vocab quiz 4 Flashcards
anachronistic
(adj): chronologically misplaced
syn: asynchronous
avaricious
(adj): immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth
syn: greedy
bathos
(n): a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one
syn: anticlimax
(n): mawkishness (overly sentimental)
brusque
(adj): marked by rude or peremptory shortness
syn: curt, short, discourteous, brusk
contrite
(adj): feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offenses
syn: remorseful, repentant
copious
(adj): large in number or quantity (especially of discourse)
syn: abundant
didactic
(adj): instructive (especially excessively)
syn: instructive, informative
espouse
(v): choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans
syn: adopt, follow, comply, follow
(v): take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one’s own
synonyms: adopt, embrace
flippant
(adj): showing inappropriate levity
syn: light-minded, frivolous
grandiloquence
(n): high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation
It’s too grand to be eloquent, so grandiloquence is usually annoying.
hackneyed
(adj): repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
syn: banal, unoriginal, tired, well-worn, commonplace
harbinger
(n): something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone
syn: predecessor
(v): foreshadow or presage
syn: announce, foretell
iconoclast
(n): someone who attacks cherished ideas or traditional institutions
jest
(n): activity characterized by good humor
syn: joke
(v): act in a funny or teasing way
syn: joke
lurid
(adj): glaringly vivid and graphic; marked by sensationalism
syn: sensational, shocking
(adj): horrible in fierceness or savagery
syn: violent
mawkish
(ad)j: effusively or insincerely emotional
syn: emotional, sappy
non-sequitur
(n): a reply that has no relevance to what preceded it
(n): (logic) a conclusion that does not follow from the premises
obsequious
(adj): attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
syn: bootlicking, insincere
pomposity
(n): lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity
syn: inflation
quackery
(n): medical practice and advice based on observation and experience in ignorance of scientific findings
replete
(adj): filled to satisfaction with food or drink
syn
syn: full, nourished
(v): fill to satisfaction
syn: sate, fill
spurious
(adj): plausible but false
(adj): intended to deceive
syn: inauthentic, counterfeit
(adj): born out of wedlock
syn: bastardly, illegitimate
torpid
(adj): in a condition of biological rest or suspended animation
syn: dormant, hibernating, asleep
(adj): slow and apathetic
syn: inactive, sluggish
unsullied
(adj): (of reputation) free from blemishes
syn: untainted, untarnished, stainless
vacillate
(v): be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action
syn: hover, vibrate
(v): move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern
syn: fluctuate, waver
