English 120 Vocab

Front 1

Abjure

Back 1

verb--to renounce upon oath

Front 2

abrogate

Back 2

verb--to ask, propose a law

Front 3

abstemious

Back 3

adj--marked by restraint esp. in the consumption of food or alcohol

Front 4

acumen

Back 4

n--keenness and depth of perception, discernment, or discrimination esp. in practical matters

Front 5

antebellum

Back 5

adj--existing before a war esp. the American Civil War

Front 6

auspicious

Back 6

adj--promising success, favorable

Front 7

belie

Back 7

verb--to give a false impression of

Front 8

bellicose

Back 8

adj--favoring or inclined to start quarrels or wars; belligerent

Front 9

bowdlerize

Back 9

verb--to expurgate by omitting or modifying parts considered vulgar

Front 10

chicanery

Back 10

noun--deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry; trickery

Front 11

chromosome

Back 11

noun--any of the rod shaped or threadlike DNA-containing structures of cellular organisms that are located in the nucleus of eukaryotes; contain most genes of the organism

Front 12

churlish

Back 12

adj--marked by a lack of civility or graciousness

Front 13

circumlocution

Back 13

noun--the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea

Front 14

circumnavigate

Back 14

verb--to go completely around (as the earth) esp. by water; to go around instead of through

Front 15

deciduous

Back 15

adj--falling off or shed seasonally or at a certain stage of development in the life cycle

Front 16

deleterious

Back 16

adj--harmful often in a subtle or unexpected way

Front 17

diffident

Back 17

adj--hesitant in acting or speaking through lack of self-confidence

Front 18

enervate

Back 18

adj--lacking physical, mental, or moral vigor

Front 19

enfranchise

Back 19

verb--to set free(as from slavery); to admit to the privileges of a citizen and esp. to the right of suffrage

Front 20

epiphany

Back 20

noun--an appearance or manifestation esp. of a divine being

Front 21

equinox

Back 21

noun--either of the two points on the celestial sphere where the celestial equator intersects the ecliptic

Front 22

euro

Back 22

noun--wallaroo; any of several large kangaroos of the grassy plains of Australia; the monetary unit of most countries of the European Union

Front 23

evanescent

Back 23

adj--tending to vanish like vapor

Front 24

expurgate

Back 24

verb--to cleanse of something morally harmful, offensive, or erroneous

Front 25

facetious

Back 25

adj--joking or jesting often inappropriately

Front 26

fatuous

Back 26

adj--complacently or insanely foolish

Front 27

feckless

Back 27

adj--weak, ineffective

Front 28

fiduciary

Back 28

adj--of, based on, or in the nature of trust and confidence, as in public affairs; noun--Law. A person to whom property or power is entrusted for the benefit of another

Front 29

filibuster

Back 29

noun--the use of extreme dilatory tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action esp. in a legislative assembly; an irregular military adventurer;

Front 30

gamete

Back 30

noun--a mature sexual reproductive cell, as a sperm or egg, that unites with another cell to form a new organism

Front 31

gauche

Back 31

adj--lacking social experience or grace; not tactful: crude

Front 32

gerrymander

Back 32

verb--to divide (an area) into political units to give special advantages to one group

Front 33

hegemony

Back 33

n--the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group

Front 34

hemoglobin

Back 34

noun--the oxygen-carrying pigment of red blood cells that gives them their red color and serves to confey oxygen to the tissues

Front 35

recapitulate

Back 35

verb--to review by a brief summary, as at the end of a speech or discussion; summarize

Front 36

quotidian

Back 36

adj--recurring daily; commonplace

Front 37

quasar

Back 37

noun--an extremely distant, and thus old, celestial object whose power output is several thousand times that of our entire galaxy

Front 38

precipitous

Back 38

adj--extremely steep

Front 39

polymer

Back 39

noun--a compound of high molecular weight derived either by the addition of many smaller molecules, as polyethylene, or by the condensation of many smaller molecules with the elimination of water, alcohol, or the like, as nylon

Front 40

plasma

Back 40

noun--the clear, yellowish fluid portion of blood, lymph, or intramuscular fluid in which cells are suspended

Front 41

plagiarize

Back 41

verb--to use and pass off (the ideas or writings of another) as one's own

Front 42

photosynthesis

Back 42

noun--the process in green plants and certain other organisms by which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy source. Most forms of photosynthesis release oxygen as a byproduct

Front 43

pecuniary

Back 43

adj--of or pertaining to money

Front 44

parabola

Back 44

noun--a plane curve formed by the intersetion of a right cirucular cone and a plane parallel to an element of the cone or by the locus of points quidistant from a fixed line and a fixed point not on the line. x squared

Front 45

oxidize

Back 45

verb--to convert (an element) into an oxide; combine with oxygen

Front 46

orthography

Back 46

noun--the art of writing words with the proper letters, according to accepted usage; correct spelling

Front 47

omnipotent

Back 47

adj--having very great or unlimited authority or power

Front 48

oligarchy

Back 48

noun--government by few, especially by a small faction of persons or families

Front 49

obsequious

Back 49

adj--obedient; dutiful

Front 50

ziggurat

Back 50

noun--a temple tower of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories

Front 51

yeoman

Back 51

noun--an attendant, servant, or lesser official in a royal or noble household

Front 52

xenophobe

Back 52

noun--a person who fears or hates foreigners, strange customs, etc.

Front 53

wrought

Back 53

n--past tense of work; adj-worked into shape by artistry or effort

Front 54

winnow

Back 54

v--to separate the chaff from (grain) by means of a current of air; to separate or get rid of an undesirable part; eliminate

Front 55

vortex

Back 55

n--a spiral motion of fluid within a limited area, especially a whirling mass of water or air that sucks everything near it toward its center

Front 56

vehement

Back 56

adj--characterized by forcefulness of expression or intensity of emotion or conviction; fervid

Front 57

vacuous

Back 57

adj--without any contents; empty; lacking intelligence

Front 58

usurp

Back 58

v--to seize and hold (a position, office, power, etc.) by force or without legal right

Front 59

unctuous

Back 59

adj--characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness

Front 60

totalitarian

Back 60

adj--of or pertaining to a centralized govt that doesn't tolerate parties of differing opinion and that exercises control over many aspects of life

Front 61

thermodynamics

Back 61

n--the science concerned with the relations between heat and mechanical energy or work, an the conversion of one into the other

Front 62

tempestuous

Back 62

adj--tumultuous; turbulent;

Front 63

tectonic

Back 63

adj--relating to, causing, or resulting from structural deformation of the earth's crust

Front 64

taxonomy

Back 64

n--the classification of organisms in an ordered system that indicates natural relationships

Front 65

tautology

Back 65

n--needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy

Front 66

supercilious

Back 66

adj--haughtily disdainful or contemptuous, as a person or a facial expression

Front 67

suffragist

Back 67

n--an advocate of the extension of political voting rights, especially to women

Front 68

subjugate

Back 68

v--to bring under control; to conquer

Front 69

soliloquy

Back 69

n--an utterance or discourse by a person who is talking to himself or herself or is disregardful of or oblivious to any hearers present (often used as a device in drama to disclose a character's innermost thoughts)

Front 70

sanguine

Back 70

adj--cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confident; reddish; ruddy;

Front 71

respiration

Back 71

n--the act or process of inhaling and exhaling; breathing

Front 72

reparation

Back 72

n--the making of amends for wrong or injury done

Front 73

reciprocal

Back 73

adj-given or felt by each toward the other; mutual

Front 74

notarize

Back 74

v--to acknowledge or attest as a notary public

Front 75

nonsectarian

Back 75

adj--not affiliated with or restricted to a particular religious group

Front 76

nomenclature

Back 76

n--name,designation; the act or process or an instance of naming

Front 77

nihilism

Back 77

n--a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless;

Front 78

nanotechnology

Back 78

n--the art of manipulating materials on an atomic or molecular scale esp. to build microscopic devices

Front 79

moiety

Back 79

n-- one of two equal parts: half

Front 80

mitosis

Back 80

n--the process that takes place in the nucleus of a dividing cell, involves typically a series of steps consisting of prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase, and results in the formation of two new nuclei each having the same number of chromosomes as the parent nucleus

Front 81

metamorphosis

Back 81

n--a change of physical form, sturcture, or substance esp. by supernatural means

Front 82

lugubrious

Back 82

adj--mournful; exaggeratedly or affectedly mournful

Front 83

loquacious

Back 83

adj-full of excessive talk; wordy

Front 84

lexicon

Back 84

n--a book containing an alphabetical arrangement of the words in a language and their definitions; the vocab of a language

Front 85

laissez faire

Back 85

n--a doctrine opposing governmental interference in economic affiars beyond the minimum necessary for the maintenance of peace and property rights

Front 86

kowtow

Back 86

verb--to kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in tolken of homage, worship, or deep respect

Front 87

kinetic

Back 87

adj--of or relating to the motion of material bodies and the forces and entergy associated therewith

Front 88

jejune

Back 88

adj--lacking nutritive value; devoid of significance or interest; dull; juvenile;

Front 89

irony

Back 89

n--the use of words to express something other than and esp. the opposite of the literal meaning

Front 90

interpolate

Back 90

v--to alter or corrupt (as a text) by inserting new or foreign matter

Front 91

infrastructure

Back 91

n--the underlying foundation or basic framework (as of a system or organization)

Front 92

inculcate

Back 92

verb--to teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions

Front 93

incontrovertible

Back 93

adj--not open to discussion; indisputable

Front 94

incognito

Back 94

adj--with one's identity concealed; disguise

Front 95

impeach

Back 95

v--to bring an accusation against

Front 96

hypotenuse

Back 96

n--the opposite side of the right angle in a right triangle

Front 97

hubris

Back 97

n--exaggerated pride or self-confidence

Front 98

homogeneous

Back 98

adj--of the same or a similar kind or nature

Front 99

paradigm

Back 99

n--example, pattern; an outstandingly clear or typical example or archetype

Front 100

parameter

Back 100

n--an arbitrary constant whose value characterizes a member of a system; a quantity that describes a statistical population