words Flashcards
abstruse
hard to understand
adhere
stick, believe in and follow the practices of
affront
insult “in your face”
aggravate
worsen, annoy
alleviate
to relieve
allocate
to assign
ambiguous
unclear in meaning, confusing
ambivalent
undecided, having opposing feelings simultaneously
amenable
obedient, agreeable
anthology
a collection, especially of literary works
anticipation
expectation
antipodal
exactly opposite
antithesis
the direct opposite
astute
keen in judgement (a student can observe the judgement of the class)
asylum
a place of safety (a sigh of relief)
autocratic
extremely bossy
autonomous
acting independently
benign
gentle, kind
bluster
to be loud or aggressive
bombast
showy speech
burgeon
to expand
buttress
strengthen or defend
callous
insensitive (even if you don’t call Lous, he won’t mind: he is callous)
castigate
criticize severely
cerebral
brainy
compensated
repay/offset
compile
produce by assembling information on other sources
complacent
self-satisfied
comprise
consist of, be made up of
concede
admit to be true after denying it/to yield a position
congregate
to come together
conspicuous
easily seen, impossible to miss
(obvious)
contiguous
side by side
contraband
smuggled goods
contretemps
an embarrassing occurrence
contrived
forced
corrugated
shaped with folds or waves
cosmopolitan
sophisticated
credulous
eager to believe
debase
to lower in quality or value
debilitate
to weaken
decry
to put down, to denounce
defame
to ruin the good name of
defile
to make filthy
defunct
no longer in existence
degrade
to lower in dignity or status
deign
to think it in accordance with one’s dignity
dejected
depressed
denomination
a classification, a category
denounce
condemn openly (announce negative things)
deplete
to decrease the supply of, to use up
deplore
to regret, to lament
deride
to ridicule
descend
move or fall downwards
despondent
extremely depressed (not responding well)
dextrous
skillfull
disparage
to belittle (display rage)
disparate
things so unlike that there is no basis for comparison
disperse
spread over a large area
“e’en”
“even”
elusive
hard to pin down
encroach
to make gradual inroads into
engulf
powerfully affect, overwhelm/ surrounding, covering
enhance
increase
epitome
the perfect example of something
equanimity
calm
equitable
fair
equivocal
intentionally being ambiguous, intentionally confusing,
erudition
impressive or extensive knowledge (education)
eulogy
a spoken or written tribute to a person
evoke
to awaken, to produce or suggest
execute
carry out or put into effect (a plan, order, or course of action)
exonerate
to free completely from blame, impunity
exorbitant
excessive
expatriate
to move away from one’s native land
expedient
providing an immediate advantage
expedite
to speed up
fallacy
a false idea
fiscal
pertaining to financial matters
flagrant
obviously bad
flaunt
to show off
fledgling
inexperienced, immature
flippant
meaninglessly disrespectful
for instance
for example
gaffe
an embarrassing mistake (wobbly neck of the giraffe)
grapple
wrestle
haphazard
random
“hast”
“have”
hence
for this reason
hinder
create difficulties for so or smt that cause delay
ignominy
deep disgrace
impede
to delay
impugn
to attack, especially to attack the truth or the integrity of something
impunity
freedom from punishment or harm
indict
to charge with a crime
indifferent
not caring one way or another
indignant
angry, especially as a result of something unjust or unworthy, insulted
indolent
lazy (in the doll land..)
inept
clumsy (in-not apt-skill)
inexplicable
unable to be explained
innocuous
mild or unharmful
inquiry
investigation, research, study
insolent
arrogant, insulting (ins_olent ins_ulting)
insular
isolated, like an island (insulation for the house makes it an island of heat)
intricacy
the quality of being complex or having interconnected parts
invoke
to call on as in prayer
irrevocable
irreversible, cannot be taken back
lament
to mourn (lame ending)
laud
praise
lavish
to spend freely
magnanimous
forgiving, generous
malaise
feeling of depression, uneasiness
malapropism
humorous misuse of a word that sounds similar to the word intended but has a different meaning
malfeasance
an illegal act
malignant
causing harm
malinger
to pretend to be sick to avoid doing work (-ah ma linger hurts -thats not even a..)
mediate
to help settle differences (median number)
mercenary
fighting or doing anything for money
neologism
a new word or phrase
nomenclature
a set of system of names, a terminology
ominous
threatening (oh minus, ominous things might happen)
orthodox
adhering to established principles
oscillate
to swing back and forth
oversee
supervise, keep an eye on
palliative
to relieve without getting rid of the problem
partisan
one who supports a particular person or an idea
pathos
that which makes people feel pity or sorrow
pedantic
boringly scholarly or academic (this ped is antic)
penchant
a strong taste or liking for something (“le pen a enchante” said the fake French)
penitent
sorry (prison)
peripatetic
wandering, traveling continually
persist
continue to exist, also in a insisting way
pervade
to spread throughout (invade)
posterity
future generations
posthumous
occurring after one’s death
premeditated
planned
proliferate
to spread or grow rapidly (the chocolate sauce of profiterol is proliferate: it spread out of the bowl, its getting too much)
prolific
productive, fruitful abundantly (the chocolate sauce of the profiterol is prolific: it only has one spoon of flour and its a pan full of sauce)
prominent
important
prudent
careful, having foresight (a proud student is prudent with her schoolwork)
reciprocal
mutual, shared (6/8 and 8/6)
redundant
unnecessarily repetitive
refute
prove to be wrong, deny
replete
completely filled
repugnant
offensive, disgusting
resignation
passive submission (resigning employee is in depressed resignation)
resourceful
skilled
reticent
quiet, restrained (retired citizens are quiet)
rhetoric
the art of speaking or writing
rudimentary
basic, unformed or undeveloped (before elementary school, he was rudimentary)
sagacious
wise (sage is a wise character)
solidarity
union, togetherness, cooperation
specious
deceptively attractive (have you seen the new species of unicorns? they are specious)
sporadic
here and there, occasionally
squander
to waste
substantiate
to prove, to verify (sub-under proof under)
surmised
form an idea or assumption with little evidence, guess
survey
examine or consider something carefully
tangential
irrelevant, off-topic
temporize
to cause delay through indecision
tentative
experimental, uncertain (im not sure how to set a tent)
tenuous
extremely thin (ten means skin in Turkish which is a very thin layer)
“thou”
“you”
thwart
to prevent from being accomplished, to frustrate
“thy”
“your”
to aver
state it with confidence, as you know it to be the truth
brawny
having muscles, strength
underscore
to underline, to emphasize (underlined pages get you high scores)
veracious
habitually truthful
veracity
truthfulness
verisimilitude
similarity to reality
verity
something true
versatility
ability to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities
vestigate
a remaining bit of something
vex
to annoy
vie
to compete
vigilant
constantly alert, watchful
vocation
an occupation, a job
volition
will, concsious choice
waive
refrain from demanding (a rule or fee)
repudiate
refuse, reject
recant
changing mind, unsay, give up
proclaim
announce, declare
contemporary
noun) peer, equal adjective) modern
lace
connect, be attached to
“mirth”
fun
“brook”
stream
imperceptible
unnoticeable
prevail
defeat, overpower
succumb
surrender
diverge
disagree, move in different directions
comparable to
able to be likened to another; similar
subsequently
later, after
dispute
argue against
dormant
inactive
confined to
restricted to
impenetrable
impossible to enter
indecipherable
impossible to understand
imitate
mimic
latent
dormant, functionless
“folly”
poor judgement
cited
mentioned
obstruct
block, clog
postulate
suggest, theorize
