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102 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
calumny
a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something: The speech was considered a calumny of the administration.
canard
a false or baseless, usually derogatory story, report, or rumor.
canon
the body of rules, principles, or standards accepted as axiomatic and universally binding in a field of study or art: the neoclassical canon.
cant
insincere, especially conventional expressions of enthusiasm for high ideals, goodness, or piety.
2.
the private language of the underworld.
capitulate
to surrender unconditionally or on stipulated terms.
capricious
subject to, led by, or indicative of a sudden, odd notion or unpredictable change; erratic: He's such a capricious boss I never know how he'll react.
2.
Obsolete . fanciful or witty.
captious
apt to notice and make much of trivial faults or defects; faultfinding; difficult to please.
carnal
pertaining to or characterized by the flesh or the body, its passions and appetites; sensual: carnal pleasures.
carp
to find fault or complain querulously or unreasonably; be niggling in criticizing; cavil: to carp at minor errors.
castigate
to criticize or reprimand severely.
2.
to punish in order to correct.
casuistry
specious, deceptive, or oversubtle reasoning, especially in questions of morality; fallacious or dishonest application of general principles; sophistry.
cataclysm
any violent upheaval, especially one of a social or political nature.
2.
Physical Geography . a sudden and violent physical action producing changes in the earth's surface.
catharsis
the purging of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions, especially through certain kinds of art, as tragedy or music
catholic
broad or wide-ranging in tastes, interests, or the like; having sympathies with all; broad-minded; liberal.
cavil
verb (used without object)
1.
to raise irritating and trivial objections; find fault with unnecessarily (usually followed by at or about ): He finds something to cavil at in everything I say.
verb (used with object)
2.
to oppose by inconsequential, frivolous, or sham objections: to cavil each item of a proposed agenda.
charlatan
a person who pretends or claims to have more knowledge or skill than he or she possesses; quack.
chicanery
trickery or deception by quibbling or sophistry: He resorted to the worst flattery and chicanery to win the job.
churlish
like a churl; boorish; rude: churlish behavior.
2.
of a churl; peasantlike.
cipher
zero.
2.
any of the Arabic numerals or figures.
3.
Arabic numerical notation collectively.
4.
something of no value or importance.
circumlocution
a roundabout or indirect way of speaking; the use of more words than necessary to express an idea.
circumspect
watchful and discreet; cautious; prudent: circumspect behavior.
2.
well-considered: circumspect ambition.
clamorous
full of, marked by, or of the nature of clamor.
2.
vigorous in demands or complaints.
claptrap
pretentious but insincere or empty language: His speeches seem erudite but analysis reveals them to be mere claptrap.
2.
any artifice or expedient for winning applause or impressing the public.
cleave (2)
to adhere closely; stick; cling (usually followed by to ).

to split or divide by or as if by a cutting blow, especially along a natural line of division, as the grain of wood.
clemency
the quality of being clement; disposition to show forbearance, compassion, or forgiveness in judging or punishing; leniency; mercy.
cloying
causing or tending to cause disgust or aversion through excess: a perfume of cloying sweetness.
2.
overly ingratiating or sentimental.
cognizant
having cognizance; aware (usually followed by of ): He was cognizant of the difficulty.
2.
having legal cognizance.
colloquy
a conversational exchange; dialogue.
2.
a conference.
compendium
a brief treatment or account of a subject, especially an extensive subject; concise treatise: a compendium of medicine.
2.
a summary, epitome, or abridgment.
3.
a full list or inventory: a compendium of their complaints.
complaisant
inclined or disposed to please; obliging; agreeable or gracious; compliant: the most complaisant child I've ever met.
complement
something that completes or makes perfect: A good wine is a complement to a good meal.
2.
the quantity or amount that completes anything: We now have a full complement of packers.
complaint
an expression of discontent, regret, pain, censure, resentment, or grief; lament; faultfinding: his complaint about poor schools.
2.
a cause of discontent, pain, grief, lamentation, etc.
concomitant
existing or occurring with something else, often in a lesser way; accompanying; concurrent: an event and its concomitant circumstances.
conduit
a pipe, tube, or the like, for conveying water or other fluid.
2.
a similar natural passage.
congenital (2)
of or pertaining to a condition present at birth, whether inherited or caused by the environment, especially the uterine environment.
cogent
compelling belief or assent; forcefully convincing
consortium
a combination of financial institutions, capitalists, etc., for carrying into effect some financial operation requiring large resources of capital.
consummate
to bring to a state of perfection; fulfill.
2.
to complete (an arrangement, agreement, or the like) by a pledge or the signing of a contract: The company consummated its deal to buy a smaller firm.
contentious
tending to argument or strife; quarrelsome: a contentious crew.
2.
causing, involving, or characterized by argument or controversy: contentious issues.
contiguous
touching; in contact.
2.
in close proximity without actually touching; near.
contretemps
an inopportune occurrence; an embarrassing mischance: He caused a minor contretemps by knocking over his drink.
contrite
caused by or showing sincere remorse.
2.
filled with a sense of guilt and the desire for atonement; penitent: a contrite sinner.
contumacious
stubbornly perverse or rebellious; willfully and obstinately disobedient.
conundrum
a riddle, the answer to which involves a pun or play on words, as What is black and white and read all over? A newspaper.
2.
anything that puzzles.
co-opt
to elect into a body by the votes of the existing members.
2.
to assimilate, take, or win over into a larger or established group: The fledgling Labor party was coopted by the Socialist party.
corollary
Mathematics . a proposition that is incidentally proved in proving another proposition.
2.
an immediate consequence or easily drawn conclusion.
corporeal
of the nature of the physical body; bodily.
2.
material; tangible: corporeal property.
coruscate
to emit vivid flashes of light; sparkle; scintillate; gleam.
cosset
to treat as a pet; pamper; coddle.
coterie
a group of people who associate closely.
2.
an exclusive group; clique.
craven
cowardly; contemptibly timid; pusillanimous.
craw
the crop of a bird or insect.
2.
the stomach of an animal.
credulous
willing to believe or trust too readily, especially without proper or adequate evidence; gullible.
2.
marked by or arising from credulity: a credulous rumor.
crestfallen
dejected; dispirited; discouraged.
2.
having a drooping crest or head.
culpable
deserving blame or censure; blameworthy.
cursory
going rapidly over something, without noticing details; hasty; superficial: a cursory glance at a newspaper article.
curt
rudely brief in speech or abrupt in manner.
2.
brief; concise; terse; laconic.
3.
short; shortened.
cynosure
something that strongly attracts attention by its brilliance, interest, etc.: the cynosure of all eyes.
2.
something serving for guidance or direction.
dalliance
a trifling away of time; dawdling.
2.
amorous toying; flirtation.
daub
to cover or coat with soft, adhesive matter, as plaster or mud: to daub a canvas with paint; to daub stone walls with mud.
2.
to spread (plaster, mud, etc.) on or over something: to daub plaster on a brick wall.
dearth
an inadequate supply; scarcity; lack: There is a dearth of good engineers.
debacle
a general breakup or dispersion; sudden downfall or rout: The revolution ended in a debacle.
2.
a complete collapse or failure.
debunk
to expose or excoriate (a claim, assertion, sentiment, etc.) as being pretentious, false, or exaggerated: to debunk advertising slogans.
decimate
to destroy a great number or proportion of: The population was decimated by a plague.
2.
to select by lot and kill every tenth person of.
declasse
reduced to or having low or lower status: a once-chic restaurant that had become completely déclassé.
decorous
characterized by dignified propriety in conduct, manners, appearance, character, etc.
deem
to form or have an opinion; judge; think: He did not deem lightly of the issue.
deferential
showing deference; deferent; respectful.
delectation
delight; enjoyment.
deleterious
harmful; injurious: deleterious influences.
denigrate
to speak damagingly of; criticize in a derogatory manner; sully; defame: to denigrate someone's character.
deprecate
to express earnest disapproval of.
2.
to urge reasons against; protest against (a scheme, purpose, etc.).
deracinate
to pull up by the roots; uproot; extirpate; eradicate.
2.
to isolate or alienate (a person) from a native or customary culture or environment.
Origin:
deride
to laugh at in scorn or contempt; scoff or jeer at; mock.
descry
to discern or make out; catch sight of
2. to discover by looking carefully; detect
desiccate
to dry thoroughly; dry up.
desultory
lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
detritus
any disintegrated material; debris.
diaphanous
very sheer and light; almost completely transparent or translucent.
diatribe
a bitter, sharply abusive denunciation, attack, or criticism: repeated diatribes against the senator.
dichotomy
division into two parts, kinds, etc.; subdivision into halves or pairs.
didactic
intended for instruction; instructive: didactic poetry.
2.
inclined to teach or lecture others too much: a boring, didactic speaker.
diffident
lacking confidence in one's own ability, worth, or fitness; timid; shy.
dilettante
a person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement, especially in a desultory or superficial way; dabbler.
2.
a lover of an art or science, especially of a fine art.
diminution
the act, fact, or process of diminishing; lessening; reduction.
2.
Music. the repetition or imitation of a subject or theme in notes of shorter duration than those first used.
disaffection
the absence or alienation of affection or goodwill; estrangement; disloyalty: Disaffection often leads to outright treason.
disconsolate
without consolation or solace; hopelessly unhappy; inconsolable: Loss of her pet dog made her disconsolate.
discursive
passing aimlessly from one subject to another; digressive; rambling.
disdain
to look upon or treat with contempt; despise; scorn.
2.
to think unworthy of notice, response, etc.; consider beneath oneself: to disdain replying to an insult.
disingenuous
lacking in frankness, candor, or sincerity; falsely or hypocritically ingenuous; insincere: Her excuse was rather disingenuous.
disparate
distinct in kind; essentially different; dissimilar: disparate ideas.
dissimulate
to disguise or conceal under a false appearance; dissemble: to dissimulate one's true feelings about a rival.
dissolute
indifferent to moral restraints; given to immoral or improper conduct; licentious; dissipated.
distraught
distracted; deeply agitated.
doff
to remove or take off, as clothing.
2.
to remove or tip (the hat), as in greeting.
doggerel
comic or burlesque, and usually loose or irregular in measure.
b.
rude; crude; poor.
dogmatic
of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a dogma or dogmas; doctrinal.
doleful
sorrowful; mournful; melancholy: a doleful look on her face.
dolt
a dull, stupid person; blockhead.
don
initial capital letter ) Mr.; Sir: a Spanish title prefixed to a man's given name.to put on or dress in: to don one's clothes.
dormant
lying asleep or as if asleep; inactive, as in sleep; torpid: The lecturer's sudden shout woke the dormant audience.
dossier
a collection or file of documents on the same subject, especially a complete file containing detailed information about a person or topic.