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160 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Approbation
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The expression of approval or favorable opinion, praise; official approval
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Assuage
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To make easier or milder, relieve; to quiet, calm, to put an end to, appease, satisfy, quench
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Coalition
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A combination, union, or merger for some specific purpose
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Decadence
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Decline, decay, or deterioration; a condition or period of decline or decay; excessive self-indulgence
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Elicit
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To draw forth, bring out from some source (such as another person)
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Expostulate
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To attempt to dissuade someone from some course or decision by earnest reasoning
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Hackneyed
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Used so often as to lack freshness or originality
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Hiatus
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A gap, opening, break (in the sense of having an element missing)
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Innuendo
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A hint, indirect suggestion, or reference (often in a derogatory sense)
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Intercede
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To plead on behalf of someone else; to serve as a third party or go-between in a disagreement
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Jaded
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Wearied, worn-out, dulled (in the sense of being satiated by excessive indulgence)
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Lurid
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Causing shock, horror, or revulsion; sensational; pale or sallow in color; terrible or passionate in intensity or lack of restraint
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Meritorious
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Worthy, deserving of recognition and praise
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Petulant
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Peevish, annoyed by trifles, easily irritated and upset
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Prerogative
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A special right or privilege; a special quality showing excellence
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Provincial
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Pertaining to an outlying area; local; narrow in mind or outlook, countrified in the sense of being limited and backward of a simple, plain design that originated in the countryside; a person with a narrow point of view; a person from an outlying area; a soldier from a province or colony
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Simulate
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To make pretense of, imitate; to show the outer signs of
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Transcend
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To rise above or beyond, exceed
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Umbrage
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Shade cast by trees; foliage giving shade; an overshadowing influence or power; offense, resentment; a vague suspicion
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Unctuous
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Excessively smooth or smug; trying too hard to give an impression of earnestness,sincerity, or piety; fatty, oily; pliable
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Ameliorate
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To improve, make better, correct a flaw or shortcoming
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Aplomb
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Pose, assurance, great self-confidence; perpendicularity
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Bombastic
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Pompous or overblown in language; full of high-sounding words intended to conceal lack of ideas
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Callow
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Without experience; immature, not fully developed, lacking sophistication and pose; without feathers
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Drivel
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Saliva or mucus flowing from the mouth or nose; foolish; aimless talk or thinking; nonsense; to let saliva flow from the mouth; to utter nonsense or childish twaddle; to waste or fritter away foolishly
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Epitome
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A summary, condensed account; an instance that represents a larger reality
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Exhort
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To urge strongly, advise earnestly
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Ex Officio
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By virtue of holding a certain office
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Infringe
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To violate, trespass, go beyond recognized bounds
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Ingratiate
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To make oneself agreeable and thus gain favor or acceptance by others (sometimes used in a critical or derogatory sense)
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Interloper
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One who moves in where he or she is not wanted or has no right to be, an intruder
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Intrinsic
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Belonging to someone or something by its very nature, essential, inherent; originating in a bodily organ or part
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Inveigh
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To make a violent attack in words, express strong disapproval
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Lassitude
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Wariness of body or mind, lack of energy
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Millennium
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A period of one thousand years; a period of great joy
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Occult
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Mysterious, magical, supernatural; secret, hidden from view; not detectable by ordinary means; to hide, conceal, eclipse; matters involving the supernatural
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Permeate
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To spread through, penetrate, soak through
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Precipitate
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To fall as moisture; to cause to bring about suddenly; to hurl down from a great height; to give distinct form to; characterized by excessive haste; moisture; the product of an action or process
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Stringent
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Strict, severe, rigorously or urgently binding or compelling; sharp or bitter to the taste
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Surmise
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To think or believe without certain supporting evidence; to conjecture or guess; likely idea that lacks definite proof
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Affable
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Courteous and pleasant, sociable, easy to speak to
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Aggrandize
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To increase in greatness, power, or wealth; to build up or intensify; to make appear greater
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Amorphous
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Shapeless, without definite form; of no particular type or character; without organization, unity, or cohesion
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Aura
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That which surrounds (as an atmosphere); a distinctive air or personality quality
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Erudite
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Scholarly, learned, bookish, pedantic
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Gossamer
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Think, light, delicate, insubstantial; a very thin, light cloth Ghosts are often depicted in literature as wearing
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Infer
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To find out by reasoning; to arrive at a conclusion on the basis of though; to hint, suggest, imply
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Inscrutable
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Incapable of being understood; impossible to see through physically
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Insular
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Relating to, characteristic of, or situated on an island; narrow or isolated in outlook or experience
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Irrevocable
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Incapable of being changed or called back
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Propensity
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A natural inclination or predilection toward
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Querulous
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Peevish, complaining, fretful
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Remonstrate
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To argue or plead with someone against something, protest against, object to
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Repudiate
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To disown, reject, or deny the validity of
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Resilient
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Able to return to an original shape or form; able to recover quickly
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Reverberate
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To re-echo, resounds; to reflect or be reflected repeatedly
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Scurrilous
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Coarsely abusive, vulgar or low (especially in language), foul-mouthed
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Sedulous
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Persistent, showing industry and determination
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Sleazy
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Thin or flimsy in texture; cheap; shoddy or inferior in quality or character; ethically low, mean, or disreputable
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Amnesty
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A general pardon for an offense against a government; in general, any act of forgiveness or absolution
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Autonomy
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Self-government, political control
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Axiomatic
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Self-evident, expressing a universally accepted principle or rule
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Blazon
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To adorn or embellish; to display conspicuously; to publish or proclaim widely
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Caveat
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A warning or caution to prevent misunderstanding or discourage behavior
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Equitable
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Fair, just, embodying principles of justice
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Extricate
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To free from entanglements or difficulties; to remove with effort
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Filch
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To steal, especially in a sneaky way and in petty amounts
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Flout
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To mock, treat with contempt
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Fractious
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Tending to be troublesome, unruly, quarrelsome, contrary; unpredictable
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Precept
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A rule of conduct or action
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Salutary
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Beneficial, helpful; healthful, wholesome
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Scathing
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Bitterly sever, withering; causing great harm
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Scourge
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To whip, punish severely; a cause of affliction or suffering; a source of severe punishment or criticism
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Sepulchral
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Funereal, typical of the tomb; extremely gloomy or dismal
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Soporific
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Tending to cause sleep, relating to sleepiness or lethargy; something that induces sleep
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Straitlaced
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Extremely strict in regard to moral standards and conduct; prudish, puritanical
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Transient
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Lasting only a short time, fleeting; one who stays only a short time
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Unwieldy
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Not easily carried, handled, or managed because of size or complexity
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Vapid
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Dull, uninteresting, tiresome; lacking in sharpness, flavor, liveliness, or force
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Contraband
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Illegal traffic, smuggled goods; illegal, prohibited
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Abominate
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To have an intense dislike or hatred for
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Acculturation
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The modification of the social patterns, traits, or structures of one group or society by contact with those of another; the resultant blend
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Adventitious
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Resulting from chance rather than from an inherent cause of character; accidental, not essential; acquired, not congenital
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Ascribe
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To assign or refer to (as a cause or source), attribute
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Circuitous
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Roundabout, not direct
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Commiserate
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To sympathize with, have pity or sorrow for, share a feeling of distress
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Enjoin
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To direct or order; to prescribe a course of action in an authoritative way; to prohibit
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Expedite
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To make easy, cause to progress faster
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Expiate
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To make amends, make up for; to avert
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Ferment
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A sate of great excitement, agitation, or turbulence; to be in or work into such a state; to produce alcohol by chemical action
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Inadvertent
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Resulting from or marked by lack of attention, unintentional, accidental
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Nominal
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Existing in name only, not real; too small to be considered or taken seriously
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Noncommittal
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Not decisive or definite; unwilling to take a clear position or to say yes or no
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Peculate
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To steal something that has been given into one's trust, to take improperly for one's own use
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Proclivity
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A natural or habitual inclination or tendency (especially of human character or behavior)
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Sangfroid
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Composure or coolness, especially in trying circumstances
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Seditious
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Resistant to lawful authority, having the purpose of overthrowing an established government
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Tenuous
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thin, slender, not dense; lacking clarity or sharpness; of slight importance or significance; lacking a sounds basis, poorly supported
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Vitriolic
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Bitter, sarcastic; highly caustic or biting (like strong acid)
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Wheedle
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To use coaxing or flattery to gain some desired end
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Anomalous
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Abnormal, irregular, departing from the usual
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Aspersion
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A damaging or derogatory statement; the act of slandering or defaming
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Bizarre
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Extremely strange, unusual, atypical
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Brusque
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Abrupt, blunt, with no formalities
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Cajole
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To coax, persuade through flattery or artifice; to deceive with soothing thoughts or false promises
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Castigate
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To punish severely; to criticize severely
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Contrive
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To plan with ingenuity, invent; to bring about as the result of a scheme or plan
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Demagogue
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A leader who exploits popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power
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Disabuse
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To free from deception or error, set right in ideas or thinking
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Ennui
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Weariness and dissatisfaction from lack of occupation or interest, boredom
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Fetter
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A chain or shackle placed on the feet, anything that confines or restrains; to chain or shackle; to render helpless or impotent
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Heinous
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Very wicked, offensive, hateful
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Immutable
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Not subject to change, constant
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Insurgent
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One who rebels or rises against authority; rising in revolt, refusing to accept authority; surging or rushing in or on
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Megalomania
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A delusion marked by a feeling of power, wealth, talent, etc., far in excess of reality
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Sinecure
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A position requiring little or no work, an easy job
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Surreptitious
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Stealthy, secret, intended to escape observation; made or accomplished by fraud
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Transgress
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To go beyond a limit or boundary; to sin, violate a law
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Transmute
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To change from one nature, substance, or form to another
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Vicarious
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Performed, suffered, or otherwise experienced by on person in place of another
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Austere
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Severe or stern in manner; without adornment or luxury, simple, plain; harsh or sour in flavor
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Beneficent
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Performing acts of kindness or charity; conferring benefits, doing good
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Cadaverous
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pale, gaunt, resembling a corpse
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Concoct
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To prepare by combining ingredients, make up (as a dish); to devise, invent, fabricate
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Crass
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Course, unfeeling; stupid
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Debase
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To lower in character, quality, or value; to degrade, adulterate; to cause to deteriorate
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Desecrate
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To commit sacrilege upon, treat irreverently; to contaminate, pollute
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Disconcert
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To confuse; to disturb the composure of
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Grandiose
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Grand in an impressive or stately way; marked by pompous affection or grandeur, absurdly exaggerated
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Inconsequential
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Trifling, unimportant
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Infraction
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A breaking of a law or obligation
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Mitigate
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To make milder or softer, to moderate in force or intensity
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Pillage
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To rob of goods by open force (as in war), plunder; the act of looting, booty
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Prate
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To talk a great deal in a foolish or aimless fashion
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Punctilious
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Very careful and exact, attentive to fine points of etiquette or propriety
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Redoubtable
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Inspiring fear or awe; illustrious, eminent
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Reprove
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To find fault with, scold, rebuke
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Restitution
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The act of restoring someone or something to the rightful owner or to a former state or position; making good on a loss or damage
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Stalwart
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Strong and sturdy; brave; resolute; a brave, strong person; a strong supporter; one who takes an uncompromising position
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Vulnerable
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Open to attack; capable of being wounded or damaged, unprotected
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Acrimonious
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Stinging, bitter in temper or tone
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Bovine
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Resembling a cow or ox; sluggish, unresponsive
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Consternation
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Dismay, confusion
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Corpulent
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Fat; having a large, bulky body
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Disavow
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To deny responsibility or connection with
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Dispassionate
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Impartial; calm, free from emotion
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Dissension
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Disagreement, sharp difference in opinion
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Dissipate
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To cause to disappear; to scatter, dispel; to spend foolishly, squander; to be extravagant in pursuit of pleasure
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Expurgate
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To remove objectionable passages or words from a written text; to cleanse, purify
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Gauntlet
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An armored or protective glove; a challenge; two lines of men armed with weapons with which to beat a person forced to run between them; an ordeal
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Hypothetical
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Based on an assumption or guess; used as a provisional or tentative idea to guide or direct investigation
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Ignoble
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Mean, low, base
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Impugn
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To call into question, to attack as false
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Intemperate
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Immoderate, lacking in self-control; inclement
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Odium
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Hatred, contempt; disgrace or infamy resulting from hateful conduct
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Perfidy
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Faithlessness, treachery
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Relegate
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To place in a lower position; to assign, refer, turn over; to banish
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Squeamish
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Inclined to nausea; easily shocked or upset; excessively fastidious or refined
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Subservient
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Subordinate in capacity or role; submissively obedient; serving to promote some end
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Susceptible
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Open to; easily influenced; lacking in resistance
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