VOCAB 03 FEB 10, 2016 Flashcards
HAP
archaic
hap |
Luck, fortune.
Kevin didn’t usually have much luck, but when he appeard on the game show he had excellent hap and wound up winning a televison.
• a chance occurrence, esp. an event that is considered unlucky.
verb ( haps, happing , happed ) [no obj.]
come about by chance: what can hap to him worthy to be deemed evil?
• [with infinitive] have the fortune or luck to do something: where’er I happ’d to roam.
~ hap - short for happy…. if you have luck/chance you are bound to be happy.
~ hap is short for happen: something that just happened by chance !!!
VAGARY
ˈvāgərē |
An odd or unexpected idea or a flight of fancy
An impulsive or illogical desire; a caprice.
Fancy, impulse
noun ( pl. vagaries ) (usu. vagaries)
an unexpected and inexplicable change in a situation or in someone’s behavior: the vagaries of the weather.
The vagaries of today’s economy prompt many people to purchase lottery tickets.
— An unpredictable development or change of circumstances:
— The vagaries of mountain weather; the vagaries of business travel.
— The government has been much more successful in developing an economy which has grown and withstood the vagaries of the world markets.
— The media now have to weather the vagaries of the market on their own.
— Bob has been a major voice in helping us to understand the vagaries weather investigators must endure.
— Experienced users are accustomed to this and other vagaries of the internet.
— Patio heaters are very popular because they offer a simple and affordable garden heating solution to the vagaries of the climate.
— With this very odd and very nasty vagary of tropic nature; and as we
— It is an important method by which borrowers can escape the vagaries of the interest rate.
— It is easier said than done, given the vagaries of finding cash or other resources to support research.
— The eclipse of the phytoalexins has been caused, at least in part, by the vagaries of fashion in research in Britain.
— The site is very exposed and experiences a wide range of climatic vagaries from severe winter frosts to searing summer heat.
— You wear what you wear and try to avoid the vagaries of fashion.
— Vagaries of the English weather have never prevented a concert from going ahead!
ZANY
ˈzānē |
Comical, funny, and crazy
Ludicrously or whimsically comical; clownish.
Something or someone silly or unusual.
Comical or ludicrous because of incongruity or strangeness.
A comical person given to extravagant or outlandish behavior.
adjective ( zanier , zaniest )
amusingly unconventional and idiosyncratic: zany humor.
noun
an erratic or eccentric person.
• historical a comic performer partnering a clown, whom he imitated in an amusing way.
— Tara likes to relax after work by watching zany television shows like ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Everbody Loves Raymond.”
— A former stock character in comedies who clownishly aped the principal actors
WAGGISH
ˈwagiSH |
Funny or humorous
adjective dated
humorous in a playful, mischievous, or facetious manner: a waggish riposte.
— Richards behavior was often waggish. He considered himself to be a great joker, but not everyone though practical jokes were funny.
VAGRANT
ˈvāgrənt |
Living on the streets or wandering.
A person who wanders from place to place, or a homeless person.
An example of the use of vagrant as an adjective is in the phrase “a vagrant family,” which means a family who constantly moves from place to place without ever having a home.
An example of a vagrant is a homeless person who travels from place to place.
Read more at http://www.yourdictionary.com/vagrant#9tHZytIyRMJpwZeF.99
noun
a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging.
• archaic a wanderer.
• Ornithology a bird that has strayed or been blown from its usual range or migratory route. Also called accidental.
adjective [attrib.]
characteristic of, relating to, or living the life of a vagrant: vagrant beggars.
• moving from place to place; wandering: vagrant whales.
• literary moving or occurring unpredictably; inconstant: the vagrant heart of my mother.
— While leading this vagrant and miserable life, Johnson fell in love.
UNFROCK
or
DEFROCK
ˌənˈfräk |
To remove or to derive the rank, function or authority of a priest of minister
To deprive (a monk, priest, minister, etc.) of ecclesiastical rank, authority, and function; depose.
To remove from status as a member of a clergy (The definition of clergy are people that have been trained and approved for religious service.)
verb
another term for defrock.
!!!
defrock |dēˈfräk|
verb [with obj.]
deprive (a person in holy orders) of ecclesiastical status.
• (usu. as adj. defrocked) deprive (someone) of professional status or membership in a prestigious group: a defrocked psychiatrist.
TYRANNY
ˈtirənē |
A government or ruler with total power.
Tyranny is defined as severe or harsh treatment.
An oppressive or unjust rule of government.
Unjust government; despotism.
Very cruel and unjust use of power or authority
noun ( pl. tyrannies )
cruel and oppressive government or rule: people who survive war and escape tyranny | the removal of the regime may be the end of a tyranny.
• a nation under such cruel and oppressive government.
• cruel, unreasonable, or arbitrary use of power or control: she resented his rages and his tyranny | figurative : the tyranny of the nine-to-five day | his father’s tyrannies.
SOMATIC
səˈmatik, sō- |
Relating to the body or physical.
adjective
of or relating to the body, esp. as distinct from the mind.
• Biology of or relating to the soma.
— The body builder was especially interested in maintaining a strong physique in order to avoid any somatic pain so he could continue his physical training.
— They have all kinds of somatic pains, body pains that come and go.
RETIRING
riˈtīriNG |
Withdrawn, shy, reserved.
Shy and reserved; modest.
adjective
shy and fond of being on one’s own: a retiring, acquiescent woman.
— Because of Jim’s retiring nature, he really didn’t like going out to the local nightclubs.
— I don’t really know him well, since he’s so shy and retiring.
RELEGATE
ˈreləˌgāt |
To assign to a lower order of or to a lower position; demote
To send or consign to an inferior position, place, or condition:
To consign to an inferior or obscure place, rank, category, or condition:
— After failing to meet his sales deadline, the worker was relegated to washing the floors.
— An artist’s work that is now relegated to storerooms;
— A group that has been relegated to the status of second-class citizens.
— He has been relegated to a post at the fringes of the diplomatic service.
verb [with obj.]
consign or dismiss to an inferior rank or position: they aim to prevent women from being relegated to a secondary role.
PECCADILLO
ˌpekəˈdilō |
A minor or petty offense, or a slight fault.
A very minor or slight sin or offense.
Small or unimportant sin or wrongdoing.
A small, relatively unimportant offense or sin.
noun ( pl. peccadilloes or peccadillos )
— Ignoring the posted sign warning against fishing in the lake, Eric reasoned that if he wee caught his actions were a mere peccadillo compared to larger offenses that take place every day.
— Some people believe littering is a simple peccadillo, but I find it a huge annoyance.
OPERETTA
ˌäpəˈretə |
A light, amusing opera with spoken dialogue
noun
a short opera, usually on a light or humorous theme and typically having spoken dialogue. Notable composers of operettas include Offenbach, Johann Strauss, Lehár, and Gilbert and Sullivan.
OBFUSCATION
ˈäbfəˌskāt |
Something that causes confussion, unclear.
To confuse, bewilder, or stupefy.
To make obscure or unclear.
The act or an instance of making something difficult to understand
verb [with obj.]
render obscure, unclear, or unintelligible: the spelling changes will deform some familiar words and obfuscate their etymological origins.
• bewilder (someone): it is more likely to obfuscate people than enlighten them.
— To obfuscate a problem with extraneous information. — The company president tried to explain the new policy, but his obfuscations didn't make sense to anyone. He had a good point, but his speech was filled with obfuscation and didn't make his argument very clear. — I didn't prepare for my speech in class today, but my obfuscations seem to have worked because the teacher gave me a B+.
NOISOME
ˈnoisəm |
Disgusting, offensive, gorss, or harmfull
Harmful, or bad smelling.
Offensive or disgusting, as an odor.
An example of something noisome is a gas that is coming from a toxic waste dump; noisome gas.
An example of a noisome smell is the smell of a disgusting trash can.
adjective literary
having an extremely offensive smell: noisome vapors from the smoldering waste.
• disagreeable; unpleasant: noisome scandals.
MAELSTROM
ˈmālˌsträm, -strəm |
A large whirlpool or a confused or disorderly state of things.
A large, powerful, or violent whirlpool.
A violent or turbulent situation: caught in the maelstrom of war.
— A whirlpool of extraordinary size or violence.
noun
a powerful whirlpool in the sea or a river.
• a situation or state of confused movement or violent turmoil: the train station was a maelstrom of crowds.
— The tine boat swirled around and around in the ocean maelstrom.
— There’s always a maelstrom of activity on the first day of school.
— After they broke up, she fell into an emotional maelstrom for several months.
— It became involved in a maelstrom of conflicting political motives, by which it was swept to Constantinople.
LISSOME
|ˈlisəm|
(also chiefly Brit. lissom )
Having a flexible body, athletic
Especially of body; supple; flexible.
Moving or able to move with grace and ease; lithe and graceful.
Easily bent; supple.
adjective
(of a person or their body) thin, supple, and graceful.
— The gymnast performed lissome moves on the balance beam.
— After three knee surgeries, I’m not as lissome as I used to be.
— The ice skaters put on a lissome performance that thrilled the audience.
— Abby was indeed a fair and gracious vision as she stood there, straight and lissome as a young palm-tree.
— She was of medium stature, slender and lissome, looking taller than she really was.
LEXICOGRAPHER
ˌleksəˈkägrəfər |
One who writes or compiles a dictionary.
noun
a person who compiles dictionaries.
KNOLL
nōl |
A small slope or incline, small hill
A small, rounded hill or eminence; hillock.
noun
a small hill or mound.
— The old house sat on a knoll above a small stream.
— Our hike took us over a few knolls and through the woods.
— We chased the fox over the knoll, but we couldn’t catch up to it.
— There are several plantations on that knoll, and the water is lifting the houses on it.
— As White Otter mounted his pony and started away, however, the warrior on the knoll suddenly showed signs of life.
A small usually rounded hill which occurs often on the side of larger hills or mountains.
JUNTA
ˈho͝ontə, ˈjəntə |
ˈho͝ontə, ˈjəntə |
noun
1 a military or political group that rules a country after taking power by force: the country’s ruling military junta.
IOTA
īˈōtə |
A very small amount, extremely small quantity
noun
1 the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet ( Ι, ι), transliterated as ‘i.’
• (Iota) [followed by Latin genitive] Astronomy the ninth star in a constellation: Iota Piscium.
2 [in sing., usu. with negative] an extremely small amount: nothing she said seemed to make an iota of difference.
— The dog looked in her bowl, but there wasn’t a single iota of food in there.
— If you ask me, I don’t think Brynn has an iota of common sense.
— While everyone else got old and fat, Richard hasn’t changed on iouta since high school.
— Not an iota of truth to that tale.
— Couch was not sentenced to an iota of time in a juvenile detention center or prison.
HERMETIC
hərˈmetik |
Totally sealed, enclosed
adjective
1 (of a seal or closure) complete and airtight: a hermetic seal that ensures perfect waterproofing.
• insulated or protected from outside influences: a hermetic society.
2 (also Hermetic )of or relating to an ancient occult tradition encompassing alchemy, astrology, and theosophy.
• esoteric; cryptic: obscure and hermetic poems.
GRANDIOSE
|ˈgrandēˌōs, ˌgrandēˈōs|
Grand or affectedly grand.
Affectedly grand or important; pompous.
Characterized by greatness of scope or intent; grand.
Large and impressive, in size, scope or extent.
Pompous or pretentious.
adjective
impressive or magnificent in appearance or style, esp. pretentiously so: the court’s grandiose facade.
• excessively grand or ambitious: grandiose plans to reform the world.
— Of all the birds, the male peacock is perhaps the most grandios, with an enorumos fan of bright tail feathers.
— The royal cout put on a grandiose display to impress the new ambassador from France.
— A grandiose plan to develop the city’s waterfront.
— The driven woman was different than Xander remembered; this Eden had no vamp-army or grandiose plan of destroying a world.
— Spencer’s grandiose cosmic formula in terms of mechanism.
— His poetry is over-decorated, and his plays are grandiose historical poems in dramatic form.
— We embarked on these car projects with grandiose visions, many as unrealistic as they were ingenious.
— Although an enemy of idealogues, in his foreign policy Napoleon was haunted by grandiose visions.
FUSILLADE
ˈfyo͞osəˌläd, -ˌlād |
A number of shots fired, usually at the same time.
A simultaneous or continuous discharge of firearms.
noun
a series of shots fired or missiles thrown all at the same time or in quick succession: marchers had to dodge a fusillade of missiles | figurative : a fusillade of accusations.
verb [with obj.] archaic
attack (a place) or shoot down (someone) by a series of shots fired at the same time or in quick succession.
— The cannons roared, and the fusillade was deafening.
EMEND
iˈmend |
To correct text, usually a scholarly text.
To edit or change (a text).
To correct and revise a text.
To free from faults or errors; correct.
verb [with obj.]
make corrections and improvements to (a text).
• alter (something) in such a way as to correct it: the year of his death might need to be emended to 652 | [with clause] : he hesitated and quickly emended what he had said.
— Ed was upset that he had to emend the latest draft of his biography of Andrew Jackson. He had thought he had written a solid, well-researched book, but his editor sent the draft back to him with marking several places where he needed to emend the text.
DOSSIER
ˈdôsēˌā, ˈdäs- |
noun
a collection of documents about a particular person, event, or subject: we have a dossier on him | a dossier of complaints.
AFFINITY
əˈfinitē |
noun ( pl. affinities ) (often affinity between/for/with)
a spontaneous or natural liking or sympathy for someone or something: he has an affinity for the music of Berlioz.
• a similarity of characteristics suggesting a relationship, esp. a resemblance in structure between animals, plants, or languages: a building with no affinity to contemporary architectural styles.
• relationship, esp. by marriage as opposed to blood ties.
• chiefly Biochemistry the degree to which a substance tends to combine with another: the affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen.
TRACTABLE
ˈtraktəbəl |
adjective
(of a person or animal) easy to control or influence: tractable dogs that have had some obedience training.
• (of a situation or problem) easy to deal with: trying to make the mathematics tractable.
RECEPTIVE
riˈseptiv |
adjective
able or willing to receive something, esp. signals or stimuli.
• willing to consider or accept new suggestions and ideas: a receptive audience | the institution was receptive to new ideas.
• (of a female animal) ready to mate.
ENGAGING
enˈgājiNG |
adjective
charming and attractive: Sophie had a sunny personality that was very engaging.
MARGINAL
ˈmärjənl |
adjective
of, relating to, or situated at the edge or margin of something: marginal notes.
• of secondary or minor importance; not central: it seems likely to make only a marginal difference | a marginal criminal element.
• (of a decision or distinction) very narrow: a marginal offside decision.
• of or relating to water adjacent to the land’s edge or coast: water lilies and marginal aquatics.
• (chiefly of costs or benefits) relating to or resulting from small or unit changes.
• (of taxation) relating to increases in income.
• chiefly Brit.(of a parliamentary seat) having a small majority and therefore at risk in an election.
• close to the limit of profitability, esp. through difficulty of exploitation: marginal farmland.
INSCRUTABLE
inˈskro͞otəbəl |
adjective
impossible to understand or interpret: Guy looked blankly inscrutable.
BURLESQUE
bərˈlesk |
noun
1 an absurd or comically exaggerated imitation of something, esp. in a literary or dramatic work; a parody: the funniest burlesque of opera | [as modifier] : burlesque Shakespearean stanzas.
• humor that depends on comic imitation and exaggeration; absurdity: the argument descends into burlesque.
2 a variety show, typically including striptease: [as modifier] : burlesque clubs.
VIPER
ˈvīpər |
noun
a venomous snake with large hinged fangs, typically having a broad head and stout body, with dark patterns on a lighter background.
ATROPHY
ˈatrəfē |
verb ( atrophies, atrophying, atrophied ) [no obj.]
1 (of body tissue or an organ) waste away, typically due to the degeneration of cells, or become vestigial during evolution: without exercise, the muscles will atrophy | (as adj. atrophied) : in some beetles, the hind wings are atrophied.
2 gradually decline in effectiveness or vigor due to underuse or neglect: her artistic skills atrophied from lack of use.
noun
the process of atrophying or state of having atrophied: gastric atrophy | extensive TV viewing may lead to atrophy of children’s imaginations.
AUDITORY
ˈôdiˌtôrē |
adjective
of or relating to the sense of hearing: the auditory nerves | teaching methods use both visual and auditory stimulation.
ADVERSE
adˈvərs, ˈadvərs |
adjective
preventing success or development; harmful; unfavorable: taxes are having an adverse effect on production | adverse weather conditions .
BLEAK
blēk |
adjective
(of an area of land) lacking vegetation and exposed to the elements: a bleak and barren moor.
• (of a building or room) charmless and inhospitable; dreary: he looked around the bleak little room in despair.
• (of the weather) cold and miserable: a bleak midwinter’s day.
• (of a situation or future prospect) not hopeful or encouraging; unlikely to have a favorable outcome: he paints a bleak picture of a company that has lost its way.
• (of a person or a person’s expression) cold and forbidding: his bleak, near vacant eyes grew remote.
ARREST
əˈrest |
verb [with obj.]
1 seize (someone) by legal authority and take into custody: the police arrested him for possession of marijuana | two youths aged 16 were arrested.
2 stop or check (progress or a process): the spread of the disease can be arrested | (as adj. arrested) : arrested development may occur.
• [no obj.] suffer a heart attack: they were trying to resuscitate a patient who had arrested.
3 attract the attention of (someone): his attention was arrested by a strange sound.
noun
1 the action of seizing someone to take into custody: I have a warrant for your arrest | they placed her under arrest | at least 69 arrests were made.
2 a stoppage or sudden cessation of motion: a respiratory arrest.
BROWSE
brouz |
verb [no obj.]
1 survey goods for sale in a leisurely and casual way: he stopped to browse around a sporting goods store.
• scan through a text, website, or collection of data to gain an impression of the contents: she browsed through the newspaper | [with obj.] : I decided to spend the night browsing the Internet.
2 (of an animal) feed on leaves, twigs, or other high-growing vegetation: they reach upward to browse on bushes | [with obj.] : the animals browse the high foliage of trees.
noun
1 [in sing.] an act of casual looking or reading: the brochure is well worth a browse.
2 vegetation, such as twigs and young shoots, eaten by animals: a moose needs to eat forty to fifty pounds of browse a day.
CARNAL
ˈkärnl |
adjective
relating to physical, esp. sexual, needs and activities: carnal desire.
HIEROGLYPHICS
ˌhī(ə)rəˈglifik |
noun (hieroglyphics)
writing consisting of hieroglyphs.
hieroglyphics
• enigmatic or incomprehensible symbols or writing: tattered notebooks filled with illegible hieroglyphics.
adjective
of or written in hieroglyphs.
• (esp. in art) stylized, symbolic, or enigmatic in effect.
