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50 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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grandiloquence
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lofty, pompous language
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The student thought her grandiloquence would make her sound smart, but neither the class nor the teacher bought it.
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gregarious
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(adj) drawn to the company of others, sociable
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Well, if you're not gregarious, I don't know why you would want to go to a singles party!
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hackneyed
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(adj) unoriginal, trite
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A girl can hear "I love you" only so many times nrgotr iy nrhind yo dounf hackneyed and meaningless.
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hapless
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(adj) unlucky
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My poor, hapless family never seems to pick a sunny week to go on vacation.
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harangue
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(n) a ranting speech, (v) to give such a speech
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(n) Everyone had heard the teacher's harangue about gum chewing in class before, (v) But this time the teacher harangued the classs about the imporance of brushing our teech after chewing gum.
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hegemony
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(n) domination over others
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Britain's hegemony over its colonies was threatened once nationalist sentiment began to spread around the world.
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iconoclast
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(n) one who attacks common beliefs or institutions
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Jane goes to one protest after another, but she seems to be an iconoclast rather than an activist with a progressive agenda.
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ignominious
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(adj) humiliating, disgracing
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It was really ignominious to be kicked out of the dorm for having an illegal gas stove in my room.
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impassive
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(adj) stoic, not susceptible to suffering
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Stop being so impassive; it's healthy to cry every now and then.
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imperious
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(adj) commanding, domineering
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The imperious nature of your manner led me to dislike you at once.
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impertinent
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(adj) rude, insolent
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Most of your comments are so impertinent that I don't wish to dignify them with an answer.
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impertinent
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(adj) rude, insolent
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Most of your comments are so impertinent that I don't wish to dignify them with an answer.
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impervious
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(adj) impenetrable, incapable of being affected
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Beacuse of their thick layer of fur, many seals are almost impervious to the cold.
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impetuous
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(adj) rash; hastily done
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Hilda's hasty slaying of the king was an impetuous, thoughtless action.
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impinge
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(v) to impact, affect, make an impression, (v) to encroach, infringe
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(v) The hail impinged the roof, leaving large dents, (v) I aplogize for impinging upon you like this, but I really need to use your bathroom. Now.
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implacable
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(adj) incapable of being appeased or mitigated
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Watch out: Once you shun Grandma's cooking, she is totally implacable.
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impudent
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(adj) Casually rude, insolent, impertinent
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The impudent young man looked the princess up and down and told her she was hot even though she hadn't asked him.
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inchoate
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(adj) unformed or formless, in a beginning stage
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The country's government is still inchoate and, because it has no great tradition, quite unstable.
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incontrovertible
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(adj) indisputable
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Only stubborn Tina would attempt to disprove the incontrovertible laws of physics.
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indefatigable
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(adj) incapable of defeat, failure, decay
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Even after traveling 62 miles, the indefatigable runner kept on moving.
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ineffable
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(adj) unspeakable, incapable of being expressed through words
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It is said that the experience of playing with a dolphis is ineffacle and can only be understood through direct encounter.
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inexorable
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(adj) incapable of being persuaded or placated
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Although I begged for hours, Mom was inexorable and refused to let me stay out all night after the prom.
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ingenuous
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(adj) not devious; innocent and candid
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He must have writers, but his speeches seem to ingenuous that it's hard to believe he's not speaking from his own heart.
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inimical
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(adj) hostile
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I don't see how I could ever work for a company that was so cold and inimical to me during my interviews.
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iniquity
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(n) wickedness or sin
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"Your iniquity," said the priest to the practical joker, "will be forgiven."
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insidious
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(adj) appealing bt imperceptibly harmful, seductive
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lisa's insiduous chocolate cake tastes so good,but makes you feel so sick later on!
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intransigent
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(adj) refusing to compromise, often on an extreme opinion
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the intransigent child said he would have 12 scoops of ice cream or he would bang his head against the wall until his mother fainted from fear.
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inure
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(v) to cause someone or something to become accustomed to a situation
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Twenty years in the salt mines inured the man to the discomforts of dirt and grime.
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invective
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(n) an angry verbal attack
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My boether irrational invective against the way I dress only made me decide to dye my hair green.
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inveterate
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(adj) subbornly established by habit
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I'm the first to admit that I'm an inveterate coffee drinker--I drink four cups a day.
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jubilant
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(adj) extremely joyful, happy
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The crowd was jubilant when the firefighter carried the woma from the flaming building.
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juxtaposition
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(n) the act of placing two things next to each other for implicit comparision
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The interior designer admired my justaposition of the yellow couch and green table.
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laconic
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(adj) terse in speech or writing
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The author's laconic style has won him many followers who dislike wordiness.
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languid
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(adj) sluggish from fatique or weakness
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In the summer months, the great heat makes people languid and lazy.
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largess
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(n) the gnerous giving of lavish gifts
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My boss demonstrated great largess by giving me a new car.
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latent
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(adj) hidden, but capable of being exposed
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Sigmund's dream represented his latent paranoid obsession with other people's shoes.
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legerdemain
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(n) deception, slight-of-hant
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Smuggling the French plans through customs by claiming that they were fake was a remarkable bit of legerdemain.
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licentious
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(adj) displaying a lack of moral or legal restraints
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Marilee has always been fascinated by the licentious private lives of politicians.
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limpid
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(n) clear, transparent
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Mr. Johnson's limpid writing style greatly pleased readers who disliked complicated novels.
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maelstrom
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(n) a destructive whirlpool which rapidly sucks in objects
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Little did the explorers know that as they turned the next bend of the calm river, a vicious maelstrom would catch their boat.
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magnanimous
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(adj) nobel, generous
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Although I had already broken most of her dishes, Jacqueline was magnanimous enough to continue letting me use them.
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malediction
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(n) a curse
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When I was arrested for speeding, I screamed maledictions against the policemen and the entire police department.
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malevolent
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(adj) wanting harm to befall others
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The malevolent old man sat in the park all day, tripping unsuspecting passersby with his cane.
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manifold
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(adj) diverse, varied
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The popularity of Dante's Inferno is partly due to the fact that the work allows for manifold interpretations.
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maudlin
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(adj) weakly sentimental
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Although many people enjoy romantic comedies, I usually find them maudlin and shallow.
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mawkish
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characterized by sick sentimentality
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Although some nineteenth-century critics viewed Dicken's writing as mawkish, contemporary readers have found great emotional depth in his works.
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mendacious
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(adj) having a lying, false character
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The mendacious content of the tabloid magazines is at least entertaining.
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mercurial
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(adj) characterized by rapid change or temperamentality
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Though he was widely respected for his mathematical proofs, the mercurial genius was impossible to live with.
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modicum
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(n) a small amount of something
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Refusing to display even a modicum of sensitivity, Henrietta announced her boss's affiar in front of the entire office.
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morass
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(n) a wet, swampy bog; figuratively, something that traps and confuses
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When Theresa lost her job, she could not get out of her financial morass.
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