V Flashcards
vacillate
waver; fluctuate (Eg: Uncertain which suitor she ought to marry- the princess vacillated- saying now one- now the other. )
vacuous
empty; lacking in ideas; stupid (Eg: The candidate’s vacuous remarks annoyed the audience- who had hoped to hear more than empty )
vagabond
wanderer; tramp (Eg: In summer- college students wander the roads of Europe like carefree vagabonds. )
vagary
caprice; whim (Eg: She followed every vagary of fashion. )
vagrant
stray; random (Eg: He tried to study- but could not collect his vagrant thoughts. )
vagrant
homeless wanderer (Eg: Because he was a stranger in town with no visible means of support- Martin feared he would be jailed as a )
vainglorious
boastful; excessively conceited (Eg: )
valedictory
pertaining to farewell (Eg: I found the valedictory address too long; leave-taking should be brief. )
valid
logically convincing; sound; legally acceptable (Eg: You’re going to have to come up with a better argument if you want to convince me that your reasoning is )
validate
confirm; ratify (Eg: I will not publish my findings until I validate my results. )
valor
bravery (Eg: He received the Medal of Honor for his valor in battle. )
vampire
ghostly being that sucks the blood of the living (Eg: Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampires. )
vanguard
forerunners; advance forces (Eg: We are the vanguard of a tremendous army that is following us. )
vantage
position giving an advantage (Eg: They fired upon the enemy from behind trees- walls and any other point of vantage they could find. )
vapid
insipid; inane (Eg: She delivered an uninspired and vapid address. )
variegated
many-colored (Eg: Without her glasses- Gretchen saw the fields of tulips as a variegated blur. )
vassal
in feudalism- one who held land of a superior lord (Eg: The lord demanded that his vassals contribute more to his military campaign. )
vaunted
boasted; bragged; highly publicized (Eg: This much vaunted project proved a disappointment when it collapsed. )
veer
change in direction (Eg: After what seemed an eternity- the wind veered to the east and the storm abated. )
vegetate
live in a monotonous way (Eg: I do not understand how you can vegetate in this quiet village after the adventurous life you have led. )
vehement
impetuous; with marked vigor (Eg: He spoke with vehement eloquence in defense of his client. )
velocity
speed (Eg: The train went by at considerable velocity. )
venal
capable of being bribed (Eg: )
vendetta
blood feud (Eg: The rival mobs engaged in a bitter vendetta. )
vendor
seller (Eg: The fruit vendor sold her wares from a stall on the sidewalk. )
veneer
thin layer; cover (Eg: Casual acquaintances were deceived by his veneer of sophistication and failed to recognize his fundamental )
venerable
deserving high respect (Eg: We do not mean to be disrespectful when we refuse to follow the advice of our venerable leader. )
venerate
revere (Eg: In China- the people venerate their ancestors. )
venial
forgivable; trivial (Eg: We may regard a hugry man’s stealing as a venial crime. )
venison
the meat of a deer (Eg: The hunters dined on venison. )
vent
small opening; outlet (Eg: The wine did not flow because the air vent in the barrel was clogged. )
vent
express; utter (Eg: He vented his wrath on his class. )
ventral
abdominal (Eg: We shall now examine the ventral plates of this serpent- not the dorsal side. )
ventriloquist
someone who can make his or her voice seem to come from another person or thing (Eg: This ventriloquist does an act in which she has a conversation with a wooden dummy. )
venturesome
bold (Eg: A group of venturesome women were the first to scale Mt.Annapurna. )
venue
location (Eg: The attorney asked for a change of venue; he thought his client would do better if the trial were held in a )
veracious
truthful (Eg: I can recommend him for this position because I have always found him veracious and reliable. )
veracity
truthfulness (Eg: Trying to prove Hill a liar- Senator Spector repeatedly questioned her veracity. )
verbalize
put into words (Eg: I know you don’t like to talk about these things- but please try to verbalize your feelings. )
verbatim
word for word (Eg: He repeated the message verbatim. )
verbiage
pompous array of words (Eg: After we had waded through all the verbiage- we discovered that the writer had said very little. )
verbose
wordy (Eg: This article is too verbose; we must edit it. )
verdant
green; lush in vegetation (Eg: Monet’s paintings of the verdant meadows were symphonies in green. )
verdigris
green coating on copper which has been exposed to the weather (Eg: Despite all attempts to protect the statue from the elements- it became coated with verdigris. )
verge
border; edge (Eg: Madame Curie knew she was on the verge of discovering the secrets of radioactive elements. )
verisimilitude
appearance of truth; likelihood (Eg: Critics praised her for the verisimilitude of her performance as Lady Macbeth. She was completely )
verity
truth; reality (Eg: The four verities were revealed to Buddha during his long meditation. )
vernacular
living language; natural style (Eg: Cut out those old-fashioned ‘‘thee’s’’ and ‘‘thou’s’’ and write in the vernacular. )
vernal
pertaining to spring (Eg: We may expect vernal showers all during the month of April. )
versatile
having many talents; capable of working in many fields (Eg: He was a versatile athlete; at college he had earned varsity letters in baseball- football- and track. )
vertex
summit (Eg: Let us drop a perpendicular line from the vertex of the triangle to the base. )
vertigo
dizziness (Eg: We test potential plane pilots for susceptibility to spells of vertigo. )
verve
enthusiasm; liveliness (Eg: She approached her studies with such verve that it was impossible for her to do poorly. )
vestige
trace; remains (Eg: We discovered vestiges of early Indian life in the cave. )
vex
annoy; distress (Eg: Please try not to vex your mother; she is doing the best she can. )
viable
capable of maintaining life; practicable; workable (Eg: The infant- though prematurely born- is viable and has a good chance to survive. )
viand
food (Eg: There was a variety of viands at the feast. )
vicarious
acting as a substitute; done by a deputy (Eg: Many people get a vicarious thrill at the movies by imagining they are the characters on the screen. )
vicissitude
change of fortune (Eg: Humbled by life’s vicissitudes- the last emperor of China worked as a lowly gardener in the palace over )
victuals
food (Eg: I am very happy to be able to provide you with these victuals; I know you are hungry. )
vie
contend; compete (Eg: Politicians vie with one another- competing for donations and votes. )
vigilance
watchfulness (Eg: Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. )
vigor
active strength (Eg: Although he was over seventy years old- Jack had the vigor of a man in his prime. )
vignette
picture; short literary sketch (Eg: The New Yorker published her latest vignette. )
vilify
slander (Eg: She is a liar and is always trying to vilify my reputation. )
vindicate
clear of charges (Eg: I hope to vindicate my client and return him to society as a free man. )
vindictive
revengeful (Eg: She was very vindictive and never forgave an injury. )
vintner
winemaker; seller of wine (Eg: The poet wondered what the vintners could buy that would be half as precious as the wine they sold. )
viper
poisonous snake (Eg: The habitat of the horned viper- a particularly venomous snake- is in sandy regions like the Sahara or the )
virile
manly (Eg: I do not accept the premise that a man is virile only when he is belligerent. )
virtual
in essence; for practical purposes (Eg: She is a virtual financial wizard when it comes to money matters. )
virtue
goodness; moral excellence; good quality (Eg: A virtue carried to extremes can turn into something resembling vice; humility- for example- can )
virtuoso
highly skilled artist (Eg: The child prodigy Yehudi Menuhin grew into a virtuoso whose virtuosity on the violin thrilled millions. )
virulent
extremely poisonous (Eg: The virus is highly virulent and has made many of us ill for days. )
virus
disease communicator (Eg: The doctors are looking for a specific medicine to control this virus. )
visage
face; appearance (Eg: The stern visage of the judge indicated that she had decided to impose a severe penalty. )
visceral
felt in one’s inner organs (Eg: She disliked the visceral sensations she had whenever she rode the roller coaster. )
viscid
adhesive; gluey (Eg: The trunk of the maple tree was viscid with sap. )
viscous
sticky- gluey (Eg: Melted tar is a viscous substance. )
vise
tool for holding work in place (Eg: Before filling its edges- the keysmith took the blank key and fixed it firmly between the jaws of a vise. )
visionary
produced by imagination; fanciful; mystical (Eg: She was given to visionary schemes that never materialized. )
vital
vibrant and lively; critical; living- breathing (Eg: The vital- highly energetic first aid instructor stressed that it was vital in examining accident victims to note )
vitiate
spoil the effect of; make inoperative (Eg: Fraud will vitiate the contract. )
vitreous
pertaining to or resembling glass (Eg: Although this plastic has many vitreous qualties such as transparency- it is unbreakable. )
vitriolic
corrosive; sarcastic (Eg: Such vitriolic criticism is uncalled for. )
vituperative
abusive; scolding (Eg: )
vivacious
lively or animated; sprightly (Eg: She had always been vivacious and sparkling. )
vivisection
act of dissecting living animals (Eg: The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals opposed vivisection and deplored the practice of )
vixen
female fox; ill-tempered woman (Eg: Aware that she was right once again- he lost his temper and called her a shrew and a vixen. )
vociferous
clamorous; noisy (Eg: The crowd grew vociferous in its anger and threatened to take the law into its own hands. )
vogue
popular fashion (Eg: Jeans became the vogue on many college campuses. )
volatile
changeable; explosive; evaporating rapidly (Eg: The political climate today is extremely volatile: no one can predict what the electorate will do next. )
volition
act of making a conscious choice (Eg: She selected this dress of her own volition. )
voluble
fluent; glib (Eg: She was a voluble speaker- always ready to talk. )
voluminous
bulky; large (Eg: Despite her family burdens- she kept up a voluminous correspondence with her friends. )
voluptuous
gratifying the senses (Eg: The nobility during the Renaissance led voluptuous lives. )
voracious
ravenous (Eg: The wolf is a voracious animal- its hunger never satisfied. )
vortex
whirlwind; whirlpool; center of turbulence; predicament into which one is inexorably plunged (Eg: Sucked into the vortex of the tornado- Dorothy and Toto were carried from Kansas to Oz. )
vouchsafe
grant condescendingly; guarantee (Eg: I can safely vouchsafe you fair return on your investment. )
voyeur
Peeping (Eg: Jill called Jack a voyeur when she caught him aiming his binoculars at a bedroom window of the house )
vulnerable
susceptible to wounds (Eg: Achilles was vulnerable only in his heel. )
vulpine
like a fox; crafty (Eg: She disliked his sly ways- but granted him a certain vulpine intelligence. )
