Sat 11 Flashcards
Alienate: verb
-to turn away the normal feelings of fondness toward anyone; to estrange Because of his negativity and cynicism, the group of teens alienated him from their group.
Celestial~ adjective
-having to do with the heavens: divine. Pointing his primitive telescope at the heavens, Galileo explored the celestial mysteries.
Desecrate; verb
-to treat with disrespect. Shattering the altar and trampling the holy objects underfoot, the invaders desecrated the sanctuary. Ant. consecrate
Enervate; verb;
to weaken: to lessen the strength of. She was slow to recover from her illness; even a short walk to the window would enervate her. Ant. invigorate
Furtive~ adjective
-done quickly and with stealth to avoid being noticed; secret. Noticing the furtive glance the customer gave the diamond bracelet on the counter, the jeweler wondered whether he had a potential shoplifter on his hands. Ant. overt
Incisive~ adjective
-keen; penetrating. His incisive remarks made us see the fallacy in our plans.
Lucid; adjective
-easily understood; rational; clear; clear-minded. Ellen makes an excellent teacher: her explanations of technical points are lucid enough for a child to grasp.
Peruse; verb
- to study; to read. After the conflagration that burned down her house, Joan closely perused her home insurance policy to discover exactly what benefits her coverage provided her.
Rejuvenate; verb;
to make young or fresh again. The swindler claimed that his elixir would rejuvenate the aged and weary.
Scapegoat~ noun
-one taking the blame for the mistakes and crimes of others. After the Challenger disaster, NASA searched for scapegoats on whom they could cast the blame.
Tawdry; adjective
-gaudy and cheap; vulgarly ornamental. He won a few tawdry trinkets at Coney Island carnival. Ant. tasteful
Unethical ~ adjective
-not conforming to approved standards of behavior. His behavior was unethical since he lied about the witness’ testimony. Ant. moral
Verbose~ adjective
-wordy; tedious. Someone who is mute can’t talk; someone who is verbose can hardly stop talking. Ant. taciturn
Wither; verb
- to dry up; to shrivel; to cause to lose courage. Cut flowers are beautiful for a day, but all too soon they wither. Ant. flourish
Zealot; noun;
-a person who shows great enthusiasm for a cause; fanatic. Though Glenn was devout, he was not a zealot; he never tried to force his beliefs on his friends.
