Wordly Wise 1-3 Flashcards
Acolyte
A person who assists in some religious services by carrying out minor duties; one who attends or assists, a follower
Bibulous
Given to the consumption of alcoholic drinks
Highly absorbent
Coalesce
To grow together; to unite to form a whole
Covert
Not openly acknowledged; secret
Declaim
To recite something in the style of the public speech; to speak in a loud, theatrical way
Delineate
To describe vividly and in detail
To draw an outline of; to represent by drawing
Demagogue
A leader who seeks power by appealing to people’s emotions and prejudices and by making false claims and promises
Encomium
An expression of warm and enthusiastic praise; a tribute
Obdurate
Resistant to persuasion; inflexible
Persistent in wrongdoing
Prescience
Foresight; knowledge beforehand of events
Protagonist
The chief character in a drama or story
Sedulous
Completed with careful perseverance; diligent
Trenchant
Expressed with vigor and penetrating insight; keenly perceptive
Utopia
A place or state of perfect social and political conditions
Valedictory
A farewell address, especially one given at a graduation ceremony
Of or relating to such a farewell address
Absolve
To clear guilt, or to free from a promise or a responsibility
Adumbrate
To foreshadow in an indirect way
To outline in a sketchy way; to partially disclose
Apothegm
A short instructive saying
Aspersion
A defamatory expression; slander
Coadjutor
One who works with another, usually in a subordinate position; an assistant
Congenital
Existing at it or dating from birth; being an essential characteristic
Élan
A lively spirit with a distinctive style
Germane
Pertinent and fitting
Hiatus
An interruption or gap in space, continuity, or time
Immure
To confine within or as if within walls; to imprison
Ineluctable
Not to be avoided or changed; inevitable
Internecine
Marked by slaughter; mutually destructive
Relating to conflict within a group
Invoke
To appeal to earnestly
To cite in justification
Prototype
A person or thing that serves as an example of its kind; an original
Quadrennial
Occurring every four years
Lasting four years
Amalgam
An alloy of mercury and other metals
A mixture of different elements
Antediluvian
Very old or old fashioned
Apothecary
One who prepares and sells ointments, drugs, and similar items for medicinal purposes
Ascetic
Refraining from self-indulgence
A person who practices self-denial
Beneficent
Doing or producing good
Charlatan
One who falsely claims knowledge or ability
Denizen
An inhabitant, resident, or frequenter of a place
Doyen
A senior member of a group, especially one who is highly respected
The oldest example of a category
Flora
Plants considered as a group in a particular area or era
Imbibe
To consume by drinking
To absorb or take in mentally
Nostrum
A medicine or remedy whose effectiveness has not been proven
Obviate
To prevent or make unnecessary; to get rid of
Perennial
Lasting indefinitely or recurring
A plant that lives for three years or more
Putative
Commonly accepted or supposed; assumed to exist
Savant
A person with detailed knowledge in a specialized field
