UDEMY Flashcards
Abase (Verb)
Abase (Verb)
Meaning: To cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
Example: Russian law says inmates must not be treated in a way that is
“harsh” or “abases human dignity”.
Abate (Verb)
Meaning: To lessen (something) in force or intensity
Example: The sky remained dark around us, but the clouds of dust
abated somewhat.
Abdicate (Verb)
Meaning: To relinquish or renounce a throne, or other high office or
dignity; to renounce sovereignty
Example: “You should know that the king will soon abdicate his throne
in favor of one of his children,” Madoc says, looking at all of us.
Aberrant (Adjective
Meaning: Straying from the right way; deviating from morality or truth.
Example: His lawyer told the court that Mr. Stacy’s heavy drinking and
the psychological effects of his accident accounted for his aberrant
behavior.
Abeyance (Noun)
Meaning: Suspension; temporary suppression; dormant condition.
Example: The Tony Awards, held in abeyance since June 2020, were
bestowed Sunday night, with a splashy effervescence that seemed to
declare: The best of times is now.
Abhor (Verb)
Meaning: To regard (someone or something) as horrifying or detestable;
to feel great repugnance toward.
Example: I abhor the rainbow stripe and would prefer something along
the lines of a simple skull and crossbones.
solemnity
the state or quality of being serious and dignified.
a formal, dignified rite or ceremony.
Abjure (Verb
Meaning: To reject with solemnity; to abandon forever; to repudiate; to
disclaim.
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Example: His new book, “Bad Faith,” offers a history of episodes in
which fringe groups abjured modern medicine, with deadly
consequences.
disposition
a person’s inherent qualities of mind and character.
the way in which something is placed or arranged, especially in relation to other things.
Abreast (Adverb)
Meaning: Informed, well-informed, familiar, acquainted.
Example: The Journal Club proved to be an ideal way to keep the lab
abreast of the latest advances in physics, but over time the agenda
reflected the lab’s own expanding prominence.
epitomize
be a perfect example of.give a summary of (a written work).
Abridge (Verb)
Meaning: To shorten or contract by using fewer words, yet retaining the
sense; to epitomize; to condense
Example: Baby Kochamma, who had been put in charge of their formal
education, had read them an abridged version of The Tempest by
Charles and Mary Lamb.
repeal
revoke/annul
Abrogate (Verb)
Meaning: To annul by an authoritative act; to abolish by the authority of
the maker or her or his successor; to repeal
Example: He did not hesitate to abrogate Indian treaties, though he
sometimes expressed concern for Indian life.
Abstain (Verb)
Meaning: To refrain from (something or doing something); keep from
doing, especially an indulgence.
Example: Even when Ramadan arrived during the season and I had to
play volleyball and fence while fasting from sunrise to sunset,
abstaining from food and water, I still didn’t want to quit.
Abscission (Noun)
Meaning: The act or process of cutting off.
Example: Students worked with collaborative teams to develop
innovative methods for quantifying leaf color change and abscission in
campus trees.
Abscond (Verb)
Meaning: To flee, often secretly; to steal away, particularly to avoid
arrest or prosecution.
Example: In 1995, the leader of a commercial expedition absconded with
tens of thousands of dollars of his clients’ money before the trip even got
off the ground.
Abyss (Noun)
Meaning: A bottomless or unfathomed depth, gulf, or chasm; hence, any
deep, immeasurable; any void space.
Example: I wonder about the deep, wide abyss between good intentions
and concrete action, and how many of them leapt across it.
Accede (Verb)
Meaning: To agree or assent to a proposal or a view; to give way.
Example: The Physical Review soon acceded to a system by which it
would accept articles on nuclear reactions but keep them in a vault, to
be published after the conclusion of the war.
Accretion (Noun)
Meaning: The act of increasing, or the matter added, by an accession of
parts externally; an extraneous addition
Example: Physicists grappled with the mysteries of subatomic behavior
into the mid-1920s, hoping that the steady accretion of observed results
would lead them to the truth.
Acerbic (Adjective)
Meaning: Sharp, harsh, biting.
Example: He was a captivating lecturer — feisty, acerbic and
challenging.
Acidulous (Adjective)
Meaning: Slightly sour; Sharp; caustic.
Example: “Bosh!” was his acidulous comment “I’ve caught the same fish
in New Zealand in broad daylight.”
Acme (Noun)
Meaning: A high point - the highest point of any range, the most
developed stage of any process, or the culmination of any field or
historical period.
Example: “Even though Donald Trump is no longer president, I believe
the latest round” of attacks are the acme of Trump’s rhetoric, she says.
discernment
ability to judge well
Acumen (Noun)
Meaning: Quickness of perception or discernment; penetration of mind;
the faculty of nice discrimination.
Example: He showed his business acumen by selling the compasses
relatively cheaply and charging a healthy tuition fee to anyone who
wanted to know how to use it.
Adhere (Verb)
Meaning: To stick; to become joined or united.
Example: Converts were required to attend weekly meetings and to
adhere to a strict code of conduct.
Admonish (Verb)
Meaning: To inform or notify of a fault; to rebuke gently or kindly, but
seriously
Example: And once more the court admonished the witness: “Answer
yes or no, do you have an opinion?”
Adulterate (Verb)
Meaning: To make less valuable or spoil (something) by adding
impurities or other substances.
Example: Shady dealers along the supply chain frequently adulterate
olive oil with low-grade vegetable oils and add artificial coloring.
Adumbrate (Verb)
Meaning: To give a vague outline.
Example: I muttered that in fragments, but the lines only adumbrated
the longing without revealing its hidden fount.
Adverse (Adjective)
Meaning: Unfavorable; actively opposing one’s interests or wishes;
working in an opposing direction.
Example: The prince should be on guard against them and fear them as
if they were declared enemies, because they will always help to bring
about his downfall in adverse times.
Advocate (Verb)
Meaning: To plead in favour of; to defend by argument, before a tribunal
or the public; to support, vindicate, or recommend publicly.
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Example: That autumn, on October 14, 1964, I heard that Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advocating
a policy of nonviolence.
Aerie (Noun)
Meaning: The nest of a bird of prey; Any high and remote but
commanding place.
Example: He ran full speed downhill for the West Branch of the
Delaware, looking at rocks and trees for white streaks of bird excrement
that marked a peregrine falcon aerie.
Affable (Adjective)
Meaning: Friendly, courteous, sociable.
Example: A writer for Chicago magazine described Barack as “a tall,
affable workaholic,” suggesting that he should someday run for office,
an idea that he simply shrugged off.
Affectation (Noun)
Meaning: An attempt to assume or exhibit what is not natural or real;
false display; artificial show.
Example: The Hymn is written objectively, simply, without a touch of
affectation.
Aggrandize (Verb)
Meaning: To make great; to enlarge; to increase.
Example: Trump’s goal was to rid the place of Obama supporters and
climate change analysts, and to aggrandize the oil and coal sectors.
Alacrity (Noun)
Meaning: A cheerful readiness, willingness, or promptitude; joyous
activity; briskness
Example: The soldiers advanced with alacrity to meet the enemy.
Albeit (Conjunction)
Meaning: Although, despite
Example: He was making progress, albeit rather slowly
Altruism (Noun)
Meaning: The principle of living and acting for the interest of others.
Example: The researchers discovered that when people are given a small
stipend for donating blood rather than simply being praised for their
altruism, they tend to donate less blood
Ambivalent (Adjective)
Meaning: Simultaneously experiencing or expressing opposing or
contradictory feelings, beliefs, or motivations.
Example: He was vague and ambivalent on matters of policy.
Ameliorate (Verb)
Meaning: To make better, or improve, something perceived to be in a
negative condition.
Example: Why is the American healthcare system so woefully
inadequate, and what, if anything, has been done to ameliorate this
distressing state of affairs?
Amenable (Adjective)
Meaning: Willing to respond to persuasion or suggestions.
Example: She said her peers wanted her to bend the rules, but she wasn’t
amenable.
Amiable (Adjective)
Meaning: Of a pleasant and likeable nature; kind-hearted; easy to like.
Example: His amiable North Country personality cloaked a sharp legal
mind and soaring political ambition.
Amortize (Verb)
Meaning: To wipe out a debt or liability gradually or in installments.
Example: He added that the cost of the show would be amortized over
13 episodes.
Anachronism (Noun)
Meaning: A person or thing which seems to belong to a different time or
period of time.
Example: The show’s uniformly tall and thin models seem an
anachronism in a world that increasingly celebrates body diversity
Analgesia (Noun)
Meaning: Medication that acts to relieve pain
Example: “Along with the neglect of diagnosis, the lack of good
analgesia marks Mother Teresa’s approach,” he wrote in an article for
the journal.
Analogous (Adjective)
Meaning: bearing some resemblance to something else.
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Example: Churchill’s place in history’s purgatory is analogous to that of
Jefferson, a flawed human who made the world better.
Anarchy (Noun)
Meaning: A chaotic and confusing absence of any form of political
authority or government; Confusion; disorder.
Example: “Rules are needed even more now. Without them there is
anarchy.”
Anathema (Noun)
Meaning: Something which is vehemently disliked by somebody; a
curse; a malediction.
Example: He had a notoriously high failure rate, which of course made
him the anathema of Carter High School
Annul (Verb
Meaning: To formally revoke the validity of; To dissolve marriage on the
grounds that it is not valid.
Example: His desire to annul his existing marriage to Catherine of
Aragon and marry Anne instead led to a split with the Roman Catholic
church
Anodyne (Noun)
Meaning: any medicine or other agent that relieves pain
squalor
the state of being extremely dirty and unpleasant, especially as a result of poverty or neglect.
Anoint (Verb)
Meaning: To choose or nominate somebody for a leading or otherwise
important position, especially formally or officially.
Example: The Golden Globes anointed two best pictures: La La Land for
musical or comedy and Moonlight for drama.
Anomaly (Noun)
Meaning: Something or someone that is strange or unusual.
Example: “My dad was the only Asian in like a hundred-mile radius.
The next town over was like ninety-six percent African American, so I
saw nonwhite people all the time, but I was definitely an anomaly.”
Antagonize (Verb)
Meaning: To work against; to oppose
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Example: They conducted their duties humbly and reticently, with a
minimum of fuss, and went to great lengths not to antagonize anyone.
Antedate (Verb)
Meaning: To occur before an event or time; to exist further back in time.
Example: However, most of the older residences in Fredericksburg
antedate the fire, and are of an earlier Colonial period.
Antipathy (Noun)
Meaning: A feeling of dislike (towards someone/something)
Example: I was also quite religious, and the party’s antipathy to religion
put me off.
Antithetical (Adjective)
Meaning: directly opposed or contrasted; mutually incompatible.
Example: His wrong-headed beliefs are antithetical to everything we
stand for as a community.
Apathy (Noun)
Meaning: Lack of emotion or motivation; lack of interest or enthusiasm
towards something
Example: Despite congressional apathy and obstruction, the suffragists
remained steadfast
Apocryphal (Adjective)
Meaning: Of doubtful authenticity, or lacking authority.
Example: In one possibly apocryphal story, doctors once trained a
homeless man to do routine lab tests because there was no one else
available.
Apostate (Noun)
Meaning: A person who has renounced a religion or faith.
Example: Labeling Mr. Daoud an apostate and “an enemy of religion,”
he called on the Algerian state to impose a public execution of Mr.
Daoud for the “war he is leading against God and the prophet.”
Apostle (Noun)
Meaning: A pioneer or early advocate of a particular cause, prophet of a
belief.
Example: As the apostle of publicity for publicity’s sake, Trump has
adopted the practices of reality TV, building his reputation on insults,
humiliation and a discourse of provocation and hate
Appease (Verb)
Meaning: To make quiet; to calm; to dispel anger or hatred.
Example: “Let me explain, sir,” she began, trying to appease Nathan’s
father.
Appreciable (Adjective)
Meaning: Large enough to be estimated; perceptible; considerable.
Example: The sudden illness or death of farmers, spraymen, pilots, and
others exposed to appreciable quantities of pesticides are tragic and
should not occur.
