50 Fancy Words

Front 1

1. Inchoate

Back 1

just begun and so not fully formed or developed; I am glad your inchoate proposals for integrating the company were not accepted this time, thus saving us face.

Front 2

10. Obduracy

Back 2

refusing to change in any way; Anthony’s obduracy in his legal case expedited his impeachment.

Front 3

11. Internecine

Back 3

causing destruction to both sides; The African states’ internecine conflict continues to extract a terrible toll on innocent human lives.

Front 4

12. Soporific

Back 4

adj; causing sleep; The soporific drug caused Tony to fall asleep in the board meeting.

Front 5

13. Kristallnacht

Back 5

German, night of (broken) glass

Front 6

14. Peripatetic

Back 6

going from place to place; The peripatetic bards of yore propagated the words of the Holy Prophet.

Front 7

15. Nascent

Back 7

beginning to exist, not fully developed; In its initial stage, the nascent film industry faced harsh opposition from moral groups.

Front 8

16. Desultory

Back 8

going from one thing to another, without a definite plan or purpose; Garcia’s desultory conversation got everybody yawning.

Front 9

17. Redoubtable

Back 9

deserving to be feared and respected; Mike’s redoubtable instincts as a prize-fighter kept his opponents at arm’s distance.

Front 10

18. Hubris

Back 10

excessive pride; The Empire’s vanity and hubris in its exaggerated military were the reason for its downfall.

Front 11

19. Mirabile Dictu

Back 11

wonderful to relate; Randy’s winning putt remained mirabile dictu in the golf club gossip for many years.

Front 12

2. Profligacy

Back 12

recklessly wasteful; wildly extravagant, profligate behavior; Anderson’s profligacy cost him his job and its better you tighten up your belt before you go the same way.

Front 13

20. Crèches

Back 13

a place where babies are looked after while their parents work, shop, etc.; Go down the Green Avenue and you will find a string of crèches and day-care centres.

Front 14

21. Apoplectic

Back 14

sudden loss of the ability to feel or move; adj

Front 15

22. Overhaul

Back 15

to examine carefully and thoroughly and make any necessary changes or repairs; to come from behind and pass them; Michael’s faster car easily overhauled the leading drivers in the F1 championship.

Front 16

23. Ersatz

Back 16

used as a poor-quality substitute for something else, inferior to an original item; The DJ’s ersatz musical numbers were a poor rendition of Celina’s work.

Front 17

24. Obstreperous

Back 17

very noisy or difficult to control; Andy’s obstreperous behavior just after a few drinks generally caused his early exit from most parties.

Front 18

25. Jejune

Back 18

too simple, naïve; dull, lacking nourishment; Horrified by the senator’s jejune responses to their problems, the voters guild decided to withdraw their support to him in the forthcoming elections.

Front 19

26. Omertà

Back 19

rule or code that prohibits speaking or revealing information, generally relates to activities of organized crime; sub; the Mafia; Henry was vowed to the code of Omertà and sealed his lips during the police interrogation.

Front 20

27. Putative

Back 20

generally supposed to be the thing specified; Mr Brown is referred to as the putative father in the document.

Front 21

28. Manichean

Back 21

A believer in Manichaeism – an ancient Iranian Gnostic religion; Roberta’s Manichean beliefs found little approval in the stoic theology group discussion.

Front 22

29. Canard

Back 22

a false report or rumour, aerofoil designs on certain airplanes; The disturbing canard about my company’s finances left me in despair.

Front 23

3. Sui Generis

Back 23

being the only example of its kind, unique; Mr. Bill Tandy generated his sui generis theory based on little research and more hypothesis, thus finding no takers for his pet project.

Front 24

30. Ubiquitous

Back 24

seeming to be everywhere or in several places at the same time; The ubiquitous internet is both a blessing, as well as, a curse.

Front 25

31. Atavistic

Back 25

relating to the behavior of one’s ancestors in the distant past; The chieftain urged his tribe to curb their atavistic urges and refrain from unnecessary violence.

Front 26

32. Renminbi

Back 26

another name for the Chinese Yuan, official currency of People’s Republic of China; Chinese renmin people + bi currency; Around 1950, the Chinese government officially released the Renminbi notes for circulation.

Front 27

33. Sanguine

Back 27

hopeful, optimistic; She remained sanguine about our chances of success in the raffle draw.

Front 28

34. Antediluvian

Back 28

very old-fashioned; His antediluvian ideas are preposterous!

Front 29

35. Cynosure

Back 29

object or someone who serves as a focal point of attention and admiration, something that serves to guide; His wife, Catherine, remained the cynosure of all eyes throughout the evening gala.

Front 30

36. Alacrity

Back 30

eagerness or enthusiasm; Richard accepted her offer of marriage with alacrity.

Front 31

37. Epistemic

Back 31

cognitive, relating to learning, or involving knowledge; The monk’s epistemic dissertation was an engaging study of New Testament beliefs.

Front 32

38. Egregious

Back 32

exceptional, outstanding; The NBA referee’s decision was the most egregious error of judgment.

Front 33

39. Incendiary

Back 33

designed to set something on fire, tending to create public disturbances or violence; Amanda’s incendiary remarks alienated her from the whole campus.

Front 34

4. Austerity

Back 34

severe and morally strict; the quality of being austere, having no pleasures or comforts; Every major war on this planet were followed by many years of austerity.

Front 35

40. Chimera

Back 35

an imaginary creäture composed of the parts of several different animals, wild or impossible idea; Harry gazed awestruck at the monstrous chimera, a gigantic beast with the head of a lion and the body of a winged horse.

Front 36

41. Laconic

Back 36

using few words; Jerry’s laconic sense of humor endeared him to the crowd.

Front 37

42. Polemicist

Back 37

person skilled in art of writing or speech, arguing cases forcefully; Mr. Trimble stands little chance in the public debate against the Republican polemicist candidate, Mr. Burns.

Front 38

43. Comity

Back 38

mutual civility; amity, an atmosphere of social harmony, the policy whereby one religious sect refrains from proselytizing the members of another sect; The Shias and Sunnis lived in perfect comity in their remote mountain hamlet.

Front 39

44. Provenance

Back 39

the place that something originally came from; He deals in antique furniture of doubtful provenance.

Front 40

45. Sclerotic

Back 40

condition in which soft tissue in the body becomes abnormally hard; Doctors were at a loss in explaining the child’s unusual sclerotic condition.

Front 41

46. Prescient

Back 41

knowing or appearing to know about things before they happen; His prescient instincts saved him a small fortune when he sold his shares before the stock market crash.

Front 42

47. Hegemony

Back 42

control and leadership, by one country over others; The United States’ military hegemony in the region was a source of great distress to Iqbal.

Front 43

48. Verisimilitude

Back 43

the appearance of being true or real; To add verisimilitude to the play, the stage is covered with snow for the winter scene.

Front 44

49. Feckless

Back 44

not able to manage things properly or look after oneself, not responsible enough; The McCarthy’s are feckless parents with more children than they could support.

Front 45

5. Profligate

Back 45

using money, resources, etc., in a way that wastes them; The firm’s profligate spending only hastened its downfall.

Front 46

50. Demarche

Back 46

step or manoeuvre in political or diplomatic affairs; Thierry’s political demarche with the liberals saved the government a great deal of face in the senate hearings.

Front 47

6. Baldenfreude

Back 47

Satisfaction derived from the misfortune of bald or balding individuals (coined by NYT columnist Maureen Dowd); Humpty Dumpty’s antics remain a constant source of baldenfreude for children and adults alike.

Front 48

7. Opprobrium

Back 48

harsh criticism, contempt; His ludicrous attempts at mimicry in the office only earned him the opprobrium of his colleagues.

Front 49

8. Apostates

Back 49

pl; a person who abandons a belief or principle; The millionaire technocrat and his cronies were publicly derided for being apostates, after they were exposed of polluting the environment while purporting to have spent large sums for water conservation.

Front 50

9. Solipsistic

Back 50

the theory that the self is all that can be known to exist; His solipsistic view about life ensured that he lived in social isolation.