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78 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
abjure (v)
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to renounce or reject solemnly; to recant; to avoid
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adumbrate (v)
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to foreshadow vaguely or intimate; to suggest or outline sketchily; to obscure or overshadow
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anathema (n)
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a solumn or ecclesiastical (religious) curse; accursed or thoroughly loathed person or thing
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anodyne (adj/n)
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soothing, something that assuages or allays pain or comforts
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apogee (n)
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farthest or highest point; culmination; zenith
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apostate (n)
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one who abandons long-held religious or political beliefs
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apotheosis (n)
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deification, glorification to godliness, an exalted example, a model of excellence or perfection
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asperity (n)
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severity, rigor, roughness, harshness, acrimony, irritability
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asseverate (v)
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to aver, allege, assert
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assiduous (adj)
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diligent, hard-working, sedulous
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augury (n)
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omen, portent
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bellicose (adj)
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belligerent, pugnacious, warlike
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calumniate (v)
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to slander, make a false accusation; calumny = slander, aspersion
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captious (adj)
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disposed to point out trivial faults, calculated to confuse or entrap in argument
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cavil (v)
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to find fault without good reason
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celerity (n)
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speed, alacrity; THINK ACCELERATE
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chimera (n)
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an illusion; originally, an imaginary fire-breathing she-monster
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contumacious (adj)
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insubordinate, rebellious; contumely = insult, scorn, aspersion
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debacle (n)
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rout, fiasco, complete failure
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denouement (n)
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an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot
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descry (v)
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to discriminate or discern
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desuetude (n)
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disuse
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desultory (adj)
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random; aimless; marked by a lack of plan or purpose
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diaphanous (adj)
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transparent, gauzy
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diffident (adj)
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reserved, shy, unassuming, unassertive; lacking in self-confidence
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dirge (n)
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a song of grief or lamentation
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encomium (n)
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glowing and enthusiastic praise; panegyric, tribute, eulogy
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eschew (v)
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to shun or avoid
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excoriate (v)
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to censure scathingly, to upbraid
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execrate (v)
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denounce, feel loathing for, curse, declare to be evil
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exegesis (n)
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critical examination, explication
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expiate (v)
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to atone or make amends for
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extirpate (v)
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to destroy, exterminate, cut out, exscind
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fatuous (adj)
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silly, inanely foolish
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fractious (adj)
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quarrelsome, rebellious, unruly, refractory, irritable
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gainsay (v)
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to deny, dispute, contradict, oppose
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heterodox (adj)
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unorthodox, heretical, iconoclastic
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imbroglio (n)
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difficult or embarrassing situation
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indefatigable (adj)
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not easily exhaustible; tireless, dogged
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ineluctable (adj)
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certain, inevitable
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inimitable (adj)
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one of a kind, peerless
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insouciant (adj)
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unconcerned, carefree, heedless
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inveterate (adj)
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deep rooted, ingrained, habitual
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jejune (adj)
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vapid, uninteresting, nugatory; childish, immature, puerile
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lubricious (adj)
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lewd, wanton, greasy, slippery
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mendicant (n)
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a beggar, supplicant
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meretricious (adj)
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cheap, gaudy, tawdry, flashy, showy; attracting by false show
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minatory (adj)
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menacing, threatening (think Minotaur = threatening creature)
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nadir (n)
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low point, perigee
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nonplussed (adj)
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baffled, bewildered, at a loss for what to do or think
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obstreperous (adj)
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noisily and stubbornly defiant, aggressively boisterous
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ossified (adj)
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tending to become more rigid, conventional, sterile, and reactionary with age; literally, turned into bone
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palliate (v)
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to make something seem less serious, to gloss over, to make less severe or intense
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panegyric (n)
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formal praise, eulogy, encomium; panegyrical = expression elaborate praise
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parsimonious (adj)
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cheap, miserly
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pellucid (adj)
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transparent, easy to understand, limpid
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peroration (n)
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the concluding part of a speech; flowery, rhetorical speech
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plangent (adj)
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pounding, thundering, resounding
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prolix (adj)
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long-winded, verbose; prolixity = verbosity
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propitiate (v)
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to appease, to conciliate; propitious = auspicious, favorable
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puerile (adj)
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childish, immature, jejune, nugatory
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puissance (n)
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power, strength; puissant = powerful, strong
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pusillanimous (asj)
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cowardly, craven
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remonstrate (v)
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to protest, object
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sagacious (adj)
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having sound judgment; perceptive, wise; like a sage
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salacious (adj)
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lustful, lascivious, bawdy
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salutary (adj)
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remedial, wholesome, causing improvement
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sanguine (adj)
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cheerful, confident, optimistic
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saturnine (adj)
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gloomy, dark, sullen, morose
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sententious (adj)
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aphoristic or moralistic; epigrammatic, tending to moralize excessively
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stentorian (adj)
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extremely loud and powerful
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stygian (adj)
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gloomy, dark
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sycophant (n)
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toady, servile, self-seeking flatterer; parasite
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tendentious (adj)
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biased; showing marked tendencies
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timorous (adj)
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timid, fearful, diffident
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tyro (n)
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novice, greenhorn, rank amateur
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vitiate (v)
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to corrupt, debase, spoil, make ineffective
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voluble (adj)
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fluent, verbal, having easy use of spoken language
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