Chapter 6 Vocab

Front 1

bas-relief

Back 1

sculpture whose ornament or figures are somewhat raised above the background

Front 2

debase

Back 2

to lower in quality, value, or dignity; to degrade

Front 3

declivity

Back 3

a downward slope; the slope of a hill

Front 4

proclivity

Back 4

a natural inclination or tendency

Front 5

leaven

Back 5

a substance like yeast or small amount of fermented dough that causes dough to expand or rise
a lightening or enlivening influence

Front 6

legerdemain

Back 6

sleight of hand; majic tricks
any trickery or deception

Front 7

leverage

Back 7

the action of a lever that raises or lifts
power to influence; a position of strength

Front 8

levitate

Back 8

to rise or float, or cause to rise, seemingly despite gravity

Front 9

levity

Back 9

lightness in speech or behavior, especially unbecoming jocularity; frivolity

Front 10

penchant

Back 10

a strong inclination or liking

Front 11

ponderous

Back 11

extremely heavy; massive
unwieldly or awkward
dull or tedious

Front 12

imponderable

Back 12

unable to be assessed or measured precisely

Front 13

preponderant

Back 13

superior in number, force, power, or imporantce

Front 14

echelon

Back 14

a step like formation of troops, ships, or aircraft
a level of command or authority

Front 15

transcendent

Back 15

going beyond the limits or ordinary experience

Front 16

incumbent

Back 16

a person who holds an office or position
required as a duty or obligation

Front 17

recumbent

Back 17

reclining; lying down

Front 18

succumb

Back 18

to yield; to give in or give up, especially to a powerful force or desire
to die

Front 19

hypochondria

Back 19

a psychological disorder characterized by the illusory conviction that one is ill or in pain, or likely to become so

Front 20

hypothesis

Back 20

a theory of explanation that leads to further investigation for proof or disproof.
an assumption on which a conclusion or decision is based

Front 21

cataclysm

Back 21

a disaster or catastrophe on such a large scale that biological, environmental, or cultural elements are permanently altered or irreparably lost to the earth.

Front 22

catapult

Back 22

an ancient mechanical device for hurling missiles
a modern mechanism for launching aircraft from the deck of a ship
to hurl or launch suddenly

Front 23

subjective

Back 23

concentrating on the self in the expression of feelings and perceptions
relating to personal opinions and thought processes rather than factual information or universal experience

Front 24

sublimate

Back 24

to turn aside an instinctual perhaps primitive, impulse in favor of a more socially or cultrally acceptable activity

Front 25

suborn

Back 25

to induce a person in secret to commit a misdeed or crime
to induce someone to give false testimony

Front 26

subterfuge

Back 26

an artifice, deice, or evasion to hide or avoid something, or to escape and outcome

Front 27

verisimilitude

Back 27

a thing or quality that appears true or real

Front 28

verity

Back 28

the condition or quality of being true or accurate
a belief, principle, or statement expressing some basic human truth

Front 29

aver

Back 29

to affirm; to declare or attest to positively or dogmatically.