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241 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Abate
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mitigate; lessen; diminish
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Abet
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to actively second and encourage; to assist or support; incite
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Abhorrent
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detestable
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Abridge
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to reduce; diminish; condense
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Abstemious
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sparing in pleasures; temperate; abstinent
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Abstinent
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voluntary forbearance esp. from food; self-denial [Abstain (v)]
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Accentuate
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to stress; emphasize
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Accessibility
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easy to approach or enter; obtainable
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Accolade
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a praising mention
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Accord
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agreement; concord (opp. discord); harmony of minds
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Accrue
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to be added; accumulate
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Acrid
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sharp; pungent; bitter; caustic in language or tone
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Acrimonious
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bitter; harsh or biting in speech or feeling
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Adamant
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unshakable or immovable esp. in opposition; unyielding; unbending; rigid
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Adhere
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to stick to; to attach to; cling
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Adroit
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skillful; dexterous; clever; expert
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Adroitly
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in a clever, skillful manner; skillfully
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Adversary
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one that contends with, opposes, or resists; enemy
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Advocacy
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support
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Advocate
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to recommend publicly
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Aesthetic
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showing an appreciation of beauty in nature or art; artistic
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Affable
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easy to approach and talk to; friendly
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Affectation
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a pretending to like, have, etc.; show or pretense; mannerism for effect
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Affirm
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to assert positively; to establish; to declare; ratify; agree with; support;
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Affirmation
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positive declaration; confirmation; ratification
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Affliction
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blight; anything that destroys or prevents growth
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Agenda
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a list of things to be done at a meeting
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Aggregation
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collection
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Agile
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nimble; apt or ready to move; active
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Alias
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another name; a false name to assume a false identity
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Allay
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pacify; appease; to lessen in intensity or severity
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Allegation
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an assertion (esp. without proof)
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Alleviate
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to relieve (pain, suffering); to reduce (poverty); to lessen
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Allusion
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a reference, esp. from literature; casual mention
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Altercation
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dispute carried on with anger; controversy
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Altruistic
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unselfish; benevolent
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Alumnus
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one who has attended or graduated from a particular school, college, etc.
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Ambiguous
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doubtful or uncertain; capable of being understood in many possible senses;
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Amenable
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responsive; obedient; answerable
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Amicable
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friendly; characterized by friendly goodwill
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Amity
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benevolence; friendship; kindness
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Amorphous
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no definite shape; shapeless; formless
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Anachronism
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something out of its proper time
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Analogous
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similar; alike; not coming from the same ancestor or origin
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Anarchy
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lack of government; chaos
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Anathema
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anything greatly detested; a thing worthy of a strong curse; an execration
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Animosity
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hostility; a feeling of strong dislike or hatred
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Annihilate
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to destroy completely; demolish; raze; decimate
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Annul
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to do away with; to cancel
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Antecedent
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Predecessor; person or thing that goes before
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Antediluvian
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antiquated; ancient; primitive
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Antidote
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a remedy to counteract a poison; anything that works against an evil
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Antipathy
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enmity; aversion; opposition in feeling
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Apathy
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lack of emotion or interest
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Apex
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the uppermost or highest point; summit; acme; quintessence; zenith; peak
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Apocryphal
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fictitious (like fiction); false; spurious
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Apprehensive
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anxious or fearful about the future
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Apprentice
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one who is learning a trade by practical experience under skilled workers
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Approbation
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approval; commendation
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Appropriation
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allotment; a sum of money set apart for a given purpose
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Ardor
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emotional warmth or heat; eagerness; devotion; passion
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Arid
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dry; lifeless; dull
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Articulate
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distinct; well formulated; clearly presented; speaking well;
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Artifice
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chicanery; duplicity ( to dupe); trickery; artful device
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Ascend
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to move upwards; rise
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Ascetic
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austere in appearance, manner, or attitude; severe
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Asinine
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ridiculous; stupid; silly; unintelligent; inane; fatuous
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Asset
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an advantage; resource; property of a person
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Assiduous
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diligent; constant in application; industrious
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Assimilate
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become like something else; absorb and incorporate; adapt to
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Assuage
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mitigate; allay; calm; pacify; placate
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Astral
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pertaining to the stars
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Astute
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shrewd; having or showing shrewdness and perspicacity
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Atrocious
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in bad taste; abominable
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Atrophy
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waste away; fail to grow
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Auditory
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relating to or experienced through a sense of hearing; synacoustic; audible
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August
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inspiring awe or reverence; magnificent; majestic
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Auroral
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rosy; of or like the dawn; bright; radiant
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Auspicious
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suggesting a favorable outcome; propitious; prosperous
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Auspiciously
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prosperously; propitiously
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Avail
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advantage; use or help; service
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Aversion
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a desire to avoid something; a settled dislike; antipathy
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Avid
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greedy; eager; enthusiastic
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Awestruck
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filled with awe (includes wonder, reverence, and fear)
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Axiom
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statement universally accepted as true; self-evident truth
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Baffling
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confusing; puzzling; hindering
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Baleful
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portending evil; ominous; harmful; deadly
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Ban
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to prohibit, esp. by legal means
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Banal
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commonplace; ordinary; trite; drearily predictable; dull; overused; mundane;
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Bane
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cause of mischief, injury, or destruction; curse; anathema
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Barren
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not productive; desolate; lacking interest; dull
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Bedlam
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commotion; any scene of uproar and confusion
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Belated
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tardy; late
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Belie
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to misrepresent; to show to be mistaken; to prove false
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Bellicose
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warlike; pugnacious; belligerent
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Belligerence
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a hostile attitude
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Belligerent
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at war; of fighting; warlike; readiness to quarrel; bellicose
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Benefactor
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patron; a person who has given help
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Benign
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favorable; showing kindness or gentleness, innocuous
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Bias
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prejudice
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Bicker
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petulant; quarreling
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Blatant
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too conspicuous; obtrusive; offensively noisy
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Boorish
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unmannered; rude; insensitive
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Bravado
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pretend courage or defiant confidence where there is really little or none
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Brawny
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muscular; strong
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Brevity
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concise; terse; shortness of time; contraction; pithy
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Bucolic
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pastoral; rustic; of country life and farming
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Burlesque
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jocular; parodying
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Buttress
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any prop or support, material or figurative
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Cajole
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to coax with flattery and insincere talk
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Callous
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oblivious; hardened
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Callow
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inexperienced; immature
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Camaraderie
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friendship; friendly good-fellowship
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Cameo
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a carving with one layer raised on another [opp. Intaglio]
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Candor
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open; honest; candid
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Canonize
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to raise to the highest rank of honor and glory
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Canopy
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a drapery-like covering for a bed, throne, etc. held on poles
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Cantankerous
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ill-natured; cross; disputatious; quarrelsome
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Canvass
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examine carefully; discuss in detail
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Capricious
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inconsistent; fickle; erratic
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Caricature
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a picture or imitation of a person, literary style with exaggerated features
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Catalyst
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a person or thing acting as the stimulus in bringing about a result
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Categorical
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absolute; positive; not relative or hypothetical
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Cater
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to take great pains to seek to gratify another's needs or desires
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Catharsis
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emotional tensions, esp. by art
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Cathartic
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relieving emotional tensions, esp. by art
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Cathartic
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describing something that purifies the emotions or relieves
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Censor
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(n) one who deletes objectionable matter (v) to delete matter
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Censure
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to blame; to criticize; to condemn as wrong; to express strong disapproval
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Chagrin
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disappointment; humiliation, embarrassment caused by failure
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Charisma
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charm; magnetism
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Charlatan
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quack; imposter; fraud; fake
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Chaste
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innocent; pure in thought and act; modest; pristine
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Chicanery
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trickery; deception
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Chortle
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to chuckle
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Circumlocution
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prolixity; indirect way of expressing something
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Circumspect
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cautious; careful; wary
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Circumvent
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evade; outwit
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Clamor
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to cry out; to demand or complain noisily
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Clandestine
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secret; private; concealed; underhanded
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Clemency
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mildness; gentleness; leniency; mercy
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Coalesce
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blend; fuse; consolidate
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Cohesive
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sticking together (as in people or molecules)
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Collaborate
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to work together (esp. in some artistic, literary, or scientific undertaking)
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Collaborators
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people who work together, to work jointly with others
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Colleague
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a fellow worker in the same position
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Colloquial
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conversational; pertaining to conversation
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Colloquy
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dialogue; conversation
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Combustible
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flammable
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Commemorate
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to honor the memory of
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Communicable
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capable of impartation from one to another; transferable
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Compel
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to force or constrain; to bring about by force
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Complacent
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satisfied; esp. self-satisfied, smug; affable; unconcerned
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Complex
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involved; perplexing; difficult
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Concede
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to assent; yield; permit; make concession
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Conciliate
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soothe the anger of; placate; pacify; mollify
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Concise
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brief and to the point; containing few words
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Concord
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agreement (opp. Discord)
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Condign
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justified; adequate; deserved
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Conducive
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helpful
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Conflagration
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a destructive fire
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Conglomerate
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cluster
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Connoisseur
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a person who has expert knowledge and keen discrimination in some field
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Console
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to alleviate or lessen the grief or sorrow; to give solace or comfort
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Conspiracy
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planning and action together secretly (esp. for an unlawful or harmful purpose
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Conspirator
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a person who takes part in a conspiracy
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Construe
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to translate loosely; to interpret
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Consummate
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superb; complete; perfect
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Contaminate
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to make impure; to pollute; to defile; to sully
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Contemporary
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living at the same time or being the same age
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Continuity
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being continuous; coherence
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Contract
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to shrink; shorten; to be infected with (a disease)
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Contrite
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penitent; deeply affected with grief for having done wrong
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Convene
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to assemble for a common purpose; to cause to assemble or meet together
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Converge
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come together at a point; move toward same place; convene
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Convergent
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to tend to meet in a point or line
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Convivial
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fond of eating, drinking, and company; social; jovial
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Copious
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abundant; plentiful
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Corpulent
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having a great quantity of fat or flesh
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Corrugated
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folded into ridges so as to form a wavy surface; grooved
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Coterie
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clique; ring; group of like-minded people (good connotation)
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Covert
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not openly shown; veiled; sheltered
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Cower
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to crouch (as from fear or cold); to shrink and tremble; to cringe
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Cull
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to collect; to pick out; to separate from others
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Cursory
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hastily, often superficially done with little attention to detail
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Cynical
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to question the sincerity of people's actions; pessimistic
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Cynicism
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belief that people are motivated in all their actions only by selfishness
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Dalliance
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dawdling; flirtation
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Daunt
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to make afraid or discouraged; intimidate; dishearten
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Debauchery
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extreme indulgence; gluttony
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Debilitate
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weaken; exhaust
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Decimate
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to destroy or kill a large part of; destroy a great number of; annihilate; raze
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Decipher
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to decode; to make out the meaning of ancient inscriptions, codes, etc.
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Decompose
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to break up or separate into basic components or parts; to rot
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Decomposition
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the breaking down of a substance to more basic parts
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Decorous
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proper; decent; seemly; becoming; showing good taste; propriety;
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Deface
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to mar, impair, or injure the external appearance of
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Defamation
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libel; slander; the act of tarnishing someone's name
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Defame
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to attack the reputation of; to disgrace; to bring dishonor
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Default
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to fail to take part in; to forfeit
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Deficient
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not sufficient; inadequate in amount, degree, quality, etc.
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Defile
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to pollute; to make unclear; to corrupt
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Deflect
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to bend or turn aside
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Deft
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showing skill and artistry; dexterous; adept
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Defuse
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to remove the fuss from; to render harmless
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Deleterious
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harmful; pernicious; toxic (opp. Innocuous)
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Delineate
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to describe, portray, or set forth with accuracy or in detail
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Delusion
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false belief or opinion
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Delve
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to make an investigation; to search for facts
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Demur
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hesitate
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Demystify
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to remove the mystery from; clarify
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Denouement
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outcome; unraveling
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Depravity
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moral corruption; immorality; wickedness; perversity
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Depreciate
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to reduce in value or price; to belittle; to disparage
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Deride
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to ridicule; to make fun of; to scorn
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Derisive
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ridicule
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Descend
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to move downward
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Desiccate
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to dry completely
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Despair
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a loss of hope
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Despondent
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feeling or showing extreme discouragement, depression, or rejection;
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Devaluation
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a lessening in value or importance
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Dexterity
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skill in using the hands or body; cleverness; adroitness
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Diffidence
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lack of confidence in oneself, marked by hesitancy to assert oneself
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Digression
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wandering from the main subject in talking or writing
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Diligence
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persevering application; assiduity
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Dire
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dreadful; dismal; horrible; terrible; bringing about trouble or disaster; urgent
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Disapprobation
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the act or state of disapproving; condemnation
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Discern
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to distinguish one thing from another; to perceive or recognize the difference,
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Discord
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disagreement; (opp. Concord)
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Discordant
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disagreeing; harsh sounding
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Discreet
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having or showing good judgment; modest; unobtrusive
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Discursive
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moving about from one topic to another; digressive
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Disdain
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abhorrence; contempt; scorn
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Disenchant
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to free from illusion
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Dismay
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to fill with apprehension or alarm; to daunt; to appall
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Disparagement
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something that causes the loss of dignity or reputation
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Dispel
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dissipate; to scatter and drive away; cause to vanish
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Disperse
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to send off in different directions
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Disputatious
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fond of arguing; contentious
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Disquieting
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disturbing
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Disreputable
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not reputable; discreditable; dirty; shabby
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