September 9th Flashcards
elude
- escape understanding
- Elude means “evade or escape,” like the way you might elude the other kids during a game of hide-and-seek.
- This word can also mean “to be hard to understand.” No matter how hard you try, the finer points of quantum physics might elude you.
While some physics concepts might elude newbies, with little grit and a good teacher, almost anyone can develop a good understanding of the subject.
perturb
- disturb in mind or cause to be worried or alarmed.
- Imagine a couple of snakes getting loose in a pet shop, and the manager running around trying to round up the snakes and calm down the customers, and you’ll picture a perturbed person.
Perturbed means flustered and confused.
When you’re perturbed, you’re upset by something, and rattled enough by it to be thrown off your usual calmness into a state of confusion.
Dr. Cardona has said he is particularly perturbed by prohibitions in places where the Delta variant of the coronavirus has sent cases surging.
At summits of the Group of Seven nations and NATO, Biden intends to rally traditional American allies who were perturbed by the political volatility of his predecessor.
maxim
A short saying expressing a general truth.
Johnson initially suggests that the secret to business can be summarised in a single maxim but requires 300 page book to explain what he means.
goad
urge on with unpleasant comments.
Doug did not want to enter the race, but Jim through a stream of taunts, goaded him into signing up for it.
Literally or figuratively, a goad prods and pokes and provokes people into doing something.
Mom’s constant nagging and goading might finally get you sit up straight at the dinner table.
leery
openly distrustful and unwilling to confide
You can use the adjective leery to describe someone who’s suspicious of a person or situation.
After his brother came out with bald spots and uneven patches of buzz-cut hair, he was leery of having the same barber get near his own head.
Without checking his references and talking to previous employees, I am leery of hiring the candidate.
Dr. Andrew Morris, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Toronto and the medical director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Sinai-University Health Network, is leery about Canada’s border reopening.
She said she is also leery of researchers’ efforts to perform DNA testing on the remains as some families may not want that.
unseemly
not keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society.
Something that is inappropriate or unacceptable behaviour is unseemly.
indecent, indecorous, indelicate, inelegant, inept are synonyms.
He acted in an unseemly manner, insulting the hostess and then speaking ill of her deceased husband
steadfast
Someone who is firm and determined in a belief or a position can be called steadfast in that view.
Picture a steadfast person standing firmly in place, not wavering or budging an inch, and you’ll have a good sense of what this word means.
Someone can be steadfast in a belief, an effort, a plan, or even a refusal.
“Ms. Holmes remains steadfast in her belief in this technology,” Holmes defense attorney Lance Wade said at the end of his opening statement, which lasted more than two hours.
reservation
an unstated doubt that prevents you from accepting something wholeheartedly.
I was initially excited by the idea of a trip to Washington DC, but now that I have read about the high crime rates, I have some reservations.
unprecedented
having never been done or known before, novel
When America first created its national parks, the idea of setting aside the most beautiful land in a country was unprecedented in the history of the mankind.
squander
To squander means to spend extravagantly, thoughtlessly, or wastefully. If you need to save for college, don’t squander your income on nightly sushi dinners.
Squander used to mean scatter, and the way we use it now implies throwing something (like money) all over the place.
