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100 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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abjure |
to formally reject a belief (recant) |
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abrogate |
to formally abolish (revoke) |
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abstemious |
moderate in eating and drinking |
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acumen |
keen insight |
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antebellum |
before the war (especially the american civil war) |
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deciduous |
shedding seasonally |
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deleterious |
harmful to health |
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diffident |
lacking self-confidence (unassertive) |
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enervate |
to weaken mentally or morally; lacking strength |
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enfranchise |
to set free; to gain the right to vote |
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epiphany |
sudden realization |
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Equinox |
day of equal day and night |
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euro |
official common currency of the EU |
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evanescent |
fading away |
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expurgate |
to remove questionable content from written work |
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auspicious |
promising success |
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facetious |
joking, often inappropriately |
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fatuous |
foolish |
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feckless |
without purpose |
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fiduciary |
financial person; related to public trust, esp. regarding currency |
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filibuster |
to obstruct legislation, esp. by long speeches; exceptionally long speech meant to prevent legislation |
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gamete |
male or female reproductive cell |
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gauche |
lacking social grace |
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gerrymander |
to divide a geopolitical region to favour a political party's voter ship; a redrawing of a region's boundaries |
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hegemony |
predominant influence of one nation over another |
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hemoglobin |
oxygen-carrying pigment of red blood cells |
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belie |
to be in contradiction with (misrepresent) |
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homogenous |
of the same kind, essentially alike |
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hubris |
excessive pride or self-confidence |
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hypotenuse |
the side of a right triangle opposite the right angle |
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impeach |
to accuse (a public official) of misconduct |
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incognito |
having one's identity concealed |
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incontrovertible |
not open to question |
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inculcate |
to teach by repetition |
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infrastructure |
underlying framework of a system |
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interpolate |
to estimate the value of; to insert words into the middle of a text |
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irony |
the use of words to express the opposite of the literal meaning; discrepancy in expected and actual results, discrepancy between character's knowledge and the audience's |
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bellicose |
eager to fight |
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jejune |
dull, immature |
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kinetic |
relating to motion |
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kowtow |
to act in a servile manner |
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laissez faire |
governmental theory stating government shouldn't interfere with economy; to let act in freedom |
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lexicon |
vocabulary of language or people, book containing words and definitions |
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loquacious |
talkative |
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lugubrious |
dismal |
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metamorphosis |
complete change of substance or appearance |
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mitosis |
cell division resulting in chromosomes |
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moiety |
one of two parts of a group of tribe |
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bowdlerize |
to remove objectionable content from a written work |
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nanotechnology |
design of tiny things |
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nihilism |
philosophical rejection of established laws and institutions |
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nomenclature |
system of names used in particular field or community |
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nonsectarian |
not limited to specific religious denomination |
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notarize |
to certify a document with a signature |
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obsequious |
overly obedient or servile |
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oligarchy |
rule by few |
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omnipotent |
all powerful |
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orthography |
study of how letters are arranged |
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oxidize |
to combine with oxygen; to rust |
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chicanery |
artful deception (subterfuge) |
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parabola |
mathematical curve |
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paradigm |
a typical example, a system of ideas |
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parameter |
limiting factor or boundary |
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pecuniary |
involving money |
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photosynthesis |
process by which green plants convert CO2 into oxygen |
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plagiarize |
to copy another person's idea and claim it as original |
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plasma |
clear, yellowish fluid component of blood |
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polymer |
strong compound with competing small molecules |
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precipitous |
with excessive or careless speed, very steep |
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quasar |
distant yet high energy astronomical object |
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chromosome |
threadlike dna-containing structure |
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quotidian |
commonplace, daily |
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recapitulate |
to restate briefly |
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reciprocal |
mutual |
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reparation |
repayment for damage, loss of suffering; sum of money paid by victorious country to the defeated one |
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respiration |
breathing |
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sanguine |
cheerfully optimistic, reddish |
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soliloquy |
self-revealing monologue delivered alone on stage |
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subjugate |
to make submissive or servile |
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suffragist |
an advocate for the right to vote (especially for women) |
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supercilious |
full of contempt or arrogance |
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circ |
lacking manner (boorish) |
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tautology |
needless repetition of an idea, especially through words |
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taxonomy |
the study, technique or study of classification |
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tectonic |
of or pertaining to structure |
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tempestuous |
stormy or turbulent |
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thermodynamic |
physics of energy |
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totalitarian |
controlling the freedom, will or thought of others |
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unctuous |
greasy, insincerely pious or moralistic |
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usurp |
to seize and hold without legal right |
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vacuous |
lacking ideas, intelligent |
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vehement |
with conviction |
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circumlocution |
indirect expression (rambling) |
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vortex |
whirling mass of air, water, fire, or energy |
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winnow |
to separate by fanning, often appears with down |
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wrought |
worked; produced by beating with a hammer |
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xenophobe |
person who fears or hates foreign people or foreign things |
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yeoman |
a worker, manual laborer |
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ziggurat |
ancient Mesopotamian, pyramid-like structure |
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circumnavigate |
to travel around |
