U's & V's Flashcards
Undergird
Strengthen, support. To undergird an argument is to make it stronger - the opposite undermine!
Undermine
Weaken, cause to collapse by digging away at the foundation (of a building or an argument); injure or attack in a secretive or underhanded way.
Rather than searching impartially for the truth, these company “scientists” willfully ignored any evidence that undermined the conclusion they were being paid to produce.
You are nice to my face, but you are undermining me behind my back, suggesting to other in the office that I am making mistakes in my work and that you have been fixing them!
Underpin
Strengthen, corroborate, support from below.
Her argument was underpinned with the results of several recent studies.
Underscore
Emphasize (or, literally, to underline text).
“You’re not going to mess with Joey anymore,” said Joey, as his new bodyguards stepped forward threateningly, as though to underscore Joey’s point.
Undifferentiated
Not distinguished from one another, the same.
Unfettered
Free, liberated.
Unforeseeable
Not able to be predicted.
Our company had disaster insurance and a succession plan in case something happened to the president, but we had no plans for the unforeseeable circumstance that our office would be completely overtaken by rats.
Unprecedented
Never before known or seen, without having happened previously.
When Nixon resigned, American bravado was at an all-time low - the resignation of a sitting President was disgraceful and unprecedented.
Untempered
Not toned down; not moderated, controlled, or counterbalanced. Often untempered by.
The report was an untempered condemnation of the company’s practices - the investigators didn’t have a single good thing to say.
Untenable
Not defendable (as an argument), not able to be lived in (as a house).
The internet is full of untenable arguments that rest upon unproven assumptions.
Unwarranted
Not justified or authorized.
Utopian
Related to ideals of perfection; unrealistically idealistic.
Reducing homeless to zero is a utopian goals; our agency views reducing the street population by 25% and getting children off the streets as more practical aims.
Via
Through, by means of, by way of (by a route that goes through or touches). Per can also be used in this way.
We will be flying to Russian via Frankfurt.
Many of the students at our college got here via special programs that assist low-income students in preparing for college.
