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153 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Idiosyncrasy
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peculiarity of temperament; eccentricity; humor; oddity; quirk
His numerous idiosyncrasies included a fondness for wearing bright green shoes with mauve socks. |
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Philanthropy
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charity; desire or will to promote goodness; altruism; humanitarianism
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Implacable
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Unable to calm down or made peaceful; inexorable; intransigent; irreconcilable; relentless; remorseless
His rage at the betrayal was so great that he remained implacable for weeks. |
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Dilate
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to make larger; expand; amplify; expatiate
When you enter a darkened room, the pupils of your eyes dilate so as to let in more light. |
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Cloying
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sickly sweet; excessive; fulsome
When Enid and Jay first started dating, their cloying affection towards one another often made their friends ill. |
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Inexorable
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Inflexible; unyielding; adamant; obdureate; relentless
The inexorable force of the twister swept away their house |
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Bonhomie
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good-natured geniality; atmosphere of good cheer
The aspects of her job that Dana loved the most were the flexible hours and the pleasant bonhomie in the office. |
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Wizened
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shriveled; withered; wrinkled; astrophied; desiccated; gnarled
The wizened old man was told that the plastic surgery necessary to make him look young again would cost more money than he could imagine. |
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Salient
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prominent; of notable significance
His most salient characteristic is his tendency to dominate every conversation. |
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Sycophant
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a self-serving flatterer; yes-man; bootlicker; fawner; lickspittle; toady
Dreading criticism, the actor surrounded himself with admirers and sycophants |
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Sully
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to tarnish; tain; besmirch; defile
With the help of a public relations firm, he was able to restore his sullied reputation. |
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Supplant
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to replace (another) by force; to take the place of; supersede
The overthrow of the government meant a new leader to supplant the tyrannical former one. |
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Assuage
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to make something unpleasant less severe; allay; alleviate; appease; mitigate; mollify; palliate; soothe
Like many people, Philip Larkin used alcohol to assuage his sense of meaninglessness and dispair |
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Turgid
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Swollen as from a fluid; bloated; distended
In the process of osmosis, water passes through the walls of turgid cells, ensuring that they never contain too much water |
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Wraith
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ghost or specter; ghost of a living person seen just before his or her death; apparition; bogeyman; phantasm; shade
Gideon thought he saw a wraith late one night as he sat vigil outside his great uncle's bedroom door. Gideo |
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Impasse
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blocked path; dilemma with no solution; cul-de-sac; deadlock; stalemate
The rock slide produced an impasse, so no one could proceed further on the road. |
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Officious
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too helpful; meddlesome; eager; unwanted; intrusive
While planning her wedding, Maya discovered just how officious her future mother-in-law could be. |
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Precipitate
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throw violently or bring about abruptly; lacking deliberation; hasty; headlong; impetuous; rash
Theirs was a precipitate marriage-they had only known each other for two weeks before they wed |
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Invidious
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envious, obnoxious or offensive; likely to promote ill-will; jaundiced; resentful
It is cruel and invidious for parents to play favorites with their children. |
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Transitory
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temporary; ephemeral; evanescent; fleeting; impermanent
The reporter lived a transitory life, staying one place only long enough to cover the current story. |
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Imprecation
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curse; damnation
Spouting violent imprecations, Hank searched for the person who had vandalized his truck. |
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Analgesia
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a lessening of pain without loss of consciousness
After having her appendix removed, Tatiana welcomed the analgesia that the painkillers provided |
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Sagacious
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Shrewd, wise, astute, judiciousl perspicacious, sage
Owls have a reputation for being sagacious, perhaps because of their big eyes, which resemble glasses. |
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Sublime
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lofty or grad, august, exalted, magnificent, resplendent, superb
The music was so sublime that it transformed the rude surroundings into a special place |
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Quotidian
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occurring daily; commonplace
The sight of people singing on the street is so quotidian in New York that passersby rarely react to it. |
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Fortuitous
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happening by chance; fortunate; haphazard; propitious; prosperous
It was fortuitous that he won the lotto just before he had to pay back his loans. |
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Stratagem
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trick designed to deceive an enemy; feint; ruse; wile
The Trojan Horse must be one of the most successful military stratagems used throughout history. |
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Investiture
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ceremony conferring authority; inaugural; inauguration; induction; initiation
At Napoleon's investiture, he grabbed the crown from the Pope's hands and placed it on his head himself. |
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Usury
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the practise of lending money at exorbitant rates; loan-sharking; The moneylender was convicted of usury when it was discovered that he charged 50 percent interest on all his loans.
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Malinger
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to evade responsibility by pretending to be ill; shirk; slack; A common way to avoid the draft was by malingering.
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Bolster
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to support; prop up; brace; buttress; crutch; prop; stay; sustain; underpin; uphold; The presence of giant footprints bolstered the argument that Bigoot was in the area.
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Deleterious
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Subtly or unexpectedly harmful; adverse; inimical; injurious; hurtful; If only we had known the clocks were defective before putting them on the market, it wouldn't have been quite so deleterious to our reputation.
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Torpor
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extreme mental and physical sluggishness; apathy; languor; After surgery, the patient's torpor lasted several hours until the anesthesia wore off.
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Encomium
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warm praise; citation; eulogy; panegyric; salutation; tribute: Georgias's "Encomium to Helen" was written as a tribute to Helen of Troy.
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Tirade
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long, harsh speech or verbal attack; diatribe; fulmination; harangue; obloquy; revilement; vilification: Observers were shocked at the manager's tirade over such a minor mistake.
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Luminous
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bright; brilliant; glowing; lucent; incandescent; lustrous; radiant; resplendent: The park was bathed in luminous sunshine that warmed the bodies and the souls of the visitors.
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Juncture
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point of time, especially where two things are joined; confluence; convergence:
At this juncture, I think it would be a good idea for us to take a coffee break. |
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Proliferate
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to increase in number quickly; breed; procreate; propagate; spawn: ALthough he only kept two guinea pigs initially, they proliferated to such an extent that he soon had dozens
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Plucky
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courageous; spunky; bold; gutsy: The plucky young nurse dove into the foxhole, determined to help the wounded soldier.
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Polemic
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controversy; argument; verbal attack; denunciation; refutation: The candidate's polemic against his opponent was vicious and small-minded rather than convincing and well-reasoned.
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Symbiosis
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cooperation; mutual helpfulness; association: The rhino and the tick-eating bird live in symbiosis; the rhino gives the bird food in the form of ticks, and the bird rids the rhino of parasites
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Vim
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vitality and energy: The vim with which she worked so early in the day explained why she was so productive.
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Ribald
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humorous in a vulgar way; coarse; indelicate; lewd; obscene: The court jester's ribald brand of humor delighted the rather uncouth king
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Opprobrium
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public disgrace; discredit; igonominy; obloquy: After the scheme to embezzle the elderly was made public, the treasurer resigned in utter opprobrium.
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Dissemble
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present a false appearance; disguise one's real intentions or character; cloak; counterfeit; disguise; dissimulate; feign; masquerade; pose; pretend: The villain could dissemble to the police no longer-he admitted the deed and tore up the floor to reveal the stash of stolen money
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Grovel
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humble oneself in a demeaning way; bootlick; cringe; kowtow; toady: Thor groveled to his ex-girlfriend, hoping she would take him back.
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Alleviate
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make more bearable; allay; assuage; mitigate; palliate; relieve: Taking aspirin helps to alleviate a headache
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Abeyance
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temporary suppression or suspension; deferral; delay; dormancy; postponement; remission: The baseball game was held in abeyance while it continued to rain.
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Largess
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generous giving to others who may seem inferior; benevolence; boon: She'd always relied on her parent's largess, but after graduation she had to get a job.
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Onerous
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Troublesome and oppressive; burdensoe; arduous; backbreaking; taxing:The assignment was so extensive and difficult to manage that it proved onerous to the team.
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Waver
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fluctuate between choices; dither; falter; fluctuate; vacillate: If you waver too long before making a decision about which testing site to register for, you may not get your first choice.
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Decorum
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appropriateness of behavior or conduct; propriety; correctness; decency; mores; seemliness: The countess coplained that the vulgar peasants lacked the decorum appropriate for a visit to the palace.
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Lassitude
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a state of diminished energy; debilitation; enervation; fatigue; languor; listlessness; weariness
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Larceny
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theft of property; burglary: The crime of stealing a wallet can be categorized as petty larceny.
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Guile
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deceit; trickery; artifice; chicanery; connivery; duplicity: Since he was not fast enough to catch the roadrunner on foot, the coyote resorted to guile in an effort to trap his enemy.
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Toady
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one who flatters in the hope of gaining favors; parasite; sycophant: The king was surrounded by toadies who rushed to agree with whatever outrageous thing he said.
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Diffident
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lacking self-confidence; backward; bashful; coy; demure; self-effacing: Steve's diffidence during the job interview stemmed from his nervous nature and lack of experience in the field.
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Cabal
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a secret group seeking to overturn something; camp; coterie; ring: The boys on the streed formed a cabal to keep girls out of their tree house.
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Craven
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lacking gourage; fainthearted; spineless; timid: The craven lion cringed in the corner of his cage, terrified of the mouse.
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Coterie
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an intimate group of persons with a similar purpose; set: Angel invited a coterie of fellow stamp enthusiasts to a stamp-trading party.
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Inchoate
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not fully formed; disorganized; amorphous; incoherent: The ideas expressed in Nietzsche's mature work also appear in an inchoate form in his earliest writings.
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Incarnadine
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blood-red in colour; ruby; ruddy: At his mother's mention of his baby pictures, the boy's cheeks turned incarnadine with embarrassment.
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Effrontery
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impudent boldness; audacity; brashness; gall; nerve; temerity: The receptionist had the effrontery to laugh out loud when the CEO tripped over a computer wire and fell flat on his face.
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Neophyte
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novice; beginner; apprentice; tyro: A relative neophyte at bowling, Rodolfo rolled all of his balls into the gutter.
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Intractable
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Not easily managed or manipulated; stubborn; unruly: Intractable for hours, the wild horse eventually allowed the rider to mount.
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Hapless
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unfortunate; having bad luck; ill-fated; jinxed: I wish someone would give that poor, hapless soul some food and shelter.
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Gullible
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easily deceived; credulous; exploitable; naive: The con man pretended to be a bank office so as to fool gullible bank customers into giving him their account information.
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Winsome
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charming; happily engaging; delightful: Lenore gave the doorman a winsome smile, and he let her pass to the front of the line.
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Wily
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clever; deceptive; crafty; cunning; tricky
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Leery
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suspicious; distrustful; guarded; wary: After being swindled once, Ruth became leery of strangers trying to sell things to her.
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Intransigent
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uncompromising; implacable; inexorable; obdurate; obstinate; unbending: The professor was intransigent on the deadline insisting that everyone turn the assignment in at the same time.
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Judicious
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sensible; showing good judgement; circumspect; prudent: The wise and distinguished judge was well known for having a judicious temperament.
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Dither
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act confusedly or without clear purpose; falter; vacillate; waffle; waver: Ellen dithered around her apartment uncertain how to tackle the family crisis.
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Palliate
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to make less serious; ease; alleviate; assuage; extenuate: The alleged crime was so vicious that the defense lawyer could not palliate it for the jury.
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Assail
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attack; assault; beset; strike; storm: The foreign army will try to assail our bases but they will not be successful.
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Perfidious
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willing to betray one's trust; disloyal; faithless; traitorous; treacherous: The actress's perfidious companion revealed all of her intimate secrets to the gossip columnist.
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Verbose
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wordy; long-winded; loquacious; prolix; superfluous: The professor's answer was so verbose that his student forgot what the original question had been.
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Tacit
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done without using words; implicit; undeclared: Although not a word was said everyone in the room knew about the tacit agreement.
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Viscous
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thick and adhesive; slow-flowing; gelatinous; glutinous: Most viscous liquids like oil or honey become even thicker as they are cooled down.
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Impetuous
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Quick to act without thinking; precipitate; rash; reckless: It is no good for an investment broker to be impetuous.
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Forestall
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To prevent or delay; anticipate; avert; deter; hinder; obviate; preclude: The landlord forestalled T.J.'s attempt to avoid paying the rent by waiting for him outside his door.
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Gradation
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process occurring by regular degress or stages; variation in color; nuance; subtlety: The paint store offers so many gradations of red that it's impossible to choose among them.
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Trenchant
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acute sharp or incisive; forceful; effective; biting; caustic; cutting; keen: Tyrone's trenchant observations in class made him the professor's favorite students.
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Talon
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claw, especially of bird of prey: A vulture holds its prey in its talons while it dismembers it with its beak.
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Perfunctory
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done in a routine way; indifferent; apathetic; automatic; mechanical: The machine-like teller processed the transaction and gave the customer a perfunctory smile.
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Specious
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deceptively attractive; seemingly plausible but fallacious; illusory; ostensible; spurious: The student's specious excuse for being late sounded legitimate but was proved otherwise when his teacher called his home.
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Inter
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to bury; entomb; inhume; sepulcher; sepulture: After giving the masses one last chance to pay their respects the leader's body was interred.
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Indolent
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habitually lazy or idle; faineant; languid; lethargic; slothful; sluggish: Her indolent ways got her fired from many jobs.
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Libertine
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one without moral restraint; hedonits: The libertine took pleasure in gambling away his family's money.
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Keen
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having a sharp edge; intellectually sharp; perceptive; acute; canny; quick: With her keen intelligence, she figured out the puzzle in seconds flat.
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Exigent
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urgent; requiring immediate action; critical; imperative; needed
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Frugality
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tending to be thrifty or cheap; economical; parsimony; prudence; sparing
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Oblique
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indirect; evasive; misleading; devious; glancing; slanted; tangential
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Obsequious
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Overly submissive and eager to please; compliant; deferential; servile; subservient
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Occlude
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to stop up; prevent the passage of; barricade; obstruct
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Obstinate
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stubborn; unyielding; intransigent; mulish; pertinacious; tenacious
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Antagonize
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to annoy or provoke to anger; incite; oppose; pester; vex
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Ignoble
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having low moral standards; not noble in character; mean; lowly; vulgar
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Abscond
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to leave secretly; decamp; escape; flee
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Abstain
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to choose not to do something; forbear; refrain; withhold
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Ford
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to cross a body of water by wading; traverse
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Eschew
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to shun; to avoid; to bilk; to elude; to evade
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Knell
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sound of a funeral bell; omen of death or failure; chime; peal; toll
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Distend
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to swell, inflate or bloat; broaden; bulge
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Inculcate
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to teach; impress in the mind; impland; indoctrinate; instill; preach
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Distaff
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female branch of a family; maternal
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Ethos
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beliefs or character of a group; culture; ethic
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Tome
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book usually large and academic; codex; volume
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Unequivocal
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absolute; certain; categorical; explicit; express; unambiguous
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Penury
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an oppressive lack of resources; severe poverty; destitution; impoverishment
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Pedant
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someone who shows off learning; doctrinaire; nit-picker
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Edify
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instruct morally and spiritually; enlighten
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Gregarious
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outgoing; sociable; affable; communicative; congenial: She was so gregarious that when she found herself alone she felt quite sad.
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Fallow
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dormant; unused; idle; inactive: This field should lie fallow for a year so the soil does not become completely depleted.
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Repose
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relaxation; leisure; calmness; tranquility; After working hard every day in the busy city, Mike finds his repose on weekends playing golf with his friends
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Epicure
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person with refined taste in food and wine; bon vivant; connoisseur; gastronome; gastronomist; gourmand; gourmet: Niren is an epicure who always throws the most splendid dinner parties.
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Ephemeral
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lasting a short time; evanescent; fleeting; momentary; transient: The lives of mayflies seem ephemeral to us since the flies' average life span is a matter of hours.
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Raconteur
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witty, skillfull storyteller; anecdotalist; monologist: The raconteur kept all the passengers entertained with his stories during the six-hour flight.
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Precis
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"short summary of facts:
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Rustic
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rural; bucolic; pastoral: The rustic cabin was an ideal setting a vacation in the country
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Credulous
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too trusting; gullible; naive; susceptible; trusting: Although some 4-year-olds believe in the Tooth Fairy, only the most credulous 9-year-olds also believe in her.
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Crescendo
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climax; acme; capstone; crest; culmen; culmination; meridian; peak: The crescendo of tension became unbearable as Evel Knievel prepared to jump his motorcycle over the school buses.
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Fawn
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grovel; bootlick; pander: The understudy fawned over the director in hopes of being cast in the part on a permanent basis.
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Ostentation
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excessive showiness; consicuousness; flashiness; pretentiousness: The ostentation of the Sun King's court is evident in the lavish decoration and luxuriousness of his palace at Versailles.
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Eulogy
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speech in praise of someone; commend; extol; laud: His best friend gave the eulogy outlining his many achievements and talents.
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Peccadillo
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minor sin or offense; failing; fault; lapse; misstep: Gabriel tends to harp on his brother's peccadillos and never lets him live them down.
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Approbation
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approval and praise; acclaim; adulation; applause; commendation; exalt; compliments; hail; kudos; praise: The approbation that Jerry Lewis received in France included a medal from the Ministry of Culture.
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Pejorative
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having bad connotations; disparaging; belittling; dismissive; insulting; The teacher scolded Mark for his unduly pejorative comments about his classmate's presentation.
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Obviate
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prevent; make unnecessary; forestall; preclude; prohibit: The river was shallow enough to wade across at many points which obviated the need for a bridge.
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Pallid
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lacking colour or liveliness; ashen; blanched; ghostly; pale; wan: The old drugstore's pallid window could not compete with Wal-Mart's extravaant display next door.
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Grievous
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causing grief or sorrow; serious; distressing; dire; dolorous; grave; mournful: Maude and Bertha sobbed loudly throughout the grievous event.
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Impugn
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"question; challenge verbally; challenge; dispute: \"How dare you impugn my motives?\" protested the lawyer, on being accused of ambulance chasing."
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Whimsical
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lightly acting in a fanciful or capricious manner; unpredictable; capricious; erratic; flippant; frivolous: The ballet was shimsical delighting the children with its imaginative characters and unpredictable sets.
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Caustic
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bitint in wit; acerbic; biting; mordant; trenchant; Dorothy Parker gained her caustic reputation from her cutting yet witty insults.
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Catholic
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universal; broad and comprehensive; extensive; general; Hot tea with honey is a catholic remedy for a sore throat.
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Catalyst
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sth which brings about a change in sth else; accelerator; goad; impetus; incentive; motivation; spur; The imposition of harsh taxes was the catalyst that finally brought on the revolution.
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Lampoon
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ridicule with satire; tease; The mayor hated being lampooned by the press for his effots to improve people's politeness.
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Imperturable
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not capable of being disturbed; composed; dispassionate; impassive; serene; stoical; The counselor had so much experience with distraught children that she was imperturable, even when faced with the wildest tantrums.
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insipid
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lacking interest or flavour; banal; bland; dull; stale; vapid; The critic claimed that the painting was insipid containing no interesting qualities at all.
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Innocuous
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harmless; benign; inoffensive; insipid
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Jettison
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to discard; dump; The sinking ship jettisoned its cargo in a desperate attempt to reduce its weight.
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Inquest
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investigation; inquiry; probe; research; The police chef ordered an inquest to determine what went wrong.
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Impervious
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impossible to penetrate; incapable of being affected; impregnable; resistant; A good raincoat will be impervious to moisture.
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Fractious
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unruly; rebellious; contentious; cranky; peevish; quarrelsome; The general had a hard time maintaining discipline among his fractious troops.
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Exculpate
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to clear from blame; prove innocent; absolve; acquit; exonerate; vindicate; The legal system is intended to convict those who are innocent
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August
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dignified; grandiose; admirable; awesome; majestic; The august view of the Grand Teton summit took my breath away.
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Apocryphal
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of questionable authority or autheticity; disputed; doubtful; fictitious; fraudulent; There is no hard or authoritative evidence to support the apocryphal tales that link the Roswell, New Mexico, incident to a downed UFO.
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Apostate
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one who renounces a religious faith; defector; deserter; traitor; So that he could divorce his wife, the king scoffed at the church doctrines and declared himself an apostate.
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Livid
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discoloured from a bruise; pale; reddened with anger; ashen; black-and-blue; furious; pallid; Andre was livid when he discovered that someone had spilled juice all over his cashmere coat.
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Loquacious
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talkative; effusive; garrulous; verbose; She is naturally loquacious which is a problem in situations where listening is more important than talking.
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Lucid
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clear and easily understood; coherent; intelligible; limpid; The explanations were written in a simple and lucid manner so that students were immediately able to apply what they learned.
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Contrite
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deeply sorrowful and repentant for a wrong; apologetic; regretful; remorseful; After three residents were mugged in the lobby while the watchman was away from his post he felt very contrite
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Calumny
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a false and malicious accusation; misrepresentation; defamation; libel; slander: The unscrupulous politician used calumny to bring down his opponent in the senatorial race.
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