S's Flashcards
Sanction
Permission or approval, or to give permission or approval. Alternatively, a legal action by one or more countries against another country to get it to comply (or the act of placing those sanctions on another country). Whoa! Yes, that’s right - sanction can mean two different things that are basically opposites. Use context to figure it out - if it’s plural (sanctions), it’s definitely the negative meaning.
Professional boxers may only fight in sanctioned matches - fighting outside the ring is prohibited.
Canada’s sanction on North Korea man that it is illegal for Canadians to do business with North Korean companies.
Satire
Literary device in which foolishness or badness is attacked through humor, irony, or making fun of something or someone.
Save
But or except. As a verb, save means keep safe, store up, set aside. As a preposition or conjunction, though, save can be used as follows:
All of the divisions of the company are profitable save the movie-rental division. (This means that the movie-rental division was not profitable.)
He would have been elected President, save for the scandal that derailed his campaign at the last minute. (Here, save means “except.”)
Scant
Not enough or barely enough. Scanty is used in the same way (both are adjectives).
The hew intern was scant help at the conference - he disappeared all day to smoke and didn’t seem to realize that he was there to assist his coworkers.
The soldiers were always on the verge of hunger, complaining about their scanty rations.
Scarcely
Hardly, barely, by a small margin. Scarce is the adjective form.
She lived a lavish lifestyle she could scarcely afford.
Scrutiny
Close, careful observation.
Seemingly
Apparently, outwardly appearing to be a certain way. If an author says that something is seemingly X, the author is probably about to say that it is actually Y. The word seemingly means that something seems a certain way (but maybe isn’t really).
He’s a seemingly honest man - I’ll need to get to know him better to say for sure.
Settled
Fixed, established, concluded. Sediment can settle in water, people who marry can settle down, and a settled judgement is one that has been firmly decided.
Siphon
Tube for sucking liquid out of something (some people steal gasoline from other people’s cars by siphoning it). To siphon finds is to steal money, perhaps in a continuous stream.
Skeptical
Doubting, especially in a scientific way (needing sufficient evidence before believing).
Don’t confuse skeptical and cynical (thinking the worst of others’ motivations; bitterly pessimistic). In a GRE Reading Comprehension passage, an author might be skeptical (a very appropriate attitude for a scientist, for instance), but would never be cynical.
Sketchy
Like a sketch: incomplete, imperfect, superficial.
Skirt
Border, lie along the edge of, go around; evade.
Melissa spent all of Thanksgiving skirting the issue of whom she was dating and when she might get married.
The creek skirts our property on the west, so it’s easy to tell where our farm ends.
Slew
A large number or quantity. Slew is also the past tense of slay (kill), so you could actually say She slew him with a slew of bullets.
As soon as we switched software packages, we encountered a whole slew of problems.
Slight
Small, not very important, slender or delicate; treat as though not very important; snub, ignore; a discourtesy.
She was very sensitive, always feeling slighted and holding a grudge against her coworkers for a variety of slights, both real and imagined.
Natalie Portman has always been slight, but she became even thinner to portray a ballerina in Black Swam.
Smelt
Fuse or melt ore in order to separate out metal.
Sparing
Holding back or being wise in the use of resources; deficient. Be sparing with the ketchup in order to make it last longer, but don’t be sparing in praising your employees for a job well done.
Spate
Sudden outpouring or rush; flood.
After a brief spate of post-exam partying, Lola is ready for classes to begin again.
Spearhead
Be the leader of. A spearhead can be the sharp head of a spear. It can also be a person at the front of a military attack, or a leader of anything.
Lisa agreed to spearhead the “healthy office” initiative, and was instrumental in installing two treadmills and getting healthy food stocked in the vending machines.
Staggered
Starting and ending at different times, especially occurring in overlapping intervals.
Employees who work on staggered schedules may only see each other for part of the day.
Static
Fixed, not moving or changing, lacking vitality. Stasis is the quality of being static.
The anthropologist studied a society in the Amazon that had been deliberately static for hundreds of years - the fiercely proud people disdained change, and viewed all new ideas as inferior to the way of life they had always practiced.
Stratum
One of many layers (such as in a rock formation or in the classes of a society). The plural is strata.
From overhearing his rich and powerful passengers’ conversations, the chauffeur grew to despise the upper stratum of society.
I love this dish - it’s like a lasagna, but with strata made of bread, eggs, and pancetta! Oh, look at the menu - it’s actually called a strata! That makes perfect sense.
Subjective
Existing in the mind or relating to one’s own thoughts, opinions, emotions, etc.; personal, individual based on feelings.
We can give names to colors, but we can never quite convey the subjective experience of them - what if my “red” is different from your “red”?
Subjugation
Conquering, domination, enslavement.
Subordinate
Having a lower order or rank, inferior, secondary.
Subset
A set that is contained within a larger set.
Subvert
Overthrow, corrupt, cause the downfall of.
Succeeding
Coming after or following. The succeeding sentence is the sentence that comes after.
After the sale of the company, you will receive 5% of the profits from the current year, and 1% in all succeeding years.
In 1797, George Washington was succeeded by John Adams as president of the United States.
Suffrage
The right to vote. Women’s suffrage was ensured in the U.S. via the 19th Amendment.
Surge
Sudden, transient increase (power surge), heavy swelling motion like that of waves. A surge of troops is sending a lot of soldiers at once. A surge in interest is sudden.
Suppress
Prohibit, curtail, force the end of. A repressive government might suppress dissent against its policies.
Surpass
Transcend, exceed, go beyond, as in It’s only August, and we’ve already surpassed las year’s sales.
Synchronized
Happening at the same time, simultaneous, in unison.
Syntax
The rules governing grammar and how words join to make sentences (or how words and symbols join in writing computer code), the study of these rules, or any system or orderly arrangement.
Now that my linguistics class is studying syntax, it makes a little more sense when my computer flashes “SYNTAX ERROR” at me.
Anyone learning a language is bound to make a syntactical mistakes - even if he or she knows the appropriate vocabulary, it is still difficult to assemble the words perfectly.
Synthesis
Combining two or more things to create a unified whole.
