Vocab P Flashcards
The priests at the ancient temple viewed anyone who did worship the Greek Gods as a pagan.
Pagan - one with no religious restraints; one who delights in sensual pleasures and material things; a hedonistic person
SYNONYM: heathen, idolater, irreligious, primitive
The politician had a “partisan” view of the tax bill. He was not listening to the people in his constituency. He was only listening to his party, the democrats.
Partisan - person devoted to another or a cause
SYNONYM: adherent, backer, devotee, proponent, stalwart, supporter, sympathizer, votary
The adopted boy had two men claiming to be his father. Those men had to prove their “paternal” claims by taking a paternity test.
Paternal - like a father; fatherly
SYNONYM: benevolent, devoted, patriarchal
The “patriarch” of the modern family is usually the father.
Patriarch - male head of a family or tribe
SYNONYM: ancestor, creator, father, senior
The fear of “perdition” had the devout Catholic worried about the fate of his soul. He decided to confess and admit to killing his business associate and turned himself to the authorities.
Perdition - eternal damnation; hell
SYNONYM: netherworld, the pit
The roses are “perennial” - they loose their flowers in the winter and come back in spring.
Perennial - year after year; again and again
SYNONYM: ceaseless, constant, continual, perpetual
The politician’s “perfunctory” response to the people’s concerns about schools had a widespread negative criticism. The politician lost his election because of not doing everything to help the very people who voted for him.
Perfunctory - mechanical, unenthusiastic, apathetic
SYNONYM: halfhearted, halfhearted, indifferent, mechanical, nonchalant
While the “periphery” of the pond looked small and safe, it was deceptively deep. Anyone who does not know how to swim can easily drown here.
Periphery - outermost edge
SYNONYM: border, boundary, circumference, edge, extremity, fringe, margin, outside, outskirts, perimeter
The smell of the delicious cookies “permeated” through the house staying around for days.
Permeate - to spread throughout
SYNONYM: drench, imbue, impregnate, infuse, ingrain, interfuse, penetrate, pervade, saturate, soak, steep, suffuse
The box found in the garden was “pertinent” to the case of the missing boy.
Pertinent - pertaining to the matter at hand
SYNONYM: admissible, applicable, apposite, appropriate, apropos, apt, fitting, germane, justifiable, legitimate, opportune, related, warranted
He was “perturbed” by the lack of response from the hospital with regards to his biopsy. He thought the doctors were taking too long and his might have cancer.
Perturb - to upset greatly
SYNONYM: acerbate, agitate, bewilder, confound, discompose, disconcert, dismay, disturb, fluster, irritate, perplex, p
The billionaire was commited to “philanthropy”. He contributed millions to education and the homeless.
Philanthropy - love of mankind (often expressed through charity)
SYNONYM: altruism, assistance, beneficence, generosity, gifting, humanitarianism
The “phylogeny” of the modern English words traces much of its roots back to Shakesperae.
Phylogeny - the evolutionary history of a kind of organism; a history or development of a word or custom
His “physiognomy” was a great reflection of his kind and gentle nature.
Physiognomy - the face or outside (taken as offering insight into character)
pithy
(adj) PITH-ee
brief, to the point
SYNONYM: cogent, compact, concise, crisp, curt, honed, laconic, pointed, succinct, terse
ANTONYM: long-winded, prolix, verbose, wordy
