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105 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Assuage, adj.
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to make milder or less severe, to calm or satisfy; “After the mean girls called Tina “a lump of foul deformity,” it took Tucker more than an hour to assuage her hurt feelings.”
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Domicile, noun.
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a place of residence or habitation; “When he was in college and had no money, Tucker’s domicile was a canvas tent in his aunt’s back yard.”
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Indigenous, adj.
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native or natural to a particular place or environment; “The oak tree, many of which dot the Gunn campus, are indigenous to California.”
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Arbitrate, verb;
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to consider and settle a dispute between two parties; “Tucker and Tina found a way to arbitrate their differences by letting Joe decide.”
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Auspicious, adj.
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signaling good things to come; “Awaiting the return of last week’s vocab quiz, Tina took it as an auspicious sign when Mrs. Crumpacker approached her with a smile.”
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Quell, verb
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to put down through force or persuasion, to quiet; “The warden managed to quell the riot by offering all the prisoners ice cream after dinner.”
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Diminutive, adj.
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small in stature or size; “The diminutive boy managed to squeeze through the narrow hole in the fence.”
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Irk, verb
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to irritate or annoy in a minor way; “The sound of Tucker cracking his knuckles irked Tina to the point where she had to leave the room.”
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Taciturn; adj.
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not communicative, not inclined to talk; “Tina’s father, a taciturn man, made a habit of retreating to his work bench every evening and not emerging until everybody else had gone to bed.”
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Foray, noun
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an attempt or journey in search of some result; “Every Tuesday at exactly 2:41 a.m., Tucker woke from a sound sleep with a raging appetite and made a foray into the refrigerator for a late-night snack of pickles and cottage cheese.”
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Obstreperous, adj.
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noisy and stubbornly defiant, aggressive and loud; “When he was two years old, everybody called Tucker an obstreperous youngster because he would pound on his high-chair and throw his noodles in his mom’s face.”
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Apoplectic, adj.
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enraged, hit-the-ceiling, hopping mad; “When Tina drove the new family car through the garage door and into the living room, her parents were apoplectic.”
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Croon, verb
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to hum or sing softly; “Tucker, who had a simply awful singing voice, would nonetheless croon old folk songs while he folded his laundry.”
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Umbrage, noun
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offense, resentment, usually used with the verb “take;” “Tucker took great umbrage at the suggestion that he was lazy and dishonest – and a bad singer.”
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Rectitude, noun
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moral virtue, strictly honest; “Very few fictional characters personify the quality of rectitude as does Atticus Finch.”
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Uncouth, adj.
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crude, unrefined; “Tina’s behavior at the dinner table – burping every few moments and chewing with her mouth open – was so uncouth that it’s a certainty she’ll never be asked back.”
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Acquiesce, verb
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to agree without protest, to assent passively; “Tina acquiesced to her parents’ wishes, attending accounting school rather than playing professional soccer.”
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Futile, adj.
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having no useful result; “It’s futile to think you can ace a vocabulary test if you never study.”
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Succinct, adj.
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to the point and with no wasted words; “Tina had a very succinct way of telling Tucker to get away from her: Drop dead.’”
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Elucidate, verb
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to make clear or plain; “Tucker was unable to elucidate the directions to the party, so everybody got lost and never showed up.”
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Immaterial, adj.
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not relevant or essential, unimportant; “It was immaterial whether Tucker studied for his tests at all because he always failed them anyway.”
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Temerity, noun
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nerve, heedless disregard for danger; “Even though he had never sung outside his bathroom shower stall, Tucker had the temerity to audition for “American Idol.”
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Chiffarobe, noun
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a closet-like piece of furniture where clothes can hang; “Some old-timers in the South might still call them chiffarobes, but most us know them as wardrobes or armoires.”
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Scrutinize, verb
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to examine carefully; “Before wandering out on the dance floor, Tina always scrutinized the crowd to see where the good-looking guys were.”
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Squalor, noun
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filth and misery; “The squalor inside Tucker’s room – dirty underwear, rancid food, and many unidentifiable dark spots on the rug - made it so nobody wanted to venture inside.”
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Impertinent, adj.
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o be lightly rude or presumptuous but not deeply offensive; “Tina impertinent remarks annoyed me, but not enough so that I would lose my temper.”
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Bovine, adj.
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sluggish, dull; “Probably the reason that Tucker never got any dates was because of his bovine personality.”
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Expunge, verb
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to erase from the record; “The principal found it very suspicious that Tina’s grades had been expunged from the computer files – just when Harvard called to confirm the transcript she had sent the university.”
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Formidable; adj.
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awe inspiring, causing fear or dread; “The final exam in advanced chemistry is always a rather formidable test of knowledge.”
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Spurious, adj.
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lacking authenticity or validity, false; “Tucker’s explanation of why he missed the test – that he got lost on the way to school – struck the teacher as spurious.”
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Florid, adj.
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heavily decorated or embellished, flowery; “Trudy’s florid approach to decorating – making sure there was something in almost every space – gave many people headaches.”
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Purloin, verb
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to steal or obtain illegally or unethically; “I don’t know how he did it, but Tucker always managed to purloin a second helping of mashed potatoes.”
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Irascible, adj.
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easily angered, prone to outbursts; “The football coach was so irascible that none of the players ever wanted to do anything that might cause him to get mad.”
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Passé, adj.
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no longer current or in fashion, out of date; “Some of the expressions that Tina used – “far out,” “groovy” – were so passé that it was funny.”
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Squander, verb
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to spend or use wastefully or extravagantly; “Tucker squandered all his lottery winnings on lavish vacations and expensive food.”
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Ascertain, verb
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to determine, to discover through investigation; “By carefully looking at the map, Trudy was able to ascertain the fastest way to Lake Tahoe.”
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Garish, adj.
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gaudy, excessively flashy; “The garish design of the basketball uniforms – black streaks and bright yellow stars – made it so none of the players wanted to wear them.”
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Sedate, adj.
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calm, composed, undisturbed; “Tucker hates sedate tea parties, where all the conversation is quiet and not a single crumb ever falls to the carpet.”
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Capacious, adj.
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roomy, able to contain a great amount; “Tina’s capacious purse holds her cell phone, address book, makeup, pens, a stale loaf of bread, and a weed-whacker.”
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Inveigle, verb
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to win over or obtain by deception or flattery; “Tucker inveigled the slow-thinking English teacher into giving him an extension by telling the teacher how good looking he is.”
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Venerable, adj.
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worthy of respect due to character, position or age; “The Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field is often called a venerable baseball stadium because it is the oldest in the country.”
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Inured, verb
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to grow use to something undesirable; “The itching under Trudy’s cast drove her crazy for the first week or so, but after a while, she became inured to the discomfort.”
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Insidious, adj.
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causing harm in a sneaky way; “The poison, given in small doses that could not be detected, worked insidiously over time to kill Mr. Igler’s sixth wife.”
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Blitzkrieg, noun
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a swift, sudden attack, oftentimes carried out as a surprise; “Every Monday, the cruel English teacher hits his students with a blitzkrieg of vocabulary words.”
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Latent, adj.
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hidden, present but not showing itself – almost always applies to concepts or ideas, not objects; “One could say there is a lot of latent danger in the San Andreas Fault.”
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Mordant, adj.
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bitingly sarcastic; “Tina’s put-downs are so mordant that her victims want to shrivel up and die.”
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Candid, adj.
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straightforward, frank; “Tucker’s opinions were so candid that you never had any doubt about where he stood on the issues.”
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Goad, verb
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to prod into action, to urge on; “Tucker was so scared that we all had to goad him into making his first skydiving leap.”
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Salient, adj.
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the most noticeable and memorable; “The most salient part of Tina’s appearance is the big, hairy mole on the back of her neck.”
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Rank, adj.
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disgusting in odor or flavor; “A quick stroll through the boys’ locker room at Gunn will quickly tell you that many of the lockers are filled with rank gym clothes.”
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Galvanize, verb
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to rally or spur into action; “The English teacher galvanized his students by telling them that in five minutes there would be a vocabulary test that would determine their entire semester grade.”
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Cacophony, noun
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a jarring sound, a clashing mixture of loud noises; “During the winter flu season, a Gunn classroom is often a cacophony of coughs and sniffles.”
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Ambiguous, adj.
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vague, unclear; “The chemistry teacher’s lectures were so ambiguous that Tucker often left class having learned nothing.”
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Poignant, adj.
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profoundly moving, touching; “The most poignant part of the novel is where the girl tells the boy she doesn’t love him anymore - and he starts crying.”
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Dowager, noun
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a rich, elderly widow; “Some men, particularly those who are poor and single, hope to marry dowagers.”
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Accolades, noun
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an expression of approval or praise; “After winning the ice skating title, Tina accepted accolades – cheers and bouquets – from the crowd.”
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Dispirited, adj.
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having low spirits, dejected; “After losing the game 51-0, the Gunn football team was so dispirited on the long bus ride home that hardly anyone said a word.”
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Uproarious, adj.
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hilarious, side-splittingly funny; “The most uproarious episode of “The Simpsons” is the one in which Milhouse steals Bart’s girlfriend and then loses her to Todd Flanders.”
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Presage, verb
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to foreshadow, to indicate something that is going to happen; “The dark sky presaged a storm.”
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Aesthete, noun
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someone who cultivates a superior appreciation of beauty or art; “Tina is such an aesthete that when she goes to the beach, it’s not to surf or get a tan, but to admire the beautiful sunsets.”
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Querulous, adj.
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giving to complaining, whiny; “The querulous student kept bugging Mr. Igler for a better grade, even though he didn’t deserve it.”
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Rejoinder, noun
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an answer or reply; “The clever student was always offering up witty rejoinders to his science teacher’s verbal challenges.”
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Personage, noun
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a celebrity, a person of importance or distinction; “The personages at the reception included senators and five-star generals.”
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Impervious, adj.
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impenetrable or immune, not allowing entrance or passage; “Tucker had such confidence in his opinions that he was impervious to criticism.”
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Animosity, noun
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ill will, resentment, smoldering hostility; “Tina felt great animosity toward her parents when they refused to let her go to the sleepover.”
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Rite, noun
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a ceremony or ceremonial act, often but not always religious; “A rite at every baseball game is the singing of the national anthem before the first pitch.”
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Qualms, noun
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fears or sudden feelings of unease; “Everyone knew he was scared to death, but Tucker said he had no qualms about bungee jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.”
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Incredulity, noun
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disbelief, doubt, skepticism; “There is a lot of incredulity on campus about whether ugly Tucker can ever make beautiful Tina his girlfriend.”
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Salutation, noun
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the act of greeting by gesture or words; “Every morning, as he’s walking from the bike racks to his first period class, Tucker greets his friends with the typical teenage salutation, “Hey, dude,” or, to save time, simply, “Dude.”
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Tumbril, noun
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a large cart, often used to carry the condemned to the guillotine during the French Revolution; “The ominous sound of tumbrils slowly creaking their way over cobblestone streets in Paris is a common sound in A Tale of Two Cities.”
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Modicum, noun
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a small amount; “Tina pleaded with the teacher to let her retake the test, but the teacher would not give him even a modicum of understanding.”
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Inexorable, adj.
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cannot be stopped, altered or influenced; “Because she couldn’t retake the test, Tina’s grades went into an inexorable decline.”
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Sonorous, adj.
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deep and rich, always used to describe sounds or tones; “Tucker’s sonorous voice – often compared to that of a wooly mammoth - commanded attention, particularly during his morning salutations.”
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Gaoler, noun
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British spelling of jailer; “Back in Dickens’ time, the gaolers in the Tower of London – the city’s most notorious prison - were known for their cruelty and violence.”
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Blunderbuss, noun
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a rifle with a short, wide barrel, accurate only at close range; “The blunderbuss that hangs over the fireplace in Tucker’s home looks like a dangerous weapon, but in reality, it could hardly hit the side of a barn at anything over 20 feet.”
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Garret, noun
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the room just below the roof of a house; “Tina lived in the apartment building’s cheapest unit, a garret accessible only by the fire escape.”
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Potentate, noun
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a ruler or person having great power; “Back in middle school, Tina was the potentate of her social clique, determining which girls would be allowed in and which ones would be thrown into the cold.”
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Trepidation, noun
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a state of alarm or dread, apprehension; “Tina felt a twinge of trepidation as the smelly, bucktoothed boy approached her from across the dance floor.”
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Incorrigible, adj
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impossible to control or managed; “The nursery school teacher finally had to lock the four-year-old boy in the closet because he was being so incorrigible.”
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Impassive, adj.
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revealing no emotion, expressionless; “The criminal sat with an impassive look on his face throughout the trial, even when the judge sentenced him to be drawn and quartered.”
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Sagacity, noun
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sound in judgment, wisdom; “Winners of the Nobel Prize, much like English teachers, are known for their sagacity.”
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Obsequious, adj.
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showing a great willingness to obey or serve, fawning; “The French nobility surrounded itself with a group of obsequious toadies who would attend to every need.”
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Glean, verb
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to gather in a gradual way; “Over the course of the afternoon, Tucker was able to glean enough information so he could finish his research paper.”
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Circuitous, adj
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indirect, roundabout; “It’s possible to get to Mr. Igler’s room at Gunn by cutting through the gym, then zig-zaging across the graveyard on the other side of Arastradero before circling back through the bike racks. But it would be a very circuitous route.”
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Prevalent, adj.
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dominant, widely existing; “During the 1700s in England, one of the most prevalent remedies for crime was the death penalty.”
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Renounce, verb
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to give up a right or way of living, to refuse further association with; “Because she opposed its discriminatory practices, Tina renounced her membership in
Gunn’s blonde-hair-blue-eyed-sophomore-girls’ club.”
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Crestfallen, adj.
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dejected, disheartened; “Tucker was left crestfallen when his name didn’t appear on those accepted into AP math.”
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Barrister, noun
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British name for a lawyer; “Back in Dickens’ times, barristers and judges almost always wore white wigs in court – and were frequent targets for the author’s satire.”
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Vociferous, adj.
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intent on making one’s feelings known, loud and noisy; “Tina was so vociferous in class that the teacher finally had to give her a time-out.”
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Claptrap, noun
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empty talk or writing, intended only to get applause or notice; “The claptrap spewed by Tina in the back of the room was nothing more than a pathetic way to grab attention after her time-out.”
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Besiege, verb
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to attack with overwhelming force; “The French revolutionaries besieged the Bastille on July 14, 1789.”
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Capricious, adj
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flaky, tending to change abruptly, often without apparent reason; “Tina showed her capricious side when she first told her date she wanted Japanese food, then changed her mind to Italian before finally settling on Indian.”
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Insufferable, adj.
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intolerable, unbearable; “Tucker’s insufferable behavior at the dinner table – loud burping, chewing with his mouth open and playing unwanted footsie with the girl across from him – made it so he’d never be invited back.”
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Miscreant, noun
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a criminal, villain; “Tina’s reputation for honesty changed for the worse when he fell under the spell of a bunch of miscreants who hung out on the trails behind the Gunn campus.”
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Fortnight, noun
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British term for a two-week period; “Our trip to Great Britain – during which we visited England, Scotland and Whales – lasted a fortnight.”
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Docile, adj.
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obedient, submissive, easy to manage; “When Tucker returned from military school, he was a very docile student.”
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Coquette, noun
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a flirtatious woman; “The blonde coquette tried to lure Tina’s boyfriend by batting her eyes and swinging her hips.”
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Demure, adj
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modest in manner, reserved; “At the dance, the demure young woman sat quietly at her table, awaiting a suitor – hoping to God it wouldn’t be Tucker.”
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Dormant, adj
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temporarily inactive, in a state resembling sleep; “Tucker’s temper lay dormant for many months until one day it exploded like the Mount St. Helens volcano.”
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Glib, adj.
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done or spoken in a smooth, offhand fashion, often in a way that is too smooth and easy to be convincing; “The salesman’s glib remarks about how the new computer would solve all of Tina’s problems left her suspicious and wary.”
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Gregarious, adj.
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sociable, seeking and enjoying the company of others; “Tucker did a slow boil as he watched his gregarious rival become the life of the party and capture the attention of all the good looking girls.”
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Provincial, adj.
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limited in perspective, unsophisticated; “Tucker’s provincial attitudes clearly suggested that he was not a man of broad education or outlook.”
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Vagabond, noun
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a person who wanders from place to place; “Desiring a life of adventure, Tina dreamed of becoming a vagabond, moving from town to town and place to place whenever she urge came upon her.”
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Feign, verb
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to give a false appearance, to pretend; “As part of his strategy for escape from the Bastille, Tucker feigned sleep while the guard walked by his jail cell.”
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Tenacity, noun
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the quality of being persistent or holding firmly; “Tina clung to her beliefs with such tenacity that nobody tried to convince her otherwise.”
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