Ap English Set 5

Front 1

bête noire

Back 1

the thing or person one views with particular dislike, from the French meaning "black beast."

Front 2

dénouement

Back 2

the solution or outcome of a plot of a play or novel; by extension it is the resolution of any situation. The death of a main character in a tragedy is an example.

Front 3

dramatis personae

Back 3

a Latin expression for a cast of characters. Literally, it means "the people of the drama," and is occasionally used as the title of the character list at the beginning of a play. By extension, the term can be used to apply to any participants in an event.

Front 4

Esperanto

Back 4

an artificial speech constructed from roots common to the chief European languages and designed for universal use. Devised by the Russian Doctor L.L. Zamenhof in 1887. The grammar is so simple as to be clear after a few minutes of study, and the spelling is phonetic.

Front 5

jingoism

Back 5

extreme and emotional nationalism and chauvinism often characterized by an aggressive foreign policy accompanied by an eagerness to wage war.

Front 6

Lethe

Back 6

in classical mythology, it is a river flowing through Hades. The souls of the dead were forced to drink of its waters which made them forget what they had done, said, and suffered while alive.

Front 7

magnum opus

Back 7

the most important work in a person's career, especially in literature, art, music, or scholarship. From Latin meaning "great work."

Front 8

modus operandi

Back 8

the way someone does something. A characteristic method often abbreviated m.o. and used by police to describe a criminal's way of committing a crime. From the Latin meaning "method of operation."

Front 9

nepotism

Back 9

favoritism granted to relatives or close friends without regard to their merit. It usually takes the form of employing relatives or appointing them to high office.

Front 10

primogeniture

Back 10

a system of inheritance in which land passes exclusively to the eldest son. Until the Industrial Revolution, this system severely restricted the freedom of younger sons who were often forced into the military or the clergy to earn a living.

Front 11

realpolitik

Back 11

government policies based upon hard practical considerations rather than moral or idealistic concerns. From the German for "the politics of reality"; often applied to policies of nations that consider their own interests in dealing with other countries.

Front 12

schadenfreude

Back 12

enjoyment gained from the trouble of others. A German term translated literally as "damage joy."

Front 13

seven deadly sins

Back 13

they were the sins widely known in the Middle Ages as the sins that lead to damnation. They were lust, gluttony, sloth, greed, anger, and envy.

Front 14

Shangri-La

Back 14

a fictional land of peace and perpetual youth; it is the setting of the book Lost Horizon by James Hilton. Supposedly, it is in the mountains of Tibet. By extension, a --- is any ideal refuge from the troubles of the world.

Front 15

Stoicism

Back 15

a philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. Stoics believed that people should strictly restrain their emotions in order to obtain happiness and wisdom. They refused to demonstrate joy or sorrow.

Front 16

parameter

Back 16

noun - originating with the mathematics term indicating the limits or ranges of the variables. The term is often used to mean a limit or boundary or as a high tone synonym for characteristic. It often is incorrectly used for perimeter.

Front 17

pecuniary

Back 17

adjective - (1) of or relating to money; (2) requiring payment of money. From the Latin "pecunia" meaning "money."

Front 18

precipitous

Back 18

adjective - (1) resembling a precipice, extremely steep; (2) having several precipices; (3) extremely rapid, hasty, or abrupt.

Front 19

quotidian

Back 19

adjective - (1) everyday or commonplace; (2) recurring daily.

Front 20

recapitulate

Back 20

verb - to repeat in concise form; to summarize briefly. Often abbreviated as recap.

Front 21

reciprocal

Back 21

adjective - (1) concerning each of two or more people or things; (2) interchanged or owed to each other; (3) performed, experienced, or felt by both sides.

Front 22

reparation

Back 22

noun - (1) the act or process of repairing, or the condition of being repaired; (2) the act or process of making amends; (3) something done or paid to compensate; (4) compensation required from a defeated nation for damage during a war.

Front 23

sanguine

Back 23

adjective - (1) of the color of blood (red, ruddy): healthy reddish color; (2) having the temperament and ruddy complexion formally thought to be a characteristic of a person dominated by this humor; (3) cheerfully confident or optimistic.

Front 24

subjugate

Back 24

verb - (1) to bring under control: to conquer, defeat; (2) to make subservient or enslave.

Front 25

suffragist

Back 25

noun - an advocate of the extension of political rights for women, although it does not have to be for women.

Front 26

supercilious

Back 26

adjective - (1) expressive of contempt; (2) having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain to those one views as unworthy.

Front 27

tautology

Back 27

noun - (1) needless repetition of the same sense in different words: redundancy; (2) in logic, an empty statement composed of simpler statements in such as way as to be logically true whether the simpler statements are true or false.

Front 28

tempestuous

Back 28

adjective - (1) relating to or characterized by storms; (2) characterized by disturbance or commotion: stormy or turbulent.

Front 29

unctuous

Back 29

adjective - (1) characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness; (2) having the quality or characteristics of oil or ointment: slippery.

Front 30

usurp

Back 30

verb - (1) to seize and hold the power or rights of another by force and without legal authority; (2) to take over or occupy without right.