Vocabulary>Commonly Tested Words>A-D Flashcards
abaft
adv. –on or toward the rear of a ship
syn. –astern, posterior, hind
abdicate
v. –to reject, denounce, or abandon
syn. –disown, reject, renounce, give up, refuse, relinquish, repudiate, abandon, turn one’s back on, wash one’s hands of, forgo, waive
abjure
v. –to renounce upon oath
syn. –renounce, relinquish, reject, forgo, disavow, abandon, deny, repudiate, give up, wash one’s hands of; eschew, abstain from, refrain from
abnegation
n. –a denial
syn. –renunciation, rejection, refusal, abandonment, abdication, surrender, relinquishment, repudiation, denial
abscond
v.–to go away hastily or secretly often with the intention to hide; to avoid capture by the authorities
abstemious
adj. –1. sparing in diet; 2. sparingly used
syn. –self-denying, temperate, abstinent, moderate, self-disciplined, restrained, self-restrained, sober, austere, ascetic, puritanical, spartan, hair-shirt
abysmal
adj. –bottomless; extraordinarily bad
syn. –dreadful, awful, terrible, frightful, atrocious, disgraceful, deplorable, shameful, hopeless, lamentable; rotten, appalling, crummy, pathetic, pitiful, woeful, useless, lousy, dire
acerbity
n. –harshness or bitterness
syn. –acidity, asperity, astringency, mordancy, sourness, tartness
acrimony
n. –sharpness
syn. –bitterness, anger, rancor, resentment, ill feeling, ill will, bad blood, animosity, hostility, enmity, antagonism, waspishness, spleen, malice, spite, spitefulness, peevishness, venom
addle
adj. –confused
syn. –muddled, muzzy, fuddled, befuddled, dazed, disoriented, disorientated, fuzzy
adjure
v. –to entreat earnestly and solemnly
syn. –asseverate, authenticate, implore, importune, petition
adulation
n. –praise in excess
syn. –worship, idolization, adoration, admiration, veneration, awe, devotion, glorification, praise, flattery, blandishments
adulterate
v. –to corrupt, debase, or make impure
syn. –degrade, debase, spoil, taint, contaminate; doctor, tamper with, dilute, water down, weaken; bastardize, corrupt
agrarian
adj. –relating to land and the equal divisions of land
syn. –agricultural, rural, rustic, pastoral, countryside, farming
alchemy
n. –any imaginary power of transmitting one thing into another
syn. –chemistry; magic, sorcery, witchcraft
allegory
n. –symbolic narration or description
syn. –parable, analogy, metaphor, symbol, emblem
anachronism
n. –representation of something existing at other than its proper time
syn. –chronological error, metachronism, misdate, misplacement, postdate, prolepsis, solecism
annihilate
v. –to reduce to nothing
syn. –destroy, wipe out, obliterate, wipe off the face of the earth; eliminate, liquidate, defeat
apocalyptic
adj. –pertaining to revelation or prophecy
syn. –doomsday, doom-laden, ominous, portentous; catastrophic, momentous
arrogate
v. –to claim or demand unduly
syn. –assume, take, claim, appropriate, seize, expropriate, wrest, usurp, commandeer
artifice
n. –skill; ingenuity; craft; deception; trickery
syn. –deceit, deception, duplicity, guile, cunning, artfulness, wiliness, slyness, chicanery; fraud, fraudulence
askance
adv. –1. sideways; 2. with suspicion
syn. –skeptically, cynically, mistrustfully, distrustfully, doubtfully, dubiously; disapprovingly, contemptuously, scornfully, disdainfully
assay
n. –the determination of any quantity of a metal in an ore or alloy
syn. –evaluation, assessment, appraisal, analysis, examination, test/tests, testing, inspection, scrutiny
attenuate
v. –1. to make thin or slender; 2. to lessen or weaken
syn. –1. slender, narrow, slim, skinny, spindly, bony; rare; 2. reduced, lessened, decreased, diminished, impaired
