Semester 2 - Vocab 5 Flashcards
Retribution
noun
: punishment for doing something wrong
Full Definition
1 : recompense, reward
2 : the dispensing or receiving of reward or punishment especially in the hereafter
3 : something given or exacted in recompense; especially : punishment
Examples
the neighborhood is being torn apart by an endless cycle of gang violence and retribution
Synonyms: payback, reprisal, requital, retaliation, revenge, vengeance
Respite
noun \: a short period of time when you are able to stop doing something that is difficult or unpleasant or when something difficult or unpleasant stops or is delayed Full Definition 1 : a period of temporary delay 2 : an interval of rest or relief
transitive verb
1 : to grant a temporary period of relief to : grant a respite to
2 : put off, delay
adjective
: providing or being temporary care in relief of a primary caregiver <a></a>
Reverberate
\: to continue in a series of quickly repeated sounds that bounce off a surface (such as a wall) \: to become filled with a sound Full Definition transitive verb 1 : reflect 2 : repel 3 : echo intransitive verb 1 a : to become driven back b : to become reflected 2 : to continue in or as if in a series of echoes : resound Synonyms: echo, reecho, resonate, resound, sound
adjective
: reverberant
Rudimentary
adjective
: basic or simple
: not very developed or advanced
Full Definition
1 : consisting in first principles : fundamental
2 : of a primitive kind
3 : very imperfectly developed or represented only by a vestige
Examples
rudimentary shelters built by prehistoric peoples
had only a rudimentary knowledge of science
Synonyms: crude, low, rude, primitive
Antonyms: advanced, developed, evolved, high, higher, late
Rue
: to feel sorrow or regret for (something)
Full Definition
transitive verb
: to feel penitence, remorse, or regret for
intransitive verb
: to feel sorrow, remorse, or regret
Synonyms: bemoan, deplore, lament, repent, regret
Sacrosanct
adjective
: too important and respected to be changed, criticized, etc.
Full Definition
1 : most sacred or holy : inviolable
2 : treated as if holy : immune from criticism or violation
Examples
the teacher’s book of grades is sacrosanct, and someone could be expelled for changing anything in it
believers eventually built a chapel on the sacrosanct spot where the miracle was thought to have taken place
Synonyms: hallowed, holy, inviolable, sacred, unassailable, untouchable
Antonyms: deconsecrated, desacralized, unconsecrated, unhallowed
Sagacious
adjective
: having or showing an ability to understand difficult ideas and situations and to make good decisions
Full Definition
1 obsolete : keen in sense perception
2a : of keen and farsighted penetration and judgment : discerning
b : caused by or indicating acute discernment
Examples
a sagacious critique of the current social climate in our nation
Synonyms: discerning, insightful, perceptive, prudent, wise, sage, sapient
Antonyms: unperceptive, unwise
Sallow
noun
: any of several Old World broad-leaved willows (as Salix caprea) including important sources of charcoal and tanbark
adjective
: slightly yellow in a way that does not look healthy
Full Definition
: of a grayish greenish yellow color
Sally
noun
: a clever and funny remark
: a sudden attack in which a group of soldiers rush forward against an enemy
Full Definition
1 : an action of rushing or bursting forth; especially : a sortie of troops from a defensive position to attack the enemy
2 a : a brief outbreak : outburst
b : a witty or imaginative saying : quip
3 : a venture or excursion usually off the beaten track : jaunt
Synonyms: jaunt, junket, outing, ramble, excursion, sashay, sortie, spin
Sanctimonious
adjective \: pretending to be morally better than other people Full Definition 1 : hypocritically pious or devout <a> 2 obsolete : possessing sanctity : holy
Sanguinary
adjective
1 : bloodthirsty, murderous
2 : attended by bloodshed : bloody
3 : consisting of blood <a>
Examples
a movie so sanguinary that I covered my eyes during at least half of it
Synonyms: bloody, bloody-minded, homicidal, murdering, murderous, bloodthirsty, sanguine, sanguineous</a>
Sanguine
adjective
: confident and hopeful
Satirical
adjective
of, pertaining to, containing, or characterized by satire: satirical novels.
indulging in or given to satire: a satirical poet.
Scintilla
noun
: a very small amount ofsomething
Full Definition
: spark, trace
Examples
there is not a scintilla of evidence for your outrageous claims
Synonyms: ace, bit, crumb, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, hint, lick, little, mite, nip, ounce, peanuts, ray, particle, scruple, shade, shadow, shred, skosh, smack, smell, smidgen (also smidgeon or smidgin or smidge), snap, soupçon, spark, spatter, speck, splash, spot, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, touch, trace
Scourge
noun
: someone or something that causes a great amount of trouble or suffering
: a whip that was used to punish people in the past
Full Definition
1 : whip; especially : one used to inflict pain or punishment
2 : an instrument of punishment or criticism
3 : a cause of wide or great affliction
Examples
a city ravaged by the scourge of unemployment/poverty
The disease continues to be a scourge in the developing world.
Spelling is the scourge of learners of English.
Synonyms: flogger, lash, whip, switch
Antonyms: benefit, blessing, boon, felicity, godsend, good, manna, windfall
transitive verb \: to cause a lot of trouble or suffering for (someone or something) \: to hit (someone) with a whip as punishment Full Definition 1 : flog, whip 2 a : to punish severely b : afflict c : to drive as if by blows of a whip d : chastise Examples a neighborhood scourged by crime The prisoner was scourged with a whip.
