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;
132 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
tergiversation
|
a change in one’s opinions or principles
|
|
jejune
|
dull, childish
|
|
libido
|
sexual desire
|
|
catharsis
|
cleansing or release
|
|
suppliant
|
asking humbly and earnestly, beseeching
|
|
insipid
|
lacking excitement and interest
|
|
miasma
|
a noxious atmosphere or influence
|
|
insouciant
|
marked by unconcern, nonchalant
|
|
desultory
|
haphazard, disconnected
|
|
venal
|
open to bribery, corruptible
|
|
proem
|
an introduction, a preface
|
|
lachrymose
|
causing or tending to cause tears
|
|
meretricious
|
attracting attention in a vulgar manner
|
|
malediction
|
a curse
|
|
velleity
|
a mere wish or inclination
|
|
desideratum
|
something necessary or desirable
|
|
venial
|
easily excused or forgiven, pardonable
|
|
trenchant
|
forceful, effective, vigorous
|
|
exegesis
|
critical explanation or analysis of text
|
|
seraphic
|
angelic, sublime, pure
|
|
jocular
|
characterized by joking
|
|
effusion
|
release of emotions
|
|
avuncular
|
relating to an uncle
|
|
idyll
|
scene or event of a simple and tranquil nature
|
|
adjunct
|
something in a dependent or subordinate position, auxiliary
|
|
opprobrious
|
expressing contemptuous reproach, scornful or abusive
|
|
paradox
|
a seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true
|
|
elucidate
|
to clarify
|
|
solecism
|
a violation of etiquette or grammar
|
|
affable
|
easy and pleasant to speak to, approachable
|
|
deference
|
courteous yielding to the opinions of another
|
|
bilious
|
having a peevish disposition, ill-humored
|
|
colloquial
|
relating to conversation
|
|
lexicon
|
a vocabulary of terms used in a particular profession, subject, or style
|
|
alacrity
|
speed or quickness, celerity
|
|
a priori
|
made before or without examination, not supported by factual study, deductive
|
|
percipient
|
perceiving keenly and with ease
|
|
poignant
|
appealing to the emotions, touching
|
|
venerable
|
worthy of respect
|
|
penitent
|
feeling remorse for one’s misdeeds or sins
|
|
mitigate
|
to moderate in force or intensity, alleviate
|
|
quotidian
|
everyday, commonplace
|
|
enigma
|
a perplexing speech or text, a riddle
|
|
morose
|
sullenly melancholy, gloomy
|
|
capricious
|
impulsive, unpredictable
|
|
reverie
|
state of abstracted musing, daydreaming
|
|
appellation
|
a name, title, or designation
|
|
requite
|
to make repayment or return for, to avenge
|
|
plausive
|
expressing praise
|
|
epigram
|
a witty statement
|
|
propinquity
|
nearness, proximity
|
|
acme
|
highest point
|
|
saturnine
|
gloomy, untalkative
|
|
prima facie
|
at first glance
|
|
vacuity
|
emptiness, stupidity, senselessness
|
|
quid pro quo
|
an equal exchange
|
|
purview
|
scope or extent of comprehension
|
|
synecdoche
|
figure of speech where one term is used for another
|
|
salubrious
|
healthful, wholesome
|
|
paucity
|
fewness, scarcity
|
|
hitherto
|
up to now
|
|
phlegmatic
|
having a calm, sluggish temperament
|
|
rubicund
|
healthily rosy, ruddy
|
|
laconic
|
concise, succinct
|
|
idiom
|
a speech form peculiar to a single language
|
|
anima
|
the soul
|
|
surrogate
|
a substitute or replacement
|
|
mordent
|
bitingly sarcastic
|
|
vituperation
|
blame, abusive tirade
|
|
malaise
|
a feeling of illness or depression
|
|
sardonic
|
scornful, mocking
|
|
neophyte
|
a recent convert, novice
|
|
sylvan
|
abounding in trees, wooded
|
|
probity
|
complete integrity, uprightness
|
|
circuitous
|
taking a roundabout course, indirect
|
|
propitiatory
|
conciliatory, offered in appeasement
|
|
augury
|
a sign or omen
|
|
secular
|
separate from religion or a religious body
|
|
effusive
|
unrestrained in emotional expression
|
|
pedantic
|
learning or teaching trivial facts
|
|
nebular
|
cloudy, hazy
|
|
detritus
|
debris, fragments
|
|
acolyte
|
a follower or assistant of a priest
|
|
sedulous
|
diligent, painstaking
|
|
placatory
|
intended to appeased or calm
|
|
integument
|
an outer covering
|
|
putative
|
supposed
|
|
diurnal
|
occurring daily
|
|
atavistic
|
reappearing after absence
|
|
patronage
|
support or encouragement
|
|
apprise
|
to inform
|
|
adumbrate
|
to disclose partially
|
|
latent
|
potential but hidden
|
|
minatory
|
menacing, threatening
|
|
eclectic
|
diverse and varied
|
|
libertine
|
one who acts without moral restraint
|
|
emanation
|
something that protrudes from a source
|
|
apotheosis
|
exaltation to divine rank or statue, deification
|
|
encomium
|
formal expression of praise, a tribute
|
|
clandestine
|
kept or done in secret, often in order to conceal an illicit purpose
|
|
hackneyed
|
overfamiliar through overuse, trite
|
|
cryptic
|
having hidden meaning, mystifying
|
|
halcyon
|
calm and peaceful
|
|
sacerdotal
|
of or relating to priests, priestly
|
|
abjure
|
to renounce under oath, forswear
|
|
quell
|
to put down forcibly, suppress
|
|
recrudescent
|
breaking out again after temporary suppression
|
|
ersatz
|
an imitation or substitute that is usually inferior, artificial
|
|
exculpate
|
to clear of guilt or blame
|
|
fulsome
|
offensively flattering or insincere
|
|
entente
|
an agreement for cooperative action or policy
|
|
augment
|
to make superior through modification
|
|
inane
|
lacking sense or substance
|
|
tête-à-tête
|
a private conversation between two people
|
|
tenebrous
|
dark and gloomy
|
|
reprise
|
a return to an original theme
|
|
split infinitive
|
an infinitive where the “to” and verb are separated
|
|
noxious
|
harmful to health, corrupting
|
|
droll
|
amusingly odd or whimsically comical
|
|
evanescence
|
dissipating or disappearing like vapor
|
|
decorous
|
proper, exhibiting conformity to social conventions
|
|
xenophobia
|
fear of strangers or foreigners
|
|
prevaricate
|
to deviate from the truth
|
|
inure
|
to make used to something through prolonged subjection
|
|
insular
|
detached, suggestive of isolated life
|
|
portentous
|
foreboding, ominous
|
|
contingent
|
dependent on conditions to occur
|
|
cognate
|
related in origin
|
|
nubile
|
ready for marriage
|
|
etymology
|
the history of the origin of words
|
|
polemic
|
controversy or argument
|
|
nascent
|
in the process of emerging
|