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;
120 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
adjunct
|
(n.) useful but not essential; an assistant or helper
|
|
|
bellwether
|
(n.) leader of a gang
|
|
|
caterwaul
|
(v.) a loud and noisy sound
|
|
|
chimerical
|
(adj.) absurd; wildly fantastic; impossible
|
|
|
effete
|
(adj.) lacking; sterile
|
|
|
fait accompli
|
(n.) an accomplished and presumably irreversible deed
Ex: HIV |
|
|
hidebound
|
(adj.) narrow-minded and rigid
|
|
|
hierarchy
|
(n.) Ranking
|
|
|
laissez-faire
|
(adj.) Much freedom
|
|
|
liturgy
|
(n.) a religious service or rite
Ex: Communion; Bar-mitzvah |
|
|
morass
|
(n.) a patch of low, soft, wet ground
|
|
|
noisome
|
(adj.) offensive or disgusting; rude
|
|
|
oblivious
|
(adj.) forgetful; unaware
|
|
|
poltroon
|
(n.) a base coward
Ex: Wizard of Oz: Cowardly Lion |
|
|
proselyte
|
(n.) religious terms
|
|
|
quasi
|
(adj.) so,so; not completely there
|
|
|
raillery
|
(n.) joke around with friends
|
|
|
ribald
|
(adj.) irreverently mocking; course, vulgar, or indecent in language
|
|
|
supine
|
(adj.) lying flat on one's back; walk all over a person.
Ex: sounds like spine |
|
|
vignette
|
(n.) a short story
|
|
|
aegis
|
(n.) protection; help
|
|
|
apprise
|
(v.) to inform of; make aware; bring
|
|
|
bibulous
|
(adj.) fond of or inclined to drink; absorbent
|
|
|
claque
|
(n.) paid people to cheer on
Ex: like clique |
|
|
deracinate
|
(v.) to pull up by the roots; burn bridges; to eliminate all traces of
|
|
|
exegesis
|
(n.) an explanation or critical interpretation; writer/critic
|
|
|
indigenous
|
(adj.) from; comes from; originated in the country or region where found
|
|
|
lachrymose
|
(adj.) makes upset; given to tears or weeping
|
|
|
lexicon
|
(n.) language; a dictionary of a language
|
|
|
melee
|
(n.) a confused struggle; a violent free-for-all
|
|
|
microcosm
|
(n.) mini world; a miniature world or universe
|
|
|
minuscule
|
(adj.) very small, tiny
Ex: mini |
|
|
obfuscate
|
(v.) uncertain, to darken or obscure
|
|
|
paternalism
|
(n.) teaching others the ways; the policy or practice of treating or governing people in the manner of a father dealing with his children
Ex: parent |
|
|
polarize
|
(v.) focus on two different POV.
|
|
|
purview
|
(n.) the range, distance
|
|
|
sanguine
|
(adj.) happy; optimistic outlook
|
|
|
solecism
|
(n.) not proper
|
|
|
vassal
|
(n.) a person under the protection of a feudal lord to whom he or she owes allegiance; a subordinate or dependent; a servant
Ex: guards to the president |
|
|
verisimilitude
|
(n.) true story
|
|
|
ancillary
|
(adj.) subordinate or supplementary
Ex: accessory |
|
|
bowdlerize
|
(v.) to remove material considered offensive; censored
|
|
|
condescend
|
(v.) to come down or stoop voluntarily to a lower level
|
|
|
cozen
|
(v.) to trick; cheat or swindle; scam
|
|
|
enclave
|
(n.) ghetto
|
|
|
forte
|
(n.) talent
|
|
|
gratis
|
(adj.) without charge, free; receiving
|
|
|
icon
|
(n.) a representation or image or a scared personage
|
|
|
interstice
|
(n.) a small, narrow space between things or parts of things
|
|
|
macrocosm
|
(n.) the universe considered as a whole
Ex: macro=huge; micro=small |
|
|
mountebank
|
(n.) trickster or swindler; impostor
|
|
|
paean
|
(n.) a song of praise, joy or triumph
Ex: anthem |
|
|
persiflage
|
(n.) lighthearted joking, talk, or writing; teasing
|
|
|
plethora
|
(n.) overfullness; superabundance; surplus
|
|
|
pragmatic
|
(adj.) practical
|
|
|
quizzical
|
(adj.) confused; puzzled; mocking; odd
|
|
|
rapacity
|
(n.) inordinate greed; greed
|
|
|
schism
|
(n.) a formal split within a religious organization; any division or separation of a group
|
|
|
therapeutic
|
(adj.) having the power to heal or cure
|
|
|
virtuoso
|
(n.) a brilliant performer; a person with masterly skill or technique
Ex: Beethoven |
|
|
affinity
|
(n.) a natural attraction to a person to; connection to
|
|
|
bilious
|
(adj.) aweful (sense); sickeningly unpleasant
|
|
|
cognate
|
(adj.) closely related in origin
Ex: French is a _____ to Spanish |
|
|
corollary
|
(n.) a proposition that follows from one already proven ; correlate' correlation;
Ex: "consequence", "conclusion" |
|
|
cul-de-sac
|
(n.) a blind alley or dead-end street
|
|
|
derring-do
|
(n.) valor or heroism; hero
|
|
|
divination
|
(n.) the art or act of predicting; prophecy, prediction
|
|
|
elixir
|
(n.) a cure
|
|
|
folderol
|
(n.) foolish talk, ideas; nonsense, gibberish
|
|
|
gamut
|
(n.) an entire range or series
|
|
|
hoi polloi
|
(n.) the common people; average person
|
|
|
ineffable
|
(adj.) not expressible in words; Unspeakable
Ex:_______ pain |
|
|
lucubration
|
(n.) long amount of time to study
|
|
|
mnemonic
|
(adj.) relating to or designed to assist the memory; reminders
|
|
|
obloquy
|
(n.) public abuse indicating strong disapproval; opposite of respected
|
|
|
parameter
|
(n.) guidelines, perimeter; outside boundary
|
|
|
pundit
|
(n.) expert; a learned person
|
|
|
risible
|
(adj.) pertaining to laughter; able or inclined to laugh; laughable
|
|
|
symptomatic
|
(adj.) typical or characteristic; bing or concerned with a symptom or disease; symptoms
|
|
|
volte-face
|
(n.) a complete reversal; a turn around
|
|
|
aficionado
|
(n.) a fan; an enthusiastic and usually expert follower
|
|
|
browbeat
|
(v.) to intimidate by a stern or overbearing manner; verbal bullying
|
|
|
commensurate
|
(adj.) equal in size, extent, duration or importance; equal, fair
|
|
|
diaphanous
|
(adj.) very sheer and light; almost completely transparent; describe a piece of material
|
|
|
emolument
|
(n.) profit derived from an office or position from employment a fee or salary; salary, wages
Ex: money |
|
|
foray
|
(n.) a quick raid; a quick way of attacking; to go into a new field
|
|
|
genre
|
(n.) category; a type, class, or variety, especially a distinctive category of literary composition
|
|
|
homily
|
(n.) a sermon stressing moral principes; a religious sermon
|
|
|
immure
|
(v.) to enclose or confine within walls; imprisoned
|
|
|
insouciant
|
(adj.) happy, don't care about anything; unconcerned, carefree
Ex: Forest Gump |
|
|
matrix
|
(n.) a mold, the surrounding situation or environment; pattern
|
|
|
obsequies
|
(n.) ceremonies or funeral rites
|
|
|
panache
|
(n.) a confident and stylish manner
Ex: James Bond |
|
|
persona
|
(n.) a character in a novel or play, image
Ex: student _______ |
|
|
philippic
|
(n.) a bitter verbal attack
|
|
|
prurient
|
(adj.) having lustful desires or interests; tending to arouse sexual desires; lude
Ex: pornography |
|
|
sacrosanct
|
(adj.) very scared or holy
|
|
|
systemic
|
(adj.) of or pertaining to the entire body; takes complete control
|
|
|
tendentious
|
(adj.) intended to promote a particular point of view; partial, bias
Ex: Obama/Romney |
|
|
vicissitude
|
(n.) a change, variation, or alteration; ups and downs of life
|
|
|
abortive
|
(adj.) failing to accomplish an intended aim or purpose
Ex: abort |
|
|
bruit
|
(v.) to spread news, reports, or unsubstantial rumors
|
|
|
contumelious
|
(adj.) insolent or rude in speech or behavior
|
|
|
dictum
|
(n.) a short saying; an authoritative statement
|
|
|
ensconce
|
(v.) to settle comfortably and firmly in postion; to put or hide
|
|
|
iconoclastic
|
(adj.) attacking or seeking to overthrow popular or traditional beliefs; to get ride of old and in with the new
|
|
|
in media res
|
(adv.) in or into the middle of a plot; into the middle of things
|
|
|
internecine
|
(adj.) mutually destructive; savage; great slaughter of bloodshed
|
|
|
maladroit
|
(adj.) lacking skill or dexerity
|
|
|
maudlin
|
(adj.) excessively effusively sentimental; means something;
Ex: over obsessive |
|
|
modulate
|
(v.) to change or vary the intensity or pitch; change in voice/volume
|
|
|
portentous
|
(adj.) foreshadowing an event to come; causing wonder or awe; not a good forshadowing
|
|
|
prescience
|
(n.) knowledge of events to actions before they happen, foresight
Ex: psychic |
|
|
quid pro quo
|
(n.) something given in exchange or return for something else
Ex: "You scratch my back i'll scratch yours" |
|
|
salubrious
|
(adj.) conductive to health or well-being; wholesome; good for you
|
|
|
saturnalian
|
(adj.) characterized by riotous or unrestrained revelry; out of control fun
|
|
|
touchstone
|
(n.) a means of testing worth or genuineness; to test something valuable
|
|
|
traumatic
|
(adj.) so shocking to the emotions as to cause lasting phycological damage; damaging
|
|
|
vitiate
|
(v.) to weaken, debase, or corrupt
|
|
|
waggish
|
(adj.) fond of making jokes; characteristic of a joker
Ex: comedian |
