Aplac Ch. 8

Front 1

Aberration

Back 1

(n.) a departure from what is proper, right, expected, or normal; a lapse from a sound mental state. [[In an aberration of judgement, the coache chose not to call a critical time-out.]]

Front 2

Ad Hoc

Back 2

(adj) for this specific purpose; improvised (adv) with respect to this. [[We met, ad hoc, to consider the issue.]]

Front 3

Bane

Back 3

(n) the source or cause of fatal injury, death, destruction, or ruin; death or ruin itself; poison. [[Rain, the bane of picnics, was forecast for the day we scheduled ours.]]

Front 4

Bathos

Back 4

(n) the intrusion of commonplace or trite material into a context whose tone is lofty or elevated; grossly insincere or exaggerated sentimentality; the lowest phase, nadier; an anticlimax, comedown. [[After wallowing in bathos, the writer reterned to her novel in earnest.]]

Front 5

Cantankerous

Back 5

(adj) ill tempered, quarrelsome; difficult to get along or deal with. [[The cantankerous machine befuddled the team of technicians assigned to repair it.]]

Front 6

Casuistry

Back 6

(n) the determination of right and wrong in questions of conduct or conscience by the application of general ethical principles; specious argument. [[The professor's ideas, once highly regarded, now appear to be nothing more than ingenious casuistry.]]

Front 7

De Facto

Back 7

(adj) Existing or in effect, although not legally required or sanctioned. [[The dictator's wife is the de facto head of state.]]

Front 8

Depredation

Back 8

(n) the act of preying upon or plundering. [[The depredation of the invaders left scars that will take years to heal.]]

Front 9

Empathy

Back 9

(n) a sympathetic understanding of or identification with the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of someone or something else. [[The grandparents felt empathy for the dreams of their grandchildren.]]