English Vocab (October 19, 2007)

Front 1

Acuity

Back 1

(n.) sharpness; acuteness; keenness

Front 2

Arcane

Back 2

(adj.) known or understood by very few; mysterious; secret; obscure; esoteric

Front 3

Austere

Back 3

(adj.) severe in manner or appearance; uncompromising; strict; forbidding

Front 4

Bellicose

Back 4

(adj.) inclined or eager to fight; aggressively hostile; belligerent; pugnacious

Front 5

Bereave

Back 5

(v.) to deprive and make desolate, esp. by death

Front 6

Catholic

Back 6

(adj.) broad or wide-ranging in tastes, interests, or the like; having sympathies with all; broad-minded; liberal

Front 7

Contrite

Back 7

(adj.) caused by or showing sincere remorse

Front 8

Converse

Back 8

(v.) to talk informally with another or others

-or-

(n.) something opposite or contrary

Front 9

Convoluted

Back 9

(adj.) rolled up together or with one part over another

Front 10

Coup

Back 10

(n.) a highly successful, unexpected stroke, act, or move; a clever action or accomplishment

Front 11

Curtail

Back 11

(v.) to cut short; cut off a part of; abridge; reduce; diminish

Front 12

Degenerate

Back 12

(v.) to fall below a normal or desirable level in physical, mental, or moral qualities

Front 13

Demagogue

Back 13

(n.) a person, esp. an orator or political leader, who gains power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people

Front 14

Derivative

Back 14

(adj.) not original; secondary

-or-

(n.) something derived

Front 15

Disaffected

Back 15

(adj.) discontented and disloyal, as toward the government or toward authority

Front 16

Disgorge

Back 16

(v.) to eject or throw out from the throat, mouth, or stomach; vomit forth

Front 17

Disparity

Back 17

(n.) lack of similarity or equality; inequality; difference

Front 18

Distend

Back 18

(v.) to expand by stretching, as something hollow or elastic

Front 19

Divulge

Back 19

(v.) to disclose or reveal (something private, secret, or previously unknown)

Front 20

Draconian

Back 20

(adj.) rigorous; unusually severe or cruel

Front 21

Erratic

Back 21

(adj.) deviating from the usual or proper course in conduct or opinion; eccentric; queer

Front 22

Exonerate

Back 22

(v.) to clear, as of an accusation; free from guilt or blame; exculpate

Front 23

Forsake

Back 23

(v.) to quit or leave entirely; abandon; desert

Front 24

Gingerly

Back 24

(adv.) with great care or caution; warily

Front 25

Girth

Back 25

(n.) the measure around anything; circumference

Front 26

Heterodox

Back 26

(adj.) not in accordance with established or accepted doctrines or opinions, esp. in theology; unorthodox

Front 27

Heterogeneous

Back 27

(adj.) composed of parts of different kinds; having widely dissimilar elements or constituents

Front 28

Impel

Back 28

(v.) to drive or urge forward; press on; incite or constrain to action

Front 29

Impinge

Back 29

(v.) to make an impression; have an effect or impact

Front 30

Impromptu

Back 30

(adj.) made or done without previous preparation

Front 31

Incandescent

Back 31

(adj.) intensely bright; brilliant

Front 32

Incredulous

Back 32

(adj.) indicating or showing unbelief

Front 33

Lexicon

Back 33

(n.) the vocabulary of a particular language, field, social class, person, etc.

Front 34

Loll

Back 34

(v.) to recline or lean in a relaxed, lazy, or indolent manner; lounge

Front 35

Obtuse

Back 35

(adj.) not quick or alert in perception, feeling, or intellect; not sensitive or observant; dull

Front 36

Paradigm

Back 36

(n.) an example serving as a model; pattern; structure of an element

Front 37

Pariah

Back 37

(n.) an outcast

Front 38

Prudent

Back 38

(adj.) wise or judicious in practical affairs; sagacious; discreet or circumspect; sober

Front 39

Repertoire

Back 39

(n.) the list of dramas, operas, parts, pieces, etc., that a company, actor, singer, or the like, is prepared to perform

Front 40

Repudiate

Back 40

(v.) to reject as having no authority or binding force

Front 41

Sedition

Back 41

(n.) incitement of discontent or rebellion against a government

Front 42

Smolder

Back 42

(v.) to exist or continue in a suppressed state or without outward demonstration

Front 43

Solitude

Back 43

(n.) the state of being or living alone; seclusion

Front 44

Thespian

Back 44

(adj.) pertaining to tragedy or to the dramatic art in general

Front 45

Transmute

Back 45

(v.) to change from one nature, substance, form, or condition into another; transform

Front 46

Veer

Back 46

(v.) to change direction or turn about or aside; shift, turn, or change from one course, position, inclination, etc., to another

Front 47

Stigma

Back 47

(n.) a mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on one's reputation

Front 48

Veracity

Back 48

(n.) habitual observance of truth in speech or statement; truthfulness

Front 49

Whelp

Back 49

(n.) the young of the dog, or of the wolf, bear, lion, tiger, seal, etc

Front 50

Xenophobia

Back 50

(n.) an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange