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84 Cards in this Set

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abase
"abase v. lower; degrade; humiliate. Anna expected to have to curtsy to the King of Siam; when told to cast herself down on the ground before him, however, she refused to abase herself, abasement, n. "
abash
abash v. embarrass. He was not at all abashed by her open admiration.
abate
"abate v. subside or moderate. Rather than leaving immediately, they waited for the storm to abate. "
abbreviate
"abbreviate v. shorten. Because we were running out of time, the lecturer had to abbreviate her speech. "
abdicate
"abdicate v. renounce; give up. When Edward VIII abdicated the British throne, he surprised the entire world. "
aberrant
"aberrant adj. abnormal or deviant. Given the aberrant nature of the data, we came to doubt the validity of the entire experiment. "
aberration
aberration n. deviation from the expected or the normal; mental irregularity or disorder. Survivors of a major catastrophe are likely to exhibit aberrations of behavior because of the trauma they have experienced.
abet
"abet V. assist, usually in doing something wrong; encourage. She was unwilling to abet him in the swindle he had planned. "
abeyance
abeyance n. suspended action. The deal was held in abeyance until her arrival.
abhor
"abhor v. detest; hate. She abhorred all forms of bigotry. Abhorrence, n. "
abject
"abject ADJ. wretched; lacking pride. On the streets of New York the homeless live in abject poverty, huddling in doorways to find shelter from the wind. "
abjure
"abjure V. renounce upon oath. He abjured his allegiance to the king, abjuration, n. "
ablution
"ablution n. washing. His daily ablutions were accompanied by loud noises that he humorously labeled ""Opera in the Bath."" "
abnegation
"abnegation n. renunciation; self-sacrifice. Though Rudolph and Duchess Flavia loved one another, their love was doomed, for she had to wed the king; their act of abnegation was necessary to preserve the kingdom. "
abolish
"abolish v. cancel; put an end to. The president of the college refused to abolish the physical education requirement, abolition, n. "
abominable
"abominable adj. detestable; extremely unpleasant; very bad. Mary liked John until she learned he was also dating Susan; then she called him an abominable young man, with abominable taste in women. "
abominate
abominate v. loathe; hate. Moses scolded the idol worshippers in the tribe because he abominated the custom.
aboriginal
"aboriginal adj., n. being the first of its kind in a region; primitive; native. Her studies of the primitive art forms of the aboriginal Indians were widely reported in the scientific journals, aborigine, n. "
abortive
"abortive adj. unsuccessful; fruitless. Attacked by armed troops, the Chinese students had to abandon their abortive attempt to democratize Beijing peacefully. Abort, V. "
abrasive
"abrasive adj. rubbing away; tending to grind down. Just as abrasive cleaning powders can wear away a shiny finish, abrasive remarks can wear away a listener's patience, abrade, v. "
abridge
"abridge v. condense or shorten. Because the publishers felt the public wanted a shorter version of war and Peace, they proceeded to abridge the novel. "
abrogate
abrogate v. abolish. The king intended to abrogate the decree issued by his predecessor.
abscission
"abscission n. cutting off; separation. When a flower or leaf separates naturally from the parent plant, this process is called abscission. "
abscond
abscond v. depart secretly and hide. The teller who absconded with the bonds went uncaptured until someone recognized Jim from his photograph on America's Most Wanted.
absolute
"absolute adj. complete; totally unlimited; certain. Although the King of Siam was an absolute monarch, he did not want to behead his unfaithful wife without absolute evidence of her infidelity. "
absolve
"absolve v. pardon (an offense). The father confessor absolved him of his sins, absolution, n. "
abstain
"abstain v. refrain; withhold from participation. After considering the effect of alcohol on his athletic performance, he decided to abstain from drinking while he trained for the race. "
abstemious
"abstemious adj. sparing in eating and drinking; temperate. Concerned whether her vegetarian son's abstemious diet provided him with sufficient protein, the Worried mother pressed food on him. "
abstinence
"abstinence n. restraint from eating or drinking. The doctor recommended total abstinence from salted foods. Abstain, v. "
abstract
"abstract adj. theoretical; not concrete; nonrepresentational. To him, hunger was an abstract concept; he had never missed a meal. "
abstruse
"abstruse adj. obscure; profound; difficult to understand. Baffled by the abstruse philosophical texts assigned in class, Dave asked Levy to explain Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. "
abusive
abusive adj. coarsely insulting; physically harmful. An abusive parent damages a child both mentally and physically.
abut
"abut V. border upon; adjoin. Where our estates abut, we must build a fence. "
abysmal
abysmal adj. bottomless. His arrogance is exceeded only by his abysmal ignorance.
abyss
"abyss n. enormous chasm; vast, bottomless pit. Darth vader seized the evil emperor and hurled him into the abyss. "
academic
"academic adj. related to a school; not practical or directly useful. The dean's talk about reforming academic policies was only an academic discussion: we knew little, if anything, would change. "
accede
"accede v. agree. If I accede to this demand for blackmail, I am afraid that I will be the victim of future demands. "
accelerate
"accelerate v. move faster. In our science class, we learn how falling bodies accelerate. "
accessible
accessible adj. easy to approach; obtainable. We asked our guide whether the ruins were accessible on foot.
accessory
"accessory n. additional object; useful but not essential thing. She bought an attractive handbag as an accessory for her dress, also adj. "
acclaim
"acclaim v. applaud; announce with great approval. The sportscasters acclaimed every American victory in the Olympics and decried every American defeat, acclamation, N. "
acclimate
"acclimate v. adjust to climate or environment; adapt. One of the difficulties of our present air age is the need of travelers to acclimate themselves to their new and often strange environments, "
acclivity
acclivity N. sharp upslope of a hill. The car could not go up the acclivity in high gear.
accolade
"accolade n. award of merit. In Hollywood, an ""Oscar"" is the highest accolade. "
accommodate
"accommodate v. oblige or help someone; adjust or bring into harmony; adapt. Mitch always did everything possible to accommodate his elderly relatives, from driving them to medical appointments to helping them with paperwork, (secondary meaning) "
accomplice
"accomplice n. partner in crime. Because he had provided the criminal with the lethal weapon, he was arrested as an accomplice in the murder. "
accord
accord n. agreement. She was in complete accord with the verdict.
accost
"accost V. approach and speak first to a person. When the two young men accosted me, I was frightened because I thought they were going to attack me. "
accoutre
"accoutre v. equip. The fisherman was accoutred with the best that the sporting goods store could supply, accoutrement, n. ., "
accretion
"accretion n. growth; increase. Over the years Bob put on weight; because of this accretion of flesh, he went from size M to size XL. Accrete, v. "
accrue
"accrue v. come about by addition. You must pay the interest that has accrued on your debt as well as the principal sum. Accrual, n. "
acerbity
"acerbity n. bitterness of speech and temper. The meeting of the United Nations Assembly was marked with such acerbity that observers held little hope of reaching any useful settlement of the problem, acerbic, adj. "
acetic
acetic adj. vinegary. The salad had an exceedingly acetic flavor.
acidulous
acidulous adj. slightly sour; sharp; caustic. James was unpopular because of his sarcastic and acidulous remarks.
acknowledge
"acknowledge v. recognize; admit. Although I acknowledge that the Beatles' tunes sound pretty dated nowadays, I still prefer them to the gangsta rap songs my brothers play. "
acme
acme n. peak; pinnacle; highest point. Welles's success in Citizen Kane marked the acme of his career as an actor; never again did he achieve such popular acclaim.
acoustics
acoustics N. science of sound; quality that makes a room easy or hard to hear in. Carnegie Hall is liked by music lovers because of its fine acoustics.
acquiesce
"acquiesce v. assent; agree passively. Although she appeared to acquiesce to her employer's suggestions, I could tell she had reservations about the changes he wanted made, acquiescence, n.; acquiescent, adj. "
acquittal
"acquittal n. deliverance from a charge. His acquittal by the jury surprised those who had thought him guilty. Acquit, v. "
acrid
acrid adj. sharp; bitterly pungent. The acrid odor of burnt gunpowder filled the room after the pistol had been fired.
acrimonious
"acrimonious adj. bitter in words or manner. The candidate attacked his opponent in highly acrimonious terms. Acrimony, n. . "
acrophobia
"acrophobia n. fear of heights. A born salesman, he could convince someone with a bad case of acrophobia to sign up for a life membership in a sky-diving club. "
actuarial
"actuarial adj. calculating; pertaining to insurance statistics. According to recent actuarial tables, life expectancy is greater today than it was a century ago. "
actuate
actuate v. motivate. I fail to understand what actuated you to reply to this letter so nastily.
acuity
"acuity N. sharpness. In time his youthful acuity of vision failed him, and he needed glasses. "
acumen
acumen n. mental keenness. Her business acumen helped her to succeed where others had failed.
acute
"acute ADJ. quickly perceptive; keen; brief and severe. The acute young doctor realized immediately that the gradual deterioration of her patient's once-acute hearing was due to a chronic illness, not an acute one. "
adage
adage n. wise saying; proverb. There is much truth in the old adage about fools and their money.
adamant
"adamant adj. hard; inflexible. In this movie Bronson played the part of a revenge-driven man, adamant in his determination to punish the criminals who destroyed his family, adamancy, n. "
adapt
adapt v. alter; modify. Some species of animals have become extinct because they could not adapt to a changing environment.
addendum
addendum n. addition; appendix to book. Jane's editor approved her new comparative literature text but thought it would be even better with an addendum on recent developments in literary criticism.
addiction
"addiction n. compulsive, habitual need. His addiction to drugs caused his friends much grief. "
addle
"addle v. muddle; drive crazy; become rotten. This idiotic plan is confusing enough to addle anyone, addled, adj. "
address
"address v. direct a speech to; deal with or discuss. Due to address the convention in July, Brown planned to address the issue of low-income housing in his speech. "
adept
"adept ADJ. expert at. She was adept at the fine art of irritating people, also n. "
adhere
"adhere v. stick fast. I will adhere to this opinion until proof that I am wrong is presented, adhesion, n.; adherence, n. "
adherent
"adherent n. supporter; follower. In the wake of the scandal, the senator's one-time adherents quietly deserted him. "
adjacent
"adjacent adj. adjoining; neighboring; close by. Philip's best friend Jason lived only four houses down the block, near but not immediately adjacent. "
adjunct
"adjunct n. something (generally nonessential or inferior) added on or attached. Although I don't absolutely need a second computer, I plan to buy a laptop to serve as an adjunct to my desktop model, also adj. "
adjuration
"adjuration n. solemn urging. Her adjuration to tell the truth did not change the witnesses' testimony, adjure, v. "
adjutant
"adjutant n. staff officer assisting the commander; assistant. Though Wellington delegated many tasks to his chief adjutant, Lord Fitzroy Somerset, Somerset was in no doubt as to who made all major decisions. "
admonish
"admonish v. warn; reprove. He admonished his listeners to change their wicked ways, admonition, n. "
adorn
"adorn v. decorate. Wall paintings and carved statues adorned the temple, adornment, n. "
adroit
adroit adj. skillful. Her adroit handling of the delicate situation pleased her employers.