Vocabulary Flashcards
Ambivalent
(Adj) Having contradictory feelings; Ambivalent college freshmen are both excited and sad to leave home.
Auspicious
(Adj) Favorable; Walsh-Jennings and Ross’ run for gold in Rio started auspiciously with an unbeaten record.
Belligerent
(Adj) Inclined to fighting; After drinking too much and becoming belligerent, Jack usually gets in a bar fight.
Capricious
(Adj) Unpredictable, whimsical; Because of Sam’s capricious nature, his friends did not find him reliable.
Contentious
(Adj) Likely to argue; I tend to avoid contentious topics of conversation which might lead to arguments.
Corroborate
(Verb) To confirm or make stronger; Multiple witnesses corroborated Suzy’s alibi at the time of the murder.
Enervate
(Verb) To weaken or drain energy from; In 30 minutes I was enervated sitting in a humid, windowless room.
Ephemeral
(Adj) Short-lived; YouTube has made fame ephemeral, just look at people like Rebecca Black.
Erudite
(Adj) Scholarly; Trudy’s erudite nature helped her to be a formidable opponent on Jeopardy.
Esoteric
(Adj) Known to a select few; Now that “retro” is cool, previously esoteric musicians have become popular.
Extant
(Adj) In existence; Few documents preceding the advent of papyrus are extant today.
Fastidious
(Adj) Nitpicky, very careful and attentive; It is common for toddlers to have fastidious eating habits; my son won’t eat anything orange.
Feckless
(Adj) Lazy, irresponsible; They were able to make an arrest as the feckless robber left his ID at the scene.
Histrionic
(Adj) To be overly dramatic; During one of her histrionic fits over losing Checkers, Joan knocked over a table.
Inculpate
(Verb) To accuse; Even though she had an alibi, Lou continues to inculpate Mary of murder.
Limpid
(Adj) Clear, simple in style; Her limpid prose made even the most difficult subjects accessible to all.
Loquacious
(Adj) Talkative; Max’s friends didn’t like watching movies with him as he is always very loquacious.
Magnanimous
(Adj) Big-hearted, generous; After winning an Oscar Harry magnanimously bought his mom a car and house.
Mercurial
(Adj) Animated, sprightly; unpredictably changing often; With his mercurial nature, I can’t predict his actions.
Pragmatic
(Adj) Practical; Tom loves the pragmatic world of business where every action has an intended outcome.
Prolific
(Adj) Producing abundantly; Irving Berlin was a prolific song writer with over a hundred tunes.
Propitiate
(Verb) Placate, appease; They profusely apologized to their angry father, but were unable to propitiate him.
Remiss
(Adj) Negligent, careless; I would be seriously remiss if I suggested that any test went perfectly.
Reticent
(Adj) Tightlipped, reluctant; Jane was reticent and preferred observing others mannerisms.
Sanguine
(Adj) Cheerful, optimistic; A Yale graduate with a 4.0, Jenni was sanguine about finding a job.
Sententious
(Adj) Pithy, uses proverbs pompously; The old man sententiously stated “Youth is wasted on the young.”
Soporific
(Adj) Inducing sleep; Turkey at Thanksgiving always seems to have a strong soporific effect.
Tendentious
(Adj) Biased, typically controversial; As a supporter of the cause, his reports were very tendentious.
Anomaly
(Noun) something that is unusual or unexpected; The student’s poor performance on the latest test was an anomaly since she had previously earned excellent grades.
Equivocal
(Adj) not easily understood or explained; Politicians have been known to provide equivocal answers to reporters’ questions.
Lucid
(Adj) very clear and easy to understand; The lecture was lucid and straightforward, allowing the students to fully grasp the concepts presented.
Precipitate
(Verb) to cause (something) to happen quickly or suddenly; Unforeseen costs can precipitate a budget crisis.
Assuage
(Verb) to make (an unpleasant feeling) less intense; A massage can assuage the soreness in your muscles.
Opaque
(Adj) not able to be seen through, not easily understood; Medical jargon includes many opaque terms like macrosomic, which describes a newborn who weighs more than 4,000 grams.
Prodigal
(Adj) wastefully extravagant; The prodigal prince bought lavish gifts and planned expensive events.
Enigma
(Noun) a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand; Scientists continue to research cancer to solve the enigma of its primary cause, which will hopefully lead to a cure.
Fervid
(Adj) intensely enthusiastic or passionate; The child showed a fervid fascination for superheroes, pouring over comic books for hours.
Placate
(Verb) to make (someone) less angry or hostile; A parent may decide to placate a baby with a pacifier.
Zeal
(Noun) a strong feel of interest and enthusiasm that makes someone very eager or determined to do something; The great emperor’s crusading zeal led him to conquer many lands.
Abstain
(Verb) to restrain oneself for doing or enjoying something; Doctors encourage their patients to abstain from smoking cigarettes.
Audacious
(Adj) a willingness to take bold risks, showing a lack of respect; The new CEO pursued audacious initiatives to save the company from bankruptcy. / The student’s audacious remark earned her a seat in afternoon detention.
Desiccate
(Verb) remove the moisture from (something); The heat and energy from the sun can desiccate even the most hearty plants.
Gullible
(Adj) easily persuaded to believe something; The gullible little boy gave his older sister all of his allowance because she told him she would buy a pony for him.
Laudable
(Adj) deserving praise and commendation; Providing affordable healthcare for all citizens is a laudable goal.
Pedant
(Noun) a person who makes an excessive display of learning; Professor Blackwell, a well-known pedant, required his pre-med students to speak in Latin throughout the entire semester.
Vacillate
(Verb) to waver between different opinions or actions; Undergraduate students often vacillate among various majors before deciding which degree to pursue.
Adulterate
(Verb) to make something impure or weaker by adding something of inferior quality; Many chefs use fresh produce and refuse to adulterate their dishes with canned ingredients.
Engender
(Verb) to produce, cause, or give rise to (something); Political debates can engender controversy regarding the subjects discussed.
Homogenous
(Adj) of the same or similar kind; There are very few truly homogenous cultures since social diversity is increasingly widespread.
Volatile
(Adj) likely to change rapidly and unpredictably; It is possible for a country’s political climate to remain volatile for decades.
Apathy
(Noun) lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern; Political parties try to engage young voters who are more prone to apathy than older citizens.
Laconic
(Adj) using few words; The student’s laconic response suggested that she did not know very much about the topic the professor was discussing.
Mitigate
(Verb) make less severe, serious, or painful; We want to mitigate students’ GRE stress by offering helpful study tools.
Propriety
(Noun) the state or quality of being correct or proper; The students were instructed to behave with the utmost propriety while on their class field trip.
Advocate
(Verb) publicly recommend or support; The governor chose to advocate for a higher minimum wage rather than a tax incentive.
Cacophony
(Noun) a harsh, unpleasant mixture of sounds; The cacophony of the middle school band warming up was nearly unbearable for the audience.
Ingenuous
(Adj) innocent and unsuspecting; The scam artist preyed on ingenuous nursing home residents.
Misanthrope
(Noun) a person who dislikes humankind; The neighborhood misanthrope surrounded his yard with barbed wire to keep people away.