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;
128 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Pliable
|
Flexible Rigid The dough was soft and pliable. |
|
|
Poised
|
Ready/Calm The lion was poised and waiting to attack. She remained calm and poised under pressure. |
|
|
Pompous
|
Arrogant Modest The pompous man thought he was better than everyone else. |
|
|
Populous
|
Populated Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world. |
|
|
Precarious
|
Dangerous Secure Our financial situation had become precarious. |
|
|
Precipitate
|
Quicken Delay The killings in the city have precipitated the worst crisis yet. |
|
|
Predicament
|
Tricky Situation The decision will leave her in a predicament. |
|
|
Proclaim
|
Announce Conceal He continues to proclaim his innocence |
|
|
Procure
|
Obtain It was difficult to procure food and other daily necessities. |
|
|
Productive
|
Useful Unprofitable The exam study we did proved to be very productive. |
|
|
Profit
|
Benefit Cost They saw little profit in risking their lives to capture the soldiers. |
|
|
Profound
|
Deep Shallow A book full of profound and challenging thoughts. |
|
|
Prohibit
|
Forbid Permit The law which prohibits trading on Sunday. |
|
|
Prolific
|
Productive Fruitless A prolific writer of novels and short stories. |
|
|
Prominent
|
Outstanding Insignificant The lighthouses that are still a prominent feature of the Scottish coast. |
|
|
Promote
|
Support Oppose His country will do everything possible to promote peace. |
|
|
Prompt
|
Cause/Quick Prevent/Late The bell prompted them to go to lunch. She was always prompt and left home on time. |
|
|
Prong
|
Spike Mark the loaf with the prongs of a fork. |
|
|
Prospective
|
Possible The school open day was for the benefit of all prospective students. |
|
|
Prosperity
|
Riches Poverty A life of peace and prosperity |
|
|
Prosperous
|
Wealthy Impoverished The youngest son of a prosperous family. |
|
|
Provisional
|
Temporary Permanent The possibility of setting up a provisional government. |
|
|
Provoke
|
Irritate Mollify I didn't want to do anything to provoke him. |
|
|
Prudent
|
Wise Rash He is taking a prudent and cautious approach. |
|
|
Pulsated
|
Throb The racing beat of her heart pulsated under her fingertips. |
|
|
Punitive
|
Revengeful Punitive measures against foreign companies. |
|
|
Punctual
|
Prompt Late He was always very punctual for school. |
|
|
Purchase
|
Grip I got a purchase on the rope and pulled. |
|
|
Pursue
|
Chase He was hard working and determined to pursue his dreams for success. |
|
|
Quaint
|
Old-Fashioned Modern They were charmed by the quaint little cottage. |
|
|
Queer
|
Odd Ordinary If you ask me, there's something queer going on. |
|
|
Quench
|
Satisfy He stopped to quench his thirst at a stream. |
|
|
Cacophonous
|
Harsh Sound Quiet Screaming guitars and cacophonous vocals. |
|
|
Ramble
|
Stroll/Chatter They went for a ramble through the woods. They had to listen to her ramble on about herself. |
|
|
Rectify
|
Correct Confuse The situation was rectified once she explained herself. |
|
|
Refuse
|
Rubbish The green bin was solely for garden refuse. |
|
|
Renovate
|
Restore They spent thousands renovating the house. |
|
|
Repent
|
Regret He repented of his actions when he saw how much he had upset everyone. |
|
|
Reprimand
|
Blame Praise The referee severely reprimanded the player for diving in the penalty area. |
|
|
Reproach
|
Criticise Praise The teacher reproached him for running with scissors. |
|
|
Resentful
|
Bitter Satisfied She felt quite resentful that she had been given a smaller piece of cake. |
|
|
Reserved
|
Uncommunicative Sociable He was unemotional and reserved. |
|
|
Residence
|
Home She's staying at her country residence. |
|
|
Resisted
|
Opposed Yielded To They resisted our attempts to modernise the logo. |
|
|
Restore
|
Reinstate Abolish The army has been brought in to restore order. |
|
|
Retain
|
Keep Release She always retained fond memories of the lake house. |
|
|
Revel
|
Celebrate They revelled all night after their exams. |
|
|
Revere
|
Worship Despise The citizens of the land revered their noble and just king. |
|
|
Rigid
|
Inflexible Pliant There was a rigid set of rules at the club. |
|
|
Rile
|
Provoke They riled the dog by throwing stones at him. |
|
|
Rogue
|
Scoundrel He was a real rogue, always getting up to mischief. |
|
|
Rowdy
|
Unruly Calm The crowd became rowdy after the penalty decision. |
|
|
Rural
|
Country Urban She wanted to live in a rural setting without the hustle and bustle of the city. |
|
|
Perilous
|
Dangerous Safe It was a perilous journey filled with risks at every point. |
|
|
Sane
|
Rational Insane Any sane person would not dream of jumping on the frozen lake. |
|
|
Sanitary
|
Hygienic Filthy It wasn’t very sanitary for the chef to wipe his nose while cooking. |
|
|
Savour
|
Appreciate Scorn Savour the flavour of each mouthful. |
|
|
Scarce
|
Insufficient Ample Food was scarce and expensive. |
|
|
Score
|
Indent/Result/Achieve Score the card before folding it. The score made them top of the league. He scored a hat-trick. |
|
|
Seam
|
Joint The seam of his t-shirt was split from armpit to hem. |
|
|
Sedate
|
Calm Wild She preferred a more sedate lifestyle in her old age. |
|
|
Seldom
|
Occasionally Often He seldom kissed his mum goodbye anymore. |
|
|
Sermon
|
Lecture The policeman gave them a long sermon about staying out of trouble. |
|
|
Shrewd
|
Astute Naïve He was a shrewd businessman who knew how to strike a good deal. |
|
|
Shrine
|
Monument The holy shrine of Mecca. |
|
|
Sincere
|
Genuine Dishonest He was a sincere person who genuinely wanted to help. |
|
|
Smouldering
|
Simmering His smouldering temper would not allow him to forgive them. |
|
|
Snag
|
Problem The police car chase hit a snag when traffic got between them and the getaway car. |
|
|
Snub
|
Insult Flatter He snubbed her in public and made her feel an idiot. |
|
|
Sober
|
Serious Drunk He remained sober while his friends enjoyed their beers. |
|
|
Solitary
|
Lone Sociable He enjoyed a solitary existence without much company. |
|
|
Sombre
|
Serious Playful The mood at the funeral was sombre. |
|
|
Sow
|
Female Pig/Plant The farmer sowed his seeds in Spring. |
|
|
Spruce
|
Smart Dishevelled The young man looked spruce for his job interview. |
|
|
Squalid
|
Disgusting Spotless The homeless man was forced to live in squalid conditions. |
|
|
Stable
|
Constant Volatile She needed a stable income from her business to pay the bills. |
|
|
Stagnant
|
Motionless Flowing The stagnant water in the pond began to smell. |
|
|
Static
|
Motionless Active Painting a static object is easier than a moving person. |
|
|
Stern
|
Harsh Tolerant He said stern measures would be taken against the killers. |
|
|
Stout
|
Overweight Slender King Henry the Eighth was a large and stout figure. |
|
|
Subdued
|
Solemn Lively The catastrophe had left everyone feeling somewhat subdued. |
|
|
Submit
|
Give In He submitted his homework for the teacher to mark. The small lion submitted to the large one. |
|
|
Subterranean
|
Underground Worms prefer to live in their subterranean world of dark and dampness. |
|
|
Sufficient
|
Ample Inadequate He wondered whether he had sufficient food for the party. |
|
|
Superficial
|
External Profound It may well look different but the changes are only superficial. |
|
|
Superfluous
|
Unnecessary Essential She had bought a superfluous amount of outfits for her holiday. |
|
|
Suppress
|
Overpower Promote He had to suppress his fear in front of his friends. |
|
|
Surmount
|
Overcome I realised I had to surmount the language barrier. |
|
|
Suspend
|
Postpone/Hang/Expel The game was suspended due to the rain. The stars were suspended from the ceiling. The naughty boy was suspended from school. |
|
|
Suspect
|
Distrust Trust She suspected her son was not telling her the whole truth about the broken window. |
|
|
Symbolise
|
Represent The olive branch symbolises peace. |
|
|
Synthetic
|
Artificial Organic A mixture of synthetic and natural material was used on the tent. |
|
|
Tactful
|
Sensitive Thoughtless It wasn’t tactful of him to stare at the spot on her nose. |
|
|
Taint
|
Stain Purify Her bitter words tainted the whole conversation. |
|
|
Tenacious
|
Determined His high results were because of his very tenacious attitude to studying. |
|
|
Tenant
|
Resident The tenants of the house were very prompt in paying their rent. |
|
|
Tentative
|
Hesitant Confident My first attempts at cycling were very tentative. |
|
|
Ponder
|
Think He had time to ponder over his decision. |
|
|
Thwart
|
Prevent Support They were doing all they could to thwart the terrorists. |
|
|
Tranquil
|
Peaceful Noisy The place was tranquil and appealing. |
|
|
Treacherous
|
Disloyal Faithful President spoke of the treacherous intentions of the enemy. |
|
|
Trifle
|
Unimportant Matter He doesn't let such trifles worry him. |
|
|
Trivial
|
Insignificant Important I don't like to visit the doctor just for something trivial. |
|
|
Tropical
|
Stifling Freezing The tropical climate was too hot and humid for him. |
|
|
Turbulent
|
Wild Calm I had to have a boat that could handle turbulent seas. |
|
|
Twilight
|
Dusk Dawn The garden looked mysterious in the shadows of twilight. |
|
|
Tyrant
|
Bully Behaving like a tyrant made the football captain very unpopular. |
|
|
Unaccustomed
|
Unacquainted Familiar She was completely unaccustomed to such rudeness. |
|
|
Uniform
|
Consistent Varied Chips should be cut into uniform size and thickness. |
|
|
Upsurge
|
Increase Decline There has been an upsurge in children playing sports since the Olympics. |
|
|
Vandalise
|
Ruin The hooligans vandalised the bus-stop by smashing the glass. |
|
|
Verify
|
Confirm Disprove The bank needed her passport to verify her identity. |
|
|
Volatile
|
Changeable Steady She was a volatile person who would change her mood without notice. |
|
|
Vulgar
|
Tasteless Elegant Her choice of decorations were ugly and vulgar. |
|
|
Amble
|
Stroll We ambled along in front of the houses. |
|
|
Warp
|
Bend Plastic can warp in the sun. |
|
|
Wary
|
Suspicious Trusting My mother always told me to be wary of strangers. |
|
|
Weary
|
Exhausted Fresh She sank to the ground, too weary to walk another step. |
|
|
Wholesome
|
Good Evil It was all good, wholesome fun. |
|
|
Wholly
|
Completely Partially Societies which rely wholly on farming to survive |
|
|
Wistful
|
Dreamy There was a wistful look in his eyes when he spoke of his childhood. |
|
|
Worldly
|
Experienced Unsophisticated He was worldly and sophisticated, quite unlike me. |
|
|
Worthy
|
Valuable Undeserving Worthy members of the community deserve respect. |
|
|
Wretched
|
Pitiful Fortunate Wretched people living in abject poverty. |
|
|
Yearn
|
Desire He yearned for freedom. |
|
|
Yield
|
Surrender/Return Resist She yielded to the pressure. 400 acres of land yielded a crop worth £1 million. |
|
|
Vigour
|
Energy Lethargy He played with great vigour. |
|
|
Transient
|
Temporary Permanent The transient nature of high fashion means it is always changing. |
