Verbal Advantage Level 2 Flashcards
Learn 50 words
Define:
Advocate (AD-vuh-kayt)
To support, plead for, be in favor of, defend by argument; especially, to speak or write in favor or in defense of a person or cause.
Synonyms: champion, endorse, espouse.
Corresponding noun: advocate, a supporter or defender of a cause, a champion, or a
person who speaks for another.
Related words (from the Latin vocare, to call, summon): vocation; avocation;
vocational; vocal; convoke, to call together; convocation, the act of calling together, or a
group that has been summoned; evoke, to call out, call forth; and evocative, calling forth a
response, especially an emotional one.
Define:
Delegate (DEL-uh-gayt)
To entrust with authority or power, deliver to another’s care or management, hand over to an agent or representative.
Define:
Unprecedented (uhn-PRES-uh-den-tid)
Unheard-of, novel, new, having no precedent or parallel, having no prior example or justification.
Define:
Poignant (POYN-yint)
Piercing, sharp, penetrating; specifically, piercing or penetrating to the senses, to the emotions, or to the intellect.
Synonyms: biting, cutting, keen, acute.
Related words (from the Latin pungere, to pierce or prick): puncture; pungent, piercing
to the smell or taste; expunge, to punch out, erase, delete.
Define:
Nebulous (NEB-yuu-lus)
Unclear, vague, obscure, hazy, indefinite, indistinct.
Related word: nebula, a cloudy mass of dust or gas visible between stars in space
(plural, nebulae).
Define:
Clandestine (klan-DES-tin)
Kept secret, done in secrecy, especially for an evil, immoral, or illegal purpose.
Synonyms: private, concealed, covert, underhand, sly, stealthy, furtive, surreptitious.
Pronunciation tip: Avoid the recent variants klanDES-tyn, klan-DES-teen, KLAN-destyn,
and KLAN-des-teen. The traditional and preferred pronunciation is klan-DES-tin.
Define:
Tirade (TY-rayd or ty-RAYD)
A long-drawn-out speech, especially a vehement and abusive one.
Additional useful words: protracted, drawn out to great length (see Level 3, Word 25);
vituperative, full of harsh, abusive language; censorious, tending to censor, to blame or
condemn.
Define:
Recur (ri-KUR or nee-KUR)
To happen again, occur again, especially at intervals or after some lapse of time.
N.B. This discussion explains the distinction between the verbs recur and reoccur.
Define:
Tacit (TAS-it)
Unspoken, silent, implied or understood without words, done or made in silence, not expressed or declared openly.
Related word: taciturn (Level 3, Word 2).
Define:
Allegation (AL-uh-GAY-shin)
An assertion or declaration, especially one made without proof. In law, an allegation is an assertion of what one intends to prove.
Define:
Gullible (GUHL-uh-buul)
Easily deceived, fooled, or cheated.
Synonym: credulous.
Related words: gull and dupe, which both mean to fool, cheat, deceive, take advantage
of.
Define:
Benign (buh-NYN, rhymes with a sign)
(1) Kindly, good-natured, gracious, mild, having or showing a gentle disposition.
(2) Favorable, positive, propitious.
(3) Of the weather or climate, healthful, beneficial, wholesome, salubrious.
(4) In medicine: mild, not deadly, or severe.
Define:
Peripheral (puh-RIF-uh-rul)
External, outer, lying at or forming the outside or boundary of something; hence, not essential, irrelevant.
Define:
Rebuff (ri-BUF or ree-BUF)
To refuse bluntly, reject sharply, turn down abruptly, snub, spurn.
Corresponding noun: rebuff, an abrupt refusal or rejection.
Define:
Animosity (AN-i-MAH-si-tee)
Ill will, hostility, antagonism, strong dislike or hatred.
Synonyms: malice, aversion, malevolence, antipathy, rancor, enmity.
Define:
Tenuous (TEN-yoo-us)
Thin, slender, slight, flimsy, weak, not dense or substantial, lacking a strong basis, having little substance or strength.
Define:
Complacent (kum-PLAY-sint)
Self-satisfied, smug, overly pleased with oneself.
Usage tip: Take care to distinguish between complacent and complaisant, which is
pronounced kum-PLAY-zint and means inclined to please, gracious, obliging, courteous,
affable, and urbane (Level l, Word 45).
Define:
Acme (AK-mee)
The peak, highest point, especially the point of culmination, the highest possible point in the development or progress of something.
Synonyms: summit, zenith.
Corresponding adjective: acmatic.
Define:
Defunct (di-FUNGKT or dee-FUNGKT)
Dead, extinct, obsolete; no longer in existence, effect, operation, or use.
Define:
Abet (uh-BET)
To encourage, support, help, aid, promote, assist in achieving a purpose (either good or evil).
Usage tip: Abet is often used to mean assist in wrongdoing, as in the legal cliché “to aid
and abet,” but abet may also be used favorably to mean assist in achieving a good
purpose.
