Vocab Flashcards
To have an intense dislike or hatred for (loathe, abhor, despise, detest)
Abominate
The modification of the social patterns, traits, or structures of one group or society by contact with those of another; the resultant blend (adaptation)
Acculturation
resulting from chance rather than from an inherent cause or character; accidental, not essential; (medicine) acquired, not congenital (Extrinsic, incidental, fortuitous)
Adventitious
To assign or refer to (as a cause or source), attribute (Impute, credit, attribute)
Ascribe
Roundabout, not direct (indirect, meandering, winding)
Circuitous
To sympathize with, have pity or sorrow for, share a feeling of distress (feel sorry for, empathize)
Commiserate
To direct or order; to prescribe a course of action in an authoritative way; to prohibit (bid, charge, command, adjure)
Enjoin
to make easy, cause to progress faster (Accelerate, facilitate, speed up)
Expedite
to make amends, make up for; to avert (redeem, make amends for, atone, make reparation)
Expiate
A state of great excitement, agitation, or turbulence; to be in or work into such a state; to produce alcohol by chemical action (commotion, turmoil, unrest)
Ferment
resulting from or marked by lack of attention; unintentional, accidental (accidental, unconsidered)
Inadvertent
existing in name only, not real; too small to be considered or taken seriously (titular, token, trifling, inconsequential)
Nominal
Not decisive or definite; unwilling to take a clear position or to say yes or no (Cagey, uninformative, playing it safe, playing it close to the vest)
Noncommittal
To steal something that has been given into one’s trust; to take improperly for one’s own use (Embezzle, defraud, misappropriate)
Peculate
A natural or habitual inclination or tendency (especially of human character or behavior)(natural bent, penchant, propensity)
proclivity
composure or coolness, especially in trying circumstances (Poise, self-assurance)
sangfroid
Resistant to lawful authority; having the purpose of overthrowing an established government (mutinous, rebellious, subversive)
Seditious
Bitter, sarcastic; highly caustic or biting (like a strong acid)(withering, acerbic, mordant)
Vitriolic
thin, slender, not dense; lacking clarity or sharpness; of slight importance or significance; lacking a sound basis, poorly supported (flimsy, insubstantial, vague, hazy)
tenuous
To use coaxing or flattery to gain some desired end(cajole, inveigle, soft-soap, sweet-talk)
Wheedle
Courteous and pleasant, sociable, easy to talk to
S: genial, amicable, agreeable, cordial
Affable
To increase in greatness, power, or wealth; to build up or intensify; to make appear greater
S: Augment, amplify, enchance, exhalt
Aggrandize
Shapeless, without definite form; of no particular type of character; without organization, unity, or cohesion
S: formless, unstructured, nebulous, inchoate
Amorphous
That which surrounds (as an atmosphere); a distinctive air or personal quality
S: ambience, atmoshpere
Aura
illegal traffic, smuggled goods; illegal, prohibited
S: illicit, bootleg, unlawful
Contraband
Scholarly, learned, bookish, pedantic
S: Profoundly educated, well-read
Erudite
Thin, light, delicate, insubstantial; a very think, light cloth
S: Filmy, diaphanous, sheer, airy, feathery, gauzy
Gossamer
To find out by reasoning; to arrive at a conclusion on the basis of thought; to hint, suggest, imply
S: gather, deduce, presume, guess, speculate
infer
incapable of being understood; impossible to see through physically
S: impenetrable, incomprehensible, enigmatic
Inscrutable
relating to, characteristic of, or situated on an island; narrow or isolated in outlook or experience
S: narrow-minded, parochial, provincial
insular
incapable of being changed or called back
S: irreversible, unrecallable, unalterable
irrevocable
A natural inclination or predilection toward
S: natural bent, proclivity, penchant
Propensity
Peevish, complaining, fretful
S: petulant, touchy, cranky, irritable
Querulous
to argue or plead with someone against something, protest against, object to
S: reason against, expostulate
remonstrate
to disown, reject, or deny the validity of
S: disavow, abjure, renounce
Repudiate
able to return to an original shape or form; able to recover quickly
S: springy, elastic, buoyant, bouncy
Resilient
to re-echo, resound; to reflect or be reflected repeatedly
S: rumble, thunder, boom, echo
Reverberate
coarsely abusive, vulgar or low (especially in language), foul-mouthed
S: Obscene, filthy, abusive, vituperative
Scurrilous
persistent, showing industry and determination
S: assiduous, tireless, indefatigable
Sedulous
think or flimsy in texture; cheap; shoddy or inferior in quality or character; ethically low, mean, or disreputable
S: inferior, cheesy, tawdry, tatty
sleazy
A general pardon for an offense against a government; in general, any act of forgiveness or absolution
Amnesty
Self-government, political control
S: home rule
Autonomy
Self-evident, expressing a universally accepted principle or rule
S: taken for granted
Axiomatic
To adorn or embellish; to display conspicuously; to public or proclaim widely
S: broadcast, trumpet
Blazon
a warning or caution to prevent misunderstanding or discourage behavior
S: admonition, worse to the wise
caveat
Fair, just, embodying principles of justice
S: right, reasonable, evenhanded
Equitable
To free from entanglements or difficulties; to remove with effort
S: disentangle, extract, disengage
Extricate
To steal, especially in a sneaky way and in petty amounts
S; pilfer, purloin, swipe
filch
to mock, treat with contempt
S: scoff at, sneer at, snicker at, scorn
flout
tending to be troublesome; unruly, quarrelsome, contrary; unpredictable
S: refractory, recalcitrant, peevish
Fractious
Rule of conduct or action
S: principle, maxim
precept
Beneficial, helpful; healthful, wholesome
S: salubrious, curative
Salutary
bitterly severe, withering; causing great harm
S: searing, harsh, ferocious, savage
scathing
to whip, punish severely; cause of affliction or suffering; a source of severe punishment or criticism
S: flog, beat, bane, plague, pestilence
Scourge
funereal, typical of the tomb; extremely gloomy or dismal
S: doleful, lugubrious, mortuary
Sepulchral
tending to cause sleep, relating to sleepiness or lethargy; something that includes sleep
S: narcotic, anesthetic
Soporific
Extremely strict in regard to moral standards and conduct; prudish, puritanical
S: highly conventional, overly strict, stuffy
Straitlaced
Lasting only a short time, fleeting; one who stays only a short time
S: impermanent, ephemeral, evanescent
Transient
not easily carried, handled, or managed because of size or complexity
S: cumbersome, bulky, clumsy, impractical
Unwieldy
Dull, uninteresting, tiresome; lacking in sharpness, flavor, liveliness, or force
S: insipid, lifeless, colorless
Vapid
Abnormal, irregular, departing from the usual
S: exceptional, atypical, unusual, aberrant
anomalous
Aspersiona damaging or derogatory statement; derogatory the act of slandering or defaming
S: innuendo, calumny, denigration
Aspersion
Extremely strange, unusual, atypical
S: grotesque, fantastic, outlandish
Bizarre
Abrupt, blunt, with no formalities
S: Curt, tactless, ungracious, gruff, rough
Brusque
To coax, persuade through flattery or artifice to deceive with soothing thoughts or false promises
S: wheedle, inveigle, soft-soap, sweet-talk
Cajole
To punish severely; to criticize severely
S: chastise, rebuke, censure, upbraid
Castigate
To plan with ingenuity, invent; to bring about as the result of a scheme or plan
S: think up, devise, concoct, fabricate
Contrive
A leader who exploits popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power
S: rabble-rouser, firebrand
demagogue
to free from deception or error, set right in ideas or thinking
S: undeceive, enlighten, set straight
disabuse
weariness and dissatisfaction from lack of occupation or interest, boredom
S: languor, world-weariness, listlessness
Ennui
a chain or shackle placed on the feet (often used in plural); anything that confines or restrains; (v.) to chain or shackle; to render helpless or impotent
S: bond, restraint, bind, hamper
fetter
very wicked, offensive, hateful
S: evil, odious, abominable, outrageous
heinous
not subject to change, constant
S: unchangeable, unalterable, fixed, invariable
immutable
one who rebels or rises against authority; rising in revolt, refusing to accept authority; surging or rushing in or on S
S: revolutionary, rebellious, mutinous
insurgent
a delusion marked by a feeling of power, wealth, talent, etc., far in excess of reality
S: delusions of grandeur
megalomania
a position requiring little or no work; an easy job
S: “no show” job, cushy job, “plum”
Sinecure
Stealthy, secret, intended to escape observation; made for accomplished by fraud
S: furtive, covert, clandestine, concealed
surreptitious
to go beyond a limit or boundary; to sin, violate a law
S: overstep, exceed, trespass, err
transgress
to change from one nature, substance, or form to another
S: transform, convert, translate, metamorphose
transmute
performed, suffered, or otherwise experienced by one person in place of another
S: surrogate, substitute, imagined, secondhand
vicarious
