Words - July 15 Flashcards
Transient
Trepidation
Turbid
Ubiquitous
Unfeigned
Transient (adj., n) - lasting only for short time, impermanent; staying or working in place for a short time only. From L. transient - going across, from trans - across.
Trepidation (n) - a feeling of fear or anxiety about something that may happen. From L. trepidare - agitated, tremble.
Turbid (adj.) - (of a liquid) cloudy, opaque or thick with suspended matter; confused or obscure in meaning or effect. From L. turba - a crowd, a disturbance.
Ubiquitous (adj.), Ubiquity (n) - present, appearing or found everywhere. From L. ubique - everywhere.
Unfeigned (adj.) - genuine, sincere, sincerely felt or expressed. Feigned (adj.) - simulated or pretended, insincere, Feign (v) - pretend to be affect by (a feeling or state or injury). From L. fingere - mould, contrive - form Middle English - which meant - make something, invent a story or excuse and hence later with meaning - make a pretence of a feeling or response.
Unimpeachable
Untenable
Vacillate
Vacuous
Vociferous
Unimpeachable (adj.) - not able to be doubted, questioned or criticised; entirely trustworthy, beyond doubt or suspicion. ( Formal ) If you describe someone as unimpeachable , you mean that they are completely honest and reliable. Impeachable (adj.) - call into question integrity or validity of (a practice), charge someone with misconduct, treason. From L. impedicare - entangle, catch.
Untenable (adj.) - (especially of a position or view) not able to be maintained or defended against attack or objection, impossible to maintain or defend, as of an opinion. An argument, theory, or position that is untenable cannot be defended successfully against criticism or attack. Tenable (adj.) - able to defended or maintained against attack or objection, (of an office, position, scholarship, etc) able to be held or used. From L. tenir - hold . Tenure (n, v), Tenured (adj.) - the conditions under which land or buildings are held or occupied, holding of an office, guaranteed permanent employment as a teacher or lecturer, after probationary period.
Vacillate (v with no obj.) - waver between different opinions or actions, be indecisive, to watery between conflicting positions. From L. vacillat - swayed.
Vacuous (adj.) - having or showing a lack of thought or intelligence, mindless, devoid of any signifincance or matter, empty, lacking serious purpose or occupation. From L. vacuus - empty.
Vociferous (adj.) - expressing or characterised by vehement (showing strong feeling, forceful, passionate, intense) opinions, loud and insistent (insisting or demanding) especially to compel attention. Crying out noisily, clamorous. If you describe someone as vociferous, you mean that they speak with great energy and determination, because they want their views to be heard. From L. vox - voice, ferre - to carry.
Wanderlust
Wheedle
Volatile
Abjure
Adjure
Unimpeachable (adj.) - undoubtable, not able to be doubted, questioned or criticised; entirely trustworthy, beyond doubt or suspicion. ( Formal ) If you describe someone as unimpeachable , you mean that they are completely honest and reliable. Impeachable (adj.) - call into question integrity or validity of (a practice), charge someone with misconduct, treason. From L. impedicare - entangle, catch.
Untenable (adj.) - (especially of a position or view) not able to be maintained or defended against attack or objection, impossible to maintain or defend, as of an opinion. An argument, theory, or position that is untenable cannot be defended successfully against criticism or attack. Tenable (adj.) - able to defended or maintained against attack or objection, (of an office, position, scholarship, etc) able to be held or used. From L. tenir - hold . Tenure (n, v), Tenured (adj.) - the conditions under which land or buildings are held or occupied, holding of an office, guaranteed permanent employment as a teacher or lecturer, after probationary period.
Vacillate (v with no obj.) - waver between different opinions or actions, be indecisive, to watery between conflicting positions. From L. vacillat - swayed.
Vacuous (adj.) - having or showing a lack of thought or intelligence, mindless, devoid of any signifincance or matter, empty, lacking serious purpose or occupation. From L. vacuus - empty.
Vociferous (adj.) - expressing or characterised by vehement (showing strong feeling, forceful, passionate, intense) opinions, loud and insistent (insisting or demanding) especially to compel attention. Crying out noisily, clamorous. If you describe someone as vociferous, you mean that they speak with great energy and determination, because they want their views to be heard. From L. vox - voice, ferre - to carry.
Condign
Debonair
Inveigle
Philistine
Suffuse
Condign (adj., formal) - (of punishment or retribution) appropriate to the crime or wrong doing, fitting and deserved, adequate, appropriate. From L. con - together, dignus - worthy.
Debonair (adj.) - (of a man) confident, stylisht and charming, suave, urbane, genial. From old French - de bon aire - of good disposition. adjective A man who is debonair is confident, charming, and well dressed.
Inveigle (v with obj.), Inveiglement (n) - persuade (someone) to do something by means of deception or flattery, to obtain by deception or flattery. (Inveigle oneself, or ones way into) - gain entrance to (a place) by deception or flattery. From old French aveugler - to blind, aveugle - blind, later as to blind someone’s judgement. To entice, lure, or ensnare by flattery or artful talk or inducements (usually followed by into ): to inveigle a person into playing bridge. To acquire, win, or obtain by beguiling talk or methods (usually followed by from or away ): to inveigle a theater pass from a person. (Formal) If you inveigle someone into doing something, you cleverly persuade them to do it when they do not really want to.
Philistine (adj., n), Philistinism (n) - a person who is hostile (showing or feeling opposition or dislike, unfriendly) or indifferent to arts and culture, barbaric, lacking culture, an individual guided by commonplace, rather than artistic or intellectual values. (To Express Disapproval) If you call someone a philistine, you mean that they do not care about or understand good art, music, or literature, and do not think that they are important. (To Express Disapproval) You can use philistine to describe people or organizations who you think do not care about or understand the value of good art, music, or literature. …a philistine government that allowed the arts to decline. Philistine were originally sea people according to bible, who came from cretes and settle in Southern coastal plain Canaan. From it was derived the name of the country - Palestine. Philistine came into conflict with Israelites during 12th and 11th century BC. The actual meaning used currently - derives from confrontation between university students and townspeople in Jena, Germany, in 17th Century - a sermon on the conflict quoted was “the Philistines are upon you” which led to association between townspeople and those hostile so to culture.
Suffuse (v with obj.), Suffusion (n) - gradually spread through or over, to spread through or over something, as with liquid, color, or light. From L. suffus - poured into, sub - below, fundere - pour. (Literary) If something, especially a color or feeling, suffuses a person or thing, it gradually spreads over or through them. A dull red flush suffused Selby’s face. (Formal) If something such as a book, movie, or piece of music is suffused with a quality, it is full of that quality. This book is suffused with Shaw’s characteristic wry Irish humor.
Mettlesome
Compunction
Contravene
Limn
Obloquy
Mettlesome (adj.) - (of a person or animal) full of spirit and courage, lovely, courageous, high spirited.
Compunction (n, mass noun usually with negative), Compunctious (adj.) - a feeling of guilt or moral scruple that prevents or follows of doing something bad, hesitation or unease at committing (or having committed) an act. From L. com - expressing intensive force, pungere - to prick. * (To Express Disapproval ) If you say that someone has no compunction about doing something, you mean that they do it without feeling ashamed or guilty. He has no compunction about relating how he killed his father.
Contravene (v), Contravention (n) - offend against prohibition or order of (a law, treaty or code of conduct), to violate , or conflict with a rule or principle. From L. contra - against, venire - come. Syn - break, breach, abjure, conflict, disobey.
Limn (v with obj.) - depict or describe in painting or words, to draw, describe, to depict. From L. luminare - make light.
Obloquy (n) - strong public condemnation, abusive language, disgrace, especially brought by public condemnation, damage to ones reputation. From L. ob - against, loqui - speak. censure, blame, or abusive language aimed at a person or thing, especially by numerous persons or by the general public. discredit, disgrace, or bad repute resulting from public blame, abuse, or denunciation. Syn - praise, abuse, bed press, censure, criticism.
Abate
Abdicate
Aberrant
Abrade
Abridge
Abate (v with no obj.) - (something unpleasant or severe) becomes less intense and widespread, to decrease in intensity, reduce or remove (a nuisance). From L. a, ad - to, batre a to beat, abatre - to fell.
Abdicate (v) - (no obj.) (of monarch) renounce one’s throne, (with obj.) fail to fulfil or undertake (ones duty or responsibility), to willing to let go of; to relinquish. From L. ab - away, from, dicare - declare, abdicate - renounce.
Aberrant (adj.), Aberrance, Aberrancy (n) - departing from accepted standard, abnormal, deviating from normal. From L. ab - away, from, errare - to stray.
Abrade (v with obj.) - scrape or wear away by friction or erosion, to erode or rub away. From L. ab - away, from, radere - to scrape.
Abridge (v with obj.), Abridgeable, Abridged (adj.) - shorten (a book, speech or film) without losing the sense, to condense, to shorten, (law) curtail (a right or privilege). From late L. abrreviare - cut short, related to abbreviate.
Abscond
Abstruse
Accolade
Acerbic
Acumen
Abscond (v with no obj.) - leave hurriedly and secretly, typically to escape custody or avoid arrest, to runaway secretly and hide. From L. abscondere - hide, ab - away, from, condere - stow (pack and store an object carefully and neatly in a place). (Formal) If someone absconds from somewhere such as a prison, they escape from it or leave it without permission. (Formal) If someone absconds with something, they leave and take it with them, although it does not belong to them.
Abstruse (adj.) - difficult to understand; obscure. From L. abstrusus - put away, hidden, ab - away, trudere - to push.
Accolade (n) - award or an privilege granted as a special honor or as a acknowledgement of merit, an expression of praise or admiration. From French, from Provençal acolada - embrace around the neck (when bestowing knighthood), from L. ad - at, to, collum - neck.
Acerbic (adj.), Acerbity (n) - (especially of a comment or style of writing) sharp and forthright, harsh or severe, as of temper or expression: acerbic criticism; tasting sour or bitter. From L. acerbus - sour tasting.
Acumen (n) - the ability to make good judgements and take quick decisions, insight fullness. From L. means - sharpness, point, acuere - sharpen.
Adhesion
Admonish
Adroit
Adulate
Affable
Adhesion (n) - the action or process of adhearing to a surface or object, the frictional grip of wheels, shoes, etc, sticking together of particles of different surfaces, state of being physically attached, state of belonging to an organisation. From adhere (v) - stick fast to, which comes from L. ad - to, haerere - to stick.
Admonish (v with obj.), Admonishement (n) - reprimand (a formal expression of disapproval) firmly, advise or urge earnestly, to warn, to gently reprimand. From L. admonere - urge by warning, ad - to, monere - advice, warn, related to Middle English amonest - urge, exhort. to caution, advise, or counsel against something. F to reprove or scold, especially in a mild and good-willed manner: The teacher admonished him about excessive noise. to urge to a duty; remind: to admonish them about their obligations.
Adroit (adj.) - clever or skilful, competent. From F. à droit - according to right, properly. expert or nimble in the use of the hands or body. cleverly skillful, resourceful, or ingenious: an adroit debater.
Adulate (v with obj.) - to praise (someone) excessively. From L. adulat - fawned on.
Affable (adj.) - friendly, good nature, easy to talk to, pleasant. From ad - to, fari - speak.
Affluent
Aggrandize
Affront
Agrarian
Alacrity
Affluent (adj.) - (especially of a group or area) having a great deal of money; wealthy; (archaic) flowing freely, as of water. From L. flowing freely, flowing towards, affluere, ad - to, fluere - to flow, freely flowing money, wealth.
Aggrandize, Aggrandise (v with obj.) - exaggerate, increase the power, status or wealth of, enhance the reputation (of someone) beyond what is justifiable by facts. In the sense - increase, magnify, from L. grandis - large.
Affront (n, v with obj. - usually be affronted) - an offensive act of statement, to insult openly, an action or remark that cause outrage or offence. From Old F. - meant “to slap in the face, insult” based on L. ad frontem - to the face.
Agrarian (adj.) - related to cultivation of land or cultivated land, pertaining to farming or land matters. From L. anger, agr - field.
Alacrity (n) - brisk and cheerful readiness, enthusiasm, speed. From L. alacer - brisk, lively, cheerful. If you do something with alacrity, you do it quickly and eagerly.
Vug
Petrous
Tautology
Gambol
Mendacious
Vug (n), Vuggy, Vugular (adj.) - a cavity in a rock, often lined with mineral crystals.
Petrous (adj.), Petrosal (n) -(anatomy) dense part of temporal bone at the base of the skull, surrounding the inner ear; rock-hard, stony. From L. petra - rock.
Tautology (n), Tautological (adj.) - the saying of same thing twice in different words, generally considered fault of style, unnecessary repetition, a statement that is trivially true. From L. tauto - same, logos - logy (denoting subject of study or interest). * Tautology is the use of different words to say the same thing twice in the same statement. “The money should be adequate enough” is an example of tautology. “Widow woman”.
Gambol (v with no obj.), Gambollilng, Gamboled (v) - run or jump about playfully, to skip playfully, to frolic. From Italian gamba - leg. If animals or people gambol, they run or jump about in a playful way. …the sight of newborn lambs gamboling in the fields.
Mendacious (adj.) - not telling the truth, lying, dishonest. From L. mendac - lying.
Consequential
Tremulous
Mendicant
Egress
Prefernatural
Consequential (adj.), Comsequentiality (n) - following as a result or effect; important, significant. From L. consequent - following closely, related to consequence.
* (Formal) Consequential means the same as consequent . * (Formal) Something that is consequential is important or significant.
Tremulous (adj.) - shaking or quivering slightly, trembling, timed, fear, nervous. From L. tremulus - tremble. (Literary) If someone’s voice, smile, or actions are tremulous, they are unsteady because the person is uncertain, afraid, or upset.
Mendicant (n, adj.) - a begger, a supplicant. From L. mendicus - beggar.
Egress (n, v), Egression (n) -exit, action of going out or leaving a place, a way out. From ex - out, gradi - to step.
Preternatural (adj.), Preternaturalism (n) - beyond what is normal or natural. (Formal) Preternatural abilities, qualities, or events are very unusual in a way that might make you think that unknown forces are involved.
Fulminate
Gull
Rebus
Pedestrian
Distrait
Fulminate (v with no obj.), Fulminated (v), Fulminating (adj.) - express vehement protest, to explode violently or flash like lightning, to verbally attack. From L. fulminat - struck by lightning, fulmin - lightning.
Gull (v with obj.) - to fool or deceive (someone).
Rebus (n) - a puzzle in which words are represented by a combination or pictures and individual letters. E.g. - for the apex - there would be a picture of ape with letter X. From L. res - thing.
Pedestrian (n, adj.) - as noun - person walking walking rather not then travelling in a vehicle, as adj. - lacking inspiration or excitement, dull, commonplace, trite, unremarkable.
Distrait (adj.) - distracted or absent-minded, distracted as a result of anxiety. From L. distrahere - pull apart. * Inattentive because of distracting worries, fears, etc.; absent-minded.
Nefarious
Factious
Ignoble
Epithet
Anodyne
Nefarious (adj.) - (typically of an action or activity) wicked or criminal, vicious, evil. From L. nefar - wrong.
Factious (adj.) - related to or inclined to dissension (disagreement that leads to discord), inclined to make arguments, divisive, contentious. From L. factiosus - inclined to form parties. Faction (n) - a small organised dissenting group within a large one, especially politics. From L. facere - do, make (denoting the action of doing or making something). A faction is an organized group of people within a larger group, which opposes some of the ideas of the larger group and fights for its own ideas.
Ignoble (adj.) - not honourable in character or person, dishonourable, disgraceful. From L. ignobilis, in - not, nobilis - noble. * Of low character, aim; of low grade, quality.
Epithet (n), Epithetic, Epitehtical (adj.) - an adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or thing mentioned, a charecterizing phrase, epithet used as a term of abuse, a disparaging word or phrase. From Gk. epitithenai - add, epi - upon, in addition, tithenai - to place. ( Formal ) An epithet is an adjective or short phrase that is used as a way of criticizing or praising someone.
Anodyne (adj., n) - as adj. - not likely to cause offence or disagreement and somewhat dulle; as noun - painkilling drug or medicine, a distress reliever. From Gk. anodunos - without pain, an - without, odune - pain. * If you describe something as anodyne, you are criticizing it because it has no strong characteristics and is not likely to excite, interest, or upset anyone.
Jejune
Conciliatory
Diaspora
Welter
Ruminate
Jejune (adj.) - naive, simplistic and superficial, immature, (of ideas or writings) dry and uninteresting, dull. From L. jejunus - fasting, barren. The original sense was ‘without food’ - hence ‘not intellectually nourishing’.
Conciliatory (adj.) - intended or likely to placate or pacify, agreeable; overcoming distrust or hostility.
Diaspora (n), Diasporic (adj.) - dispersion of Jews beyond Israel, dispersion or spread of any people away for their original homeland.
Welter (v with no obj., n) - move in a turbulent fashion, to writhe (make twisting, squirming movements or contortions of body), toss about, to be in turmoil; a state of general disorder.
Ruminate (v with no obj.), Rumination (n), Ruminative (adj.) - think deeply about something, to chew cud (partly disgusted food returned from first stomach from ruminants to mouth for further chewing). From L. ruminat - chewed over.
Maudlin
Convoke
Effluence
Eschew
Ambulatory
Maudlin (adj.) - self pityingly or tearful sentiments, highly sentimental. Current sense comes from pictures of Mary Magdalen weeping. If you describe someone as maudlin, you mean that they are being sad and sentimental in a foolish way, perhaps because of drinking alcohol. Jimmy turned maudlin after three drinks. …maudlin self-pity. (To Express Disapproval) If you describe a song, book, or movie as maudlin, you are criticizing it for being very sentimental. …the most maudlin song of all time.
Convoke (v with obj. formal) - call together or summon (an assembly or meeting). From L. con - together, vocare - to call.
Effluence (n) - a substance that flows out of something. From L. effluere - flow out.
Eschew (v with obj.) - deliberately avoid using, abstain from, to shun or avoid.
Ambulatory (adj.) - related to or adapted for walking, movable, mobile, ambulant (able to walk about).
