Vocabulary Flashcards
Definition: Reduce, diminish Usage: Her stress over spending so much money on a house abated when the real estate broker told her about the property’s 15 year tax abatement.
Related Words: Tax abatement is used in the same way as tax “relief”—that is, a partial discount. Subside is another word for lessening (a storm could abate or subside).
More Info: Abate comes from an Old French word for “beat, cast down” that also gives us batter (beat severely) and abattoir (slaughterhouse).
Definition: Reduce, diminish Usage: Her stress over spending so much money on a house abated when the real estate broker told her about the property’s 15 year tax abatement.
Related Words: Tax abatement is used in the same way as tax “relief”—that is, a partial discount. Subside is another word for lessening (a storm could abate or subside).
More Info: Abate comes from an Old French word for “beat, cast down” that also gives us batter (beat severely) and abattoir (slaughterhouse).
adhere (verb)
Definition: Stick (to), such as with glue, or to a plan or belief
Usage: I have a message board that adheres to my refrigerator with magnets; on it, I’ve written some affirmations to help me adhere to my diet plan.
Related Words: Abide by (follow, conform to), Cohere (become united, hold together as part of the same mass)
More Info: Use adhere for attaching two different kinds of things together, and cohere for things of the same kind (good cookie dough coheres instead of crumbles).
alienate (verb)
inalienable (adj)
Definition: Cause to become unfriendly, hostile, or distant
Usage: The talk-show host was trying to help, but only alienated her viewers when she suggested that they cope with a tough economy by checking themselves into a spa.
Related Words: Disaffect (cause to lose affection or loyalty), Estrange (make hostile or indifferent—“He hasn’t spoken to his estranged son in a decade.”)
More Info: In law, alienate means to transfer property to another owner. An inalienable right is one that you cannot give away or sell (for instance, it is not possible for a person to sell himself into slavery).
Definition: Not caring; absence of feeling; lack of interest or concern
Usage: Many parents of teenagers are concerned by their indolent teens’ apathy about the future. Few teens are totally apathetic, however—many get quite excited about video games, flirting, or trips to the mall.
Related Words: Indifferent (apathetic or impartial), Lukewarm (moderately warm; having little enthusiasm)
More Info: Don’t confuse apathy with antipathy, which means “deep dislike, aversion, or repugnance.”
artless (adj)
Definition: Free of deceit or craftiness, natural, genuine; lacking skill or knowledge, crude, uncultured
Usage: Children can be so artless that, when you try to explain war to them, they say things like, “But isn’t that mean?”/ His artless attempt at negotiating a raise began with “I need more money, please” and ended with “Okay, sorry I asked.”
Related Words: Guileless, Ingenuous (synonyms)
More Info: Don’t think of artless as a lack of art—think of it as a lack of artifice, or artificiality. Artless can be either positive (free of deceit) or negative (lacking skill).
balk (verb)
Definition: Refuse to proceed or to do something Usage: At the company retreat, he reluctantly agreed to participate in the ropes course, but balked at walking over hot coals as a “trust exercise.” Related Words: Demur (show reluctance or object, especially for moral reasons, as in, “His colleagues wanted him to tell the client that their sales would double, but he demurred.”) More Info: Balk comes from a word for a beam or ridge—when a horse or mule balks, it stops short and refuses to proceed. Occasionally, balk is used as a noun for an impediment, much like a beam or ridge, or a defeat.
bygone (adj, noun)
Definition: Past, former (adj); that which is in the past (usually plural noun) Usage: At the nursing home, the time to reminisce about bygone days was pretty much all the time. / It’s tempting to spend our whole high school reunion talking about bygones, but instead, let’s toast to the future! Related Words: Erstwhile (former), Quondam (former, sometime) More Info: The expression “Let bygones be bygones” means to agree to let go of old disagreements.
chauvinism (noun) Also chauvinist (noun), chauvinistic (adj)
Definition: Fanatical patriotism or blind enthusiasm for military glory; undue or biased devotion to any group, cause, etc. Usage: He’s such a chauvinist that he denies that any other nation could be better than ours at anything—he insists our wine is better than France’s, our ski slopes are better than Norway’s, and even that we grow more rice than China! Absurd. Related Words: Bigot (obstinately prejudiced person), Xenophobia (fear of foreigners), Jingoism (extreme chauvinism plus warlike foreign policy) More Info: Don’t confuse chauvinism with sexism—a “male chauvinist” is just one kind. The original chauvinist was Nicholas Chauvin, a possibly fictional soldier wounded 17 times while serving in Napoleon’s army (he really loved Napoleon).
concede (verb) Also concession (noun)
Definition: Give in, admit, yield; acknowledge reluctantly; grant or give up (such as giving up land after losing a war) Usage: The negotiations were pointless, with each side’s representatives instructed by their home countries to make no concessions whatsoever. / Quebec was a French concession to Britain in the Treaty of Paris in 1763. / I suppose I will have to concede the argument now that you’ve looked up evidence on Wikipedia. More Info: The Latin “cedere” means “yield, go, withdraw” and also gives us cede (to yield, especially to give up land after losing a war), precede, and succeed.
contentious (adj) Also contend (verb), contention (noun)
Definition: Controversial; prone to causing arguments, especially gratuitous or petty ones Usage: The death penalty is a contentious issue. / My uncle is so contentious that every attempt I made to introduce an uncontroversial topic met with failure—he ranted and raved about the weather, trees, math, and my daughter’s enjoyment of oatmeal. Related Words: Disputatious and quarrelsome are near-synonyms More Info: A contention is simply a claim, often a thesis or statement that will then be backed up with reasons. To contend can be to argue or to vie for a prize, as in the famous quote from On the Waterfront: “I coulda been a contender.”
countenance (noun, verb)
Definition: Facial expression or face (noun); approve or tolerate (verb) Usage: Her countenance said it all—the look on her face was pure terror. / I saw you cheating off my paper, and I can’t countenance cheating—either you turn yourself in or I’ll report you. Related Words: Brook (suffer or tolerate), Condone (overlook or tacitly approve) More Info: Countenance shares a root with continence, meaning “self control.” The use of countenance to mean “approve or tolerate” makes sense when you think about a similar expression: “I cannot look you in the face after what you did.” (We would usually say “I cannot face you” when the speaker is the guilty party).
culminate (verb) Also culmination (noun)
Definition: Reach the highest point or final stage Usage: A Ph.D. program generally culminates in a written dissertation and its defense to a committee. Related Words: Acme, Summit, Pinnacle, and Apex are all words for a high point or peak. Denouement means conclusion or ending, such as of a literary work, esp. one that “wraps up all the loose ends.”
deference (noun) Also defer (verb)
Definition: Respectful submission; yielding to the authority or opinion of another Usage: In many cultures, young people are expected to show deference to older people at all times. / I’m not an expert in databases—I’ll defer to our programmers on that decision. / Ingrid deferred her college admissions for a year so she could travel the world.
deterrent (noun)
Definition: Something that restrains or discourages Usage: Some argue that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime—that is, the point is not just to punish the guilty, but to frighten other prospective criminals. Related Words: Balk (an impediment; refuse to proceed or to do something) More Info: As a military policy, deterrence is building military strength or ability to retaliate (especially by stockpiling nuclear weapons, as in the Cold War) sufficient to deter enemies from attacking.
disingenuous (adj)
Definition: Insincere, not genuine Usage: Christine used the fact that her mother spoke limited English as an opportunity to be disingenuous. When her mother asked, “Will there be boys at this sleepover?” she replied “There won’t not be boys there!” Related Words: Dissembling (misleading, concealing the truth, acting hypocritically), Prevaricating (misleading or lying) More Info: Disingenuous appropriately describes misleading behavior that isn’t quite lying, like when you say “Let’s do the dishes!” when you really mean “Why don’t you do the dishes?” The opposite of disingenuous is ingenuous, or genuine.
dissent (verb, noun)
Definition: Disagree or take an opposing view, esp. in relation to a formal body such as a government, political party, or church; such a view Usage: Judge Antonin Scalia cast the only dissenting vote, explaining in his written decision why he thought all the other justices had it wrong. / Not every country has a right to free speech (and thus to dissent), although nations that throw dissenters in jail are condemned by the international community at large. Related Words: Gainsay (deny, refute, oppose), Sedition (incitement of dissent against a government; promoting rebellion by speech or writing) More Info: The variant dissidence tends to be a strong, longstanding, determined practice of dissenting.
e.g. (abbreviation for Latin “exempli gratia”)
Definition: For example, such as Usage: He was positively traumatized by the romantic comedies his girlfriend made him watch (e.g., He’s Just Not That Into You). Related Words: i.e. is an abbrevation of Latin “id est,” or “that is” and means “that is to say, in other words,” as in “He finally nailed the lutz—i.e., a toepick-assisted figure skating jump with an entrance from the back outside edge.” More Info: Use e.g. to introduce examples and i.e. to add a definition or clarification.
eloquent (adj)
Definition: Marked by forceful, fluid, apt speech; expressive, emotionally moving Usage: Wow, he’s such an eloquent speaker, he could sell snow to Antarcticans! / When Mom suggested that everyone might enjoy a museum instead of the beach, she was met with the children’s eloquent looks of disgust. Related Words: Rhetorical and oratorical are words related to the art of public speaking. While a lawyer needs good rhetorical skills, sometimes rhetorical and oratorical mean only related to style and effect, and lacking substance. Eloquent, however, is always positive—even in the latter sentence above, the eloquent looks of disgust are very effective in expressing the children’s feelings. More Info: The root “loq” means “speech” and also appears in loquacious (talkative) and interlocutor (participant in a dialogue; interrogator).
ephemeral (adj)
Definition: Lasting only a short time, fleeting Usage: “Thank you for this jacket that says ‘Eugene’s Girl,’” said Marie, “but I fear that your love will prove to be ephemeral—over the last two years, I’ve seen four other girls in school with the same jacket. Do you buy them in six-packs?” Related Words: Evanescent and Fugacious are synonyms. Transient can mean “lasting only a short time, temporary” or “staying only a short time,” or can be a noun referring to homeless people, temporary workers, or others who move often. More Info: Ephemeral comes from a Greek word for “day.” It originally meant—and sometimes still means—lasting only one day.
