Vocab 2 Flashcards
Bashful
often feeling uncomfortable with other people and easily embarrassed:
She gave a bashful smile as he complimented her on her work
Shy
Unassuming
Vindictive
having or showing a wish to harm someone because you think that they harmed you; unwilling to forgive:
In the movie “Cape Fear”, a lawyer’s family is threatened by a vindictive former prisoner.
Synonyms
revengeful
vengeful formal
Jaunty
showing that you are happy and confident:
a jaunty grin/step
When he came back his hat was at a jaunty angle and he was smiling.
Idiosyncrasy
a strange or unusual habit, way of behaving, or feature that someone or something has:
She often cracks her knuckles when she’s speaking - it’s one of her little idiosyncrasies.
One of the idiosyncrasies of this printer is that you can’t stop it once it has started.
Incite
to encourage someone to do or feel something unpleasant or violent:
- She incited racial hatred by distributing anti-Semitic leaflets.*
- She was expelled for inciting her classmates to rebel against their teachers.*
- They denied inciting the crowd to violence.*
Ameliorate
To make a bad or unpleasant situation better:
- Foreign aid is badly needed to ameliorate the effects of the drought.*
- S: Improve*
Sabotage
to damage or destroy equipment, weapons, or buildings in order to prevent the success of an enemy or competitor:
The rebels had tried to sabotage the oil pipeline.
S: Wreck, vandalise
Persecute
to treat someone unfairly or cruelly over a long period of time because of their race, religion, or political beliefs, or to annoy someone by refusing to leave them alone:
Religious minorities were persecuted and massacred during the ten-year regime.
Raze
completely destroy (a building, town, or other settlement).
“villages were razed to the ground”
S: destroy, demolish
non-committal
not expressing an opinion or decision:
“her tone was non-committal, and her face gave nothing away”
evasive, equivocal
disparity
inconsistency, inequality
“her tone was non-committal, and her face gave nothing away”
a lack of equality or similarity, especially in a way that is not fair:
the growing disparity between rich and poor
Undermine
to make someone less confident, less powerful, or less likely to succeed, or to make something weaker, often gradually:
The president has accused two cabinet members of working secretly to undermine his position/him.
Undercut
Inebriated
drunk; intoxicated.
having drunk too much alcohol
