Vocab 7 Flashcards
Bemused
Puzzled, confused, or bewildered
Susurration
Whispering, murmuring, or rustling
“The susurration of the river”
Spurious
Not what it purports to be, false or fake
Maladroit
Ineffective or bungling, clumsy
Profligacy
Reckless extravagance or wastefulness in the use of resources, promiscuous behavior
Panegyrical
Eulogistic oration or writing
Gauche
Lacking ease or grace, unsophisticated and socially awkward
Banal
So lacking in originality as to be obvious and boring
Quiescent
In a state or period of inactivity or dormancy
Decorous
In keeping with good taste and propriety, polite and restrained
Prepossessing
Attractive or appealing in appearance
Felicitous
Well chosen or suited to the circumstances, pleasing and fortunate
Diffidence
Modesty or shyness resulting from a lack of self confidence
Reticent
Not revealing one’s thoughts or feelings readily
Doughty
Brave and persistent
Retrenchment
The reduction of costs or spending in response to economic difficulty
Coruscating
Flashing, sparkling, or severely critical, scathing
Teleological
Explaining phenomena in terms of the purpose they serve rather than how they’re caused, or relating to the doctrine of design and purpose in the material world
Preternatural
Beyond what is normal or natural
Countenance
A person’s face or facial expression, support, admit as acceptable or possible
Edifying
Providing moral or intellectual instruction
Cadge
Ask for or obtain something to which one is not strictly entitled
Mendicate
To beg
Iridescent
Showing luminous colors that seem to change when seen from different angles
Monocoque
An aircraft or vehicle structure in which the chassis is integral with the body
Pavonine
Of or like a peacock
Parietal
Of, relating to, attached to, or denoting the wall of the body or of a body cavity or hollow structure. Or, relating to residence in a college dormitory and especially to visits from members of the opposite sex.
Execrable
Extremely bad or unpleasant
Sidereal
Of or with respect to the distant stars
Etiolated
Having lost vigor or substance, feeble, (of a plant) pale and drawn out due to lack of light
Circumscribed
Restrict something within limits