Vocab. Builder – Academic Flashcards
In ac. citation, the idea that a concept can be found throughout a text, rather than in one single location
Ad passim
Excessively lavish; praising; obeisant; panegyric
Adulatory
A cat-lover.
Ailurophile
Assistant to an artist
Amanuensis
Lacking colour or vitality
Anaemic
Feeble
Anemic
Having rings or ringed
Annulate
Something that is inoffensive or unchallenging, such as a bland or generic piece of art or music (lit: an analgesic)
Anodyne
Pithy observation which contains a general truth.
Aphorism
Confidence
Aplomb
Highest part, peak, apogee
Apotheosis
Member of a Communist Party apparat; an official in a large political organization. “Tory apparatchiks”
Apparatchik
Formal title or name
Appellation
Ambitious upstart or nouveau-riche
Arriviste
Attack on the integrity or character of someone
Aspersion
Devoid of cadence
Atonic
Respected or well-to-do
August
Relating to an elaborately ornamented style of art and music
Baroque
To exhaust with attacks
Beleaguer
The leading sheep of a flock, with a bell on its neck; something that leads or indicates a trend.
Bellwether
Conventional or orthodox
Bien pensant
A novel dealing with one person’s formative years or spiritual education.
Bildungsroman
Obtain or withhold money from (someone) unfairly or by deceit; cheat or defraud.
Bilk
A person who has a good social life
Bon vivant
Work of little or no value done merely to look busy
Boondoggle
To cut out or edit an offensive section of a work, esp. so as to render it less moving
Bowdlerise
A trite, unoriginal, or clichéd statement that is intended to soothe or placate.
Bromide
In a lovely rural setting.
Bucolic
Irritatingly self-assertive.
Bumptious
A secret political clique or faction.
Cabal
Convertible whip
Cabriolet
A modulation or inflection of the voice
Cadence
A lie
Canard
Determined by chance or impulse rather than by necessity
Capricious
Cavil; complain or find fault continually about trivial matters
Carp
Carp; complain / make petty or unnecessary objections
Cavil
Assuming all else remains unchanged
Ceteris paribus
Brilliantly loud and clear
Clarion
Intermediary between buyer and seller
Clearing house
Conversation
Colloquy
Phenomenon which occurs together with another
Concomitant
To blend together.
Conflate
Friendly, amicable, or easy to get along with
Congeniality
Lively and atmospheric
Convivial
Related to person’s body, vis-a-vis their spirit
Corporeal
(Of wit or humour) light and sparkling
Coruscating
(Of someone’s character) niggardly, (of speech or movement) slow
Costive
A small group or cabal of people with shared interests or tastes, especially one that is exclusive of other people “a coterie of friends and advisers”
Coterie
Grumpy old guy
Curmudgeon
Something that strongly attracts attention by its brilliance, interest, etc.; something serving for guidance or direction:
Cynosure
A brief love affair.
Dalliance
To take leave
Decamp
To cover an expense or outgoing
Defray
Dominion, territory.
Demesne
Quotidian language used by laymen
Demotic
Shy and reserved; diffident
Demure
The final part of a play, where all the strings are drawn together; The resolution of a mystery.
Denouement
Disuse
Desuetude
Slow, sluggish
Desultory
An event that comes out of nowhere to change trajectory of story
Deus ex machine
Scale back
Dial back
Process of inquiry
Dialectic
Filmy
Diaphanous
Intended primarily to teach
Didacticism
Modest or shy
Diffident
Relating to sexual or hedonistic gratification
Dionysian
Enjoying oneself sans inhibitions
Disporting
A long speech
Disquisition
Seeking to impose a doctrine in all circumstances without regard to practical considerations
Doctrinaire
Poorly written verse or stanza
Doggerel
Resembling a college don, particularly because of having a pedantic, scholarly manner.
Donnish
Vaguely macho way of saying research something
Drill down
Something regarded as worthless; rubbish.
Dross
Able to be guided; malleable
Ductile
Sweet, sugary
Dulcet
Bubbling enthusiasm.
Ebullience
Representing a number of diff. Christian churches
Ecumenical
Bubbly
Effervescent
Feminine and overly affected (particularly of a man); camp
Effete
Flowering, blooming
Efflorescence
Use of detailed description of a work of visual art as a literary device.
Ekphrasis
(Of a work or art) like a lament
Elegiac
Join different things together as if they are the same; to become joined in this way:
Elide
A good potion.
Elixir
Beauty and persuasion in speech
Eloquence
Rubbing on a lotion
Embrocation
A softener
Emollient
Salary, fee, or profit from office
Emoluments
Action borne of frustration with bureaucracy (e.g. ‘can we do an end run on this’?)
End run
Lasting a very short time; lasting one day only
Ephemeral
A witty, often paradoxical remark, concisely expressed. 2. a short, pungent, and often satirical poem, esp one having a witty and ingenious ending
Epigram
A sudden revelation
Epiphany
Repetition of clauses throughout a phrase
Epistrophe
Used as a poor substitute for someone else
Ersatz
Former
Erstwhile
Gaseous, invisible but detectable.
Ethereal
Looking sick, unwell, or emaciated
Etiolated
Vanishing quickly, lasting a very short time
Evanescent
Suggestive
Evocative
Demanding
Exigent
Elaborate
Expatiate
To make up for (a sin)
Expiate
Destroy
Extirpate
Triumphantly happy
Exultant
Pleasantness
Felicity
Group of people who undermine a larger group from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or nation.
Fifth column
Capable of or prone to being split or divided 2 : something deviating from the proper, normal, or accepted order
Fissile
One who lounges around
Flâneur
Hollow compliments
Flummery
Minor flaw or a weakness
Foible
The soft spot on a baby’s head
Fontanelle
Withholding response to provocation
Forbearance
Rule out or prohibit
Foreclose
Fleeting; tending to disappear; ephemeral
Fugacious
Express violent outcry against
Fulminate
Exceedingly
Fulsome
Having the qualities of the deceased; morbid; moribund
Funereal
Shifty, sneaky
Furtive
Person who annoys or criticizes others in order to provoke them into action.
Gadfly
To skip or leap about joyfully
Gambol
To embellish (lit: to decorate w/ flowers)
Garland
An organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts.
Gestalt
Made in broad sweeps
Gestural
Artfully persuasive in speech
Glib
An extremely difficult or involved problem.
Gordian knot
The finest piece of thread, a spider’s silk
Gossamer
Slender
Gracile
Denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful.
Halcyon
Fatal flaw; Achilles
Hamartia
Clumsy; doing things in an awkward or unskilled way when using the hands or dealing with people
Ham-fisted
Relating to the sense of touch, in particular relating to the perception and manipulation of objects using the senses of touch and proprioception.
Haptic
Messenger with news of the future
Harbinger
Feeling strained as a result of having demands persistently made on one; harassed.
Harried
Pride, self-belief
Hauteur
(Of a seal or closure) complete and airtight.
Hermetic
Not conforming with accepted or orthodox standards or beliefs
Heterodox
A person who explains; a person who defends; a priest in Ancient Greece
Hierophant
An area beyond that which is known or established (about someone) (e.g. Obama’s hinterland)
Hinterland
A tedious moralising lecture
Homily
One who attacks institutions or beliefs
Iconoclast
Overlapping and forming a regular pattern
Imbrication
An altercation or complicated situation
Imbroglio
To infuse, instill
Imbue
Arrogant or demanding
Imperious
Having just begun and so not fully formed; rudimentary
Inchoate
Beginning, in an early stage
Incipient
Having little to no self-restraint
Incontinent
(Of a person or their behaviour) not able to be changed or reformed.
Incorrigible
Poor or impoverished
Indigent
Harden
Indurate
Unutterable, inexpressible
Ineffable
Incapable of being avoided
Ineluctable
A naïve young woman
Ingénue
A cozy nook by the hearth
Inglenook
Blithe nonchalance
Insouciance
Destructive to both sides in a conflict
Internecine
To appear soon (lit: on the horizon)
In the offing
Verbally rally against
Inveigh against
Angry
Irascible
Too simple and/or dull
Jejune
A long, mournful complaint or lamentation; a list of woes.
Jeremiad
Inspect or test the quality of something before purchasing it
Kick the tires
Tacky, appeals to popular rather than highbrow style
Kitsch
Offshoring of jobs
Labour arbitrage
Twisting and turning
Labyrinthine
A blank space or missing part
Lacuna
Something given as a bonus or gratuity; A special kind of gift
Lagniappe
A small gulf or inlet
Lagoon
(Of a light) flickering; (of a person’s sense of humour) brilliant but with a light touch
Lambert
Tiredness or inactivity, especially when pleasurable; an oppressive stillness of the air
Languor
Weariness; fatigue; a state of dreamy idleness
Lassitude
Slight of hand
Legerdemain
Recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation
Leitmotif
Treatment of a serious matter with humour or lack of due respect.
Levity
To move musically or lively
Lilt
Of, or related to, a border
Liminal
Thin, supple, svelte; slender and graceful
Lissom
Slender and flexible
Lithe
In place of a parent or guardian
Loco parentis
Person or thing which serves as a guiding force
Lodestar
Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).
Logocentric
Talkative
Loquacious
Disreputable or rakish
Louche
Impractical contemplative person having no definite income or business
Luftmensch
Like a wolf
Lupine
Forgiving, especially towards a lesser opponent
Magnanimous
Idea that pop. growth is exponential, food is linear
Malthusianism
Sweet sounding
Mellifluous
Given to begging
Mendicant
Alluring but vulgar (lit: like a prozzie)
Meretricious
Unpleasant cloud, atmosphere, or stench
Miasma
Rule of logic which states that if a conditional statement (‘if p then q ’) is accepted, and the antecedent ( p ) holds, then the consequent ( q ) may be inferred.
Modus ponens
One of two equal parts
Moiety
A slip of the ear
Mondegreen
Large and resistant to change
Monolithic
Biting
Mordant
At point of death
Moribund
Generous
Munificent
Person of great wealth or prominence
Nabob
Activity of spending too much time considering your own thoughts, feelings, or problems
Navel-gazing
Logical fallacy occurring when a conclusion is drawn that does not follow from the premises or evidence presented
Non sequitur
False accusation of an offense or a malicious misrepresentation of someone’s words or actions
Obloquy
Extremely unpleasant
Odious
The sea between the horizon and the offshore
Offing
Oleaginous, unctuous, obsequious
Oily/sycophantic
A word that sounds like its meaning
Onomatopoeia
Lush, luxuriant
Opulent
Something horrid
Ordure
Bad-tempered or difficult to deal with
Ornery
Mechanical model of solar system
Orrery
Right angles
Orthogonal
A manuscript written over earlier ones
Palimpsest
Hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases
Panacea
Conviction in one’s own sense of style
Panache
Poem delivered in high praise of someone/something
Panegyric
Optimistic no matter what
Panglossian
A complete set
Panoply
Circular prison with cells arranged around a central well, from which prisoners could at all times be observed.
Panopticon
Group of distinguished people
Pantheon
Always in danger; full of uncertainty; precarious
Parlous
Narrow scope
Parochial
Sudden burst of either emotion or disease
Paroxysm
Art work combining materials from various sources.
Pastiche
Surface that has altered due to age
Patina
Repentant
Penitential
A half-shadow
Penumbra
A journey, esp. a long or meandering one
Peregrination
(Of an action) carried out w/o enthusiasm or interest; done carelessly as a matter of routine
Perfunctory
Use of more words than necessary to convey meaning
Perissology
Made uneasy or anxious
Perturb
Smell of earth after rain
Petrichor
Strategy of controlling petroleum sales as a way of achieving international political goals.
Petropolitics
(Of a person) childish or sulky
Petulant
Study of stamps
Philatelist
Person who is guided by materialism and is usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values
Philistine
Having a disposition which cannot be perturbed
Phlegmatic
Very softly
Pianissimo
Terse and vigorously expressive
Pithy
Sad or sorrowful
Plaintive
(Of a sound) like a lament
Plangent
(Of a remark or statement) used too often to be interesting or thoughtful; hackneyed.
Platitudinous
A large quantity
Plethora
A strong written attack
Polemic
Formal politeness
Politesse
Of, or related to, the growing of fruit
Pomological
Sign or warning that a momentous or calamitous event is likely to happen.
Portent
All potential knowledge can be revealed through scientific methods
Positivism
Rejection or skepticism if the “grand narratives” of modernism, in the affable march of progress. How truth emerges in contextual and subjective circumstances.
Post-modernism
One who rules with reckless abandon; a dictator
Potentate
Magic tricks involving sleight of hand
Prestidigitation
Outrageously good
Preternatural
Quality or right of being firstborn
Primogeniture
Of speech or writing: using too many words; perissology
Prolix (adj.)
An inclination
Propinquity
Fair chance of success
Propitious
Able to change with ease
Protean
Overly sexual or horny
Prurient
Eager to fight; pugnacious
Pugilistic
Period of non-partisanship pre-election; period of social segregation for women
Purdah
Extent of the influence (of someone or something)
Purview
Pusillanimous, shy, timid, demure, reticent
Pusillanimous
Successful with heavy losses
Pyrrhic
The unique, unidentifiable essence of someone or something
Quiddity
Extremely idealistic; unrealistic and impractical
Quixotic
Once was; former; erstwhile
Quondam
Teasing of a light-hearted nature
Raillery
A defensive wall of a castle or walled city, having a broad top with a walkway and typically a stone parapet.
Rampart
Expressed in or of the nature of short, pithy maxims or aphorisms.
Gnomic
Excessively greedy
Rapacious
A spicy French stew
Ratatouille
To knit or unknit
Ravel
Unattractive; repellent; offensive; disgusting
Rebarbative
Reminiscent; evocative; suggestive. Also fragrant, odorous, etc.
Redolent
Contribute to; result in; lead to; bring about.
Redound to
Brought back; restored
Redux
Make something abstract more real
Reify
Cancel or postpone (lit: capital punishment)
Reprieve
Pusillanimous, shy, timid, or demure
Reticent
Referring to sexual matters in an amusing coarse or irreverent manner
Ribald
By the bank of a stream
Riparian
One who terrorises on supposedly benevolent grounds
Robespierre
Quarrel; dispute; argument
Ruction
Excessively sweet or sugarcoated; cloying; mawkish
Saccharine
Good for mind and/or body
Salubrious
Optimistic, Panglossian
Sanguine
A spark or very small thing
Scintilla
A young shoot or twig of a plant, especially one cut for grafting or rooting; a descendant of a notable family.
Scion
Lesser of two evils
Scylla and Charybdis
To a certain extent, or to some degree. Used in logic and philosophy to to describe a logical fallacy in which a general statement is applied to a specific case without taking into account relevant qualifications or exceptions.
Secundum quid
With diligence
Sedulous
Finding something nice while looking for something else
Serendipity
Sullied through frontline use
Shopworn
A (usually poor) recreation of someone or something
Simulacrum
Essential ingredient
Sine qua non
Remarkable, noticeable, uniquely
Singularly
A descriptive name or epithet
Sobriquet
An ungrammatical combination of words in a sentence; also : a minor blunder in speech
Solecism
A sense of extreme self-centeredness, egoism, or a tendency to disregard the feelings and experiences of others
Solipsistic
The realization that each passerby has a life as complex as one’s own, or the feeling of being a small part of a larger universe
Sonder
A specious type of argumentation or reasoning that is deceptive, misleading, or superficially plausible, but ultimately flawed or fallacious. It often involves the use of clever rhetoric or language to obscure the truth, manipulate people’s beliefs or emotions, or defend a flawed or unsound argument.
Sophistry
Seemingly plausible, but actually incorrect
Specious
An artifice or a trick for misleading the enemy
Stratagem
Presenting a view in an excessively forceful manner
Strident
People’s behaviours must be parsed in the context of the social environs they exist within
Structuralism
Subjugated, overlorded
Suborned
Erupting w/ anger; irascible
Sulphurous
Light, delicate or warm and sunny
Summery
Lush, luxurious; amenable to a sybarite
Sumptuous
Secretive, sneaky, furtive
Surreptitious
A person who controls another
Svengali
The swan song (ancient Greek: κύκνειον ᾆσμα; Latin: carmen cygni) is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement.
Swan song
One overly fond of luxury
Sybarite
Suck-up
Sycophant
Meeting centred on one particular topic
Symposium
Fig. of speech in which whole is used to refer to a part or vice-versa (e.g. “Fingers” for thief)
Synecdoche
Blank slate. Particularly relevant to philosophy, where it entails the concept that each individual is born without preconceptions
Tabula rasa
Reserved in terms of speech or detail; to a lesser extent, reticent and/or demure
Taciturn
A harsh-tempered or overbearing woman who frequently quarrels or scolds
Termagant
Survey camera
Theodolite
Thrifty or lacking
Threadbare
To expose to shame or blame by means of falsehood and misrepresentation
Traduce
(Roman) group of three men holding power
Triumvirate
Easy or quick to fight – see also pugilistic and/or pugnacious
Truculent
Attractive items of ostentation, or little use
Trumpery
Unable to be quenched
Unslakable
Not restricted or restrained
Untrammelled
Scold (a person)
Upbraid
(Of a man) devoted to his wife to an intense degree
Uxorious
Units at the front of a squadron.
Vanguard
Addition of colour or distinction
Variegate
(Of a fault) trivial
Venial
Forming a very small remnant of something that was once greater or more noticeable
Vestigial
Contentious
Vexed
Harm the quality of
Vitiate
Bitter and abusive language
Vituperation
Give or acquiesce to, in a condescending manner
Vouchsafe
The means
Wherewithal
Sorrowful, downcast
Woebegone
A gentle breeze
Zephyr
A phrase in which a word applies to two others in different senses (e.g. John and his driving licence expired last week).
Zeugma
The investigation or attribution of the cause or reason for something, often expressed in terms of historical or mythical explanation
Etiology
Beginning to take place and/or develop
Incipient
Word form that remains unchanged singular vs. plural
Invariant or uninflected
Peak
Acme, zenith, apogee
Lack of respect, rudeness
Impertinence; impudence; contempuity
Restrictions or impediments to freedom of action
Trammel
Presented in vividly shocking or sensational terms.
“the more lurid details of the massacre were too frightening for the children”
Lurid
Person or thing that attracts attention, criticism, or controversy. In this context, a lightning rod is seen as a way of deflecting negative attention or criticism away from other people or issues
Lightning rod
Confident style of manner; flair
Panache
The state of feeling remorseful and penitent
Contrition
A retaliatory act
Reprisal
denoting or relating to the kind of language used by ordinary people; colloquial
Demotic
Showing great skill and/or flair
Consummate
Relating to or consisting of money.
“he admitted obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception”
Pecuniary
conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch
Sedition
A feeling of unease or embarrassment; awkwardness
Discomfiture
Knowledge independent from current experience (e.g., as part of a new study).
A priori
Given to moralizing in a pompous or affected manner
Sententious
Harmful, hostile, or unfriendly
Inimical
Authentic and typical
Echt
Humanity to others
Ubuntu
Pretentious or juvenile
Sophomoric
threatening harm; menacing.
Baleful
Witty remark or saying
Epigram
