Reading...
Play button
Play button
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;
201 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
aesthetic
|
appealing to the sense of beauty
|
|
|
eclectic
|
choosing from a variety of sources
|
|
|
paradox
|
a seemingly contradictory statement that nonetheless expresses a truth
|
|
|
anomalous
|
deviating from a general rule, an irregularity, something that is incongruous
|
|
|
alleviate, mitigate, mollify, assuage, allay
|
to relieve, to lessen
|
|
|
innocuous
|
harmless, not damaging
|
|
|
venerate, revere
|
to hold in great esteem, to honor, admire
|
|
|
trite, banal, cliche, hackneyed, platitude, vapid, prosaic, mundane
|
commonplace, unimaginative, ordinary
|
|
|
elusive
|
hard to catch, evasive
|
|
|
procrastinate, dilatory, temporize, dawdle
|
to deal, to be tardy
|
|
|
conventional
|
a traditional customary way of doing things
|
|
|
obstinate, obdurate, recalcitrant, intransigent, intractable
|
stubborn
|
|
|
curtail
|
to cut short
|
|
|
meager
|
scanty, sparse, not abundant
|
|
|
somber
|
gloomy, cheerless, grave
|
|
|
flourish
|
to prosper, thrive
|
|
|
rejuvenate, reinvigorate
|
to make youthful again, revitalize, revive
|
|
|
rebuke, censure, reprimand, reprove, remonstrate, reproach, admonish
|
to scold
|
|
|
lethargic, slothful, languid, indolent, torpid, wan, anemic, phlegmatic, enervated
|
to lack energy, vigor and vitality, to be sluggish
|
|
|
acclaim, adulation, hail, extol, laud, eulogize, plaudit
|
to win praise
|
|
|
curator
|
a person who is in charge of a museum
|
|
|
egoist
|
a person is concerned with himself or herself
|
|
|
zealot
|
a person who is filled with zeal and enthusiasm for a cause
|
|
|
malefactor
|
a person who does ill to other, an evil person
|
|
|
pacifist
|
a person who promotes peace
|
|
|
mentor
|
a person who provides, guidance, a tutor
|
|
|
reveler
|
a person who engages in merrymaking
|
|
|
prodigy
|
a person with great talent, a genius
|
|
|
stalwart
|
a loyal supporter, an adherent, someone who stands by you
|
|
|
skinflint
|
a person who is overly thrifty with money, a miser
|
|
|
scoundrel
|
a disreputable person, a rascal, lacks virture
|
|
|
savant
|
a person with detailed knowledge in a specific field, a sage
|
|
|
jingoist
|
an extreme nationalist, a chauvinist
|
|
|
benefactor
|
a person who helps others, often by giving generous gifts
|
|
|
glutton
|
a person given to greedy and voracious eating and drinking
|
|
|
virtuoso
|
a person with great artistic talent
|
|
|
hypocrite
|
a person who puts on a false appearance, someone who says one thing and then does another
|
|
|
boor
|
a person who is rude and insensitive, lacks refinement
|
|
|
recluse
|
a person who leads a secluded or solitary life, a hermit
|
|
|
upstart
|
a person who has risen suddenly from a low position to great success, lack modesty
|
|
|
seer
|
a person who can predict future event
|
|
|
pragmatist
|
a person who is practical and thus not given to flights of fancy
|
|
|
devotee
|
an ardent follower, supporter, or enthusiast
|
|
|
nomad
|
a person who wanders and is thus itinerant
|
|
|
dilettante
|
a dabbler, a person having superficial interest in a variety of fields or endeavors
|
|
|
demagogue
|
a person who arouses popular passions and prejudices
|
|
|
supplicant
|
a person who is overly humble, who pleads for a favor
|
|
|
hedonist
|
a person who seeks pleasure, gratification
|
|
|
depreciate
|
to go down in value
|
|
|
demolish
|
to tear down, destroy, raze
|
|
|
decry
|
to criticize, denounce, condemn, in short to put someone or something down
|
|
|
deplorable
|
wretched, awful, miserable
|
|
|
deplete
|
to exhaust, when the supply of something goes down
|
|
|
despondent
|
feeling very down, discouraged
|
|
|
debacle
|
a big disaster, things really go down the tubes, a fiasco
|
|
|
derogatory
|
to belittle, to say unfavorable things about someone
|
|
|
devoid
|
to go down in the sense of being empty, lacking content
|
|
|
ambivalent
|
lacking conviction
|
|
|
ambiguous
|
lacks clarity
|
|
|
trivial, trifling
|
lack importance, lack significance
|
|
|
shiftless
|
lazy, lackadaisical and therefore lacking ambition
|
|
|
rash, impulsive
|
impetuous and therefore lacking in restraint, lacking forethought
|
|
|
vapid
|
dull, bland, and thus lacking in taste, insipid
|
|
|
transient, ephemeral, evanescent
|
brief and therefore lacking in permanence
|
|
|
nondescript
|
ordinary, and therefore lacking in distinction
|
|
|
merciless, ruthless
|
cruel and therefore lacking in compassion
|
|
|
desolate
|
lacks inhabitants
|
|
|
callous
|
lacks sensitivity
|
|
|
derivative
|
derived from and therefore lacking originality
|
|
|
boorish
|
acting like a boor, crude and therefore lacking refinement
|
|
|
intrepid, dauntless
|
brace and therefore lacking fear
|
|
|
viscous
|
thick and syrupy and therefore lacking movement, wont't flow
|
|
|
inept
|
lacking in skill
|
|
|
flippant
|
lacks proper respect or seriousness
|
|
|
precarious
|
lacks stability
|
|
|
diffident
|
lacks self-confidence
|
|
|
callow, sophomoric
|
immature and therefore lacking maturity
|
|
|
erratic
|
unpredictable, changeable and therefore lacking consistency
|
|
|
banal, trite
|
commonplace and therefore lacking originality
|
|
|
amorphous
|
lacks shape or form
|
|
|
elated, ecstatic, exuberant, jubilant, exhilarated, exultant, ebullient, effervescent
|
are all very happy, filled with joy and enthusiasm
|
|
|
mercurial
|
very changeable, like a personality
|
|
|
adept
|
very skillful
|
|
|
exasperating
|
very annoying, very irksome
|
|
|
ominous
|
very threatening
|
|
|
venal
|
very corrupt, dishonest
|
|
|
exactitude
|
very precise
|
|
|
terrified
|
very apprehensive
|
|
|
excruciating
|
very painful
|
|
|
fastidious
|
very neat
|
|
|
frenzied
|
very excited, very animated, very active
|
|
|
meticulous
|
very precise
|
|
|
assiduous
|
very hard working, diligent
|
|
|
painstaking
|
very careful
|
|
|
perplexing
|
very puzzling
|
|
|
gatish
|
very loud, very bright colors
|
|
|
auspicious
|
very favorable
|
|
|
fractious
|
very divisive
|
|
|
perilous
|
very dangerous
|
|
|
arduous
|
very demanding, very difficult
|
|
|
pugnacious
|
very quarrelsome, combative
|
|
|
conspicuous
|
very noticeable
|
|
|
destitute
|
very poor, indigent, lacks financial resources
|
|
|
discerning
|
very insightful
|
|
|
despicable
|
a vile very contemptible act or deed
|
|
|
vigilant
|
very alert
|
|
|
egregious
|
a very bad error
|
|
|
immaculate
|
very clean
|
|
|
injunction
|
a court order requiring someone to do something
|
|
|
censure
|
an official reprimand
|
|
|
germane
|
relevant, pertinent
|
|
|
substantiate
|
to prove, verify
|
|
|
ransack
|
to completely overturn
|
|
|
embezzlement
|
the unlawful taking of money entrusted to one's care
|
|
|
stipulate
|
to specify, set forth
|
|
|
plausible
|
believable, credible
|
|
|
larceny
|
the unlawful taking of personal property
|
|
|
collusion
|
secret agreement, usually for illegal or deceitful purposes
|
|
|
obstruct
|
to get in the way, block
|
|
|
incorrigible
|
can't be reformed
|
|
|
defamation
|
to libel or slander
|
|
|
edict
|
an official proclamation, a decree
|
|
|
allegation
|
an assertion unsupported by facts
|
|
|
reprieve
|
a delay in a punishment
|
|
|
accomplice
|
a partner in a crime
|
|
|
adjudicate
|
to a dispute in a court
|
|
|
pardon
|
to excuse from a penalty
|
|
|
spurious
|
a falsehood, as a claim that can't be proven
|
|
|
expurgate
|
to delete or remove from the record
|
|
|
discrepancy
|
an inconsistency
|
|
|
corroborate
|
to support with evidence
|
|
|
fabricate
|
a made up or invented story, a falsehood
|
|
|
repudiate
|
to take or disavow
|
|
|
dissolution
|
to dissolve, break apart
|
|
|
anarchist
|
opposes government and laws
|
|
|
arid
|
very dry
|
|
|
anachronism
|
a chronological misplacing of events, person, or object
|
|
|
duty
|
a tax on imports
|
|
|
enumerate
|
to ascertain the number of, to count
|
|
|
buttress
|
to support, prop up
|
|
|
desiccated
|
to become very dry, arid, parched
|
|
|
sovereign
|
the supreme ruler in a kingdom
|
|
|
nullify
|
to make void
|
|
|
enlighten
|
to inform, instruct, edify
|
|
|
appeasement
|
to give in to someone's demands
|
|
|
elite
|
a select group
|
|
|
ethics
|
a code of conduct
|
|
|
bias
|
a prejudice, leaning, predisposition to do something
|
|
|
epistolary
|
a series of letters
|
|
|
matriarchal
|
rule by women
|
|
|
proliferation
|
to multiply, increase, spread rapidly
|
|
|
dogma
|
doctrine, set of beliefs
|
|
|
belligerent
|
nation at war, warlike
|
|
|
impasse
|
deadlock, stalemate
|
|
|
abdicate
|
to renounce, resign, vacate a throne
|
|
|
watershed, landmark, milestone
|
all refer to important turning point events
|
|
|
autonomy
|
self-rule, self-governing
|
|
|
autocrat
|
an absolute ruler
|
|
|
astral
|
pertaining to the stars
|
|
|
marine
|
pertaining to the seas
|
|
|
celestial
|
pertaining to the skies
|
|
|
arboreal
|
pertaining to trees
|
|
|
hybrid
|
an offspring of two plants or animals of different species
|
|
|
translucent
|
will allow light to pass through
|
|
|
porous
|
will allow liquids to through
|
|
|
alloy
|
a mix of two or more metals
|
|
|
predator
|
an animal that acquires food by hunting other animals
|
|
|
hermetic
|
airtight
|
|
|
amalgam
|
a combination, mixture, blend
|
|
|
impermeable
|
fluid can't pass through
|
|
|
caustic
|
capable pf destroying or eating away by chemical action
|
|
|
osmosis
|
the process of absorption
|
|
|
ossify
|
to harden into bone and thus become rigid
|
|
|
occlude
|
to close shut or block
|
|
|
quandary
|
a state of perplexity or doubt, a dilemma
|
|
|
ameliorate
|
to make better
|
|
|
exacerbate
|
to make worse
|
|
|
querulous
|
complaining
|
|
|
elucidate
|
to make clear
|
|
|
incipient
|
in the early stage, embryonic
|
|
|
astute
|
shrewd, smart, keen-minded
|
|
|
vicariously
|
to live through another's experience
|
|
|
rectitude
|
high standards of personal conduct
|
|
|
decorum
|
proper behavior, good public manners
|
|
|
inexorable
|
relentless, unstoppable
|
|
|
disseminate
|
to spread, distribute
|
|
|
ubiquitous
|
something that is everywhere, omnipresent
|
|
|
exhort
|
to urge someone to do something
|
|
|
drudgery, travail
|
hard distasteful work
|
|
|
ineffable
|
a feeling that cannot be expressed or put into words
|
|
|
quell
|
to put down, squelch
|
|
|
tenuous
|
weak, flimsy
|
|
|
amenable
|
agreeable, willing to do something
|
|
|
atrophy
|
to waste away, wither
|
|
|
demystify
|
to make less baffling
|
|
|
implacable
|
cannot be appeased
|
|
|
lexicon
|
a word list, vocabulary
|
|
|
labyrinth
|
a maze
|
|
|
disingenuous
|
not sincere, not straightforward
|
|
|
succinct
|
a brief concise summary
|
|
|
servile, fawning, obsequious, subservient
|
all mean to act in an overly submissive manner, to be a toady
|
