Geo Vocab

Front 1

abject

Back 1

1. utterly hopeless, miserable, humiliating, or wretched: abject poverty.
2. contemptible; despicable; base-spirited: an abject coward.
3. shamelessly servile; slavish.
4. Obsolete. cast aside.

Front 2

acclimate

Back 2

to accustom or become accustomed to a new climate or environment; adapt.

Front 3

acculturate

Back 3

1. the process of adopting the cultural traits or social patterns of another group.
2. the result of this process.

Front 4

adjudicate

Back 4

1. to pronounce or decree by judicial sentence.
2. to settle or determine (an issue or dispute) judicially.
–verb (used without object)
3. to sit in judgment (usually fol. by upon).

Front 5

affinity

Back 5

1. a natural liking for or attraction to a person, thing, idea, etc.

Front 6

agrarian

Back 6

1. relating to land, land tenure, or the division of landed property: agrarian laws.
2. pertaining to the advancement of agricultural groups: an agrarian movement.
3. composed of or pertaining to farmers: an agrarian co-op.
4. rural; agricultural.
5. growing in fields; wild: an agrarian plant.

Front 7

ameliorate

Back 7

to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve; meliorate.

Front 8

ancillary

Back 8

1. subordinate; subsidiary.
2. auxiliary; assisting.

Front 9

antithesis

Back 9

1. opposition; contrast: the antithesis of right and wrong.
2. the direct opposite (usually fol. by of or to): Her behavior was the very antithesis of cowardly.

Front 10

assimilate

Back 10

1. to take in and incorporate as one's own; absorb: He assimilated many new experiences on his European trip.
2. to bring into conformity with the customs, attitudes, etc., of a group, nation, or the like; adapt or adjust: to assimilate the new immigrants.

Front 11

axiom

Back 11

1. a self-evident truth that requires no proof.
2. a universally accepted principle or rule.

Front 12

azure

Back 12

1. of or having a light, purplish shade of blue, like that of a clear and unclouded sky.
2. Heraldry. of the tincture or color blue.

Front 13

boon

Back 13

1. something to be thankful for; blessing; benefit.
2. something that is asked; a favor sought.

Front 14

bucolic

Back 14

1. of or pertaining to shepherds; pastoral.
2. of, pertaining to, or suggesting an idyllic rural life.

Front 15

burgeon

Back 15

1. to grow or develop quickly; flourish: The town burgeoned into a city. He burgeoned into a fine actor.
2. to begin to grow, as a bud; put forth buds, shoots, etc., as a plant (often fol. by out, forth).

Front 16

chasm

Back 16

1. a yawning fissure or deep cleft in the earth's surface; gorge.
2. a breach or wide fissure in a wall or other structure.

Front 17

cistern

Back 17

1. a reservoir, tank, or container for storing or holding water or other liquid.

Front 18

correlation

Back 18

1. mutual relation of two or more things, parts, etc.

Front 19

cursory

Back 19

going rapidly over something, without noticing details; hasty; superficial:

Front 20

decimate

Back 20

1. to destroy a great number or proportion of: The population was decimated by a plague.
2. to select by lot and kill every tenth person of.

Front 21

deter

Back 21

1. to discourage or restrain from acting or proceeding: The large dog deterred trespassers.
2. to prevent; check; arrest: timber treated with creosote to deter rot.

Front 22

didactic

Back 22

1. intended for instruction; instructive: didactic poetry.
2. inclined to teach or lecture others too much: a boring, didactic speaker.
3. teaching or intending to teach a moral lesson.

Front 23

disseminate

Back 23

to scatter or spread widely, as though sowing seed; promulgate extensively; broadcast; disperse: to disseminate information about preventive medicine.

Front 24

elusive

Back 24

1. eluding clear perception or complete mental grasp; hard to express or define: an elusive concept.
2. cleverly or skillfully evasive: a fish too elusive to catch.

Front 25

emigrate

Back 25

to leave one country or region to settle in another; migrate: to emigrate from Ireland to Australia.

Front 26

empirical

Back 26

1. derived from or guided by experience or experiment.
2. depending upon experience or observation alone, without using scientific method or theory, esp. as in medicine.
3. provable or verifiable by experience or experiment.

Front 27

enclave

Back 27

1. a country, or esp., an outlying portion of a country, entirely or mostly surrounded by the territory of another country.
2. any small, distinct area or group enclosed or isolated within a larger one: a Chinese-speaking enclave in London.

Front 28

epoch

Back 28

1. a particular period of time marked by distinctive features, events, etc.: The treaty ushered in an epoch of peace and good will.
2. the beginning of a distinctive period in the history of anything: The splitting of the atom marked an epoch in scientific discovery.

Front 29

euphemism

Back 29

1. the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt.

Front 30

exacerbate

Back 30

1. to increase the severity, bitterness, or violence of (disease, ill feeling, etc.); aggravate.
2. to embitter the feelings of (a person); irritate; exasperate.

Front 31

fetid

Back 31

having an offensive odor; stinking.

Front 32

forage

Back 32

1. food for horses or cattle; fodder; provender.
2. the seeking or obtaining of such food.

Front 33

gulch

Back 33

a deep, narrow ravine, esp. one marking the course of a stream or torrent.

Front 34

heterogeneous

Back 34

1. different in kind; unlike; incongruous.
2. composed of parts of different kinds; having widely dissimilar elements or constituents: The party was attended by a heterogeneous group of artists, politicians, and social climbers.

Front 35

hierarchy

Back 35

1. any system of persons or things ranked one above another.
2. government by ecclesiastical rulers.

Front 36

homogeneous

Back 36

1. composed of parts or elements that are all of the same kind; not heterogeneous: a homogeneous population.
2. of the same kind or nature; essentially alike.

Front 37

hyperbole

Back 37

1. obvious and intentional exaggeration.
2. an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as “to wait an eternity.”

Front 38

ideogram

Back 38

1. a written symbol that represents an idea or object directly rather than a particular word or speech sound, as a Chinese character.
2. a written symbol, as 7, =, logogram.

Front 39

idyllic

Back 39

1. suitable for or suggestive of an idyll; charmingly simple or rustic: his idyllic life in Tahiti.
2. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of an idyll.

Front 40

immigrate

Back 40

1. to come to a country of which one is not a native, usually for permanent residence.
2. to pass or come into a new habitat or place, as an organism.

Front 41

imminent

Back 41

1. likely to occur at any moment; impending: Her death is imminent.
2. projecting or leaning forward; overhanging.

Front 42

impasse

Back 42

1. a position or situation from which there is no escape; deadlock.
2. a road or way that has no outlet; cul-de-sac.

Front 43

implicit

Back 43

1. implied, rather than expressly stated: implicit agreement.
2. unquestioning or unreserved; absolute: implicit trust; implicit obedience; implicit confidence.

Front 44

inadvertent

Back 44

1. unintentional: an inadvertent insult.
2. not attentive; heedless.

Front 45

indigenous

Back 45

1. originating in and characteristic of a particular region or country; native (often fol. by to): the plants indigenous to Canada; the indigenous peoples of southern Africa.
2. innate; inherent; natural (usually fol. by to): feelings indigenous to human beings.

Front 46

infringe

Back 46

to commit a breach or infraction of; violate or transgress: to infringe a copyright; to infringe a rule.
–verb (used without object)
2. to encroach or trespass (usually fol. by on or upon): Don't infringe on his privacy.

Front 47

intrinsic

Back 47

1. belonging to a thing by its very nature: the intrinsic value of a gold ring.
2. Anatomy. (of certain muscles, nerves, etc.) belonging to or lying within a given part.

Front 48

juncture

Back 48

1. a point of time, esp. one made critical or important by a concurrence of circumstances: At this juncture, we must decide whether to stay or to walk out.
2. a serious state of affairs; crisis: The matter has reached a juncture and a decision must be made.

Front 49

knoll

Back 49

a small, rounded hill or eminence; hillock.

Front 50

labyrinth

Back 50

1. an intricate combination of paths or passages in which it is difficult to find one's way or to reach the exit.
2. a maze of paths bordered by high hedges, as in a park or garden, for the amusement of those who search for a way out.

Front 51

malleable

Back 51

1. capable of being extended or shaped by hammering or by pressure from rollers.
2. adaptable or tractable: the malleable mind of a child.

Front 52

meander

Back 52

1. to proceed by or take a winding or indirect course: The stream meandered through the valley.
2. to wander aimlessly; ramble: The talk meandered on.

Front 53

mediate

Back 53

1. to settle (disputes, strikes, etc.) as an intermediary between parties; reconcile.
2. to bring about (an agreement, accord, truce, peace, etc.) as an intermediary between parties by compromise, reconciliation, removal of misunderstanding, etc.

Front 54

mitigate

Back 54

1. to lessen in force or intensity, as wrath, grief, harshness, or pain; moderate.
2. to make less severe: to mitigate a punishment.