Vocab #7 Flashcards
Void
(adj. ) Law. Having no legal force or effect; not legally binding or enforceable. Useless; ineffectual; vain. Devoid; destitute (usually followed by of): a life void of meaning. Without contents; empty.
(n) An empty space; emptiness: He disappeared into the void.
Something experienced as a loss or privation: His death left a great void in her life. A gap or opening, as in a wall.
(v – used with object) To make ineffectual; invalidate; nullify: to void a check. To empty; discharge; evacuate: To void excrement. To clear or empty (often followed by of): to void a chamber of occupants. Archaic. to depart from; vacate.
Desecrate
(v) To divest of sacred or hallowed character or office. To divert from a sacred to a profane use or purpose. To treat with sacrilege; profane.
Foible
(n) A minor weakness or failing of character; slight flaw or defect: an all-too-
human foible. The weaker part of a sword blade, between the middle and the point (opposed to
forte).
Complicity
(n) The state of being an accomplice; partnership or involvement
in wrongdoing: complicity in a crime.
• Adjective form: complicit
Immutable
(adj.) Not mutable; unchangeable; changeless.
Plaintive
(adj.) Expressing sorrow or melancholy; mournful: a plaintive melody.
Patent
(n) The exclusive right granted by a government to an inventor to manufacture, use, or sell an invention for a certain number of years. An invention or process protected by this protected by a patent.
(adj. ) Pertaining to, concerned with, or dealing with patents, especially on inventions: a patent attorney; patent law. Readily open to notice or observation; evident; obvious: a patent breach of good manners.
Malaise
(n) A condition of general bodily weakness or discomfort, often marking the onset of a disease. A vague or unfocused feeling of mental uneasiness, lethargy, or discomfort.
Foist
(v – used with object) To force upon or impose fraudulently or unjustifiably (usually followed by on or upon): to foist inferior merchandise on a customer. To bring, put, or introduce surreptitiously or fraudulently (usually followed by in or into): to foist political views into a news story.
Elicit
(v – used with object) To draw or bring out or forth; educe; evoke: to elicit the truth; to elicit a response with a question.
Contrive
(v – used with object) To plan with ingenuity; devise; invent: The author contrived a clever plot. To bring about or effect by a plan, scheme, or the like; manage: He contrived to gain their votes. To plot (evil, treachery, etc.).
(v – used without object) To form designs; plan. To plot.
Sullen
(adj.) Showing irritation or ill humor by a gloomy silence or reserve. Persistently and silently ill-humored; morose. Indicative of gloomy ill humor. Gloomy or dismal, as weather or a sound. Sluggish, as a stream.
Abhorrent
(adj.) Causing repugnance; detestable; loathsome: an abhorrent deed. Utterly opposed, or contrary, or in conflict (usually followed by to): abhorrent
to reason. Feeling extreme repugnance or aversion (usually followed by of): abhorrent of waste.
Remote in character (usually followed by from): abhorrent from the principles of law.
• Abhor is the verb form.
Depravity
(n) The state of being depraved. A depraved act or practice.
(adj. ) Corrupt, wicked, or perverted.
Covert
(adj.) Concealed; secret; disguised.
Covered, sheltered. Law. (Of a wife) under the protection of one’s husband.
(n) A covering; cover. A shelter or hiding place. Concealment or disguise. Hunting. A thicket giving shelter to wild animals or game.
