Vocabulary for Midterm Flashcards
Assuage
(v.) to make easier or milder, to relieve, to quiet, to calm
Coalition
(n.)a combination, a union
Decadence
(n.)a decline, a decay, a period of decline
Elicit
(v.)to draw forth, to bring out from some source
Hackneyed
(adj.)used so often as to lack freshness or originality
Hiatus
(n.) a gap, an opening, a break
Innuendo
(n.) a hint, an indirect suggestion
Jaded
(adj.) wearied, worn-out, dulled
Lurid
(adj.) causing shock, horror, or revulsion, sensational, pale in color, terrible in intensity
Petulant
(adj.) peevish, annoyed by trifles, easily irritated
Provincial
(adj.) pertaining to an outlying area, narrow in mind or outlook
(n.) a person with a narrow point of view, a person from an outlying area
Transcend
(v.) to rise above or beyond, exceed
Umbrage
(n.) shade cast by trees, offense, resentment
Ameliorate
(v.) to improve or make better
Aplomb
(n.) poise, assurance, great self-confidence
Bombastic
(adj.) pompous or overblown in language, full of fancy words intended to conceal a lack of ideas
Callow
(adj.) immature, without experience
Drivel
(n.) saliva, drool, aimless talk, nonsense
(v.) to let saliva flow from the mouth, to talk aimlessly about nonsense
Epitome
(n.) a summary, condensed account, perfect example
Exhort
(v.) to urge strongly, to advise earnestly
Ingratiate
(v.) to make oneself agreeable in order to gain favor
Inveigh
(v.) to make a violent attack in words, to express strong disapproval
Lassitude
(n.) weariness of body or mind, lack of energy
Permeate
(v.) to spread through, penetrate, soak through
Surmise
(v.) to think or believe without supporting evidence, to guess
(n.) a likely idea that lacks definite proof, a guess
Adventitious
(adj.) resulting from chance, accidental
Ascribe
(v.) to assign, to attribute
Circuitous
(adj.) roundabout, not direct
Commiserate
(v.) to sympathize with, to have sorrow for
Expedite
(v.) to make happen sooner
Expiate
(v.)to make amends, to make up for
Inadvertent
(adj.) resulting from or marked by lack of attention, accidental
Nominal
(adj.) existing in name only, not real, to small to be taken seriously
Proclivity
(n.) a natural or habitual inclination or tendency
Vitriolic
(adj.) bitter, sarcastic
Aggrandize
(v.) to increase in greatness or power, to build up or intensify
Amorphous
(adj.) shapeless, without form, no particular type of character
Erudite
(adj.) scholarly, learned, bookish, pedantic
Gossamer
(adj.) thin, light, delicate
(n.) a very thing, light cloth
Inscrutable
(adj.) incapable of being understood, impossible to see through physically
Insular
(adj.) relating to or situated on an island, narrow in outlook or experience