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101 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Mimetic |
Of the nature of mimicry or make believe |
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Clandestine |
Executed in secrecy or concealment |
The clandestine meetings went undiscovered for two years |
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Endorse |
Approve of |
I endorsed her opinion wholeheartedly |
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Visage |
Face or appearance |
The old man has a noticebly happy visage |
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Solipsism |
The theory that only the self exists Self centered, selfish |
He is solipsistic |
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Arresting |
Attracting, striking |
He has an arresting smile |
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Sophomoric |
Intellectually pretentious, over confident but immature and silly |
He is a sophomoric fellow |
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Conceit |
Too much pride in one's ability and achievement |
The conceit of that man is incredibe. |
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Out of conceit with |
Displeased or dissatisfied with |
The president was out of conceit with the actions of his subordinates |
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Quixotic |
Extremely idealistic and unrealistic |
He lives by a hopelessly quixotic code |
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Gallant |
Brave, chivalrous to women |
A gallant Knight |
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Undue |
Excessive |
such a high increase will impose an undue burden on tax payers |
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Forestall |
To prevent, obstruct |
The company executives forestalled crisisim by inviting the union leaders to meet |
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Run the gamut |
Experience, display or perform something |
Owen runs the gamut of emotions in the film |
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Ape |
Imitate someone or copy someone in absurd way |
Her little brother apes her behavior |
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Disclaim |
1. To deny responsibility or to refuse acknowledgement 2. (Law) to renounce a claim or right to |
The school disclaimed any responsibility of his death
The Earl disclaimed his title |
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Relinquish |
To voluntarily give up a claim |
He relinquished his managerial role to become ceo |
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Pondorous |
Barren, dull, lifeless, slow and clumsy |
He had a dense, pondorous style |
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Conspicuous |
1.Arresting, clearly visible 2.attracting notice or attention |
1.He was very thin with conspicuous Adam's apple 2.He showed conspicuous bravery |
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Cogent |
Very clear and easy for the mind to accept and believe |
The film makes it's point with cogency |
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Pertinent |
Relevant |
He impressed the jury with pertinent answers to the attorney's questions |
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Cabal |
A small group of people who plan secretly to take action |
He was assassinated by a cabal of aides within his own regime |
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Intrigue |
(v) - to interest someone, arouse curiosity, alluring (n) - a secret plan to do something especially to harm others |
I was intrigued by his behavior A tale of political intrigue |
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Literati |
People with good education |
Her novels are popular among University literati |
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Hoi polloi |
Masses, common people |
The inflated costs kept the hoi polloi at bay |
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Predilection |
Bias, strong liking, preference |
His predilection for pretty girls |
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Urbane |
Sophisticated and polite |
He is charming and urbane |
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Dulcet |
Sweet and soothing |
The dulcet tones of a cello |
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Painstaking |
Careful and thorough |
Painstaking attention to detail |
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Diligent |
Painstaking,Showing care in one's duty or work |
After diligent searching, he found the parcel |
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Vivacity |
Vivacious - happy and lively in a way that is attractive |
He was struck by her vivacity and charm |
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Blatant |
Done openly and unashamedly Lacking in subtlety, very obvious
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1. Blatant lies 2. Despite their blatant attraction for each other, they try to stay friends |
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Perusal |
Action of reading or examining something |
I continued my perusal of instructions |
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Interplay |
The way in which two or more things have an effect on each other |
The interplay between social and cultural norms |
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Parochial |
Relating to church Showing interest in narrow range of matters |
Parochial boundaries
Although it's a local newspaper, it manages not to be parochial in it's outlook |
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Incendiary |
1. Designed to cause fires 2. Likely to cause violence or conflict |
He gave an incendiary speech last night |
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Patsy |
a person who is easily taken advantage of specially by being cheated or made to suffer |
The blonde was drop dead gorgeous but she was nobody's patsy |
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Tact |
the ability to say or do things in such a way that you do not make anyone unhappy or angry Sensitivity, thoughtfulness, diplomacy |
The editors of this book have shown tact and good sense in their selections. |
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Elegiac |
Relating to elegy mournful, melancholic a sad poem or song, especially remembering someone who has died or something in the past |
A movingly elegiac piece for small orchestra |
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Enjoin |
to legally force someone to do something ( strongly encourage) or stop doing something( forbid)
to tell someone to do something or to behave in a particular way
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Lawyers are enjoined to follow high ethical principals. ( Encourage)
The prosecutors' office hopes the court will enjoin the city from enforcing the law (stop)
We were all enjoined to be on our best behaviour. |
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Catechize |
to question systematically or searchingly Interrogate |
her roommates catechized her about every detail of her date with her new boyfriend |
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Surreptitious |
done secretly, without anyone seeing or knowing Clandestine Stealthy |
She seemed to be listening to what I was saying, but I couldn't help noticing her surreptitious glances at the clock. |
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Stealthy |
movement that is quiet and careful in order not to be seen or heard, or secret action |
The weapons had been acquired by stealth. |
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Covert |
Hidden or secret |
The government was accused of covert military operations against the regime. |
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Redaction |
the process of removing words or information from a text before it is printed or made available to the public, or the text itself after this has been done |
What was left after redaction was useless |
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Expurgate |
to remove parts of a piece of writing that are considered likely to cause offence |
The book was expurgated to make it suitable for children. |
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Curt |
rude as a result of being very quick or brief Terse Brusque Abrupt |
He sent a curt, one-sentence letter of resignation to the mayor. |
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Circumspect |
careful not to take risks Cautious; chary |
Officials were circumspect about saying what the talks had achieved. |
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obdurate |
Stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or course of action |
The president remains obdurate on immigration. |
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Fortuitous |
not planned, happening by chance Unexpected, serendipitous, haphazard |
The timing of the meeting is certainly fortuitous. |
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Haphazard |
not having an obvious order or plan: |
He tackled the problem in a typically haphazard manner. |
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Serendipitous |
happening or found by chance: |
Reading should be an adventure, a personal experience full of serendipitous surprises |
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Ancillary |
additional, or providing additional support or help Auxiliary Supplementary |
In the last ten years or so we have developed a number of ancillary services, which have grown out of our core business |
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Annals |
the record of an activity or organization, arranged year by year, or a history that covers a long period of time |
This period was one of the darkest in the annals of US history |
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Sophism |
an argument that seems true but is really false and is used to deceive people
A specious argument |
He was an opponent of sophism |
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Specious |
seeming to be right or true, but really wrong or false |
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Harangue |
a long and angry speech or piece of writing in which you criticize someone or something or try to persuade someone that you are right Lecturing someone
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They were subjected to a ten minute harangue by two border guards
gave me a harangue on the subject of my poor grades |
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Tirade |
a long, angry speech expressing strong disapproval |
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Diatribe |
an angry speech or piece of writing that severely criticizes something or someone |
He launched into a long diatribe against the lack of action in Congress |
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Decry |
Publicly criticize |
Lawyers decried the imprisonment of several journalists. |
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Vilify |
to say or write unpleasant things about someone or something, in order to cause other people to have a bad opinion of them |
He was vilified by the press as a monster |
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Revile |
to criticize someone strongly, or say unpleasant things to or about someone |
The judge was reviled in the newspapers for his opinions on rape. |
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Execrate |
to have or show feelings of hate towards someone or something |
I execrate any policy that interferes with the rights and freedoms of others. |
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Lambaste |
to criticize someone or something severely |
His first novel was well and truly lambasted by the critics. |
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Vilipend |
1. to hold or treat as of little worth or account 2. to express a low opinion of : DISPARAGE |
one of those elitists who regularly vilipends popular culture |
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Disparage |
Belittle to criticize someone or something in a way that shows a lack of respect |
He disparages his business competitors, saying they are all a bunch of amateurs compared to him. |
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Remonstrance |
The act of expressing disagreement or complaint Reproach Expostulation |
Leila paid no real attention to my remonstrances. |
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expostulation |
the act of expressing disagreement or complaint
Remonstrate |
despite the earnest expostulations of her friends, Jessica continued to date the foul-tempered guy |
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Proclivity |
the fact that someone likes something or likes to do something, especially something considered morally wrong |
the sexual proclivities of celebrities |
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Predisposition |
1. make someone liable or inclined to a specified attitude, action, or condition.
2. to make susceptible Influencing/leading |
a good teacher predisposes children to learn
2. malnutrition predisposes one to disease |
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predilection |
a strong liking or preference |
a predilection for spicy foods |
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Propensity |
a tendency to behave in a particular way |
The poll confirmed Americans growing propensity to invest in the stock market. |
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Penchant |
a liking for, an enjoyment of, or a habit of doing something, especially something that other people might not like |
a penchant for melodrama/skiing/exotic clothes |
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Nonplussed |
surprised, confused, and not certain how to react |
I was completely nonplussed by his reply. |
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lachrymose |
sad or likely to cry often and easily |
He is better known for his lachrymose ballads than hard rock numbers. |
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Smug |
too pleased or satisfied about something you have achieved or something you know Self satisfied, complacent |
She deserved her promotion, but I wish she wasn't so smug about it. |
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Disconsolate |
extremely sad and disappointed |
The players were disconsolate after losing what should have been an easy game. |
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dejected |
unhappy, disappointed, or without hope |
She looked a bit dejected when they told her she didn't get the job. |
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woebegone |
Looking very sad Doleful |
There's no need to look so woebegone - we can get it fixed. |
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Adage |
a wise saying or proverb |
He remembered the old adage, "Look before you leap." |
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Aphorism |
a short saying that is intended to express a general truth Axiom |
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Dictum |
a short statement, especially one expressing advice or a general truth Proverb Maxim apothegm |
He followed the famous American dictum "Don't get mad, get even". |
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Reliquary |
a container or shrine in which sacred relics are kept |
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Formulaic |
containing or consisting of fixed and repeated groups of words or ideas Which are unoriginal and used many times before |
The text was dull and formulaic |
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Inclement |
Inclement weather is unpleasant, especially with cold wind and rain. |
They should be prepared for inclement weather |
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Impertinence |
behaviour that is rude and does not show respect, especially someone older or in a higher position than you Rude, impolite |
He threw me out of his class for impertinence. |
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Insolent |
Rude and not showing respect Impertinent |
An insolent child |
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Copse |
A small group of trees |
A copse of fit trees |
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Respite |
a pause or rest from something difficult or unpleasant Hiatus, break |
The center provides a respite for teens in trouble. |
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Cessation |
the fact of something ending or stopping |
The company has now stopped trading and has announced the cessation of its business. |
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Meander |
A journey with no particular direction to follow a route that is not straight or direct to walk slowly without any clear direction |
The film meanders along with no particular story line. We spent the afternoon meandering around the streets of the old town. |
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Perambulate |
to walk or travel about for pleasure |
The locals perambulate up and down the streets of town |
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Amble |
to walk in a slow and relaxed way Perambulate |
He was ambling along the beach |
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Poltroon |
An utter coward |
come on, you poltroons |
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Craven |
extremely cowardly (= not brave) |
a craven act of terrorism |
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Dastard |
Coward a person who acts treacherously or underhandedly |
the villain of the story is a dastard indeed |
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Recreant |
Coward |
the victors had only contempt for the recreant enemy soldiers who surrendered without firing a shot |
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Pusillanimous |
Coward Fearful and timid Craven gutless |
He's too pusillanimous to stand up to his opponents. |
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Timorous |
Nervous and lacking confidence |
Every new invention arouses these fears among the timorous |
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Ornery |
tending to get angry and argue with people |
He had been in an ornery mood all day, arguing with everyone who got in his way. |
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Contempt |
a strong feeling of disliking and having no respect for someone or something |
At school she had complete contempt for all her teachers |
