Week 8 Flashcards
connote
(verb)
cuh-NOTE
Also connotation (adj)
Definition: Suggest or imply in addition to the precise, literal meaning
Usage: The word “titanic” simply means large or majestic, but because of the
word’s association with the sunken ship, “titanic” has a negative connotation to
many people.
Related Words: Evoke (call forth, esp. of feelings or imagination)
More Info: A denotation is the literal meaning of a word; a connotation is the
feeling that accompanies that word.
contraries
(noun)
CAHN-trare-eez
Definition: Things that are opposing; either of two opposite things
Usage: The Machiavellian among us would say that ethics and expedience are
contraries—at some point, one must win out over the other.
Related Words: Counterpoint (a contrasting element)
More Info: The expression to the contrary means “to the opposite effect of the
thing we were just talking about, as in “Although you say the plan will please
everyone, to the contrary, our biggest client has already informed us that they will
find a new supplier if we proceed.”
contrite
(adj)
cuhn-TRITE
Definition: Remorseful; feeling sorry for one’s offenses or sins
Usage: He would have punished his son more severely for breaking his car’s
windshield in a “rock throwing contest,” but the boy seemed truly contrite.
Related Words: Penitent is a synonym. Atone means “to make amends for.”
More Info: Interestingly, contrite comes from a Latin root meaning “to grind.”
Perhaps hating to admit we’re wrong is truly universal.
contumacious
(adj)
cahn-tuh-MAY-shuss
Definition: Rebellious; stubbornly disobedient
Usage: The psychologist’s book “Dealing With Your Contumacious Teenager”
would have sold many more copies to parents of rude and rebellious youth if only
people knew what “contumacious” meant.
Related Words: Obstreperous, Recalcitrant, and Refractory are synonyms
More Info: Contumacious and contumely are not as closely related as they sound:
contumely means “contemptuous treatment or a humiliating insult.”
convoke
(verb)
cuhn-VOHK
Definition: Call together, as to a meeting
Usage: The dean has convoked this gathering to discuss the Honor Code.
Related Words: Convene is a synonym
More Info: The root “voc/vok” in convoke means “to call” and also appears in
words such as vocal, invoke, and vocation.
cosset
(verb)
CAH-set
Definition: Treat as a pet, pamper
Usage: The cosseted toddler was lovingly wrapped up in his snow gear, so much so
that he could barely even move his arms enough to make his first snowball.
Related Words: Coddle (treat tenderly or indulgently)
More Info: As a noun, a cosset is a pet lamb or any pet. The root in cosset actually
comes from a word meaning “to kiss.”
coterie
(noun)
COH-ter-ee
Definition: Close or exclusive group, clique
Usage: The pop star never traveled anywhere without a coterie of assistants and
managers.
Related Words: Cabal (conspiracy, group of people who plot), Entourage (group of
attendants)
More Info: In French, a coterie was a group of tenant farmers.
cupidity
(noun)
kyoo-PID-it-ee
Definition: Greed, great or excessive desire
Usage: The doctor’s medical license was revoked after it was discovered that, out of
sheer cupidity, he had diagnosed people with illnesses they didn’t have and
pocketed insurance money for performing procedures they didn’t need.
Related Words: Avarice (insatiable greed), Covetousness (greed), Rapacity or
Rapaciousness (greedy or grasping; living on prey)
curmudgeon
(noun)
cur-MUD-jun
Definition: Bad-tempered, difficult person; grouch
Usage: The college students’ party was hampered by constant complaints from a
curmudgeonly neighbor who insisted that making noise after 8pm was
unreasonable, and called the police over a single beer can on his lawn.
Related Words: Crotchety (grouchy, picky, given to odd notions), Cantankerous
(disagreeable, contentious), Crank (an unbalanced person who is fanatical about a
private, generally petty cause)
More Info: Curmudgeon, like crotchety, is almost always used to describe old men
(a fact that is perhaps unfair to old men).
declaim
(verb)
dih-CLAIM
Definition: Speak in an impassioned, pompous, or oratorical manner; give a formal
speech
Usage: After a drink or two, Gabe will declaim all night about campaign finance
reform—you won’t be able get a word in edgewise in between all his grandstanding
and “expertise.”
Related Words: Grandstand (perform showily as if to impress an audience)
More Info: Don’t confuse with disclaim, which simply means “deny, repudiate.”
confer
(verb)
cuhn-FER
Definition: Consult, compare views; bestow or give
Usage: A Ph.D. confers upon a person the right to be addressed as “Doctor” as well as eligibility to
pursue tenure-track professorship. / Excuse me for a moment to make a call—I can’t buy this car until I
confer with my spouse.
Related Words: Vest can mean “grant an authority or right,” as in “The ownership of 51% of the stock
vests her with the right to make decisions for the company.”
connoisseur
(noun)
cah-nuh-SOOR
Definition: Expert, especially in the fine arts; person of educated, refined tastes
Usage: A chocolate connoisseur, Mom eschews grocery store brands and will only eat 80% -cocoa-or-
higher artisanal chocolate that is less than a week old.
Related Words: Epicure (person with discriminating tastes, esp. regarding food and wine)
More Info: Connoisseur comes, through French, from the Latin “cognoscere,” meaning “to know,” which
also gives us cognition.
console
(verb, noun)
cuhn-SOHL (v), CAHN-sohl (n)
Definition: Lessen the suffering or grief of (verb); a control panel, or small table or cabinet (noun)
Usage: I was unable to console Tina after she fell asleep at the console of her airplane and thereby failed
her pilot’s exam.
Related Words: Succor (comfort, provide relief)
More Info: As a verb, the word is pronounced “con-SOLE.” As a noun, it’s pronounced “CON-sole.”
consolidate
(verb)
cuhn-SAH-lid-ayt
Definition: Unite, combine, solidify, make coherent
Usage: She consolidated her student loans so she would only have to make one payment per month. / As
group leader, Muriel will consolidate all of our research into a single report.
Related Words: Agglomerate (collect into a mass), Aggregate (gather together), Commix (mix together),
Conglomerate (anything made up of different kinds of materials; blended; to bring together)
constrict
(verb)
cuhn-STRICT
Definition: Squeeze, compress; restrict the freedom of
Usage: The children strongly disliked being gussied up in constrictive clothing for a formal wedding. /
Tourism is now allowed in North Korea, but tourists must stay with official tour groups, and their
movements are heavily constricted.
Related Words: Constringe (cause to shrink)
More Info: A Boa constrictor is a snake that squeezes its prey to death.
construe
(verb)
cuhn-STROO
Definition: Interpret or translate
Usage: I don’t know how you construed my comment as an insult. All I said was, “Wow, I never knew you
could sing.”
More Info: To misconstrue is to misunderstand or misinterpret.
contentious
(adj)
cuhn-TENT-chuss
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.”
contextualize
(verb)
cuhn-TEKS-tchoo-ah-lize
Definition: Place in context, such as by giving the background or circumstances
Usage: Virginia Woolf’s feminism is hard to truly understand unless contextualized within the mores of
the highly restrained, upper-class English society of her time.
More Info: Context, from the Latin, can simply be thought of as “the text that comes with.” The root
“text” itself is the same in both “textbook” and “textile”—it means “weave,” just as we would weave either
cloth or a story.
conundrum
(noun)
cah-NUHN-drum
Definition: Riddle, the answer to which involves a play on words; any mystery
Usage: A classic conundrum is “What’s black and white and red all over?” The answer, of course, is a
newspaper. / How to count the entire population accurately—including those without fixed addresses—is a
bit of a conundrum.
Related Words: Enigma (puzzle, mystery), Paradox (contradiction, or seeming contradiction that is
actually true)
converge
(verb)
cuhn-VERGE
Definition: Move towards one another or towards a point; unite
Usage: I know we’re driving to the wedding from different states, but our routes ought to converge when
each of us hits I-95—maybe we could converge at a Cracker Barrel for lunch!
More Info: The antonym of converge is diverge.
