Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
247 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Mettle
|
high quality of character; courage; spirit; ardor
|
|
|
Minute
|
very short; small
|
|
|
Misanthrope
|
one who hates or distrusts mankind; cynic; egotist
|
|
|
Miser
|
one who saves greedily
|
|
|
Misnomer
|
a wrong name (as in mislabeling)
|
|
|
Momentum
|
the impetus behind a moving object
|
|
|
Monolithic
|
of a single, large block of stone
|
|
|
Monotonous
|
without variety; tiresomely uniform
|
|
|
Morbid
|
gruesome; horrible
|
|
|
Moribund
|
approaching death; dying; having little vitality
|
|
|
Mosaic
|
a surface decoration of small pieces of variously colored material
|
|
|
Motley
|
composed of different elements; heterogeneous; ill-sorted
|
|
|
Nadir
|
the lowest point
|
|
|
Naïve
|
unaffectedly simple; unsophisticated; innocent
|
|
|
Nebulous
|
indistinct; vague; unclear
|
|
|
Nefarious
|
flagrantly wicked or impious; evil; vicious; villainous; iniquitous
|
|
|
Negligible
|
trifling; unimportant
|
|
|
Notable
|
remarkable; worthy of notice; outstanding
|
|
|
Novel
|
new; unusual
|
|
|
Nurture
|
to feed or nourish; to train or educate
|
|
|
Oblique
|
not straight to the point, indirect; inclined; evasive
|
|
|
Oblivion
|
the condition of being forgotten; the state of being unaware
|
|
|
Obscure
|
not well known; not clear (opp. Lucid); hidden; remote
|
|
|
Obsession
|
a very persistent idea; desire or emotion
|
|
|
Obstinacy
|
stubbornness
|
|
|
Obstinate
|
stubborn; pertinacious
|
|
|
Obviate
|
circumvent; to make unnecessary
|
|
|
Odometer
|
an instrument for measuring the distance traveled by a vehicle
|
|
|
Offense
|
a transgression, breaking a law; resentful; something that causes anger
|
|
|
Olfactory
|
relating to or connected with the sense of smell
|
|
|
Ominous
|
threatening; menacing
|
|
|
Omniscience
|
the quality or state of knowing all
|
|
|
Oppressive
|
burdensome; difficult to bear; exercising power unjustly or severely
|
|
|
Opprobrious
|
disgraceful; infamous; slanderous
|
|
|
Organic
|
characteristic of or derived from living organisms [salubrious]
|
|
|
Orient
|
to adjust or adapt to a particular situation
|
|
|
Ostentatious
|
showy; pretentious; making an ambitious display to invite flattery
|
|
|
Overt
|
open and observable; not hidden; evident
|
|
|
Pacific
|
conciliatory; tending to lessen conflict; peaceable
|
|
|
Pacify
|
to make peaceful; appease; tranquilize
|
|
|
Palatable
|
tasteful; appetizing
|
|
|
Palpable
|
tangible; noticeable; evident
|
|
|
Paramount
|
chief; supreme
|
|
|
Pariah
|
outcast
|
|
|
Parody
|
satirical imitation; a literary or musical composition imitating someone else
|
|
|
Partisan
|
one who strongly supports a side, party, or another person
|
|
|
Pastiche
|
hodgepodge; a jumbled mixture; a collage
|
|
|
Patronizing
|
supporting; sponsoring; treating in a condescending manner
|
|
|
Paucity
|
dearth; insufficiency
|
|
|
Peevish
|
hard to please; irritable; fretful
|
|
|
Pellucid
|
transparent; clear; lucid; perspicuous
|
|
|
Perception
|
ability to perceive or understand
|
|
|
Perfunctory
|
done without care or interest, as if routine; superficial; indifferent
|
|
|
Periphery
|
edge; a boundary line; perimeter (opp. Hub)
|
|
|
Perpetrate
|
to do or perform; commit
|
|
|
Perplexed
|
puzzled; confused
|
|
|
Perquisite
|
something additional resulting from one's position or employment, privilege
|
|
|
Perseverance
|
persistence; steadfastness; resolution
|
|
|
Persnickety
|
fussy about small details; choosy; fastidious; fussy; picky
|
|
|
Personify
|
to represent; to think of or represent as having personality or living qualities
|
|
|
Perspicuous
|
clear in expression; easily understood; lucid; pellucid
|
|
|
Pertinent
|
appropriate; relevant; related to the point
|
|
|
Peruse
|
to read with attention; to study
|
|
|
Pervade
|
permeate; to pass through; to spread out or be diffused
|
|
|
Perverse
|
improper; wicked
|
|
|
Pessimist
|
one who emphasizes adverse aspects or conditions and expects the worst
|
|
|
Pessimistic
|
expecting the worst; gloomy
|
|
|
Petulant
|
impatient or irritable; bad-tempered
|
|
|
Philistine
|
barbarian; smugly conventional; lacking in culture
|
|
|
Phlegmatic
|
sluggish; dull; apathetic; unemotional
|
|
|
Pillage
|
a plundering; looting; (verb: to loot)
|
|
|
Pious
|
deeply religious [Piety (n)]
|
|
|
Placate
|
to appease; to pacify
|
|
|
Plebeian
|
common; coarse; vulgar; uncouth; working class
|
|
|
Plethora
|
excess; over-abundance; superfluity
|
|
|
Pliable
|
easily bent or molded; flexible
|
|
|
Plunder
|
to rob by force; to take (property) by force or fraud
|
|
|
Plunderous
|
the tendency in an individual to rob
|
|
|
Poignant
|
sharply painful to the feelings; piercing
|
|
|
Portentous
|
suggesting an undesirable or serious outcome; ominous
|
|
|
Pragmatism
|
having a practical point of view
|
|
|
Precocious
|
matured to a point beyond that which is normal for the age
|
|
|
Predator
|
one that preys, destroys, or devours
|
|
|
Predilection
|
a preconceived liking; preference; partiality
|
|
|
Preposterous
|
absurd, ridiculous
|
|
|
Prescience
|
foresight; knowledge of events before they take place
|
|
|
Presumptive
|
assuming
|
|
|
Pretentious
|
ambitious; showy; making unjustified demands
|
|
|
Prig
|
a pedantic person; a person who is excessively precise
|
|
|
Primeval
|
primitive; belonging to the first or earliest period
|
|
|
Pristine
|
pure; uncorrupted; unspoiled
|
|
|
Procrastinate
|
to put off doing something until a future time; defer
|
|
|
Procure
|
to obtain, as by effort, labor, or purchase; to get
|
|
|
Prodigal
|
extravagant; wasteful
|
|
|
Prodigious
|
wonderful; amazing; enormous; huge
|
|
|
Profound
|
extending far below the surface; deep; having intellectual depth
|
|
|
Progeny
|
offspring, children or descendants collectively
|
|
|
Proletarian
|
of the lowest class
|
|
|
Prologue
|
an introduction
|
|
|
Promulgation
|
publishing or making known; making widespread
|
|
|
Propensity
|
tendency; natural inclination
|
|
|
Proponent
|
a person who makes a proposal or supports a cause
|
|
|
Propound
|
propose; to offer for consideration
|
|
|
Proscribe
|
to denounce; to forbid; to prohibit
|
|
|
Prostration
|
exhaustion; great depression
|
|
|
Protean
|
very changeable (like the Greek sea god Proteus); mercurial
|
|
|
Provincial
|
Narrow-minded; unsophisticated; backwards; countrified; rustic
|
|
|
Provocative
|
exciting; attracting attention; stimulating [Provoke (v)]
|
|
|
Provoke
|
to excite; to anger or irritate; to evoke
|
|
|
Prudent
|
careful; wise; cautious or discreet in conduct; circumspect
|
|
|
Pugnacious
|
disposed to fight; quarrelsome
|
|
|
Punctilious
|
very exact; scrupulous
|
|
|
Purblind
|
stupid; slow in perceiving or understanding
|
|
|
Purge
|
to purify; rid of the undesirable
|
|
|
Quandary
|
a state of perplexity or uncertainty; a dilemma
|
|
|
Quell
|
to suppress; to quiet; to crush, subdue; to allay
|
|
|
Querulous
|
given to complaining or whining
|
|
|
Quintessence
|
apex; peak; most perfect manifestation of a quality; epitome
|
|
|
Rancor
|
antagonism; deep spite or malice; malevolence
|
|
|
Rapture
|
ecstasy; great joy; passion
|
|
|
Rash
|
too hasty; reckless
|
|
|
Raucous
|
harsh sounding; hoarse
|
|
|
Ravenous
|
voracious; greedily hungry
|
|
|
Raze
|
to tear down completely; to demolish
|
|
|
Rebuke
|
an expression of strong disapproval; reprimand
|
|
|
Recalcitrant
|
stubborn; difficult to manage or operate
|
|
|
Recant
|
withdraw; renounce; abjure
|
|
|
Recapitulate
|
repeat; summarize; reiterate; recount; sum up (like a recap)
|
|
|
Reconcile
|
to make friendly again; to settle (a quarrel); to bring into harmony
|
|
|
Reconciliation
|
to make friendly again; to bring into harmony
|
|
|
Reconnaissance
|
a survey of a region
|
|
|
Redundant
|
excess; superfluous; wordy
|
|
|
Refute
|
to disprove; show to be false or erroneous
|
|
|
Relegate
|
to assign to an inferior position
|
|
|
Remission
|
forgiveness; cancellation from debt; a lessening of heat, cold, or pain
|
|
|
Remuneration
|
reward; recompense; pay
|
|
|
Repertoire
|
the stock of plays, songs, etc. that actors can perform by memory
|
|
|
Replicate
|
duplicate; repeat
|
|
|
Reprehensible
|
deserving to be censured, criticized
|
|
|
Repress
|
to keep down or hold back; to subdue; to control strictly
|
|
|
Reprimand
|
a severe or formal reproof or rebuke, admonishment, reproach
|
|
|
Reprisal
|
retaliation (esp. in war)
|
|
|
Repugnance
|
strong distaste, dislike, or antagonism
|
|
|
Requisite
|
required; necessary
|
|
|
Resolute
|
marked by a firm determination; resolved; bold or steady
|
|
|
Reticent
|
habitually silent or uncommunicative; taciturn; hesitant to speak
|
|
|
Retract
|
to draw back or in (like with claws); to withdraw or disavow
|
|
|
Retribution
|
deserved punishment or reward
|
|
|
Retrograde
|
moving, directed backward; going back to a worse condition
|
|
|
Retrospect
|
contemplation or a survey of the past; to look back upon in thought
|
|
|
Revere
|
to worship; to honor
|
|
|
Revile
|
to reproach; to use abusive language in speaking to or about; to scold
|
|
|
Rhetoric
|
language skillfully used
|
|
|
Ruddy
|
red or reddish; having a fresh, healthy red color
|
|
|
Rudimentary
|
elementary; vestigial
|
|
|
Rue
|
to feel remorse or repentance for; to wish (something) undone
|
|
|
Rural
|
of or relating to the country or country life; rustic
|
|
|
Sacrilegious
|
injurious or disrespectful to sacred things; irreligious
|
|
|
Salient
|
prominent; standing out from the rest; noticeable, sharp, important, germane
|
|
|
Sally
|
to rush out suddenly; set out; depart
|
|
|
Salubrious
|
favorable to health; healthful
|
|
|
Sanction
|
authorized approval or permission; support; encouragement; approval
|
|
|
Sanguine
|
ruddy; sturdy; cheerful; consisting of or relating to blood
|
|
|
Sarcasm
|
a sharp utterance designed to cut or give pain
|
|
|
Sate
|
to appease by indulging to the full; satiate; satisfy
|
|
|
Sated
|
feeling satisfied, content, or full; gratified completely; surfeit; glutted; satiated
|
|
|
Satirize
|
to ridicule, attack or criticize with humor, sarcasm, or irony
|
|
|
Saturate
|
to soak thoroughly
|
|
|
Saturnine
|
morose; grave; gloomy
|
|
|
Savory
|
pleasing to the taste or smell; appetizing; pleasant; attractive; respectable
|
|
|
Scamp
|
a rascal, a mischievous fellow; scoundrel
|
|
|
Scathe
|
to do harm to; scorch; sear; to denounce fiercely
|
|
|
Scathing
|
hurtful; damaging; burning
|
|
|
Scud
|
to pass or skim rapidly over
|
|
|
Scurrilous
|
vulgar; indecent; obscene
|
|
|
Sear
|
to dry up; to cause to wither; dehydrate; to scorch the surface
|
|
|
Seismograph
|
an instrument that records the intensity and duration of earthquakes
|
|
|
Self-assertion
|
a declaration (as insisting to be recognized)
|
|
|
Serene
|
calm; peaceful
|
|
|
Serenity
|
being serene, calm, or tranquil; tranquility
|
|
|
Servile
|
overly submissive; cringing (like a servant)
|
|
|
Shrewd
|
keen-witted or sharp in practical affairs; clever (opp. fatuous)
|
|
|
Shrewdness
|
cleverness
|
|
|
Sinecure
|
an office or position that requires little or no work
|
|
|
Sluggard
|
a habitually lazy, or idle person
|
|
|
Smelt
|
refine
|
|
|
Smugness
|
contentedly confident; complacent
|
|
|
Soar
|
to fly aloft or about; to increase dramatically
|
|
|
Solicit
|
to ask or seek earnestly or pleadingly
|
|
|
Specious
|
false; seeming to be genuine without really being so
|
|
|
Speculate
|
to wonder
|
|
|
Spur
|
anything that urges, impels, or incites; stimulus to action
|
|
|
Staid
|
sedate; settled and steady; demure; sober
|
|
|
Steadfast
|
steady; unchanging; static; invariable
|
|
|
Stealthy
|
done or acting in a secret, furtive manner; sneaky; crafty
|
|
|
Stupefaction
|
overwhelming amazement; astonishment; stupor
|
|
|
Suave
|
urbane; polished; smoothly gracious or polite
|
|
|
Subdue
|
to suppress; to keep back; to restrain
|
|
|
Subjugate
|
to conquer
|
|
|
Subterfuge
|
stratagem; artifice; any plan used to hide one's time objective; deception
|
|
|
Subtle
|
not obvious; not open or direct; thin (not dense or heavy); hard to spot;
|
|
|
Succumb
|
to give way to superior force; yield
|
|
|
Suffrage
|
the right to vote
|
|
|
Sulk
|
to show resentment and ill humor
|
|
|
Supercilious
|
haughty; arrogant; characterized by pride or scorn
|
|
|
Superficial
|
on the surface; shallow
|
|
|
Supplicate
|
beg; implore; solicit; beseech; adjure
|
|
|
Supplication
|
a humble request; a petition; a prayer
|
|
|
Suppress
|
to put down by force; subdue, quell, crush, restrain
|
|
|
Suture
|
a stitch made with a fiber to unite parts of a living body
|
|
|
Syllabus
|
a summary or outline containing the main parts, esp. or a course of study
|
|
|
Symbiosis
|
a relationship of mutual interdependence between persons or groups
|
|
|
Symbiotic
|
between two organisms
|
|
|
Tabulate
|
to figure or calculate in a table; to put (facts, statistics, etc.) in a table
|
|
|
Tabulation
|
figures in a table
|
|
|
Taciturn
|
reserved; reticent; reluctant to talk
|
|
|
Tactile
|
of or relating to a sense of touch; perceptible by touch; tangible; palpable
|
|
|
Tangible
|
perceptible; that which can be touched; definite
|
|
|
Taut
|
tightly stretched; tense (a taut smile)
|
|
|
Tediously
|
tiresome because of length or dullness
|
|
|
Temerity
|
audacity; foolish boldness; daring; effrontery
|
|
|
Temper
|
moderate; mitigate; to soften or tone down
|
|
|
Temporal
|
worldly; pertaining to this world or life
|
|
|
Thermal
|
of, relating to, or caused by heat
|
|
|
Threshold
|
the place or point of entering or beginning
|
|
|
Tinder
|
any dry, easily flammable material, esp. used to start a fire
|
|
|
Tractable
|
easily lead, taught, controlled, or managed; docile; compliant; obedient
|
|
|
Tranquil
|
peaceful
|
|
|
Transient
|
temporary
|
|
|
Traverse
|
to cross; to pass over, across, or through
|
|
|
Treatise
|
essay; discussion of facts; systematic, extensive written discourse on a subject
|
|
|
Tremor
|
a trembling, shaking, or shivering
|
|
|
Trepidation
|
tremor; fearful anxiety; apprehension
|
|
|
Trivial
|
unimportant; insignificant; trifling
|
|
|
Truce
|
armistice; suspension of fighting; cease-fire
|
|
|
Truculent
|
fierce; cruel; savage
|
|
|
Tyro
|
neophyte; beginner
|
|
|
Ubiquitous
|
omnipresent; widespread; found everywhere
|
|
|
Unanimous
|
based on complete agreement; unchallenged
|
|
|
Undermine
|
to dig beneath; to wear away; to weaken, injure or impair, esp. stealthily
|
|
|
Uniform
|
unvarying in form; having a single form or pattern
|
|
|
Untenable
|
indefensible; insupportable; illogical
|
|
|
Urbane
|
sophisticated; polite, elegant or refined
|
|
|
Usurp
|
to seize by force without legal right; employ wrongfully
|
|
|
Utilitarian
|
stressing usefulness over beauty
|
|
|
Utopian
|
idealistic; visionary
|
|
|
Uxorious
|
doting; excessively fond of (esp. one's wife)
|
