Week 6 Flashcards
brook
(verb)
BROOK (rhymes with look)
Definition: Suffer or tolerate
Usage: “You will do your homework every night before you go anywhere, you will
do your chores, and you will be home by 9 p.m. I will brook no disobeying of these
rules, young man!”
Related Words: Condone (overlook or tacitly approve), Countenance (as a noun:
face or facial expression; as a verb: approve or tolerate)
More Info: Of course, a brook is also a small, freshwater stream. The two “brooks”
come from different origins entirely; brook as a verb comes from a Latin root
meaning “enjoy.”
bucolic
(adj)
byoo-CALL-ick
Definition: Pertaining to shepherds; suggesting a peaceful and pleasant view of
rural life
Usage: The play was set in a bucolic wonderland—while getting some shepherd’s
robes for the lead actor was no problem, the stagehands had a hard time bringing in
a flock of sheep.
Related Words: Pastoral, Idyllic, Georgic, and Arcadian are all words relating to a
positive view of rural life and songs or poems on that theme
More Info: Bucolic comes from a Greek word for “ox.”
burnish
(verb)
BUR-nish
Definition: Polish, make smooth and lustrous
Usage: Mr. Hoffenstotter replaced all of the rustic wood doorknobs with newer
models made of burnished steel. “So shiny,” said his delighted wife.
Related Words: Gilded means covered with a thin layer of gold (and thus looking
like solid gold, but actually only superficially so) and is used as a metaphor for
things that look better than they really are.
More Info: Burnish can also be used as a noun, meaning “luster or shine,” as in
“the beautiful burnish of her hair” or “the burnish of an Ivy League university.”
calumny
(noun)
CAL-um-nee
Also calumnious (adj)
Definition: Malicious lie intended to hurt someone’s reputation; the act of telling
such lies
Usage: I’ve had enough of your calumnious accusations! Admit that you made up
all those wicked things about me, or I will see you in court when I sue you for
slander!
Related Words: Slander is a synonym. Libel is the written version of slander.
Traduce, Vilify, and Defame are verbs meaning “to slander, to damage a person’s
reputation with lies.”
canard
(noun)
cuh-NARD
Definition: Rumor, a false or baseless story
Usage: The idea that we only use 10% of our brains is a tired, old canard; actually,
even the dumbest people use all of their brains.
More Info: Canard is simply the French word for “duck.” The use of “duck” to
mean, essentially, “urban legend” may come from an old French expression “to
half-sell a duck.” Sounds pretty sketchy! Just like a canard.
cardinal
(adj)
CAR-din-ull
Definition: Chief, most important
Usage: The cardinal rule of Fight Club is that you don’t talk about Fight Club.
Related Words: Principal (first, highest in rank)
More Info: Cardinal can also mean an official in the Catholic church, a bright red
bird, or a deep red color. Cardinal comes from a Latin word for “hinge”—as in, a
thing which other things “hinge” or depend on.
catholic
(adj)
CATH-ull-ick
Definition: Universal, broad-minded
Usage: Some precursors to the Constitution (such as documents governing the
colonies) enumerated the rights of male property holders only. The U.S.
Constitution took a more catholic approach, declaring that “All men are created
equal.” Today, policy writers would probably take catholicism a step further and
write “All people.”
Related Words: Liberal (aside from the use of Liberal in American politics, Liberal
means “favorable to reform; favorable to maximum possible individual freedom;
free from prejudice, tolerant, open-minded”)
More Info: The Catholic Church, of course, goes by that name because it intends
(as do many religions) to be universal.
chicanery
(noun)
shick-AYN-er-ee
Definition: Trickery, deception by knowingly false arguments
Usage: The defense lawyer’s strategy for getting her client acquitted by knowingly
misinterpreting words in an obscure precedent was nothing but chicanery. / Nice
try, passing off last week’s homework as this week’s by changing the date at the
top. I’ve had enough of your chicanery, young man!
Related Words: Quibbling (the use of ambiguous, petty, or irrelevant arguments,
especially to evade the real issue), Sophistry (deliberately tricky argumentation)
More Info: Chicanery is from French, hence the pronunciation: shi-KAY-nuh-ry.
circumscribe
(verb)
SER-cuhm-scribe
Definition: Strictly limit a role, range of activity, or area; in math, to be constructed
around so as to touch as many points as possible
Usage: Suki’s parents circumscribed her after-school activities; she was permitted
only to study and to join organizations directly related to academic subjects. / A
square circumscribed in a circle has all four of its vertices on the circle’s
circumference. / Our land is circumscribed by hedges and fences.
More Info: “Circum” is the Latin root for “around,” and “scribe” for “write.” The
“scribe/script” root also occurs in proscribe (prohibit) and conscript (draft into
military service).
circumspect
(adj)
SER-cuhm-spect
Definition: Cautious, prudent; careful to consider the circumstances and
consequences
Usage: Luann immediately forked over an initiation fee to become a vitamin
distributor, but her more circumspect brother had a list of at least twenty questions
he wanted answered before he would consider joining.
Related Words: Staid (restrained, prim, settled)
More Info: The root “circum” means “around” and “spect” means “see”—thus,
circumspect people “look around” before acting, much as in the idiom “look before
you leap.”
buttress
buttress
(verb, noun)
BUTT-ress
Definition: Support or encourage (verb); a support or prop, esp. projecting from and supporting the wall
of a building (noun)
Usage: A self-defense class really helped to buttress Elaine’s confidence. / David used his Ph.D. as a
buttress against criticism. “I have a doctorate,” he would say. “I just don’t think you can understand.”
Related Words: Bolster originally was a type of pillow and now is also a verb meaning “support or
strengthen.” Fortify is most associated with protecting against military attack but also means “strengthen
or support.”
bygone
(adj, noun)
BYE-gahn
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.
cacophony
(noun)
cah-CAW-fuh-nee
Also cacophonous (adj)
Definition: Harsh, discordant, or meaningless mixture of sounds
Usage: The first day of elementary school marching band practice was nothing but cacophony, as
students who hadn’t learned to play their instruments at all nevertheless banged on or puffed air into
them.
Related Words: Din (loud, confused noise), Dissonance (harsh, inharmonious sound), Clamor (noisy uproar,
as from a crowd)
More Info: “Caco/kako/kaki” is the Greek root for “bad,” occurring in such obscure but useful words as
cacography (bad spelling or handwriting) and kakistocracy (rule by evil people). “Eu” is the Greek root for
“good” and occurs in the antonym to cacophony, euphony.
candid
(adj)
CAN-did
Also candor (noun)
Definition: Open, sincere, honest
Usage: Allow me to be candid: you do look rather portly in those pants, and I think you should wear
something else. / You have been really secretive about where you’ve been going after work; we could use
a little more candor in this relationship.
Related Words: Frank (direct, straightforward)
More Info: Candid photographs are photos “from life,” where the subjects are not posing. Candid
Camera was a “hidden camera” style prank show that ran for decades.
canonical
(adj)
can-NON-ick-ull
Also “the canon” (noun)
Definition: Authorized, recognized; pertaining to the canon, or body of accepted rules, standards or
artistic works
Usage: School boards often start controversies when replacing canonical books in the curriculum with
modern literature; while many people think students should read works more relevant to their lives,
others point out that Moby Dick is part of the canon for a reason.
More Info: Canon comes from a Greek word similar to “measuring rod” and which also gives us cane.
capricious
(adj)
cap-REE-shuss
Also caprice (noun)
Definition: Acting on impulse, erratic
Usage: The headmaster’s punishments were capricious—break the rules one day, you get a warning;
break them another day, you get expelled. / Who needs a plan? A date is more fun with a little caprice—
let’s just start driving and see what we find!
Related Words: Whimsical (fanciful, eccentric), Lark (merry adventure), Mercurial (changing moods),
Arbitrary (based on one’s discretion; capricious)
More Info: Capricious is generally (but not always) meant in a negative way, as acting on impulse is
inappropriate in most contexts. Whimsical is a near-synonym, although generally used in a positive way, to
describe using one’s imagination.
cartography
(noun)
car-TAH-grah-fee
Definition: Mapmaking
Usage: The invention of better navigation tools had major effects on cartography—the more ships knew
precisely where they were sailing, the better the world could be mapped.
More Info: From the French “carte,” map.
castigate
(verb)
CASS-tigg-ayt
Definition: Criticize severely; punish in order to correct
Usage: At the grocery store, the mother attracted stares when she castigated—rather than merely
admonished—her child for throwing a box of instant oatmeal.
Related Words: Excoriate (berate severely; wear the skin off)
More Info: Castigate shares a root (meaning “pure”) with both “castrate” and the “caste system.” That
should make it easy to remember that castigation is harsh indeed!
catalyst
(noun)
CAT-uh-list
Definition: Causer of change
Usage: The young manager was a catalyst at the stodgy old company—once he introduced employee
laptops, telecommuting, and mobile workstations, even the most conventional of employees totally
changed the way they worked. / Reaching 500 pounds on the scale was a catalyst for Marcus to really
change his lifestyle.
More Info: In chemistry, a catalyst causes or accelerates a chemical reaction but is not, itself, affected
(the opposite is an inhibitor). Metaphorically, a catalyst is a person or event that causes a reaction.
caustic
(adj)
CAW-stick
Definition: Capable of corroding metal or burning the skin; very critical or sarcastic
Usage: Wait, those chemicals are caustic! You need safety gloves and goggles before performing this
experiment, or else you risk not only getting your skin burned off, but also some seriously caustic
remarks from our chemistry teacher.
Related Words: Acerbic (sour; harsh or severe), Acrid (sharp or biting, pungent), Astringent (caustic,
biting, severe; a skin cleaning fluid that clears pores), Excoriate (to rub the skin off of; to criticize very
harshly)
