Vocab Words Flashcards
(adj) - Fond of the company of others; sociable.
Gregarious
Ex - Gregarious students often struggle with independent projects and activities.
(n) - A dreamy sequence of usually happy or pleasant imaginings.
Reverie
Ex - I was angry when my children interrupted my reverie about my mansion and household servants.
(adj) - A temporary replacement
Interim
Ex - While Mrs. Carter is on maternity leave, Mr. Garrett will act as interim choir director.
(adj) - Very wicked or evil.
Nefarious
Ex - After coming up with a crime as wicked and nefarious as he did, that criminal deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
(v) - To say unpleasant things about someone or something; usually unfairly.
Malign
Ex - By spending the cruel rumor, my sister hoped to malign her ex-boyfriend.
(v) - To stir things up; instigate
Foment
Ex - The celebrity liked to foment rumors by posting cryptic statements about her private relationships online.
(adj) - Recurring
Chronic
Ex - For three months, I have had a chronic headache.
(adj) - Weakly and overly sentimental
Maudlin
Ex - Sarah is such a drama queen that she behaves in a maudlin way to even the smallest incident.
(n) - An idea that many people have about a thing or group that may often be untrue or only partly true.
Stereotype
Ex - Don’t perpetuate the stereotype of college jocks.
(v) - To force to leave out or refuse to include.
Ostracize
Ex - Bullies tend to ostracize others because they have low self-esteem and want to make those around them feel shunned and unaccepted.
(adj) - Something that is slowly and secretly causing harm.
Insidious
Ex - The investigators uncovered an insidious scheme to rob people of their life savings.
(n) - A type of language that consists of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal is more common in speech than writing and typically restricted to a particular context or group of people.
Slang
Ex - Mrs. Baer does not allow the use of slang in a formal essay.
(adj) - Clear-minded
Lucid
Ex - Because the medicine made Lisa drowsy, she was not very lucid.
(adj) - Laughable because on being ridiculous.
Ludicrous
Ex - The gigantic yellow hat looked ludicrous on the tiny man’s head.
(n) - Rotation around a point or axis.
Gyration
Ex - Staring at the helicopter’s propeller making nonstop gyrations made me dizzy.
(adj) - Feeling no fear; bold
Intrepid
Ex - Even when the storm was directly over our house, the intrepid old women did not panic.
(v) - To show devotion and honor to.
Revere
Ex - The students revered their teacher so much that they had a difficult time with the substitute teacher who came while she was taking maternity leave.
(adj) - Stiffly dignified or formal in speech or literary style; pompous.
Stilted
Ex - It was obvious Jeff’s parents made him deliver a stilted apology.
(adj) - Acting or taking place without any outside force or cause.
Spontaneous
Ex - Don’t make spontaneous and impulsive comments without thinking; you won’t be able to take your words back.
(n) - A scolding or bad-tempered women.
Shrew
Ex - The shrew in our neighborhood allows her dog to chase children who come on her property.
(adj) - To throw into disorder; make untidy.
Disheveled
Ex - Since Eli had not much time to comb his hair or wash his face, he looked quite disheveled.
(n) - A brief and witty saying.
Aphorism
Ex - Bill began his speech with a humorous aphorism from one of his favorite authors.
(v) - To pass into or through every part of.
Permeate
Ex - The light will permeate through the curtains when the sun rises.
(v) - To speak of as unimportant not much good.
Disparage
Ex - As a middle school teacher, I witness students verbally disparage each other on a daily basis.
(n) - A great difference.
Disparity
Ex - The disparity between the giant’s height and the dwarf’s height is obvious.
(adj) - Occurring by chance.
Fortuitous
Ex - Mark proved to be fortuitous by picking all six winning lotto numbers.
(adj) - Poorly done or made.
Shoddy
Ex - The shoddy porch collapsed one day after it was built.
(n) - An act or instance of not following the general rule or method.
Anomaly
Ex - Since my son has a history of failing classes, his good grades are a welcome anomaly.
(n) - A comparison in which an idea or thing is compared to another thing that is quite different from it.
Analogy
Ex - Just as the sword is the weapon of a warrior, the pen is the weapon of a writer.
(adj) - Incapable of being investigated; not easily understood.
Inscrutable
Ex - In situations where evidence is lacking, some murder easer remains inscrutable forever.
(adj) - Stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt.
Explicit
Ex - Since the tournament rules are explicit, there is no excuse for the athlete’s actions.
(n) - The literal or primary meaning in contrast to the feelings or ideas a word suggests; dictionary definition.
Denotation
Ex - It is important to know both the denotative and connotation associated with new vocabulary.
(n) - The overall message or life lesson of a poem or any other literary work.
Theme
Ex - Nationalism is a major theme in the literature of Panama.
(n) - When a word or phrase is used more than once of emphasis.
Repetition
Ex - Constant repetition makes it easier to learn how to spell a word.
(n) - The main subject of a poem, essay, composition, etc.
Topic
Ex - The best consists of a 500-word essay on the topic of your choice.
(n) - A feeling, memory or thought connected with a person, place or thing.
Association
Ex - His grandparent’s old house had happy associations for his.
(adj) - Especially evil or leading to evil.
Sinister
Ex - To make our home look sinister for Halloween, we placed fake spiderwebs all over the front porch.
(n) - A group of lines in a poem.
Stanza
Ex - The line contains an equal number of stanzas and is arranged in lines of four syllables each.
(n) - Special attention put on something to give it importance.
Emphasis
Ex - Our English teacher puts emphasis on spelling.
(n) - The words that are used with a certain word or phrase to help explain its meaning.
Context
Ex - It was Charles Dickens who first used the word “detective” in the literary context.
(n) - A lack of agreement generally between what one believes and how one acts.
Dissonance
Ex - There is a great deal of dissonance between what a liar says and does.
(v) - To make public; disclose.
Divulge
Ex - Doctors must be careful not to divulge confidential information about their patients.
(adj) - Of the same or a similar kind or nature.
Homogenous
Ex - At my school, the smartest students are placed in homogenous classes so they can challenge each other.
(n) - The state of not using alcohol or illegal drugs.
Sobriety
Ex - Sobriety tests showed that the driver was inebriated and not able to operate a vehicle.
(adj) - Deserving to be despised.
Despicable
Ex - Her despicable behavior earned her nothing but some jail time.
(v) - To twist and turn this way and that as if from struggling or pain.
Writhe
Ex - The poison caused the witch to writhe in agony before she died.
(v) - To prevent it from happening.
Preclude
Ex - The young gymnast has suffered an injury which will preclude him from being a part of the Olympic team.
(adj) - Deeply upset or agitated.
Distraught
Ex - When my father died. I was so distraught, I dropped out of school.
(n) - The strongest or most successful period of time.
Zenith
Ex - After the president brought an end to the war, his popularity his it’s zenith.
(n) - An unusual or unexpected sight, a ghost.
Apparition
Ex - Guest at the hotel claim they have seen an apparition of the woman in the portrait wondering through the halls at night.
