Unit7 Flashcards
vista
(1) A distant view. (2) An extensive mental view, as over a stretch of time.
eg. The economic vista for the next two years looks excellent, according to a poll of business economists.
vis-à-vis
In relation to or compared with.
eg. Many financial reporters worry about the loss of U.S. economic strength vis-à-vis our principal trading partners.
visionary
(1) A person with foresight and imagination. (2) A dreamer whose ideas are often impractical.
eg. His followers regarded him as an inspired visionary; his opponents saw him as either a con man or a lunatic.
envisage
To have a mental picture of; visualize.
eg. A mere three weeks after they had started dating, the two were already arguing, and none of us could envisage the relationship lasting for long.
aspect
(1) A part of something. (2) A certain way in which something appears or may be regarded.
eg. Many experts believe the mental aspect of distance racing is more important than the physical aspect.
prospect
(1) The possibility that something will happen in the future. (2) An opportunity for something to happen.
eg. There was little prospect of a breakthrough in the negotiations before the elections.
perspective
(1) Point of view; the angle, direction, or standpoint from which a person looks at something. (2) The art or technique of painting or drawing a scene so that objects in it seem to have depth and distance.
eg. From the perspective of the lowly soldier, the war looked very different.
prospectus
A printed statement that describes something (such as a new business or a stock offering) and is sent out to people who may be interested in buying or investing.
eg. The prospectus for the mutual fund says nothing about how its profit forecasts were calculated.
equivocate
(1) To use ambiguous language, especially in order to deceive. (2) To avoid giving a direct answer.
eg. As the company directors continued to equivocate, the union prepared to return to the picket lines.
irrevocable
Impossible to call back or retract.
eg. She had told him she wasn’t going to see him again, but he couldn’t believe her decision was irrevocable.
advocate
To speak in favor of.
eg. Our lawyer is advocating a suit against the state, but most of us would rather try some other approaches first.
vociferous
Making noisy or emphatic outcries.
eg. Whenever the referee at these soccer games makes a questionable call, you hear vociferous protests from half the parents.
phonics
A method of teaching beginners to read and pronounce words by learning the characteristic sounds of letters, letter groups, and especially syllables.
eg. My son’s school switched to phonics instruction several years ago, and reading achievement in the early grades has been improving.
phonetic
Relating to or representing the sounds of the spoken language.
eg. In almost every Spanish word the pronunciation is clear from the spelling, so the phonetic part of learning Spanish isn’t usually a big challenge.
polyphonic
Referring to a style of music in which two or more melodies are sung or played against each other in harmony.
eg.
cacophony
Harsh or unpleasant sound.
eg. In New York she was often dragged off by her boyfriend to downtown jazz concerts, where she struggled to make sense of what sounded like nothing but cacophony.
curative
Having to do with curing diseases.
eg. As soon as the antibiotic entered his system, he imagined he could begin to feel its curative effects.
curator
Someone in charge of something where things are on exhibit, such as a collection, a museum, or a zoo.
eg. In recent decades, zoo curators have tried to make the animals’ surroundings more and more like their natural homes.
procure
To get possession of; obtain.
eg. Investigators were looking into the question of how the governor had procured such a huge loan at such a favorable rate.
sinecure
A job or position requiring little work but usually providing some income.
eg. The job of Dean of Students at any college is no sinecure; the hours can be long and the work draining.
perimeter
The boundary or distance around a body or figure.
eg. In a medieval siege, an army would surround the perimeter of a city’s high walls, denying the population any food from outside as it assaulted the walls with catapults and battering rams.
periodontal
Concerning or affecting the tissues around the teeth.
eg. Years of bad living had filled his teeth with cavities, but it was periodontal disease that finished them off.
peripatetic
(1) Having to do with walking. (2) Moving or traveling from place to place.
eg. She spent her early adult years as a peripatetic musician, traveling from one engagement to another.
peripheral
(1) Having to do with the outer edges, especially of the field of vision. (2) Secondary or supplemental.
eg. Like most good fourth-grade teachers, he had excellent peripheral vision, and the kids were convinced that he had eyes in the back of his head.
sensor
A device that detects a physical quantity (such as a movement or a beam of light) and responds by transmitting a signal.
eg. The outdoor lights are triggered by a motion sensor that detects changes in infrared energy given off by moving human bodies.
desensitize
To cause (someone or something) to react less to or be less affected by something.
eg. Even squeamish nursing students report becoming desensitized to the sight of blood after a few months of training.
extrasensory
Not acting or occurring through any of the known senses.
eg. A kind of extrasensory capacity seems to tell some soldiers when danger is near.
sensuous
(1) Highly pleasing to the senses. (2) Relating to the senses.
eg. Part of what audiences loved about her was the delight she took in the sensuous pleasures of well-prepared food.
sophistry
Cleverly deceptive reasoning or argument.
eg. For lawyers and politicians, the practice of sophistry from time to time is almost unavoidable.
sophisticated
(1) Having a thorough knowledge of the ways of society. (2) Highly complex or developed.
eg. In Woman of the Year, Katharine Hepburn plays a sophisticated journalist who can handle everything except Spencer Tracy.
sophomoric
Overly impressed with one’s own knowledge, but in fact undereducated and immature.
eg. We can’t even listen to those sophomoric songs of his, with their attempts at profound wisdom that just demonstrate how little he knows about life.
theosophy
A set of teachings about God and the world based on mystical insight, especially teachings founded on a blend of Buddhist and Hindu beliefs.
eg. He had experimented with a number of faiths, starting with Buddhism and ending with a mixture of Eastern and Western thought that could best be called theosophy.
Achilles’ heel
A vulnerable point.
eg, By now his rival for the Senate seat had discovered his Achilles’ heel, the court records of the terrible divorce he had gone through ten years earlier.
arcadia
A region or setting of rural pleasure and peacefulness.
eg. The Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania are a vacationer’s arcadia.
Cassandra
A person who predicts misfortune or disaster.
eg. They used to call him a Cassandra because he often expected the worst, but his predictions tended to come true.
cyclopean
Huge or massive.
eg. They’re imagining a new medical center on a cyclopean scale—a vast ten- block campus with thirty high-rise buildings.
draconian
Extremely severe or cruel.
eg. The severe punishments carried out in Saudi Arabia, including flogging for drunkenness, hand amputation for robbery, and beheading for drug trafficking, strike most of the world as draconian.
myrmidon
A loyal follower, especially one who executes orders unquestioningly.
eg. To an American, these soldiers were like myrmidons, all too eager to do the Beloved Leader’s bidding.
nemesis
A powerful, frightening opponent or rival who is usually victorious.
eg. During the 1970s and ’80s, Japanese carmakers became the nemesis of the U.S. auto industry.
Trojan horse
Someone or something that works from within to weaken or defeat.
eg. Researchers are working on a kind of Trojan horse that will be welcomed into the diseased cells and then destroy them from within.
