Semester 2 - Vocab 2 Flashcards
Miserly
adjective
: hating to spend money
: very small or too small amount
Full Definition
: of, relating to, or characteristic of a miser; especially : marked by grasping meanness and penuriousness
Examples
my brother, who is notoriously miserly, surprised us when he offered to pick up the tab
Synonyms: cheap, chintzy, close, closefisted, mean, mingy, stingy, niggard, niggardly, parsimonious, penny-pinching, penurious, pinching, pinchpenny, spare, sparing, stinting, tight, tightfisted, uncharitable, ungenerous
Antonyms: bounteous, bountiful, charitable, freehanded, generous, liberal, munificent, openhanded, unsparing, unstinting
Misanthropic
adjective
1 : of, relating to, or characteristic of a misanthrope
2 : marked by a hatred or contempt for humankind
Examples
a misanthropic outlook on life that probably stems from a childhood filled with physical and emotional abuse
Synonyms: cynical, pessimistic
Antonyms: uncynical
Mitigate
transitive verb
: to make (something) less severe, harmful, or painful
Full Definition
1 : to cause to become less harsh or hostile : mollify
2 a : to make less severe or painful : alleviate
b : extenuate
synonyms see relieve
Examples
this medicine should mitigate the pain until the strained muscle heals itself
Motley
adjective
: made up of many different people or things
Full Definition
1 : variegated in color <a>
2 : composed of diverse often incongruous elements <a>
Synonyms: assorted, eclectic, heterogeneous, indiscriminate, kitchen-sink, magpie, mixed, miscellaneous, patchwork, piebald, promiscuous, raggle-taggle, ragtag, varied
Antonyms: homogeneous</a></a>
noun
1 : a woolen fabric of mixed colors made in England between the 14th and 17th centuries
2 : a garment made of motley; especially : the characteristic dress of the professional fool
3 : jester, fool
4 : a mixture especially of incongruous elements
Synonyms: jester, fool
Mottled
noun
1 : a colored spot
2 a : a surface having colored spots or blotches
b : the arrangement of such spots or blotches on a surface
3 : mosaic 5
Synonyms: blotch, dapple, dot, eyespot, fleck, spot, patch, pip, point, speck, speckle, splotch
transitive verb
: to mark with spots or blotches of different color or shades of color as if stained
Mundane
adjective
: dull and ordinary
: relating to ordinary life on earth rather than to spiritual things
Full Definition
1 : of, relating to, or characteristic of the world
2 : characterized by the practical, transitory, and ordinary : commonplace
Examples
they didn’t want to be bothered with mundane concerns like doing the dishes while on vacation
a period for reflection and penitence, when spiritual concerns should take precedence over those that are mundane
Synonyms: everyday, nitty-gritty, prosaic, terrestrial, workaday
Antonyms: heavenly, nontemporal, unearthly, unworldly
Murky
adjective
: very dark or foggy
of a liquid : not clear
: not clearly expressed or understood
Full Definition
1 : characterized by a heavy dimness or obscurity caused by or like that caused by overhanging fog or smoke
2 : characterized by thickness and heaviness of air : foggy, misty
3 : darkly vague or obscure
Examples
murky skies
She peered into one of the church’s murky chapels.
the lake’s murky water
Synonyms: black, caliginous, darkened, darkish, darkling, darksome, dim, dimmed, dusk, dusky, gloomy, lightless, dark, obscure, obscured, pitch-black, pitch-dark, pitchy, rayless, somber (or sombre), stygian, tenebrific, tenebrous, unlit
Antonyms: bright, brightened, brilliant, illuminated, illumined, light, lit (or lighted), lightsome, lucent, lucid, luminous
Mutable
adjective
: able or likely to change often
Full Definition
1 : prone to change : inconstant
2 a : capable of change or of being changed
b : capable of or liable to mutation
Examples
a politician with very mutable positions on all the issues
Synonyms: capricious, changeable, changeful, flickery, fluctuating, fluid, inconsistent, inconstant, mercurial, fickle, skittish, temperamental, uncertain, unpredictable, unsettled, unstable, unsteady, variable, volatile
Antonyms: certain, changeless, constant, immutable, invariable, predictable, settled, stable, stationary, steady, unchangeable, unchanging, unvarying
Nettle
transitive verb
: to make (someone) angry
Full Definition
1 : to strike or sting with or as if with nettles
2 : to arouse to sharp but transitory annoyance or anger
synonyms see irritate
Examples
He decided to grasp the nettle and try to solve the problem himself.
Noisome
adjective
: very unpleasant or disgusting
Full Definition
1 : noxious, harmful
2 a : offensive to the senses and especially to the sense of smell
b : highly obnoxious or objectionable
synonyms see malodorous
Examples
it’s no fun having asthma and living in an area with noisome smog
a noisome remark about my weight that stuck with me for days
the noisome air of the area of the city that was downwind of the dog food factory
Synonyms: insalubrious, unhealthy, noxious, sickly, unhealthful, unwholesome
Antonyms: healthful, healthy
Nonchalant
adjective
: relaxed and calm in a way that shows that you do not care or are not worried about anything
Full Definition
: having an air of easy unconcern or indifference
synonyms see cool
Examples
you shouldn’t be so nonchalant about something that is so important to your parents
Synonyms: apathetic, casual, complacent, disinterested, incurious, insensible, insouciant, indifferent, perfunctory, pococurante, unconcerned, uncurious, uninterested
Antonyms: concerned, interested
Notorious
adjective
: well-known or famous especially for something bad
Full Definition
: generally known and talked of; especially : widely and unfavorably known
Examples
a notorious mastermind of terrorist activities
a book signing for a notorious author of tell-all celebrity biographies
Synonyms: discreditable, disgraceful, dishonorable, ignominious, infamous, louche, disreputable, opprobrious, shady, shameful, shoddy, shy, unrespectable
Antonyms: honorable, reputable, respectable
Novice
noun
: a person who has just started learning or doing something
: a new member of a religious group who is preparing to become a nun or a monk
Full Definition
1 : a person admitted to probationary membership in a religious community
2 : beginner, tyro
Examples
a novice chess player
Synonyms: abecedarian, apprentice, babe, colt, cub, fledgling, freshman, greenhorn, neophyte, newbie, newcomer, beginner, novitiate, punk, recruit, rook, rookie, tenderfoot, tyro, virgin
Antonyms: old hand, old-timer, vet, veteran
Obdurate
adjective
: refusing to do what other people want : not willing to change your opinion or the way you do something
Full Definition
1 a : stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
b : hardened in feelings
2 : resistant to persuasion or softening influences
Examples
the obdurate refusal of the crotchety old man to let the neighborhood kids retrieve their stray ball from his backyard
an obdurate farmer who could never be convinced to try a different method of fertilization
Synonyms: affectless, callous, case-hardened, cold-blooded, compassionless, desensitized, hard-boiled, hard-hearted, heartless, indurate, inhuman, inhumane, insensate, insensitive, ironhearted, merciless, hard, pachydermatous, pitiless, remorseless, ruthless, slash-and-burn, soulless, stony (also stoney), stonyhearted, take-no-prisoners, thick-skinned, uncharitable, unfeeling, unmerciful, unsparing, unsympathetic
Antonyms: charitable, compassionate, humane, kindhearted, kindly, merciful, sensitive, softhearted, sympathetic, tender, tenderhearted, warm, warmhearted
Obtrusive
adjective
: tending to bother people by appearing where you are not welcome or invited
: noticeable in an unpleasant or annoying way
Full Definition
1 a : forward in manner or conduct
b : undesirably prominent
2 : thrust out : protruding <a>
synonyms see impertinent
Examples
meddling in other people’s romantic lives is both obtrusive and presumptuous
Synonyms: busy, interfering, intruding, meddlesome, meddling, nosy (or nosey), intrusive, officious, presuming, presumptuous, protrusive, prying, pushing, pushy, snoopy
Antonyms: unobtrusive</a>
