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30 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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succinct
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brief; terse; compact
His remarks are always succinct and pointed. |
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acclivity
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sharp upslope of a hill
The car could not go up the acclivity in high gear. |
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apothegm
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pithy; compact saying;
Proverbs are apothegms that have become familiar sayings. |
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fete
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honor at a festival
The returning hero was feted at a community supper and dance. |
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perspicuous
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plainly expressed
Her perspicuous comments eliminated all posibility of misinterpretation. |
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expository
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explanatory; serving to explain;
The mannual that came with my VCR was no masterpiece of expository prose%3a its explanations were so garbled that I couldn't even figure out how to rewind a tape. |
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initiate
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begin; originate; receive into a group
The college is about to initiate a program for reducing math anxiety among students. |
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overbearing
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bossy; arrogant; decisively important
Certain of her own importance and of the unimportance of everyone else, Lady Bracknell was intolerably overbearing in manner. |
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lackluster
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dull
We were disappointed by the lackluster performance. |
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somnolent
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half asleep
The heavy meal and the overheated room made us all somnolent and indifferent to the speaker. |
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conservatory
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school of the fine arts (especiallymusic or drama)
A gifted violinist, Marya was selected to study at the conservatory. |
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yield
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give in; surrender;
The wounded knight refused to yield to his foe. |
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cabal
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small group of persons secretly united to promote their own interests
The cabal was defeated when its scheme was discovered. |
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disparate
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basically different; unrelated;
It is difficult, if not impossible, to organize these disparate elements into a coherent whole. |
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apocryphal
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untrue; made up;
To impress his friends, Tom invented apocryphal tales of his adventures in the big city. |
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fervid
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ardent
Her fervid enthusiasm inspired all of us to undertake the dangerous mission. |
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perpetual
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everlasting
Ponce de Leon hoped to find perpetual youth. |
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narrative
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related to telling a story
A born teller of tales, Olsen used her impressive narrative skills to advantage in her story %22I Stand Here Ironing. |
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rejuvenate
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make young again
The charlatan claimed that his elixir would rejuvenate the aged and weary. |
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transport
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strong emotion
Margo was a creature of extremes, at one moment in transports of joy over a vivid sunset, at another moment in transports of grief over a dying bird. |
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laborious
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demanding much work or care; tedious;
In putting together his dictionary of the English language, Doctor Johnson undertook a laborious task. |
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solstice
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point at which the sun is farthest from the equator
The winter solstice usually occurs on December 21. |
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conscientious
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scrupulous; careful;
A conscientious editor checked every definition for its accuracy. |
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deleterious
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harmful
Workers in nuclear research must avoid the deleterious effects of radioactive substances. |
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frieze
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ornamental band on a wall
The frieze of the church was adorned with sculpture. |
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lechery
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gross lewdness; lustfulness;
In his youth he led a life of lechery and debauchery; he did not mend his ways until middle age. |
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aphasia
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loss of speech due to injury or illness
After the automobile accident, the victim had periods of aphasia when he could not speak at all or could only mumble incoherently. |
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fell
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cruel; deadly;
The newspapers told of the tragic spread of the fell disease. |
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peripatetic
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walking about; moving;
The peripatetic school of philosophy derives its name from the fact that Aristotle walked with his pupils while discussing philosophy with them. |
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concise
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brief and compact
When you define a new word, be concise; the shorter the definition, the easier it is to remember. |
