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185 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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LACONIC
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(adj) using few words in speech
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TITULAR
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(adj) in name or title only; so-called
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PITHY
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(adj) brief and full of meaning and substance; concise
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SUBSIDIARY
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(adj) serving to assist or supplement; secondary, dependent
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QUIESCENT
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(adj) quiet; still; inactive
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IMPUNITY
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(n) freedom from punishment
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STINT
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(n) restriction; limit OR (v) to be sparing in giving or using
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CIRCUMLOCUTION
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(n) speaking in circles; roundabout speech
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STRIDENT
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(adj) harsh-sounding; shrill; grating
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IMMUTABLE
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(adj) unchangeable
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IMPALPABLE
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(adj) not perceptible to the touch; too subtle to be easily understood
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GRANDILOQUENT
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(adj) using big and fancy words when speaking for the purpose of impressing others
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OSTENTATIOUS
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(adj) having to do with showing off; pretentious
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SUPERCILIOUS
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(adj) looking down on others; proud and scornful
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COLLOQUIAL
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(adj) pertaining to common everyday speech; conversational
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SUPERFLUOUS
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(adj) beyond what is required; not necessary
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IMPORTUNE
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(v) to request urgently and repeatedly
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IMPREGNABLE
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(adj) unconquerable, unyielding
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SURREPTITIOUS
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(adj) secret, stealthy
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BANAL
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(adj) dull or stale because of overuse; trite; hackneyed
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IMPUTE
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(v) to attribute, charge with or give credit
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SYCOPHANT
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(n) insincere flatterer
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DERIVATIVE
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(adj) unoriginal; taken from something already existing
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VAPID
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(adj) lacking freshness and zest; flat; stale
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AMELIORATE
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(v) to make better; to lessen pain, difficulty, or tension
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EFFICACIOUS
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(adj) effective, produces results
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MOLLIFY
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(v) to pacify, soothe, or appease; to make less severe or violent
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EMINENT
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(adj) prominent, famous, well-known
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CONVIVIAL
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(adj) sociable, outgoing in a festive way, especially when pertaining to eating and drinking; fond of good company
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JOCULAR
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(adj) liking to be with people, joke around with them and have fun
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LEVITY
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(n) lightheartedness; gaiety; carefree disposition, particularly when not appropriate
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EMOLUMENT
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(n) the returns arising from office or employment usually in the form of compensation
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BELLICOSE
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(adj) of a quarrelsome nature; eager to fight; warlike; belligerent
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ALTRUISTIC
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(adj) showing an unselfish concern for others
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TACITURN
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(adj) temperamentally disinclined to talk; not given to conversation
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PENURIOUS
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(adj) stingy; relating to great poverty, destitution
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CONFOUNDING
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(adj) puzzling; baffling
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TANTAMOUNT
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(adj) equal to, equivalent in value
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QUAGMIRE
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(n) a dilemma; a confusing or puzzling situation
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TAWDRY
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(adj) without taste, shoddy, cheap
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EFFULGENCE
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(n) brightness; radiant splendor
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EGREGIOUS
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(adj) conspicuously bad
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DELETERIOUS
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(adj) harmful to one’s health or overall welfare; pernicious
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TORPOR
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(n) dullness, sluggishness
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ELUCIDATION
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(n) explanation, clarification
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CANTANKEROUS
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(adj) bad-tempered; quarrelsome
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DALLY
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(v) to waste time; to loiter
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NEFARIOUS
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(adj) very mean and wicked
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AMITY
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(n) friendship; peaceful harmony
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DASTARDLY
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(adj) cowardly; sneaking
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INFIRM
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(adj) weak, impaired
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RANCOROUS
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(adj) deeply hateful or spiteful; malicious
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CARP
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(v) to find fault; to be critical
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IMPUGN
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(v) to oppose or attack someone or something as false or refutable
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INIMICAL
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(adj) unfriendly, hostile
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PHLEGMATIC
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(adj) hard to get excited or emotional; calm; slow-moving
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POLEMICAL
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(adj) inclined to argue or debate; controversial
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INNOCUOUS
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(adj) inoffensive; harmless; without bad habit
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DEARTH
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(n) scarcity; lack
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LASSITUDE
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(n) a tired feeling, usually resulting from depression or too much work
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DEBILITY
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(n) weakness, infirmity
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DEBONAIR
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(adj) courteous, graceful
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COUCH
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(v) to put into words, express, phrase
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INIQUITOUS
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(adj) showing lack of fairness; wicked; vicious
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CASTIGATE
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(v) to scold or punish severely
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STOLID
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(adj) lacking emotion or not showing any emotion; stoical
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SOPORIFIC
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(adj) sleep-inducing; sleepy
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DECIDUOUS
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(adj) shedding leaves; not permanent; transitory
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FAWNING
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(adj) gaining the favor of another by acting overly kind or by using flattery
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EBULLIENT
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(adj) filled with a bubbly excitement, as if boiling over with excitement
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EUPHONY
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(n) pleasant sound, pleasing to the ear
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EVANESCENT
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(adj) vanishing, fading away
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DOGMATIC
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(adj) strongly opinionated; rigid; dictatorial
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CRAVEN
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(adj, n, or v) cowardly; a coward; to make cowardly
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EXTOL
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(v) to praise highly; laud
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odious
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(adj) loathsome; evil; revolting in a disgusting way
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exigency
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(n) emergency, urgency
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deprecate
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(v) to show mild disapproval
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excoriate
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(v) to denounce or berate severely; flay verbally
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cupidity
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(n) eager or excessive desire, esp. to possess something; greed; avarice
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servile
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(adj) slave-like; very humble and submissive
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avid
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(adj) showing enthusiasm; ardent
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inculcate
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(v) to implant by repeated statement or admonition; teach persistently and earnestly
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hidebound
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(adj) strongly opinionated; narrow-mindedly stubborn
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amorphous
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(adj) lacking definite form; having no specific shape; formless
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vociferous
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(adj) loud and noisy regarding one’s own voice, especially shouting; demandingly clamorous
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surfeit
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(n) an oversupply
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abstemious
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(adj) holding back from eating or drinking too much
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peripatetic
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(adj) moving or walking about; itinerant
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antediluvian
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(adj) very, very old; antiquated (I’m not QUITE there yet)-Andrew
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cursory
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(adj) performed rapidly and superficially; hasty
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baneful
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(adj) causing ruin; harmful
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virulent
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(adj) extremely poisonous; deadly; full of spiteful hatred
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deride
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(v) to ridicule or make fun of; to scoff at
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incumbent
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(adj) holding an indicated position, role, or office
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contumacy
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(n) stubborn perverseness or rebelliousness; disobedience
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corrigible
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(adj) able and willing to be corrected or improved
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deprecatory
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(adj) expressing disapproval; apologetic
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perspicacious
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(adj) using wise judgment; sharp-minded
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querulous
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(adj) whining; complaining
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diffident
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(adj) lacking confidence in oneself; inclined to be shy
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sardonic
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(adj) scornful or bitter; sarcastic
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salubrious
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(adj) beneficial, healthful
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probity
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(n) integrity; honesty
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savants
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(n) scholars, learned persons
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antithetical
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(adj) contrasting, exactly opposite
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fallow
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(adj) unused, uncultivated
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cajolery
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(n) persuading by flattery, coaxing, entrapping
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upbraid
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(v) to chide; to scold bitterly
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toady
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(n) a flatterer; a sycophant
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effervescent
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(adj) lively; full of uplifted spirit; vivacious
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recalcitrant
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(adj) stubborn, disobedient; defiant
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din
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(n) ongoing loud sound; noise
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satiety
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(n) state of being filled; excess of gratification
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amelioration
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(n) improvement, change for the better
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decry
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(v) to denounce or condemn openly, censure
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contiguous
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(adj) touching; in contact; adjacent in time
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indefatigable
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(adj) never tiring
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chromatic
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(adj) of or pertaining to colors
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emaciated
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(adj) very, very thin due to lack of adequate food
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vignette
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(n) a brief descriptive passage in writing
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pathos
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(n) the quality of a piece of writing that evokes pity, sympathy, or some other strong emotional response in the reader
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euphemism
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(n) a more pleasant word or phrase that replaces another which is too direct, distasteful, or offensive.
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catharsis
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(n) an emotional cleansing or release of emotional tensions, fears, or pity
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pedantic
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(adj) showy in one’s learning; overly instructive
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defamation
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(n) destroying a good reputation, slander
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schism
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(n) division or separation
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sentient
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(adj) experiencing sensation and feeling
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indigent
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(adj) poor, needy
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contrite
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(adj) sorry for sin, penitent
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extraneous
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(adj) foreign, outside, not essential
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acclivity
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(n) an upward slope, as of ground; an ascent
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fastidious
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(adj) delicate to a fault, dainty
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debunk
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(v) to prove wrong or false
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vilify
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(v) to slander or defame someone’s name or reputation
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Palliate
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(v) to ease, reduce, soften
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Venal
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(adj) capable of being bought, corrupt
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Perspicacity
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(n) keen judgment, ability to see through
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Iconoclast
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(n) one who ignores tradition
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Declivity
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(n) a downward slope or sloping, as of a hill
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Corpulent
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(adj) bulky, very fat, fleshy
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Callow
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(adj) green, immature, unfledged
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Misanthrope
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(n) hater of mankind
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Blight
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(n) disease; a deteriorated condition
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Reticent
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(adj) not talking much; reserved
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Voluble
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(adj) talking with great ease; glib
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Haughty
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(adj) having great pride in oneself and dislike for others
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Platitude
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(n) quality of being dull; an obvious remark uttered as if it were original
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Allay
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(v) to lessen fear; to calm; to relieve pain
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Parsimonious
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(adj) overly thrifty or miserly
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Alliteration
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the repetition of one or more initial consonants in a group of words or lines of poetry or prose
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Allusion
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a reference to a person, place, or event meant to create an effect or enhance the meaning of an idea
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Analogy
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a comparison that points out similarities between two dissimilar things
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Anapest
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three syllables Unstressed+Unstressed+Stressed
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Apostrophe
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a locution that addresses a person or personified thing not present
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Assonance
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the repetition of two or more vowel sounds in a group of words or lines in poetry and prose
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Ballad
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a simple narrative verse that tells a story that is sung or recited
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Bard
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A poet; in olden times, a performer who told heroic stories to musical accompaniment
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Blank verse
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Poetry written in iambic pentameter, the primary meter used in English poetry and the words of Shakespeare and Milton. Line usually don’t rhyme
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Cacophony
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grating, inharmonious sounds
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Caesura
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A pause somewhere in the middle of a verse, often (but not always) marked by punctuation
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Conceit
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a witty or ingenious thought; a diverting or highly fanciful idea, often stated in figurative language
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Consonance
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the repetition of two or more consonant sound sin a group of words or a line of poetry
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Couplet
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A pair of rhyming lines in a poem
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Dactylic
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three syllables Stressed+Unstressed+Unstressed
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Dimeter
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two feet
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Elegy
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A poem or prose selection that laments or meditates on the passing or death of something or someone of value
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End-Stopped
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- a term that describes a line of poetry that ends with a natural pause often indicated by a mark of punctuation
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Enjambment
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in poetry, the use of successive lines with no punctuation or pause between them
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Epic
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an extended narrative poem that tells of the adventures and exploits of a hero that is generally larger than life and is often considered a legendary figure such as Odysseus or Beowulf
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Euphony
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pleasing, harmonious sounds
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Extended Metaphor
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a series of comparisons between two unlike objects
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Fable
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a short tale often featuring nonhuman characters that act as people whose actions enable the author to make observations or draw useful lessons about human behavior
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Foot
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a unit of stressed and unstressed syllables used to determine the meter of a poetic line
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Free Verse
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a kind of poetry without rhymed lines, rhythm, or fixed metrical feet
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Heptameter
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seven feet
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Heroic Couplet
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two rhymed lines written in iambic pentameter and used widely in 18th century verse
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Hexameter
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six feet
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Hyperbole
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overstatement; gross exaggeration for rhetorical effect
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Iambic
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two syllables Unstressed+Stressed
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Idyll
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a lyric poem or passage that describes a kind of ideal life or place
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Kenning
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a device employed in Anglo-Saxon poetry in which the name of a thing is replaced by one of its functions or qualities, as in “ring-giver” for king and “whale-road” for ocean
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Light Verse
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a variety of poetry meant to entertain or amuse, but sometimes with a satirical thrust
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Litotes
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a form of understatement in which the negative of the contrary is used to achieve emphasis or intensity
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Lyric Poetry
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personal, reflective poetry that reveals the speaker’s thoughts and feelings about the subject
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