Words I Don't Know 4 Flashcards
Promulgate
Verb, to promote or make widely known
Ex: I wanted my new blog post to get as many views in its first 24 hours as possible, so I promulgated it across 4 social media websites.
Vicissitude
Noun, a change of circumstances or fortune, generally importune, unwelcome, or unfortunate
Ex: Her husband‘a vicissitudes of fortune.
Liveried (liver-ed)
Adjective, a special uniforms, color scheme, etc that makes a person or object distinct from others (see livery)
Ex: We assumed out liveried server was the head of the waitstaff.
Stultify
Verb, to cause to lose interest, enthusiasm, or initiative, especially as the result of a tedious or restrictive routine
Ex: My boring class schedule gradually stultified my enthusiasm for teaching.
Oeuvre (uhv-ruh)
Noun, the works of an artist considered collectively
Ex: I was excited to find out the local museum had the oeuvre of Junji Ito.
Importune
1) Verb, to harass someone persistently to get them to do something
Ex: I had to importune my roommates to ensure all chores got done on time.
2) Verb, to approach someone to request or offer sexual services, especially as a prostitute
Ex: The streetwalker importuned me yet again as I left for work.
Militate
Verb, be a powerful or conclusive factor in preventing something.
Ex: His obstinate refusal to change his behavior militated the healing of their marriage.
Elision
1) Noun, the omission of a sound or syllable when speaking or the omission of a passage in a book, speech, or film
Ex: The hypocritical pastor‘a willful elisions of inconvenient verses didn’t go unnoticed by his flock.
2) Noun, the process of joining together or merging things, especially abstract ideas
Ex: My elision of Marxism and Jungian philosophy was not well-received by academia at large.
Arcana
Noun, secrets and mysteries
Ex: The arcana of science is misunderstood by most people.
Fugacious
Adjective, tending to disappear, fleeting
Ex: Youth is a fugacious factor, but true beauty is eternal.
Exegesis (eck-seh-jee-sis)
Noun, the critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially scripture. Done by an exegete (ex-eh-jeet)
Ex: The exegesis produced by the small town preacher spoke of a loving, caring, forgiving god.
Abrogate
Verb, to repeal or do away with, or to evade
Ex: Using one of his getaway tunnels, he again abrogated his pursuers.
Puerile (pure-uhl)
Adjective, Childishly silly and trivial
Ex: His puerile interpretation of the primary literature belied his fundamental misunderstanding of basic biochemistry.
Assiduous
Adjective, showing great care and perseverance
Ex: I was assiduous in the restoration of my Craigslist bike.
Pastiche (pah-steesh)
Noun, an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.
Ex: Modern surrealist art is a pastiche of Picasso’s later work.
Peripatetic (perry-puh-teht-ic)
1) Adj, traveling from place to place, in particular working or based in only one place for a short while.
Ex: If you grow up as a military kid, you get used to a peripatetic lifestyle.
2) Noun, a person who travels from place to place.
Ex: The peripatetics travel from town to town, buying and selling interesting goods as they go.
Synecdoche (sin-eck-dough-key)
Noun, a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole.
Ex: Oregon won the game against Stanford by 10 points. (“Oregon” is a stand-in for “The Oregon ducks football team, and Stanford etc)
Providential
Adjective, occurring at a favorable time, opportune. Or involving divine intervention or foresight.
Ex: My unexpected bonus was quite providential!
Phlegmatic
Adj, unemotional, calm.
Ex: His phlegmatic demeanor in the face of the crisis helped calm the rest of his team.
Dispassionate
Adj, not influenced by strong emotion, so capable of being rational/impartial.
Ex: He was quite dispassionate, which made him an excellent stock trader.
