vocab2 Flashcards
1
Q
diaspora
A
a mass dispersion of a group, culture, or language beyond its homeland or initial boundaries
2
Q
peregrinate
A
to travel, wander, or journey from place to place, often by foot
3
Q
ZEL-
A
root meaning ardor, emulation, or eager rivalry
4
Q
hegemony
A
strong leadership, authority, or dominance
5
Q
moreish
A
delicious, enticing, or addictive; having a taste that makes one want more
“‘You’re here,’ he says, and his voice is like sunshine, like honey, it’s warm and rich and moreish. ‘I’m so very glad.’ Where Silas’s voice is spikes and edges, every word a warning, this man’s voice is smooth, velvety and beckoning.”
6
Q
indolent
A
lazy or unwilling to work or exert oneself; slothful
“Opportunity is coy, is swift, is gone, before the slow, the unobservant, the indolent, or the careless can seize her.”
7
Q
levity
A
humor, frivolity, or lightness of mood; buoyancy; lack of weight
“Levity is the lubricant of a crisis. We resort to jokes, pranks and good natured kidding to relieve tension, stress and boredom.”
8
Q
derelict
A
abandoned or in bad condition from disuse and neglect; negligent or careless of duty
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
9
Q
hyperpolyglot
A
fluent in at least six languages; multilingual
10
Q
balk
A
to stop, block abruptly (Edna’s boss balked at her request for another raise.)
11
Q
ballad
A
) a love song (Greta’s boyfriend played her a ballad on the guitar during their
walk through the dark woods.)
12
Q
bane
A
a burden (Advanced physics is the bane of many students’ academic lives.)
13
Q
bard
A
a poet, often a singer as well (Shakespeare is often considered the greatest bard
in the history of the English language.)
14
Q
bashful
A
shy, excessively timid (Frankie’s mother told him not to be bashful when
he refused to attend the birthday party.)
15
Q
battery
A
1.(n.) a device that supplies power (Most cars run on a combination of power
from a battery and gasoline.) 2. (n.)assault, beating (Her husband was accused of
assault and battery after he attacked a man on the sidewalk.)
16
Q
beguile
A
(v.) to trick, deceive (The thief beguiled his partners into surrendering all of
their money to him.)
17
Q
behemoth
A
(n.) something of tremendous power or size (The new aircraft carrier is
among several behemoths that the Air Force has added to its fleet.)
18
Q
benevolent
A
(adj.) marked by goodness or doing good (Police officers should be
commended for their benevolent service to the community.)
19
Q
benign
A
(adj.) favorable, not threatening, mild (We were all relieved to hear that the
medical tests determined her tumor to be benign.)
20
Q
bequeath
A
(v.) to pass on, give (Jon’s father bequeathed his entire estate to his mother.)
21
Q
berate
A
(v.) to scold vehemently (The angry boss berated his employees for failing to
meet their deadline.)
22
Q
bereft
A
(adj.) devoid of, without (His family was bereft of food and shelter following the
tornado.)
23
Q
beseech
A
(v.) to beg, plead, implore (The servant beseeched the king for food to feed his
starving family.)
24
Q
bias
A
(n.) a tendency, inclination, prejudice (The judge’s hidden bias against smokers led
him to make an unfair decision.)
25
bilk
(v.) cheat, defraud (The lawyer discovered that this firm had bilked several clients
out of thousands of dollars.)
26
blandish
(v.) to coax by using flattery (Rachel’s assistant tried to blandish her into
accepting the deal.)
27
blemish
(n.) an imperfection, flaw (The dealer agreed to lower the price because of the
many blemishes on the surface of the wooden furniture.)
28
blight
1. (n.) a plague, disease (The potato blight destroyed the harvest and bankrupted
many families.)
2. (n.) something that destroys hope (His bad morale is a blight
upon this entire operation.)
29
boisterous
(adj.) loud and full of energy (The candidate won the vote after giving
several boisterous speeches on television.)
30
bombastic
(adj.) excessively confident, pompous (The singer’s bombastic performance
disgusted the crowd.)
31
boon
(n.) a gift or blessing (The good weather has been a boon for many businesses
located near the beach.)
32
bourgeois
(n.) a middle-class person, capitalist (Many businessmen receive criticism for
their bourgeois approach to life.)
33
brazen
(adj.) excessively bold, brash (Critics condemned the novelist’s brazen attempt
to plagiarize Hemingway’s story.)
34
brusque
(adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (The captain’s brusque manner offended the
passengers.)
35
buffet
1. (v.) to strike with force (The strong winds buffeted the ships, threatening to
capsize them.)
2. (n.) an arrangement of food set out on a table (Rather than sitting
around a table, the guests took food from our buffet and ate standing up.)
36
burnish
(v.) to polish, shine (His mother asked him to burnish the silverware before
setting the table.)
37
buttress
1. (v.) to support, hold up (The column buttresses the roof above the statue.)
2.
(n.)something that offers support (The buttress supports the roof above the statues.)
38
cacophony
(n.) tremendous noise, disharmonious sound (The elementary school
orchestra created a cacophony at the recital.)
39
cadence
(n.) a rhythm, progression of sound (The pianist used the foot pedal to
emphasize the cadence of the sonata.)
40
cajole
(v.) to urge, coax (Fred’s buddies cajoled him into attending the bachelor party.)
41
calamity
(n.) an event with disastrous consequences (The earthquake in San Francisco
was a calamity worse than any other natural disaster in history.)
42
calibrate
(v.) to set, standardize (The mechanic calibrated the car’s transmission to
make the motor run most efficiently.)
43
callous
(adj.) harsh, cold, unfeeling (The murderer’s callous lack of remorse shocked the
jury.)
44
calumny
(n.) an attempt to spoil someone else’s reputation by spreading lies (The local
official’s calumny ended up ruining his opponent’s prospect of winning the election.)
45
camaraderie
(n.) brotherhood, jovial unity (Camaraderie among employees usually
leads to success in business.)
46
candor
(n.) honesty, frankness (We were surprised by the candor of the mayor’s speech
because he is usually rather evasive.)
47
canny
(adj.) shrewd, careful (The canny runner hung at the back of the pack through
much of the race to watch the other runners, and then sprinted past them at the end.)
48
canvas
1. (n.) a piece of cloth on which an artist paints (Picasso liked to work on canvas
rather than on bare cement.)
2. (v.) to cover, inspect (We canvassed the
neighborhood looking for clues.)
49
capacious
(adj.) very spacious (The workers delighted in their new capacious office
space.)
50
capitulate
(v.) to surrender (The army finally capitulated after fighting a long costly
battle.)
51
capricious
(adj.) subject to whim, fickle (The young girl’s capricious tendencies made it
difficult for her to focus on achieving her goals.)
52
captivate
(v.)to get the attention of, hold (The fireworks captivated the young boy, who
had never seen such things before.)
53
carouse
(v.) to party, celebrate (We caroused all night after getting married.)
54
carp
(v.) to annoy, pester (The husband divorced his wife after listening to her carping
voice for decades.)
55
catalog
1. (v.) to list, enter into a list (The judge cataloged the victim’s injuries before
calculating how much money he would award.) 2. (n.) a list or collection (We
received a catalog from J. Crew that displayed all of their new items.)
56
catalyze
(v.) to charge, inspire (The president’s speech catalyzed the nation and
resuscitated the economy.)
57
caucus
(n.) a meeting usually held by people working toward the same goal (The
ironworkers held a caucus to determine how much of a pay increase they would
request.)
58
caustic
(adj.) bitter, biting, acidic (The politicians exchanged caustic insults for over an
hour during the debate.)
59
cavort
(v.) to leap about, behave boisterously (The adults ate their dinners on the patio,
while the children cavorted around the pool.)
60
censure
1. (n.) harsh criticism (The frustrated teenager could not put up with anymore
of her critical mother’s censure.)
2. (v.) to rebuke formally (The principal censured
the head of the English Department for forcing students to learn esoteric
vocabulary.)
61
cerebral
(adj.) related to the intellect (The books we read in this class are too cerebral—
they don’t engage my emotions at all.)
62
chaos
(n.) absolute disorder (Mr. Thornton’s sudden departure for the lavatory
plunged his classroom into chaos.)
63
chastise
(v.) to criticize severely (After being chastised by her peers for mimicking
Britney Spears, Miranda dyed her hair black and affected a Gothic style.)
64
cherish
(v.) to feel or show affection toward something (She continued to cherish her
red plaid trousers, even though they had gone out of style and no longer fit her.)
65
chide
(v.) to voice disapproval (Lucy chided Russell for his vulgar habits and sloppy
appearance.)
66
choreography
(n.) the arrangement of dances (The plot of the musical was banal, but the
choreography was stunning.)
67
chronicle
1. (n.) a written history (The library featured the newly updated chronicle of World War II.)
2. (v.) to write a history (Albert’s diary chronicled the day-to-day
growth of his obsession with Cynthia.)
68
chronological
(adj.) arranged in order of time (Lionel carefully arranged the snapshots
of his former girlfriends in chronological order, and then set fire to them.)
69
circuitous
(adj.) roundabout (The bus’s circuitous route took us through numerous
outlying suburbs.)
70
circumlocution
(n.) indirect and wordy language (The professor’s habit of speaking in
circumlocutions made it difficult to follow his lectures.)
71
circumscribed
(adj.) marked off, bounded (The children were permitted to play tag
only within a carefully circumscribed area of the lawn.)
72
circumspect
(adj.) cautious (Though I promised Rachel’s father I would bring her home
promptly by midnight, it would have been more circumspect not to have specified a
time.)
73
circumvent
(v.) to get around (The school’s dress code forbidding navel-baring jeans
was circumvented by the determined students, who were careful to cover up with
long coats when administrators were nearby.)
74
clairvoyant
(adj.) able to perceive things that normal people cannot (Zelda’s uncanny
ability to detect my lies was nothing short of clairvoyant.)
75
clamor
1. (n.) loud noise (Each morning the birds outside my window make such a
clamor that they wake me up.)
2. (v.)to loudly insist (Neville’s fans clamored for
him to appear on stage, but he had passed out on the floor of his dressing room.)
76
clandestine
(adj.) secret (Announcing to her boyfriend that she was going to the gym,
Sophie actually went to meet Joseph for a clandestine liaison.)
77
cleave
1. (v.) to divide into parts (Following the scandalous disgrace of their leader, the
entire political party cleaved into warring factions.)
2. (v.) to stick together firmly
(After resolving their marital problems, Junior and Rosa cleaved to one another all
the more tightly.)
78
clemency
(n.) mercy (After he forgot their anniversary, Martin could only beg Maria
for clemency
79
clergy
(n.) members of Christian holy orders (Though the villagers viewed the church
rectory as quaint and charming, the clergy who lived there regarded it as a mildewy
and dusty place that aggravated their allergies.)
80
cloying
(adj.) sickeningly sweet (Though Ronald was physically attractive, Maud
found his constant compliments and solicitous remarks cloying.)
81
coagulate
(v.) to thicken, clot (The top layer of the pudding had coagulated into a thick
skin.)
82
coalesce
(v.) to fuse into a whole (Gordon’s ensemble of thrift-shop garments coalesced
into a surprisingly handsome outfit.)
83
cobbler
(n.) a person who makes or repairs shoes (I had my neighborhood cobbler
replace my worn-out leather soles with new ones.)
84
coerce
(v.) to make somebody do something by force or threat (The court decided that
Vanilla Ice did not have to honor the contract because he had been coerced into
signing it.)
85
cogent
(adj.)intellectually convincing (Irene’s arguments in favor of abstinence were so
cogent that I could not resist them.)
86
cognizant
(adj.) aware, mindful (Jake avoided speaking to women in bars because he
was cognizant of the fact that drinking impairs his judgment.)
87
coherent
(adj.) logically consistent, intelligible (Renee could not figure out what
Monroe had seen because he was too distraught to deliver a coherent statement.)
88
collateral
1. (adj.)secondary (Divorcing my wife had the collateral effect of making me
poor, as she was the only one of us with a job or money.)
2. (n.) security for a debt
(Jacob left his watch as collateral for the $500 loan.)
89
colloquial
(adj.) characteristic of informal conversation (Adam’s essay on sexual
response in primates was marked down because it contained too many colloquial
expressions.)
90
collusion
(n.)secret agreement, conspiracy (The three law students worked in collusion
to steal the final exam.)
91
colossus
(n.) a gigantic statue or thing (For 56 years, the ancient city of Rhodes featured
a colossus standing astride its harbor.)
92
combustion
(n.) the act or process of burning (The unexpected combustion of the
prosecution’s evidence forced the judge to dismiss the case against Ramirez.)
93
commendation
(n.) a notice of approval or recognition (Jared received a commendation
from Linda, his supervisor, for his stellar performance.)
94
commensurate
(adj.) corresponding in size or amount (Ahab selected a very long roll
and proceeded to prepare a tuna salad sandwich commensurate with his enormous
appetite.)
95
commodious
(adj.)roomy (Holden invited the three women to join him in the back seat
of the taxicab, assuring them that the car was quite commodious.)
96
compelling
(adj.) forceful, demanding attention (Eliot’s speech was so compelling that
Lenore accepted his proposal on the spot.)
97
compensate
(v.) to make an appropriate payment for something (Reginald bought
Sharona a new dress to compensate her for the one he’d spilled his ice cream on.)
98
complacency
(n.) self-satisfied ignorance of danger (Colin tried to shock his friends out
of their complacency by painting a frightening picture of what might happen to
them.)
99
complement
(v.) to complete, make perfect (Ann’s scarf complements her blouse
beautifully, making her seem fully dressed even though she isn’t wearing a coat.)
100
compliant
(adj.) ready to adapt oneself to another’s wishes (Sue had very
strong opinions about what to do on a first date, and Ted was
absolutely compliant.)
101
complicit
(adj.) being an accomplice in a wrongful act (By keeping her daughter’s affair
a secret, Maddie became complicit in it.)
102
compliment
(n.) an expression of esteem or approval (I blushed crimson when Emma
gave me a compliment on my new haircut.)
103
compound
1. (v.) to combine parts (The difficulty of finding a fire escape amid the smoke
was compounded with the dangers posed by the panicking crowds.)
2. (n.) a
combination of different parts (My attraction to Donna was a compound of
curiosity about the unknown, physical desire, and intellectual admiration.)
3. (n.) a
walled area containing a group of buildings (When the fighting started, Joseph
rushed into the family compound because it was safe and well defended.)
104
comprehensive
(adj.) including everything (She sent me a comprehensive list of the
ingredients needed to cook rabbit soufflé.)
105
compress
(v.) to apply pressure, squeeze together (Lynn compressed her lips into a
frown.)
106
compunction
(n.) distress caused by feeling guilty (He felt compunction for the shabby
way he’d treated her.)
107
concede
(v.) to accept as valid (Andrew had to concede that what his mother said about
Diana made sense.)
108
conciliatory
(adj.) friendly, agreeable (I took Amanda’s invitation to dinner as a very
conciliatory gesture.)
109
concise
(adj.) brief and direct in expression (Gordon did not like to waste time, and his
instructions to Brenda were nothing if not concise.)
110
concoct
(v.) to fabricate, make up (She concocted the most ridiculous story to explain her
absence.)
111
concomitant
(adj.) accompanying in a subordinate fashion (His dislike of hard work
carried with it a concomitant lack of funds.)
112
concord
(n.) harmonious agreement (Julie and Harold began the evening with a
disagreement, but ended it in a state of perfect concord.)
113
condolence
(n.) an expression of sympathy in sorrow (Brian lamely offered his
condolences on the loss of his sister’s roommate’s cat.)
114
condone
(v.) to pardon, deliberately overlook (He refused to condone his brother’s
crime.)
115
conduit
(n.) a pipe or channel through which something passes (The water flowed
through the conduit into the container.)
116
confection
(n.) a sweet, fancy food (We went to the mall food court and purchased a
delicious confection.)
117
confidant
(n.) a person entrusted with secrets (Shortly after we met, she became my
chief confidant.)
118
conflagration
(n.) great fire (The conflagration consumed the entire building.)
118
confluence
(n.) a gathering together (A confluence of different factors made tonight the
perfect night.)
118
conformist
(n.) one who behaves the same as others (Julian was such a conformist that
he had to wait and see if his friends would do something before he would commit.)
119
confound
(v.) to frustrate, confuse (MacGuyver confounded the policemen pursuing
him by covering his tracks.)
120
congeal
(v.) to thicken into a solid (The sauce had congealed into a thick paste.)
121
congenial
(adj.) pleasantly agreeable (His congenial manner made him popular
wherever he went.)
122
congregation
(n.) a gathering of people, especially for religious services (The priest told
the congregation that he would be retiring.)
123
congruity
(n.) the quality of being in agreement (Bill and Veronica achieved a perfect
congruity of opinion.)
124
connive
(v.) to plot, scheme (She connived to get me to give up my vacation plans.)
125
consecrate
(v.) to dedicate something to a holy purpose (Arvin consecrated his spare
bedroom as a shrine to Christina.)
126
consensus
(n.) an agreement of opinion (The jury was able to reach a consensus only
after days of deliberation.)
127
consign
(v.) to give something over to another’s care (Unwillingly, he consigned his
mother to a nursing home.)
128
