That All Shall Be Saved Flashcards
petulant, adj.
(of a person or their manner) childishly sulky or bad-tempered: he was moody and petulant; a petulant shake of the head.
mite, n.
- a small child or animal, especially when regarded as an object of sympathy: the poor little mite looks half-starved. 2. A very small amount: his teacher thought he needed a mite of discipline.
epigrammatic, adj., epigram, n.
in the style of an epigram; concise, clever, and amusing: an epigrammatic style. N. a pithy saying or remark expressing an idea in a clever and amusing way: a Wildean epigram. (a) a short poem, especially a satirical one, with a witty or ingenious ending.
adduce, v.t.
cite as evidence: a number of factors are adduced to explain the situation.
Philistine, n., (philistine), philistinism
a person who is hostile or indifferent to culture an the arts: [as modifier] a philistine government.
impregnable, adj.
(of a fortified position) unable to be captured or broken into: a massive impregnable fortress. (a) unable to be defeated or overcome
mercurial, adj.
- subject to sudden unpredictable changes in mood or mind: his mercurial temperament.
sibylline, adj.
chiefly literary, relating to or characteristic of a sibyl; prophetic and mysterious: one glimpses them, uttering sibylline prediction of weal and woe. his fascinating, if sometimes sibylline, meditations on the nation.
vatic, adj.
literary, describing or predicting what will happen in the future.
wanton, adj.
- (of a cruel or violent action) deliberate and unprovoked: sheer wanton vandalism. 2. (especially of a woman) sexually immodest or promiscuous. 3. Growing profusely; luxuriant: where wanton ivy twines. (a) lively, playful.
sardonic, adj.
grimly mocking or cynical: Starkey attempted a sardonic smile.
saturnine, adj.
- (of a person or their manner) gloomy: a saturnine temperament. (a) (of a person or their features) dark in coloring and moody or mysterious. 2. archaic. relating to lead.
dotard, n.
an older person, especially one who has become weak or senile.
Shrill, adj.
derogatory (especially of a complaint or demand) loud and forceful: a concession to their shrill demands
charlatan, n.
a person falsely claiming to have special knowledge or skill: a self-confessed con-artist charlatan.
glib, adj.
(of words or a speaker) fluent but insincere and shallow: the glib phrases soon roll off the tongue.
equivocal, adj.
open to more than one interpretation; ambiguous: the equivocal nature of her remarks. (a) (of a person) using ambiguous or evasive language: he has always been equivocal about the meaning of his lyrics. (b) uncertain or questionable in nature: the results of the investigation were equivocal.
well-to-do, adj.
wealthy; prosperous: a well-to-do family.
bourgeoisie, n.
[treated as singular or plural] the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes: the rise of the bourgeoisie at the end of the eighteenth century; the landed gentry were replaced by a local bourgeoisie. (a) (in Marxist contexts) the capitalists class who own most of society’s means of production; the conflict of interest between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. –ORIGIN early 18th century; French, from Latin burgus ‘castle’ (in Medieval Latin ‘fortified town’), ultimately of Germanic origin and related to borough. Compare with burgess.
comity, n., formal
- An association of nations for their mutual benefit. (a) (also comity of nations) [mass noun] the mutual recognition by nations of the lass and customs of others. 2. [mass noun] courtesy and considerate behavior towards others: a show of public comity in the White House.
subterfuge, n.
[mass noun] deceit used in order to achieve one’s goal: he had to use subterfuge and bluff on many occasions. [count noun] I hated all the subterfuges, I hated lying to you.
extirpate, v.t.
eradicate or destroy completely: timber wolves were extirpated from New England more than a century ago.
recension, n.
a revised edition of a text: under the Carolingians, new recensions of the code were made. (a) [mass noun] the revision of the text.
blinkered, adj.
(of a horse) wearing blinkers (blinders): Aboyeur’s blinkered head showed in front soon after the start. (a) having or showing a narrow or limited outlook: a blinkered attitude.
exposition, n.
- a comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory: a systematic exposition of the idea of biodiversity. (a) music. the part of a movement, especially in sonata form, in which the principal themes are first presented. 2. a larger public exhibition of art or trade goods: the exposition will feature exhibits by 165 companies. 3. [mass noun] archaic. the action of making something public: the country squires dreaded the exposition of their rustic conversations.
purveyor, n.
a person who sells or deals in particular goods: a purveyor of large luxury vehicles. (a) a person or group who spreads or promotes an idea, view, etc.: a purveyor of traditional Christian values.
sedentary, adj.
(of a person) tending to spend much time seated; somewhat inactive: we all walk a certain amount every day even if we are sedentary. (a) (of work or a way of life) characterized by much sitting and little physical exercise: a sedentary lifestyle spells bad news for hips and thighs. (b) (of a position) sitting; seated: he spoke from a sedentary position. (c) zoology & anthropology. inhabiting some locality throughout life; not migratory or nomadic: a tribe of sedentary agriculturalists. (d) zoology. (of an animal) sessile.
sessile, adj.
biology. (of an organism, e.g., a barnacle) fixed in one place; immobile: parrotfish inadvertently graze upon sessile invertebrates when cropping algae; overall body shape is consistent with a sessile habit. (a) botany & zoology. (of a plant or animal structure) attached directly by its base without a stalk or peduncle: sporongia may be stalked or sessile.
zoonatic, adj., zoonasis, n.
a disease which can be transmitted to humans from animals. –ORIGIN, late 19th century: from zoo- ‘of animals’ + Greek nosos ‘disease’
berth, n., v.t.
- a ship’s allotted place at a wharf or dock: the vessel had left its berth. 2. a fixed bunk on a ship, train, or other means of transport: I’ll sleep in the upper berth. [in combination] a fourth-berth caravan. 3. informal (often in sporting context) a position in an organization or event: he looked at home in an unfamiliar right-back berth. v.t. 1. moor (a ship) in its allotted place: they planned to berth HMS Impregnable at Portsmouth. 2. (of a passenger) provide a sleeping place for (someone). –PHRASES give a wide berth, steer a ship well clear of (something) while passing it: ships are advised to give the islands a wide berth. (a) stay away from (someone or something): I’d sworn to give women a wide berth.
stela, /ˈstēlə/, n., pl. stelae
archaeology. an upright stone slab or column typically bearing a commemorative inscription or relief design, often serving as a gravestone. Also stele. –ORIGIN, from GREEK stēlē, ‘standing block’
slavish, adj.
servile or submissive: he noted the slavish, feudal respect they had for her. (a) showing no attempt at originality: a slavish adherence to protocol.
petulant, adj.
(of a person or their manner) childishly sulky or bad-tempered: he was moody and petulant; a petulant shake of the head.
syncretism, n.
[mass noun] 1. the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought: interfaith dialogue can easily slip into syncretism. 2. linguistics. the merging of different inflectional varieties of a word during the development of a language.
sapiential, adj. /ˌsāpēˈen(t)SH(ə)l/
literary. relating to wisdom: I saw them as sapiential metaphors, far more meaningful than their didactic pretext.
