Terms Flashcards
Adjunct
Something added to something else as helpful or useful but not essential; an assistant or helper; a valuable quality or characteristic; added or connected in a subordinate capacity; attached to a faculty or staff in an auxiliary capacity
Bellwether
the male sheep that leads the flock to the slaughterhouse a leader, as in a desperate or violent undertaking; an indicator of trends
Caterwaul
To howl or screech like a cat; to quarrel; a harsh or noisy cry; a racket
Chimerical
absurd; wildly fantastic; impossible
Effete
Lacking in wholesome vigor or energy; worn-out or exhausted; sterile or unable to produce; out-of-date
fait accompli
An accomplished and presumably irreversible deed, fact, or action
hidebound
narrow-minded and rigid, especially in opinions or prejudices; stuborn and unthinkingly conservative
Hierarchy
Any system or things or people arranged or graded one above another in order of rank, wealth, class, etc.
Laissez-faire
A philosophy or practice characterized by a usually deliberate abstention from direction or interference, especially with individual freedom of choice and action
Liturgy
A religious service or rite; the form of a ritual or other act of public worship
Morass
A patch of low, soft, wet ground; a swamp; a confusing situation in which one is entrapped, as in quicksand
Noisome
Offensive or disgusting; foul-smelling; harmful or injurious
Oblivious
Forgetful; unaware
Poltroon
A base coward
Proselyte
A convert; a disciple
Quasi
Resembling but not actually being; seemingly but not actually or complete
raillery
Good-humored ridicule; teasing
ribald
Irreverently mocking; coarse, vulgar, or indecent in language
Supine
Lying flat on one’s back’ listed or lethargic; apathetic or passive
Vignette
A short description or sketch; a picture or illustration with edges that gradually shade off; a decorative design on the title page of a book or at the beginning or end of a chapter
