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141 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Agnostic |
One who believes the existence of God is not provable |
A/an: not, without |
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Amoral |
Neither moral nor immoral; having no relation to morality |
A/an: not, without |
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Anomaly |
An irregularity |
A/an: not, without |
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Apathy |
Lack of interest or emotion |
A/an: not, without |
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Anonymous |
Of unknown authorship or origin |
A/an: not, without |
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Atheist |
One who does not believe in god |
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Abate |
To reduce in amount, degree or severity |
As the hurricane's force abated, the winds dropped and the sea became calm. |
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Abscond |
To leave secretly |
The patron absconded from the restauran5 without paying his bill by sneaking out the back door. |
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Abstain |
To choose not to do something |
She abstained from choosing a mouthwatering dessert from the tray. |
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Abyss |
An extremely deep hole |
The submarine dove into the abyss to chart previously unseen depths. |
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Adulterate |
To make impure |
The chef made his ketchup last langer by adulterating it with water. |
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Advocate |
To speak in favor of |
The vegetarian advocated a diet containing no meat. |
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Aesthetic |
Concerning the appreciation of beauty |
Followers of the aesthetic movement regarded the pursuit of beauty as the only true purpose of art. |
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Aggrandize |
To increase in power, influence and reputation |
The supervisor sought to aggrandize herself by claiming that the achievements of her staff were actually her own. |
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Alleviate |
To make more bearable |
Taking aspirin helps to alleviate a headache. |
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Amalgamate |
To combine; to mix together |
Giant Industries amalgamated with Mega Products to form Giant-Mega Products Incorporated. |
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Ambiguous |
Doubtful or uncertain; able to be interpreted in several ways |
The directions she gave were so ambiguous that we disagreed on which way to turn. |
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Ameliorate |
To make better; to improve |
The doctor was able to ameliorate the patient's suffering using painkillers. |
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Anachronism |
Something out of place in time |
The ages hippie used anachronistic phrases like groovy and far out that had not been popular for years. |
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Analogous |
Similar or alike in some way; equivalent to |
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Anomaly |
Deviation from what is normal |
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Antagonize |
To annoy or provoke to anger |
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Antipathy |
Extreme dislike |
The antipathy between the French and the English regularly erupted into open warfare |
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Arbitrate |
To judge a dispute between two opposing parties |
Since the couple could not come to agreement, a judge was forced to arbitrate their divorce proceedings. |
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Archaic |
Ancient, old-fashioned |
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Ardor |
Intense and passionate feeling |
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Articulate |
Able to speak clearly and expressively |
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Assuage |
To make something unpleasant less severe |
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Attenuate |
To reduce in force or degree; to weaken |
The bille of rights attenuated the traditional power of government to change laws at will. |
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Audacious |
Fearless and daring |
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Austere |
Severe or stern in appearance; undecorated |
The lack of decoration makes military barracks seem austere to the civilian eye. |
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Banal |
Predictable, clichéd, boring |
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Bolster |
To support; to prop up |
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Bombastic |
Pompous in speech and manner |
The ranting of the radio talk show host was mostly bombastic; his boasting and outrageous claims had no basis. |
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Cacophony |
Harsh, jarring noise |
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Candid |
Impartial and honest in speech |
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Capricious |
Changing one'a mind quickly and often |
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Castigate |
To punish or criticize harshly |
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Catalyst |
Something that brings about a change in something else |
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Caustic |
Biting in wit |
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Chaos |
Great disorder or confusion |
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Chauvinist |
Someone prejudiced in favor of a group to which he or she belongs |
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Chicanery |
Deception by means of craft or guile |
Dishonest used car sales people often use chicanery to sel their beat-up old cars. |
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Cogent |
Convincing and well reasoned |
Swayed by the cogent argument of the defense, the jury had no choice bu to acquit the defendant. |
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Condone |
To overlooke, pardon, or disregard |
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Convoluted |
Intricate and complicated |
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Corroborate |
To provide supporting evidence |
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Credulous |
Too trusting; gullible |
Although some four year olds believe inthe Easter Bunny, only the most credulous njne year olds also believe in him. |
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Crescendo |
Steadily increasing volume and force |
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Decorum |
Appropriateness of behavior or conduct; propriety |
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Deference |
Respect, courtesy |
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Deride |
To speak of or treat with comtempt; to mock |
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Desiccate |
To dry out thoroughly |
After a few weeks of lying on the desert's baking sands, the cow's carcass became completely desiccated. |
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Desultory |
Jumping from one thing to another; disconnected |
Diane has a desultory academic record; she had changed majors 12 times in 3 years. |
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Diatribe |
An abusive, condemnatory speech |
The truckee bellowed a diatribe at the driver who had cut him off. |
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Diffident |
Lacking self-confidence |
Steve's diffident manner during the job interview stemmed from his nervous nature and lack of experience in the field |
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Dilate |
To make larger; to expand |
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Dilatory |
Intended to delay |
The congressman used dilatory measures to delay the passage of the bill. |
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Dilettante |
Someone with an amateurish and superficial interest in a topic |
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Dirge |
A funeral hymn or mournful speech |
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Disabuse |
To set right; to free from error |
Galileo's observations disabused scholars of the notion that the sun revolved around the earth. |
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Discern |
To percieve; to recognize |
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Disparate |
Fundamentally different; entirely unlike |
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Dissemble |
To present a false appearance; to disguise one's real intentions or character |
The villian could dissemble to the police no longer-- he admitted the deed and tore up the floor to reveal the body of the old man. |
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Dissonance |
A harsh and disagreeable combination, often of sounds |
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Dogma |
A firmly held opinion, often a religious belief |
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Dogmatic |
Dictatorial in one's opinion |
The dictator was dogmatic-- he, and only he was right. |
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Dupe |
To deceive; a person who is easily deceived |
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Eclectic |
Selecting from or made up from a variety of sources |
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Efficacy |
Effectiveness |
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Elegy |
A sorrowful poem or speech |
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Eloquent |
Persuasive and moving, especially in speech |
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Emulate |
To copy; to try to equal or excel |
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Enervate |
To reduce in strength |
The guerrillas hoped that a series of surprise attacks would enervate the regular army. |
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Engender |
To produce, cause or bring about |
His fear and hatred of clowns wss engendered when he witnessed the death of his father at the hands of a clown. |
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Enigma |
A puzzle; a mystery |
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Enumerate |
To count, list or itemize |
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Ephemeral |
Lasting a short time |
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Equivocate |
To use expressions of double meaning in order to mislead |
When faced with criticism of her policies, the politician equivocated and left all partirs thinking she agreed with them. |
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Erratic |
Wandering and unpredictable |
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Erudite |
Learned, scholarly, bookish |
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Esoteric |
Known or understood by only a few |
Only a handful of experts are knowledgeable about the esoteric world of particle physics. |
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Estimable |
Admirable |
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Eulogy |
Speech in praise of someone |
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Euphemism |
Use of an inoffensive word or phrase in place of a more distasteful one |
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Exacerbate |
To make worse |
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Exculpate |
To clear from blame; prove innocent |
The adversarial legal system is intended to convict those who are guilty and to exculpate those who are innocent. |
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Exigent |
Urgent; requiring immediate action |
The patient was losing blood so rapidly that it was exigent to stop the source of the bleeding. |
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Exonerate |
To clear of blame |
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Explicit |
Clearly stated or shown; forthright in expression |
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Fanatical |
Acting excessively enthusiastic; filled with extreme, unquestioned devotion |
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Fawn |
To grovel |
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Fervid |
Intensely emotional; feverish |
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Florid |
Excessively decorated or embellished |
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Foment |
To arouse or incite |
The protesters tried to foment feeling against the war through their speeches and demonstrations. |
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Frugality |
A tendency to be thrifty or cheap |
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Garrulous |
Tending to talk a lot |
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Gregarious |
Outgoing, sociable |
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Guile |
Deceit or trickery |
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Gullible |
Easily deceived |
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Homogenous |
Of a similar kind |
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Iconoclast |
One who opposes established beliefs, customs, and institutions |
His lack of regards for traditional beliefs soon established him as an iconoclast. |
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Imperturbable |
Not capable of being disturbed |
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Impervious |
Impossible to penetrate; incapable of being affected |
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Impetuous |
Quick to act without thinking |
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Implacable |
Unable to be calmed down or made peaceful |
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Inchoate |
Not fully formed; disorganized |
The ideas expressed in Nietzshe's mature work also appear in an inchoate form in his earliest writing. |
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Ingenuous |
Showing innocence or childlike simplicity |
She was so ingenuous that her friends feared that her innocence and trustfulness would be exploited when she visited the big city. |
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Inimical |
Hostile, unfriendly |
Even though the children had grown up together, they were inimical to each other at school. |
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Innocuous |
Harmless |
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Insipid |
Lacking interest or flavor |
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Intransigent |
Uncompromsing; refusing to be reconciled |
The professor was intransigent on the deadline, insisting that everyone turn the assignment in at the same time. |
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Inundate |
To overwhelm; to cover with water |
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Irascible |
Easily made angry |
Attila the hun's irascible and violent nature made all who dealt with him fear for their lives. |
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Lament |
To express sorrow; to grieve |
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Laud |
To give praise; to glorify |
Parades and fireworks were staged to laud the sucess of the rebels. |
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Lavish |
To give unsparingly (v.); extremely generous or extravagant (adj.) |
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Lethargic |
Acting in an indifferent or slow, sluggish manner |
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Loquacious |
Talkative |
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Lucid |
Clear and easily understood |
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Luminous |
Bright, brilliant, glowing |
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Malinger |
To evade responsibility by pretending to be ill |
A common way to avoid the draft was by malingering-- pretending to be mentally or physically ill so as to avoid being taken by the army |
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Malleable |
Capable of being shaped |
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Metaphor |
A figure of speech comparing two different things; a symbol |
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Meticulous |
Extremely careful about details |
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Misanthrope |
A person who dislikes others |
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Mitigate |
To soften; to lessen |
A judge may mitigate a sentence if she decides that a person committed a crime out of need. |
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Mollify |
To calm or make less severe |
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Monotony |
Lack or variation |
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Naive |
Lacking sophistication or experience |
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Obdurate |
Hardened in feeling; resistant to persuasion |
The president was completely obdurate on the issue, and no amount of persuasion would change his mind |
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Obsequious |
Overly submissive and eager to please |
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Obstinate |
Stubborn, unyielding |
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Obviate |
To prevent; to make unnecessary |
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Occlude |
To stop up; to prevent the passage of |
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Onerous |
Troublesome and oppressive; burdensome |
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Opaque |
Impossible to see through, preventing the passage of light |
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Opprobrium |
Publuc disgrace |
After the scheme to embezzle the elderly was made public, the treasurer resigned in utter opprobrium. |
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Ostentation |
Excessive showineds |
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Paradox |
A contradiction or dilemna |
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Etiolated |
Cause to appear pale or sickly |
Years of confinement in a sunless cell had left the prisoner wan and weakened, woth a shockingly etiolated appearance. |
