Vocab 4 Flashcards
Acerbic
Having a sour or bitter taste or character, sharp, biting
Aggrandize
To increase in intensity, power, influence, or prestige
Alchemy
A medieval science aimed at the transmutation of metals especially base metals into gold
Amenable
Agreeable, responsive to suggestion
Anachronism
Something or someone out of place in terms of historical or chronological context, something inconsistent with the time period
Astringent
Having a tightening effect on living tissue, harsh, severe
Contiguous
Sharing a border, touching, adjacent
Convention
A generally agreed upon practice or attitude
Credulous
Tending to believe too readily, gullible
Cynicism
An attitude or quality of belief that all people are motivated by selfishness
Decorum
Polite or appropriate conduct or behavior
Derision
Scorn, ridicule, contemptuous treatment
Desiccate
To dry out or dehydrate, to make dry or dull
Dilettante
One with an amateurish or superficial interest in the arts or a branch of knowledge
Disparage
To slight or belittle
Divulge
To disclose something secret
Fawn
To flatter or praise excessively
Flout
To show contempt for, as in a rule or convention
Garrulous
Pointlessly talkative, talking too much
Glib
Marked by ease or informality, nonchalant, lacking in depth, superficial
Hubris
Overbearing presumption or pride, arrogance
Imminent
About to happen, impending
Immutable
Not capable of change
Impetuous
Hastily or rashly energetic, impulsive and vehement
Indifferent
Having no interest or concern, showing no bias or prejudice
Inimical
Damaging, harmful, injurious
Intractable
Not easily managed or directed, stubborn, obstinate
Intrepid
Steadfast and courageous
Laconic
Using few words, terse
Maverick
An independent individual who does not go along with a group or party
Mercurial
Characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in mood
Mollify
To calm or soothe, to reduce in emotional intensity
Neophyte
A recent convert, a beginner, a novice
Obfuscate
To deliberately obscure, to make confusing
Obstinate
Stubborn, hard headed, uncompromising
Ostentatious
Characterized by or given to pretentious display, showy
“books that people buy and display ostentatiously but never actually finish”
Pervade
To permeate throughout
Phlegmatic
Calm, sluggish, unemotional
Plethora
An overabundance, a surplus
Pragmatic
Practical rather than idealistic
Presumptuous
Overstepping due bounds (as of propriety or courtesy), taking liberties
Pristine
Pure, uncorrupted, clean
Probity
Adherence to highest principles, complete and confirmed integrity, uprightness
“Can he vouch for the probity of his colleagues?”
Proclivity
A natural predisposition or inclination
Profligate
Excessively wasteful, recklessly extravagant
“Profligate consumers of energy”
Propensity
A natural inclination or tendency, penchant
Prosaic
Dull, lacking in spirit or imagination
Pungent
Characterized by a strong, sharp smell or taste
Quixotic
Foolishly impractical, marked by lofty romantic ideals
“A vast and perhaps quixotic project”
Quotidian
Occurring or recurring daily, commonplace
“The car sped off through the quotidian traffic”
Rarefy
To make or become thin, less dense, to refine
Recondite
Hidden, concealed, difficult to understand, obscure
“The book is full of recondite information”
Refulgent
Radiant, shiny, brilliant
“Refulgent blue eyes”
Renege
To fail to honor a commitment, to go back on a promise
“They have reneged on their promise to us”
Sedulous
Diligent, persistent hard working
“He watched himself with the most sedulous care”
Shard
A piece of broken pottery or glass
Soporific
Causing drowsiness, tending to induce sleep
Sparse
Thin, not dense, arranged at widely spaced intervals
Spendthrift
One who spends money wastefully
Subtle
Not obvious, elusive, difficult to discern
Tacit
Implied, not explicitly stated
Terse
Brief and concise in wording
Tout
To publicly praise or promote
Trenchant
Sharply perceptive, keen, penetrating, vigorous in expression or style
Unfeigned
Genuine, not false or hypocritical
Untenable
Indefensible, not viable, uninhabitable
Vacillate
To waver indecisively between one course of action or opinion and another
Variegated
Multicolored, characterized by a variety of patches of different color
Vexation
Annoyance, irritation
Vigilant
Alertly watchful
Vituperate
To use harsh condemnatory language, to abuse or censure severely or abusively, to berate
Volatile
Readily changing to a vapor, changeable, fickle, explosive
Intrepid
fearless; adventurous (often used for rhetorical or humorous effect)
Extoll
To praise lavishly
Preen
- (of a person) devote effort to making oneself look attractive and then admire one’s appearance.
- congratulate or pride oneself.
Recalcitrant
having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline.
“a class of recalcitrant fifteen-year-olds”
Truculence
the quality or attitude of being aggressively hostile; belligerence
Prevarication
the fact of avoiding telling the truth or saying exactly what you think
Vitiate
- spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of. “development programs have been vitiated by the rise in population”
- destroy or impair the legal validity of. “the insurance is vitiated because of foolish acts on the part of the tenant”
