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113 Cards in this Set
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- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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soporific
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sleep inducing, also a sleeping pill
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root is 'sopor' = 'deep sleep' The black bear had a big supper before it's long winter sopor. I need a pillow that 'sops' up ter-'rific' sleep.
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dolt
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a stupid person
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dolt from 'dold' which is 'dull' He is 'dol' to a T.
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paramour
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illicit lover
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From par amour, or to love with great passion. originally used as a term by females for christ or by men for the virgin mary. now a semi-scandalous word
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manque
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frustrated in the fulfillment of one's aspirations or talents — used postpositively <a poet manqué>
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used postpositively <a poet manqué>, originally meant crippled left hand (manco). a monkey will always fall short of a human's conquest of earth.
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erudition
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knowledge chiefly obtained from books. bookish learning
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From latin 'e' to take away 'rude' rudeness or lack of skill. 'eh, rude, I? shun' the idea, I learned from books.
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sagacity
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wise, or the quality of being discerning and keen, far sighted judgement
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Oddly enough the root work 'sag' means to seek or search, and does not requite 'old age' as part of the experience, though it is often used for elders. It is distantly related to ransack and ramshackle, where ran/m stands for home, so to seek or search a home for something.
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inept
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unskilled, unfit, foolish, unsuitable, incompetent
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not apt or able. I am inept at any aptitude.
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bungling
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to act or work clumsily or awkwardly
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From the icelandic 'banga' meaning to strike. may also be a mix of boggle and bumble.
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plethora
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abundance, profusion, an excess
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Was a medical word that meant an excess of bodily fliud. A plethora is a plentiful abundance. I wish I had a plethora of funds; I might be able to fund graduate school!
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indolent
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causing little or no pain, slow to heal, relatively benign, lazy, averse to activity, effort, or movement, conducive to or encouraging laziness
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An indolent individual is probably on the dole.
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lethargic
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abnormal drowsiness, state or quality of being lazy, sluggish, indifferent, apathetic
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From 'lethe' = forgetfulness, and 'argos' = idle. In Greek mythology, there is a River of Forgetfulness called Lethe. When Ether first appeared in medicine, it was called Letheon so that it's chemical nature wasn't as apparent. Argon gas is named for argos due to its' intertness. Lethargic was originally a medical term for the stupor caused by some illnesses.
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listless
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lack of interest, energy, or spirit
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Root is 'list' which is a derivation of 'lust' which means desire...so less lust = listless
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diligent
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steady, earnest, and energetic effort
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He is a 'dilly' of a 'gent'; he works so smart and hard he is diligent
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meticulous
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extreme or excessive care in the consideration of treatment of details
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From Latin 'metus' = fear. I 'met' a red'iculous' man; his attention to detail was extreme.
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painstaking
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action of taking pains, diligent care and effort
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painful attention to the details you are staking your reputation on
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bespoke
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custom made
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Bespoke" comes from the word bespeak, meaning to ask for or order something. This has its roots in Savile Row, where a customer would speak for a measure of cloth. A bolt chosen by one customer was not available for anyone else until the entire suit had been cut out and assembled.
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scurrilous
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using coarse language, vulgar and evil, containing obsenities, abuse, or slander
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scurrilous is like a curr curiously spewing obscenities
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enervated
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reduce the mental or moral vigor of, lesson the vitality or strength of, to remove a nerve
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e-take away, nerve-nerve or muscle strength
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dissembling
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hide under false appearances, put on the appearance of, conceal facts, feelings, or thoughts under some pretense
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sem = same or seem, as is resemblence, dissimilar, simulate....so dis=not, sem=same, ling=act of. disseminate, resemble
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debacle
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violent disruption, rout, a great disaster, a complete failure, fiasco, a tumultous break up of ice in a river
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Dee backs down from the military coup which is a disaster. debacle = disaster
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veracity
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truthfulness, accuracy
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veritas = truth, verity, verdict, veritable,
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rubble
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broken fragments from the decay or destruction of a structure such as a building, confused mass of broken or worthless things, rough stone from quarry
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Barney Rubble from the Flintstones is short and stocky like a knocked down building
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detritus
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loose materials from disintegration, desruction, or wearing away, leftover odds and ends
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detriment, detritivore = earthworm which eats detritus, or organic loose material
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barnacle
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a marine organism that attaches to rocks, boats, whales
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the origin is actually part of a old biological belief that animals formed from decaying materials. barnacles could be found on wood on the shore and had feather like appendages that resembled a goose's feathers; the barnacle goose, which nested in the arctic, so no one would see it breed, but it would appear on migration. They thought the two were connected.
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poseur
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person who pretends to be what he or she is not, an affected or insincere person
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from 'pose' to put or place, so one who acts like they are such a way, or poses as something else
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veracity
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truthfulness, accuracy
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veritas = truth, verity, verdict, veritable,
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rubble
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broken fragments from the decay or destruction of a structure such as a building, confused mass of broken or worthless things, rough stone from quarry
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Barney Rubble from the Flintstones is short and stocky like a knocked down building
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detritus
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loose materials from disintegration, desruction, or wearing away, leftover odds and ends
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detriment, detritivore = earthworm which eats detritus, or organic loose material
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barnacle
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a marine organism that attaches to rocks, boats, whales
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the origin is actually part of a old biological belief that animals formed from decaying materials. barnacles could be found on wood on the shore and had feather like appendages that resembled a goose's feathers; the barnacle goose, which nested in the arctic, so no one would see it breed, but it would appear on migration. They thought the two were connected.
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poseur
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person who pretends to be what he or she is not, an affected or insincere person
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from 'pose' to put or place, so one who acts like they are such a way, or poses as something else
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dashiki
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a loose fitting, v-necked shirt
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traditionally worn by men in parts of West Africa
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votary
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devoted admirer, zealous worshipper, staunch believer or advocate, devotee
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vot = vow, a votive is a expression of a vow, wish, or desire
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peremptory
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ending or preventing all debate or action, not allowing contradiction or refusal, imperative
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preemption is to take for oneself, preventing another from taking it. 'per' the generals orders we 'empt'ied all the gold 'ores' without question.
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docile
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easily taught, easily led or managed
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From 'docere'=teach, related to doctor. A docile dog is generally a well-managed dog.
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plethora
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excess, over abundance, profusion, originally an excess of red blood cells
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pretty much just means too much fullness, more than the needed options.
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impecunious
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having very little or no money, usually habitually
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The latin word for cattle is 'pecus' so being impecunious is literally being without cattle, which use to be a sign of wealth
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a-
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not or without
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amoral, atypical, apathetic
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an-
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not or without
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anaerobic, anarchy
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eu-
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good
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eulogy, euphemism, eulogy
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ben-/bon-
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good
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benefit, benevolent, bon voyage, bon vivant
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caco-
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bad
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cacophonous,
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ne-/mal-
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bad
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negative, nefarious, malicious,
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im-
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not
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impossible, immortal, implacable,
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in-
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not
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inappropriate, inept, insolvent
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im-
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inside
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immerse,
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in-
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inside, beginning
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innate, initial,
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ante-
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before
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ante meridian, antebellum, antediluvian
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post-
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after
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post meridian, postmortem
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-ette
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little
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cigarette, dinette, coquette
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-illo
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little
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armadillo, peccadillo
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-ous
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full of, very
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joyous, amorous, pulchritudinous
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-ist
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a person
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typist, pugilist, pacifist
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-ify, -efy
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to make
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beautify, ossify, deify
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-ize
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to make
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alphabetize, immunize, ostracize
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-ate
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to make
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duplicate, renovate, placate
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-ity
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turns words into noun
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jollity, serenity, timidity
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misnomer
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wrong name, misnaming of a person in a legal instrument, inappropriate designation
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Calling a counselor a psychiatrist is a misnomer; a psychiatrist has a medical degree.
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altercation
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a noisy heated angry dispute or a noisy controversy
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alter = other,
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reproof
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criticism for a fault
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When I see someone do something foolish repeatedly I feel the need to proof thier habits repeatedly to eliminate the fault.
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perfidy
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being faithless or disloyal, treachery, act of instance of disloyalty.
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per=detrimental, fides=faith, fidelity = faithful to detail, infidel = not faithful to Christianity,
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elegy
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a poem in elgiac couplets, song or poem expressing sorrow or lamentation for one who is dead, a speech resembling a song or poem, pensive or reflective poem or song that is nostalgic or melancholy
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song of mourning or a funeral ode, but may apply to others written in the same manner. As a classic composer, Ella's death deserved an elegy.
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innocuous
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not full of harm
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innoculations prevent disease (harm)
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elegiac
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sad or mourful
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elegy = death song
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dynamic
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full of energy or changing
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dynamite explodes and changes
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disparaging
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full of insults
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to dis is to put down
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phlegmatic
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calm, composed
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flag automatic, flys in calm countries without question
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implacable
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unchageable, stubborn
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im = not, plac = calm, able = able to be
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peccadillo
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small wrong or fault
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-illo = small
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transgression
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trespass or sin, a wrong
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a form of trespassing (trans) agression
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alias
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different name
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psuedonym
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cacophony
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bad or harsh sound
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caco = bad, phon = sound
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eructation
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belch
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eeehhhhruc! excuse that belch-tation
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fanaticism
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state of being a fanatic, or really into something
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the fans were fanatic and shoed thier fanaticism
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zealous
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very into something, enthusiastic, involved
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zealous for zelda, play for days on end
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tumultous
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wild, chaotic, disorganized
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too much of us is crazy
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arbitrator
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mediator, go between
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in a fight between McD and BK, Arby's would be the arbitrator's suggestion
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Ruth
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pity
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girl's name meaning compassion
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ruthless
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without pity, cruel
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lacking a woman's empathy
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duplicity
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quality of being dup or double, as in double dealing, double crossing and double talking (not idiocy)
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duplicity is a double copy
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dupe
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person who has been double crossed or swindled, and is rather idiotic
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one who falls for the trick is duped
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adulation
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hero worship or extreme admiration
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adul = idol
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retrospection
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look back, review
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retro = from past, spect = examine
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prophet
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one who predicts the future
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one who is really a prophet would profit from seeing the future
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exculpate
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remove the blame
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ex = not, culp = blame, ate = to make
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exonerate
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remove guilt or blame
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ex = not, oner = ?, ate = to make
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compromise
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imperil, put into danger
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compromise is to risk the com's promise
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proliferate
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grow in number or size, become more abundant
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pro - LIFE -ate
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to perturb
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to exasperate, to annoy, to harass
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per turd is annoyance
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desiccate
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dry out or remove moisture
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de = out of or away from,
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enervate
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to devitalize, to remove the energy from, to weaken
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e = not, nerve = energy
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sanction
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restrict
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economic sanctions prohibit business
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swindle
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cheat or trick
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pigs may be swine, but at least they don't swindle you
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chicanery
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trickery in matters of the law
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lawyers are chickens, creating legal trickery
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attenuate
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make slender, thin, or diluted
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attenuated vaccines are weakened
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derogate
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denouce or be critical of
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interrogate it sot question, derogate is to put down
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epithet
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descriptive term often used derogatorily or critically
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in the south, 'bless your heart' is often a epithet, as can be the term 'special'
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sycophant
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over flatterers, kiss ups, yes men
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sycophants might be psychotic in thier need to please someone
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recluse
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hermit or solitary person
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remove to the closet
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pedant
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teacher, especially one that is overly precise and didactic
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ped = child
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heretic
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rebel, one who doesn't agrese with the orthodox religion
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those who worship 'her' are heretics since they don't follow a male god
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malingerer
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one who pretends to be sick in order to get out of work
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mal = bad, so one who lingers in false poor health for thier own benefit
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prodigy
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highly talented person
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pro = good
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bluestocking
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a learned woman especially in literary circles
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blue = knowledge, stocking = woman
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pugilist
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boxer
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pug = war or fight, ist = person
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bellicose
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war like, hostile, argumentative, and fighting
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belligerent
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erudite
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well educated or scholarly
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hopefully and educated person isn't a -rude- ite (person)
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benefactor
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person who does good or bring benefits
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bene = good, factor = person
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beguiling
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tricking or confusing
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be guiled (naieved)
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taciturn
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not talkative or of few words
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tacit = silent
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narcissist
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person overflowing with self-love
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narcisses loved himself so much
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charismatic
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inspiring loyalty
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charisma attracts others loyalty
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imbecile
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a fool
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imbalanced in the brain = imbecile
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obsequious
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excessively flattering
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'o' 'be' 'seek' ing the approval of another
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