Words Flashcards
recherché
rare, exotic, or obscure.
“a few linguistic terms are perhaps a bit recherché for the average readership”
overmuch
too much.
“I would not worry overmuch”
kicker
- a person or animal that kicks.
- an unexpected and unwelcome discovery or turn of events.
“the kicker was you couldn’t get a permit” - (in poker) a high third card retained in the hand with a pair at the draw.
travail
painful or laborious effort.
“advice for those who wish to save great sorrow and travail”
appurtenant
belonging; pertinent.
“properties appurtenant to the main building”
moniker
a name.
“his real moniker is Dave Kennedy”
jocular
fond of or characterized by joking; humorous or playful.
“she sounded in a jocular mood”
charade
an absurd pretence intended to create a pleasant or respectable appearance.
“talk of unity was nothing more than a charade”
farce
setback
a plain, flat offset in a wall.
surmise
suppose that something is true without having evidence to confirm it. (v.)
“he surmised that something must be wrong”
a supposition that something may be true, even though there is no evidence to confirm it. (n.)
“Charles was glad to have his surmise confirmed”
sputter
make a series of soft explosive or spitting sounds.
- speak in a series of incoherent bursts as a result of strong emotion.
“‘But … but …’ she sputtered”
- proceed in a spasmodic and feeble way.
“strikes in the public services sputtered on”
- emit with a spitting sound.
“the goose is in the oven, sputtering fat”
slow burn
Slowly increasing anger. It is often put as do a slow burn , meaning “gradually grow angrier,” as in I did a slow burn when he kept me waiting for three hours.
linchpin
a person or thing vital to an enterprise or organization.
“nurses are the linchpin of the National Health Service”
magnanimously
generous or forgiving, especially towards a rival or less powerful person.
“she should be magnanimous in victory”
exsanguinate
drain (a person, animal, or organ) of blood.
“carotid and jugular vessels were cut to exsanguinate the heart”
giddy
having a sensation of whirling and a tendency to fall or stagger; dizzy.
“Luke felt almost giddy with relief”
- disorientating and alarming, but exciting.
“her giddy rise to power” - excitable and frivolous.
“Isobel’s giddy young sister-in-law”
blow the gaff
A person having any secret in his possession, or a knowledge of anything injurious to another, when at least induced from revenge, or other motive, to tell it openly to the world and expose him publicly, is then said to have blown the gaff upon him.
exigent
pressing; demanding.
“the exigent demands of her contemporaries’ music took a toll on her voice”
tautology
the saying of the same thing twice over in different words, generally considered to be a fault of style
(e.g. they arrived one after the other in succession ).
