Week 2 Flashcards
austere
adj. forbiddingly stern, severely simple and unornamented
“The headmaster’s austere demeanor tended to scare off the more timid students; his office austere and bare like a monk’s cell”
autonomous
adj. self-governing; n. autonomy
“Although UC Berkeley is just one part of the UC system, it is in many ways autonomous with its programs that are subject to outside control.”
aver
v. assert confidently or declare; as used in law, state formally as a fact
“The self-proclaimed psychic averred that, because he had extrasensory perception on which to base his predictions, he needed no seismographs or other gadgets in order to foretell earthquakes.”
banal
adj. hackneyed; commonplace; trite; lacking originality.
“The hack writer’s worn out cliches made his comic trip seem banal.”
belie
v. contradict; give false impression.
“His coarse, hard-bitten exterior belied his innate sensitivity.”
beneficiant
adj. kindly, doing good.
“The overgenerous philanthropist had to curb his beneficent impulses before he gave away all his money and left himself with nothing.”
bolster
v. support, reinforce
“The debaters amassed file boxes full of evidence to bolster their arguments.”
bombastic
adj. pompous, using inflated language; n. bombast
“Puffed up with conceit, the orator spoke with such a bombastic manner that we longed to deflate him.
boorish
adj. rude, insensitive
“Though Mr. Potts constantly interrupted his wife, she ignored his boorish behavior, for she had lost hope of teaching him courtesy.”
burgeoning
adj. flourishing, growing quickly, putting out buds
“Phil and Adam could scarcely keep up with the burgeoning demand for the services of their production company.”
burnish
v. make shiny by rubbing, polish
“The maid burnished the brass fixtures until they reflected the lamplight.”
buttress
v. support, prop up
“Just as architects buttress the walls of cathedrals with flying buttresses, debaters buttress their arguments with facts.”
cacophonous
adj. discordant, inharmonious; n. cacophony
“Do the orchestra kids enjoy the cacophonous sounds they make warming up?”
capricious
adj. unpredictable, fickle
“The storm was capricious: it changed course constantly.”
castigation
n. punishment, severe criticism
“Sensitive even to mild criticism, Woolf could not bear the castigation that she found in certain reviews.”
catalyst
n. agent that influences the pace of a chemical reaction while it remains unaffected and unchanged, or person or thing that causes action
“After a banana is harvested, certain enzymes within its cells continue to act as a catalyst for the biochemical process of ripening.”
caustic
adj. burning, sarcastically biting
“The critics caustic remarks angered the hapless actors who were the subjects of his sarcasm.”
chicanery
n. trickery, deception
“Those sneaky lawyers misrepresented what occurred, depending on chicanery to win the case.”
cogent
adj. convincing
“It was inevitable that David chose to go to Harvard: he had several reasons for doing so, including a full-tuition scholarship.”
commensurate
adj. corresponding in extent, degree, amount, etc; proportionate
“By the close of WWII much progress had been made assigning nurses rank and responsibilities commensurate with their training and abilities.”
compendium
n. comprehensive summary
“This text can serve as a compendium of the tremendous amount of new material being developed in this field.”
complaisant
adj. trying to please, overly polite, obliging
“Fearing the king might become enraged if his will were thwarted, the complaisant Parliament recognized Henry VIII as king of Ireland.”
compliant
adj. yielding, conforming to requirements
“Because Joel usually gave in and went along with whatever his friends desired, his mother worried he might be too compliant.”
conciliatory
adj. reconciling, soothing
“She was still angry despite his conciliatory words.”
condone
v. overlook, forgive, give tacit approval, excuse
“Unlike Widow Davis, who condoned Huck’s minor offenses, Miss Watson did nothing but scold.”
confound
v. confuse, puzzle
“No mystery could confound Sherlock Holmes for too long.”
connoisseur
n. person competent to act as a judge of art etc., a lover of art.
“Bernard Berenson, the American art critic and connoisseur of Italian art, was hired by wealthy art lovers to select paintings for their collections.”
contention
n. claim, thesis; v. contend
“It is our contention that, if you follow our tactics, you will boost your score on the GRE.”
contentious
adj. quarrelsome
“Disagreeing violently with the referees’ ruling, the coach became so contentious that the referees threw him out of the game.”
contrite
adj. penitent; n. contrition
“Her contrite tears did not influence judge when he imposed sentence.”
converge
v. approach, tend to meet, come together; n. convergence
“African-American men from all over the US converged on Washington to take part in the historic Million Man March.”
conundrum
n. riddle, difficult problem
“During the long car ride, she invented conundrums to entertain the children.”
