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30 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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ordeal
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severe trial or affliction
He spoke movingly of his long ordeal as a hostage in US. |
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coquette
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flirt
Because she refused to give him an answer to his proposal of marriage, he called her a coquette. |
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irate
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angry
When John's mother found out that he had overthrown his checking account for the third month in a row, she was so irate that she could scarcely speak to him. |
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shunt
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turn aside; divert; sidetrack
If the switchman failed to shunt the Silver Streak onto a side track, the train would plow right into Union Station. |
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winnow
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sift; separate good parts from bad;
This test will winnow out the students who study from those who don't bother. |
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brevity
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/ˈbrev.ɪ.ti/ n. conciseness
brevity is essential when you send a telegram or cablegram; you are charged for every word. His essays are models of clarity and brevity. |
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discrepancy
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lack of consistency; difference;
The police noticed some discrepancies in his description of the crime and did not believe him. |
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plagiarize
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steal another's ideas and pass them off as one's own
The editor could tell that the writer had plagiarized parts of the article; he could recognize whole paragraphs from the original source. |
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amorphous
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shapeless; vague; indeterminate
John was subject to panic attacks that left him prey to vague, amorphous fears%3a he knew he was terrified, but could neither define nor explain the cause of his terror. |
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illusory
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deceptive; not real;
Unfortunately, the costs of running the lemonade stand were so high that Tom's profits proved illusory. |
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muddle
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confuse; mix up;
His thoughts were muddled and chaotic. |
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recuperate
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recover
The doctors were worried because the patient did not recuperate as rapidly as they had expected. |
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stamina
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strength; staying power;
I doubt that she has the stamina to run the full distance of the marathon race. |
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conviction
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strongly held belief; judgment that someone is guilty of a crime
could shake his conviction that she was innocent. |
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inviolability
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/ɪnˈvaɪə.lə.bl ̩/ adj. security from being destroyed, corrupted or profaned;
They respected the inviolability of her faith and did not try to change her manner of living. the inviolability of the country's borders |
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aureole
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sun's corona; halo;
Many medieval paintings depict saintly characters with aureols around their heads. |
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decoy
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طعمه، دام
lure or bait The wild ducks were not fooled by the decoy. |
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formality
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adherence to established rules or procedures
Signing this petition is a mere formality; it does not obligate you in any way. |
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flick
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light stroke as with a whip
The horse needed no encouragement; only one flick of the whip was all the jockey had to apply to get the animal to run at top speed. cambridge: to move or hit something with a short sudden movement |
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pithy
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concise; meaty;
I enjoy reading his essays because they are always compact and pithy. |
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amnesia
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loss of memory
Because she was suffering from amnesia, the police could not get the young girl to identify herself. |
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propitious
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/ prəˈpɪʆəs / adj. favorable; auspicious; advantageous; fortunate
I think it is advisable that we wait for a more propitious occasion to announce our plans; this is not a good time. |
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subterfuge
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/ ˈsʌbtəfjuːdʒ/ n. pretense; evasion;
It was clear that they must have obtained the information by subterfuge. As soon as we realized that you had won our support by a subterfuge we withdrew our endorsement of your candidacy. |
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accessible
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easy to approach; obtainable;
We asked our guide whether the ruins were accessible on foot. |
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staccato
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/ stəˈkɑːtəʊ/ adv. played in an abrupt manner; marked by abrupt; sharp sound
The music suddenly changed from a smooth melody to a staccato rhythm. His staccato speech reminded one of the sound of a machine gun. |
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conversant
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familiar with
The lawyer is conversant with all the evidence. |
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inverse
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opposite
There is an inverse ratio between the strength of light and its distance. |
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explicit
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totally clear; definite; outspoken
Don't just hint around that you're dissatisfied%3a be explicit about what's bugging you. |
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inimical
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unfriendly; hostile;
She felt that they were inimical and were hoping for her downfall. |
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vortex
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whirlwind; whirlpool; center of turbulence;
Sucked into the vortex of the tornado, Dorothy and Toto were carried from Kansas to Oz. |
