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;
50 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
jejune
|
dull (lacking flavor); juvenile
*think: juvenile My frat brothers' fart jokes are so jejune that you could almost call them juvenile or "jejune-venile." |
|
|
cupidity
|
greedy desire for
*think: Cupid After being shot by Cupid's arrow, Sarah developed such cupidity for her valentine that she called him daily. |
|
|
venial
|
easily excused or forgiven; pardonable
His traffic violations ran the gamut from venial (not coming to a complete stop) to egregious (150 MPH in a school zone). |
|
|
bilious
|
always in a bad mood
*think: bully us We goth kids are only bilious, because the jocks like to bully us. |
|
|
mellifluous
|
having a sweet, smooth, rich flow
*think: melody flow Adele's mellifluous voice lets a melody flow from her lips like honey. |
|
|
gerrymander
|
to manipulate voting districts in order to favor a particular political party
Years ago, savvy politicians had gerrymandered the city center to ensure their re-election. |
|
|
Pollyannaish
|
extremely optimistic
Debbie remained Pollyannaish during the rough sales quarter, never losing her wide smile, even when customers hung up on her. |
|
|
remonstrate
|
to make objections while pleading
The mothers of the kidnapped victims remonstrated to the rogue government to release their children, claiming that it violated human rights. |
|
|
picayune
|
trifling or unimportant (person)
*think: picky one The picayune bridezilla was a picky one, worrying about every single detail of her wedding. |
|
|
factitious
|
artificial; not natural
*think: made up facts The defendant’s story was largely factitious and did not accord with eyewitness testimonies. |
|
|
blinkered
|
to have a limited outlook or understanding
Gambling addicts are easily blinkered by past successes - forgetting that the outcome of any one game is independent of the games that preceded it. |
|
|
quixotic
|
wildly idealistic and impractical
*think: quick exotic It's quixotic to think you should earn some quick cash by becoming an exotic dancer. |
|
|
limpid
|
clarity in terms of expression
Her limpid prose made even the most recondite subjects accessible to all. |
|
|
disabuse
|
to persuade somebody that his/her belief is not valid
As a child, I was quickly disabused of the notion that Santa Claus was real. |
|
|
propitiate
|
to placate or appease
The two sons, plying their angry father with cheesy neckties for Christmas, were hardly able to propitiate him. |
|
|
maudlin
|
overly sentimental
*think: Maude's violin Maude played emotional violin music every time she made an entrance, so we called her maudlin. |
|
|
phantasmagorical
|
illusive; unreal
Those suffering from malaria fall into a feverish sleep, their world a whirligig of phantasmagoria. |
|
|
martinet
|
a strict disciplinarian
The job seemed perfect to Rebecca, until she found out that her boss was a total martinet who scrutinized and criticized all of her projects. |
|
|
sybarite
|
one devoted to pleasure
*think: sit at a bar If you go sit at a bar every night to watch sports and drink beer, you might be a sybarite. |
|
|
impecunious
|
lacking money; poor
In extremely trying times, even the moderately wealthy, after a few turns of ill-fortune, can become impecunious. |
|
|
jaundice
|
to be biased against due to envy or prejudice
Shelly was jaundiced towards Olivia; though the two had once been best friends, Olivia became popular and dated the guy that Shelly liked. |
|
|
arriviste
|
a person who has recently reached a position of power; a social climber
The city center was aflutter with arrivistes who each tried to outdo one another with their ostentatious sports cars and chic evening dress. |
|
|
vituperated
|
criticized harshly
*think: viper He was vituperated so badly that he felt like he had been bitten by a viper. |
|
|
execrate
|
to curse and hiss at
Though the new sitcom did decently in the ratings, Nelson thought it was an execrable pastiche of tired cliché’s and canned laughter. |
|
|
sartorial
|
related to fashion or clothes
Sartorially, Monte was found wanting—he typically would attempt to complement his beige tie with a gray suit and white pants. |
|
|
apotheosis
|
a perfect example
*think: a potent thesis My professor said he gave me the only A in the class, because my paper was the apotheosis of a persuasive essay - it has a potent thesis. |
|
|
excoriate
|
to criticize very harshly
When Corey called his ex-girlfriend, he was excoriated by his wife. |
|
|
hedge
|
to limit or qualify a statement; to avoid making a direct statement
When asked why he bought million of shares right when the stock soared, the CEO hedged, mentioning something vague about gut instinct. |
|
|
invective
|
abusive or denunciatory language
The Internet has unleashed the invectives in many of us; many people post stinging criticism in YouTube comments and news articles. |
|
|
curmudgeon
|
a grumpy old man
*think: curse mud Only a curmudgeon would curse the mud in the garden on this sunny spring day. |
|
|
sangfroid
|
coolness and composure in difficult situations
*think: sang frog "I'm the biggest bullfrog in the pond," sang the frog - he had sangfroid in spades. |
|
|
juggernaut
|
something very powerful that cannot be stopped
*think: juggler-knot That juggler tied that huge knot by juggling six balls of yarn - it'll be a juggernaut to untie. |
|
|
mettlesome
|
filled with courage or valor
The mettlesome team that raided Bin Laden's compound was so brave it deserve a medal. |
|
|
benighted
|
fallen into a state of ignorance
Far from being a period of utter benightedness, The Medieval Ages produced some great theological works. |
|
|
parvenu
|
a person who has suddenly become wealthy, but not socially accepted as part of a higher class
The theater was full of parvenus who each thought that they were surrounded by true aristocrats. |
|
|
tendentious
|
likely to lean toward a controversial view
*think: tendency Don't let him judge the beauty contest; he's tendentious and has a tendency to vote for the contestants that flirt with him the most. |
|
|
pyrrhic
|
describing a victory that comes at such a great cost that the victory is not worthwhile
George W. Bush’s win was a pyrrhic victory: the circumstances of his win alienated half of the U.S. population. |
|
|
quisling
|
a traitor
History looks unfavorably upon quislings like Nero, who watched his city burn down while playing the violin. |
|
|
expurgate
|
to remove objectionable material
The censor expurgated every reference to sex and drugs, converting the rap song into a series of bleeps. |
|
|
peremptory
|
bossy and domineering
*think: pre-empted The emperor pre-empted Luke's replies so much that even Darth Vader called him peremptory. |
|
|
protean
|
varied and versatile
*think: proteins Since they can be formed from a vast number of combinations of 500 different amino acids, proteins are protean. |
|
|
malapropism
|
the confusion of a word with another word that sounds similar
Whenever I looked glum, my mother would offer to share "an amusing antidote" with me—an endearing malapropism of "anecdote" that cheered me up. |
|
|
palimpsest
|
something that has been changed numerous times but still has traces of former iterations
The downtown was a palimpsest of the city’s checkered past - a new Starbucks had opened up next to an abandoned, shuttered building. |
|
|
imbroglio
|
complicated situation
*think: bro igloo I knew my friend was in an imbroglio after getting the text, "I just woke up and I'm in an igloo, bro!" |
|
|
mulct
|
to defraud or swindle
The so-called magical diet cure simply ended up mulcting Maria out of hundreds of dollars. |
|
|
schadenfreude
|
enjoyment from others' troubles
*think: shady Freud If your psychologist giggles about your divorce, he has schadenfreude and is a shady Freud. |
|
|
arch
|
be deliberately teasing; sassy
*think: arched eyebrow Her playful, arch comment made me arch my eyebrow. |
|
|
histrionic
|
to be overly theatrical for effect
*think: hysterical Her hysterical crying was designed to get attention and was therefore histrionic. |
|
|
sententious
|
using quotable or preachy sayings
*think: sentences Reverend Jesse Jackson is sententious, because many people quote his sentences. |
|
|
fell
|
terribly evil
Lord Voldemort is fell. |
