmal

A

(uh BIZ mul) adj extremely hopeless or wretched; bottomless
An abyss is a bottomless pit, or something so deep that is seems bottmless. Abysmal despair is despair so deep that no hope seems possible.

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16
Q

Accolade

A

(AK uh layd) n an award; an honor
This word is generally used in the plural. The singing group, One Direction, received accolades from critics as well as fans.

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17
Q

Accost

A

(uh KAWST) v to approach and speak to someone aggressively.

Aaron came down the stairs and immediately accosted Kinsey, who was sitting in “his spot”.

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18
Q

Acerbic

A

(uh SUR bik) adj sour; severe; like acid in temper, mood, or tone
Barry sat silently as his teacher read aloud her acerbic comments on his paper.

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19
Q

Acquiesce

A

(ak wee ES) v to comply passively; to accept; to assent; to agree
The pirates asked Jack to walk the plank; he took one look at their swords and then acquiesced.

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20
Q

Acrid

A

(AK rid) adj harshly pungent; bitter

The chili we had at the party had an acrid taste; it was harsh and unpleasant.

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21
Q

Acrimonious

A

(ak ruh MOH nee us) adj fll of spite; bitter; nasty

Orry and Virgilia’s discussion turned acrimonious when the subject of slavery was introduced.

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22
Q

Acumen

A

(AK yoo mun) n keenness of judgment; mental sharpness

A woman who knows how to turn one dollar into a million overnight might be said to have a lot of business acumen.

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23
Q

Acute

A

(uh KYOOT) adj sharp; shrewd

Acute means sharp only in a figurative sense. A knife, which is sharp enough to cut, is never said to be acute.

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24
Q

Adamant

A

(AD uh munt) adj stubborn; unyielding; completely inflexible
Billy was adamant: He would never go out with Ashton again. A very hard substance, like a diamond can be adamant. Adamantine is a synonym.

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25
Q

Address

A

(uh DRES) v to speak to; to direct one’s attention to
To address a convention is to give a speech to the convention. To address a problem is to face it and set about solving it.

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26
Q

Adherent

A

(ad HEER unt) n follower supporter; believer
The king’s adherents threw a big birthday party for him, just to show how much they liked him. To adhere to something is to stick to it.

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27
Q

Admonish

A

(ad MAHN ish) v to scold gently; to warn

The boys’ father admonished them not to eat the pie he had just baked. When they did so anyway, he admonished them.

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28
Q

Adroit

A

(uh DROYT) adj skillful; dexterous; clever; shrewd; socially at ease
Julio was an adroit salesperson: His highly skilled pitch, backed up by extensive product knowledge, nearly always resulted in a sale.

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29
Q

Adulation

A

(aj uh LAY shun) n wild or excessive admiration; flattery

Soulja Boy grew to abhor the adulation of his fans. Yah, yah trip!!

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30
Q

Adulterate

A

(uh DUL tuh rayt) v to contaminate; to make impure
We discovered that our orange juice had radioactive waste in it; we discovered, in other words, that it had been adulterated.

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31
Q

Adverse

A

(ad VURS) adj unfavorable; antagonistic
We had to play our soccer match under adverse conditions: It was snowing and only three members of our team had bothered to show up.

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32
Q

Aesthetic

A

(es THET ik) adj having to do with artistic beauty, artistic
Our art professor had a highly developed aesthetic sense; he found things to admire in paintings that, to us, looked like garbage.

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33
Q

Affable

A

(AF uh bul) adj easy to talk to; friendly

Mandy was an affable girl; she could strike up a pleasant conversation with almost anyone.

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34
Q

Affectation

A

(af ek TAY shun) n unnatural or artificial behavior, usually intended to impress.
Amelia had somehow acquired the absurd affectation of pretending that she didn’t know how to turn on a television set.

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35
Q

Affinity

A

(uh FIN uh tee) n sympathy, attraction; kinship; similarity

Ducks have an affinity for water; that is, they like to be in it.

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36
Q

Affluent

A

(AF loo unt) adj rich; prosperous

A person can be affluent; all it takes is money.

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37
Q

Agenda

A

(uh JEN duh) n program; the things t be done

What’s on the agenda for the board meeting? A little gossip, then lunch.

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38
Q

Aggregate

A

(AG ruh gut) n sum total; a collection of separate things mixed together
Chili is an aggregate of meat and beans.

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39
Q

Agnostic

A

(ag NAHS tik) n one who believes that the existence of a god can be neither proven nor disproven.
An atheist is someone who does not believe in a god. An agnostic on the other hand, isn’t sure. He doesn’t believe, but he doesn’t not believe, either.

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40
Q

Agrarian

A

(uh GRAR ee un) adj relating to land; relating to the management or farming of land (think of agriculture)
Politics in this couintry often pit the rural, agrarian interests against the urban interests.

41
Q

Alacrity

A

(uh LAK ri tee) n cheerful eagerness or readiness to respond
David could hardly wait for his parents to leave; he carried their luggage out to the car with great alacrity.

42
Q

Allege

A

(uh LEJ) v to assert without proof
If I say, “Cedrick alleges that I stole his hat, “ I am saying tow things: 1. Cedrick says I stole his hat. 2. I say I didn’t do it.

43
Q

Alleviate

A

(uh LEE vee ayt) v to relieve, usually temporarily or incompletely; to make bearable; to lessen
Aspirin alleviates headache pain. When your headache comes back, take some more aspirin. “Aleve” is another pain med

44
Q

Allocate

A

(AL uh kayt) v to distribute; to assign; to allot

The office manager, Pam, had allocated just seven paper clips for our entire office.

45
Q

Alloy

A

(AL oy) n a combination of two or more things, usually metals
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. That is, you make brass by combining copper and zinc.

46
Q

Allusion

A

(uh LOO zhun) n an indirect reference (often to a literary work); a hint
If Andrea says, “I enjoyed your birthday party,” she isn’t alluding to the birthday party; she’s mentioning it. But if she says “I like the way you blow out candles,” she is alluding to the party.

47
Q

Aloof

A

(uh LOOF) adj uninvolved; standing off; keeping one’s distance
Al, on the roof, felt very aloof. Cats are said to be aloof because they usually mind their own business and don’t crave the affection of people.

48
Q

Altruism

A

(AL troo iz um) n selflessness; generosity, devotion to the interests of others
The private foundation depended on the altruism of the rich old man. When he decided to start spending his money on his new 20yo girlfriend, the foundation went out of business.

49
Q

Ambience

A

(AM bee uns) n atmosphere; mood; feeling
By decorating their house with plastic beach balls and Popsicle sticks, the Cramers created a playful ambience that delighted young children.

50
Q

Ambiguous

A 
(am BIG yoo us) adj  unclear in meaning; confusing; capable of being interpreted in different ways.
The poem we read in English class was ambiguous; no one had any idea what the poet was trying to say.
51
Q

Ambivalent

A

(am BIV uh lunt) adj undecided; having opposed feelings simultaneously
Michelle felt ambivalent about Gustav as a boyfriend. Her frequent desire to break up with him reflected this ambivalence.

52
Q

Ameliorate

A

(uh MEEL yuh rayt) v to make better or more tolerable

The mood of the prisoners was ameliorated when the warden gave them color television sets and keys to their cells.

53
Q

Amenable

A

(uh MEE nuh bull) adj obedient; willing to give in to the wishes of another; agreeable
I suggested that Bert pay for my lunch as well as for his own; to my surprise, he was amenable.

54
Q

Amenity

A

(uh MEN i tee) n pleasantness; attractive or comfortable feature
The amenities at the local club include a swimming pool, a golf course, and a fallout shelter.

55
Q

Amiable

A

(AY mee uh bul) adj friendly, agreeable

Our amiable guide made us feel right at home in what would otherwise have been a cold and forbidding museum.

56
Q

Amnesty

A

(AM nuh stee) n an official pardon for a group of people who have violated a law or policy
Amnesty comes from the same root as amnesia, the condition that causes characters in movies to forget everything except how to speak English and drive their cars.

57
Q

Amoral

A

(ay MOR ul) adj lacking a sense of right and wrong; neither good nor bad, neither moral nor immoral; without moral feelings
Very young children are amoral; when they cry, they aren’t being bad or good–they’re merely doing what they have to do.

58
Q

Amorous

A

(AM ur us) adj feeling loving, especially in a sexual sense; in love; relating to love
The amorous couple made quite a scene at the movie. The movie they were watching, Love Story, was pretty amorous itself.

59
Q

Amorphous

A

(uh MOR fus) adj shapeless; without a regular or stable shape; bloblike
Ed’s teacher said that his term paper was amorphous; it was as shapeless and disorganized as a cloud.

60
Q

Anachronism

A

(uh NAK ruh niz um) n something out of place in time or history; an incongruity
In this day of impersonal hospitals, a family doctor who will visit you at home seems like an anachronism.

61
Q

Analogy

A

(uh NAL uh jee) n a comparisonn of one thing to another; similarity
To say having an allergy feels like being bitten by an alligator would be to make or draw an analogy between an allergy and an alligator bite.

62
Q

Anarchy

A

(AN ur kee) n absence of government or control; lawlessness; disorder
The country fell into a state of anarchy after the rebels kidnapped the president and locked the legislature inside the Capitol.

63
Q

Anecdote

A

(AN ik doht) n a short account of a humorous or revealing incident
Sammy told an anecdote about the time Danny got his big toe stuck in a bowling ball.

64
Q

Anguish

A

(ANG gwish) n agonizing physical or mental pain.
Erica had been a nurse in the emergency room for years, but she had never gotten used to the anguish of accident victims.

65
Q

Animosity

A

(an uh MAHS uh tee) n resentment, hostility; ill will
The rivals for the state championship felt great animosity toward each other. Whenever they ran into each other, they snarked.

66
Q

Anomaly

A

(uh NAHM uh lee) n an aberration, an irregularity; a deviation
A snowy winter day is not an anomaly, but a snowy July day is.

67
Q

Antecedent

A

(an tuh SEED unt) n someone or something that went before; something that provides a model for something that came after it
Your parents and grandparents could be said to be your antecedents; they came before you.

68
Q

Antipathy

A

(an TIP uh thee) n firm dislike; a dislike
I feel antipathy toward bananas wrapped in ham. I do not want them for dinner. I also feel a certain amount of antipathy toward the cook who keeps trying to force me to eat them. My feelings on these matters are quite anipathetic (an tip uh THET ik).

69
Q

Antithesis

A

(an TITH uh sis) n the direct opposite

Erin is the antithesis of Aaron; Erin is bright and beautiful; Aaron is dull and plain. (I did not make this one up!!!)

70
Q

Apartheid

A

(uh PAHRT hyte) n the former policy of racial segregation and oppression in the Republic of South Africa
The word apartheid is related to the word apart.

71
Q

Apathy

A

(AP uh thee) n lack of interest; lack of feeling

Jill didn’t care one bit about current events; she was entirely apathetic.

72
Q

Aphorism

A

(AF uh riz um) n a brief, often witty saying; a proverb

Benjamin Franklin was fond of aphorisms. He was frequently aphoristic.

73
Q

Apocalypse

A

(uh PAHK uh lips) n a prophetic revelation; especially one concerning the end of the world.
In strict usage, apocalypse refers to specific Christian writings, but most people use it more generally in connection with predictions of things like nuclear war, etc.

74
Q

Apocryphal

A

(uh POK ruh ful) n of dubious authenticity; fictitious; spurious
Brandi’s blog discredited the apocryphal report of Martians in Congress.

75
Q

Apotheosis

A

(uh pahth ee OH sis) n elevation to divine status; the perfect example of something
Ken is unbearable to be with. He thinks he’s the apotheosis of masculinity.

76
Q

Appease

A

(uh PEEZ) v to soothe; to pacify by giving in to

Jaleel appeased his angry mother by promising to make his bed every morning without fail until the end of time.

77
Q

Appreciate

A

(uh PREE shee ayt) v to increase in value
The Browns bought their house twenty years ago for a hundred dollars, but it has appreciated considerably since then; today it’s worth almost a million dollars.

78
Q

Apprehensive

A

(ap ruh HEN siv) adj worried; anxious

The apprehensive child clung to her father’s leg as the two of them walked into the circus tent to watch the lion tamer.

79
Q

Approbation

A

(ap ruh BAY shun) n approval; praise

The crowd expressed its approbation of what the team had done by gleefully covering the field with chicken carcasses.

80
Q

Appropriate

A

(uh PROH pree ayt) v to take without permission; to set aside for a particular use
Nick appropriated my lunch; he grabbed it out of my hands and ate it. So I appropriated Ed’s.

81
Q

Aptitude

A

(AP tuh tood) n capacity for learning; natural ability
I tried to repair my car, but as I sat on the floor of my garage, surrounded by mysterious parts, I realized that I had no aptitude for automobile repair.

82
Q

Arbiter

A

(AHR buh tur) n one who decides; a judge

An arbiter of fashion determines what other people will wear by wearing it herself.

83
Q

Arbitrary

A

(AHR buh trer ee) adj random; capricious

The old judge was arbitrary in sentencing criminals; there was no sensible pattern to the sentences he handed down.

84
Q

Arcane

A

(ahr KAYN) adj mysterious; known only to a select few

The rites of the secret cult were arcane; no one outside the cult knew what they were.

85
Q

Archaic

A

(ahr KAY ik) adj extremely old; ancient; outdated

The tribe’s traditions are archaic. They have been in force for thousands of years.

86
Q

Dexterous

A

(DEX ter us) synonym to adroit; comes from the Latin for right and is an antonym of gauche. Right-handedness was superstitiously believed to be superior to left-handedness.

87
Q

Gauche

A

(gohsh) socially awkward, antonym of adroit
My brilliant accountant adroitly whipped my taxes into shape then made a gauche remark about my ignorance of financial matters.

88
Q

Averse

A

(uh VURS) don’t want to do it
A person who is averse to doing something is a person who doesn’t want to do it. To be averse to something is to be opposed to doing it – to have an aversion to doing it.

89
Q

Congregate

A

To get together

90
Q

Segregate

A

To keep apart or separate

91
Q

Integrate

A

to unite

92
Q

Amicable

A

related to amiable; politely friendly, or not hostile. Two countries might trade amicably with each other even while technically remaining enemies.

93
Q

Monarchy

A

a government headed by a king or queen, means one leader. This word is closely related to anarchy.

94
Q

Depreciate

A

to decrease in value; opposite of appreciate

When a car loses value over time, we say it has depreciated.

95
Q

Misapprehension

A

a misunderstanding

Rhea had no misapprehensions about her lack of preparation; she knew perfectly well she would fail abysmally.

96
Q

Misappropriate

A

When an elected official takes money that was supposed to be spent on a submarine and spends it on a Rolls Royce and a few mink coats, he is said to have misappropriated the money.

97
Q

Expropriate

A

When the government decides to build a highway through your backyard, it expropriates your property for this purpose. That is, it uses its official authority to take possession of your property.

98
Q

Arbitrate

A

to weigh opposing viewpoints and make a decision

Word Smart vocab words (29 decks)

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