Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
64 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
assuage |
To make something unpleasant less severe
|
Serena used aspirin to ASSUAGE her pounding headache.
|
|
attenuate
|
To reduce in force or degree; to weaken
|
The Bill of Rights ATTENUATED the traditional power of government to change laws at will.
|
|
austere
|
Severe or stern in appearance; undecorated
|
The lack of decoration makes Zen temples seem AUSTERE to the untrained eye.
|
|
bombastic
|
Pompous in speech and manner
|
The dictator's speeches were mostly BOMBASTIC; his boasting and outrageous claims had no basis in fact.
|
|
castigate
|
To punish or criticize harshly
|
Americans are amazed at how harshly the authorities in Singapore CASTIGATE perpetrators of what would be considered minor crimes in the United States.
|
|
caustic
|
Biting in wit
|
Dorothy Parker gained her reputation for CAUSTIC wit from her cutting, yet clever, insults.
|
|
chicanery
|
Deception by means of craft or guile
|
Dishonest used car sales people often use CHICANERY to sell their beat-up old cars.
|
|
cogent
|
Convincing and well reasoned
|
Swayed by the COGENT argument of the defense, the jury had no choice but to acquit the defendant.
|
|
condone
|
To overlook, pardon, or disregard
|
Some theorists believe that failing to prosecute minor crimes is the sane as CONDONING an air of lawlessness.
|
|
decorum
|
Appropriateness of behavior or conduct; propriety
|
The countess complained that the vulgar peasants lacked the DECORUM appropriate for a visit to the palace.
|
|
desiccate
|
To dry out thoroughly
|
After a few weeks of lying on the desert's baking sands, the cow's carcass became completely DESICCATED.
|
|
desultory
|
Jumping from one thing to another; disconnected
|
Diane had a DESULTORY academic record; she had changed majors 12 times in three years.
|
|
dilatory
|
Intended to delay
|
The congressman used DILATORY measures to delay the passage of the bill.
|
|
dilettante
|
Someone with an amateurish and superficial interest in a topic
|
Jerry's friends were such DILETTANTES that they seemed to have new jobs and hobbies every week.
|
|
dirge
|
A funeral hymn or mournful speech
|
Melville wrote the poem "A DIRGE from James McPherson" for the funeral of a Union general who was killed in 1864.
|
|
disabuse
|
To set right; to free from error
|
Galileo's observations DISABUSED scholars of the notion that the sun revolved around the earth.
|
|
elegy
|
A sorrowful poem or speech
|
Although Thomas Gray's "ELEGY Written in a Country Churchyard" is about death and loss, it urges its readers to endure this life and to trust in spirituality.
|
|
enervate
|
To reduce in strength
|
The guerrillas hoped that a series of surprise attacks would ENERVATE the regular army.
|
|
enumerate
|
To count, list, or itemize
|
Moses returned from the mountain with tablets on which the commandments were ENUMERATED.
|
|
equivocate
|
To use expressions of double meaning in order to mislead
|
When faced with criticism of his policies, the politician EQUIVOCATED and left all parties thinking she agreed with them.
|
|
erudite
|
Learned, scholarly, bookish
|
The annual meeting of philosophy professors was a gathering of the most ERUDITE, well-published individuals in the field.
|
|
esoteric
|
Known or understood by only a few
|
Only a handful of experts are knowledgeable about the ESOTERIC world of particle physics.
|
|
estimable
|
Admirable
|
Most people consider it ESTIMABLE that Mother Teresa spent her life helping the poor of India.
|
|
exculpate |
To clear from blame; prove innocent
|
The adversarial legal system is intended to convict those who are guilty and EXCULPATE those who are innocent.
|
|
exigent
|
Urgent; requiring immediate action
|
The patient was losing blood so rapidly that it was EXIGENT to stop the source of the bleeding.
|
|
exonerate
|
To clear of blame
|
The fugitive was EXONERATED when another criminal confessed to committing the crime.
|
|
fawn
|
To grovel
|
The understudy FAWNED over the director in hopes of being cast in the part on a permanent basis.
|
|
fervid
|
Intensely emotional; feverish
|
The fans of Maria Callas were unusually FERVID, doing anything to catch a glimpse of the great opera singer.
|
|
florid
|
Excessively decorated or embellished
|
To palace had been decorated in an excessively FLORIS style; every surface had been carved and gilded.
|
|
foment
|
To arouse or incite
|
The protesters tried to FOMENT feeling against the war through their speeches and demonstrations.
|
|
iconoclast
|
One who opposes established beliefs, customs, and institutions
|
His lack of regard for traditional beliefs soon established him as an ICONOCLAST.
|
|
impetuous
|
Quick to act without thinking
|
It is not good for an investment broker to be IMPETUOUS, since much thought should be given to all the possible options.
|
|
implacable
|
Unable to be calmed down or made peaceful
|
His rage at the betrayal was so great the he remained IMPLACABLE for weeks.
|
|
inchoate
|
Not fully formed; disorganized
|
The ideas expressed in Nietzsche's mature work also appear in an INCHOATE form in his earliest writing.
|
|
ingenuous
|
showing innocence or childlike simplicity
|
She was so INGENUOUS that her friends feared that her innocence and trustfulness would be exploited when she visited the big city.
|
|
insipid
|
Lacking interest or flavor
|
The critic claimed that the painting was INSIPID, containing no interesting qualities at all.
|
|
intransigent
|
Uncompromising; refusing to be reconciled
|
The professor was INTRANSIGENT on the deadline, insisting that everyone turn the assignment in at the same time.
|
|
irascible
|
Easily made angry
|
Attila the Hun's IRASCIBLE and violent nature made all who dealt with him fear for their lives.
|
|
malinger
|
To evade responsibility by pretending to be ill
|
A common way to avoid the draft was by MALINGERING -- pretending to be mentally or physically ill so as to avoid being being taken by the Army.
|
|
mitigate
|
To soften; to lessen
|
A judge may MITIGATE a sentence if she decides that a person committed a crime out of need.
|
|
mollify
|
To calm or make less severe
|
Their argument was so intense that it was difficult to believe any compromise would MOLLIFY them.
|
|
obdurate
|
Hardened in feeling; resistant to persuasion
|
The president was completely OBDURATE on the issue, and no amount of persuasion would change his mind.
|
|
obstinate
|
Stubborn, unyielding
|
The OBSTINATE child could not be made to eat any food that he disliked.
|
|
obviate
|
To prevent; to make unnecessary
|
The river was shallow enough to wade across at many points, which OBVIATED the need for a bridge.
|
|
occlude
|
To stop up; to prevent the passage of
|
A shadow is thrown across the earth's surface during a solar eclipse, when the light from the sun is OCCLUDED by the moon.
|
|
onerous
|
Troublesome and oppressive; burdensome
|
The assignment was so extensive and difficult to manage that it proved ONEROUS to the team in charge of it.
|
|
opprobrium
|
Public disgrace
|
After the scheme to embezzle the elderly was made public, the treasurer resigned in utter OPPROBRIUM.
|
|
paragon
|
Model of excellence or perfection
|
She is the PARAGON of what a judge should be: honest, intelligent, hardworking, and just.
|
|
pedant
|
Someone who shows off learning
|
The graduate instructor's tedious and excessive commentary on the subject soon gained her a reputation as a PEDANT.
|
|
perfidious
|
Willing to betray one's trust
|
The actress' PERFIDIOUS companion revealed all of her intimate secrets to the gossip columnist.
|
|
perfunctory
|
Done in a routine way; indifferent
|
The machinelike bank teller processed the transaction and gave the waiting customer a PERFUNCTORY smile.
|
|
precipitate
|
To throw violently or bring about abruptly; lacking deliberation
|
Upon learning that the couple married after knowing each other only two months, friends and family members expected such a PRECIPITATE marriage to end in divorce.
|
|
prodigal
|
Lavish, wasteful
|
The PRODIGAL son quickly wasted all of his inheritance on a lavish lifestyle devoted to pleasure.
|
|
propitiate
|
To conciliate; to appease
|
The management PROPITIATED the irate union by agreeing to raise wages for its members.
|
|
propriety
|
Correct behavior; obedience to rules and customs
|
The aristocracy maintained a high level of PROPRIETY, adhering to even the most minor social rules.
|
|
quiescent
|
Motionless
|
Many animals are QUIESCENT over the winter months, minimizing activity in order to conserve energy.
|
|
rarefy
|
To make thinner or sparser
|
Since the atmosphere RAREFIES as altitudes increase, the air at the top of very tall mountains is too thin to breathe.
|
|
repudiate
|
To reject the validity of
|
The old woman's claim that she was the Russian royalty was REPUDIATED when DNA tests showed she was of no relation to them.
|
|
soporific
|
Causing sleep or lethargy
|
The movie proved to be so SOPORIFIC that soon loud snores were heard throughout the theater.
|
|
stolid
|
Unemotional; lacking sensitivity
|
The prisoner appeared STOLID and unaffected by the judge's harsh sentence.
|
|
torpor
|
Extreme mental and physical sluggishness
|
After surgery, the patient experienced TORPOR until the anesthesia wore off.
|
|
veracity
|
Filled with truth and accuracy
|
She had a reputation for VERACITY, so everyone trusted her description of events.
|
|
verbose
|
Wordy
|
The professor's answer was so VERBOSE that the student forgot what the original question had been.
|
|
verbose
|
Wordy
|
The professor's answer was so VERBOSE that the student forgot what the original question had been.
|