Verbal Flashcards
Apocryphal
of questionable authority or authenticity
“There is no hard of authoritative evidence to support the apocryphal tales that link the Roswell, New Mexico, incident to a downed U.F.O”
Words of Similar Meaning:
- disputed
- fictitious
- doubtful
- fraudulent
Diatribe
an abusive, condemnatory speech
“The trucker bellowed a diatribe at the driver who had cut him off”
Words of Similar Meaning:
- fulmination
- jeremiad
- harangue
- malediction
- tirade
- invective
- obloquy
Fervid
intensively emotional, feverish
“The fans of Maria Callas were particularly fervid, ding anything to catch a glimpse of the great opera singer”
Related Words -
Fervent: enthusiastic
Fervor: passion
Words of Similar Meaning:
- burning
- impassioned
- passionate
- vehement
- zealous
Mollify
to calm or make less severe
“Their argument was so intense that it was difficult to believe any compromise would mollify them”
Words of Similar Meaning:
- appease
- conciliate
- assuage
- pacify
Ardor
intense and passionate feeling
“Bishop’s ardor for landscape was evident when he passionately described the beauty of the scenic Hudson Valley.”
Related Words -
Ardent: Expressing ardor; passionate
Words of Similar Meaning:
- devotion
- enthusiasm
- fervidness
- fervency
- fervidity
- passion
- fervor
- fire
- zealousness
- zeal
Dirge
a funeral hymn or mournful speech
“Melville wrote the poem A Dirge for James McPherson for the funeral of a Union general who was killed in 1864.”
Words of Similar Meaning:
- elegy
- lament
Garrulous
tending to talk a lot
“The garrulous parakeet distracted its owner with its continuous talking”
Words of Similar Meaning:
- effusive
- loquacious
Obstinate
stubborn, unyielding
“The obstinate child could not be made to eat any food which he perceived to be ‘yucky.’”
Words of Similar Meaning:
- intransigent
- mulish
- persistant
- pertinacious
- stubborn
- tenacious
Austere
severe or stern in appearance; undecorated
“The lack of decoration makes Zen temples seem austere to the untrained eye”
Related Words -
Austerity: severity, especially poverty
Words of Similar Meaning:
- bleak
- hard
- dour
- harsh
- grim
- severe
Dissonance
a harsh and disagreeable combination, especially of sounds
“Cognitive dissonance is the inner conflict produced when long-standing beliefs are contradicted by new evidence”
Words of Similar Meaning:
- clash
- dissension
- friction
- contention
- dissent
- strife
- discord
- dissidence
- variance
Impervious
impossible to penetrate; incapable f being affected
“A good raincoat will be impervious to moisture”
Words of Similar Meaning:
- resistant
- impregnable
Burgeon
to grow and flourish
” Sally neither confirmed nor denied stories about herself, allowing rumor to burgeon where it would”
Words of Similar Meaning:
- bloom
- flourish
- prosper
- thrive
Exculpate
to clear from blame, prove innocent
“The legal system is intended to convict those who are guilty and exculpate those who are innocent”
Words of Similar Meaning:
- absolve
- acquit
- clear
- exonerate
- vindicate
Antipathy
extreme dislike
“The antipathy between the French and the English regularly erupted into open warfare”
Words of Similar Meaning:
- abhorrence
- animosity
- animus
- antagonism
- aversion
- dislike
- enmity
- hatred
- hostility
- loathing
- repellence
- repugnance
- repulsion
- revulsion
Paradox
a contradiction or dilemma
“It is a paradox that those most in need of medical attention are often those eat able to obtain it”
Words of Similar Meaning:
- incongruity
- ambiguity
