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34 Cards in this Set
- Front
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Anomaly |
Deviation from what is normal
Albino animals may display too great an Anomoly in their coloring to attract normally colored mates
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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 parties thinking she agreed with them. |
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Lucid |
Clear and easily understood The explanation were written in simple Lucid manner so that students were immediately able to apply what they learned. |
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Precipitate |
To throw violently or bring about abruptly; lacking deliberation Upon learning that the couple married after knowing each other only two months, friends and family members expected such a precipitate marriage to end in divorce. |
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Assuage |
To make something unpleasant less severe Serena used aspirin to assuage her pounding headache |
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Erudite |
Learned, scholarly, bookish The annual meeting of philosophy professors was a gathering of the most erudite, well published individuals in the field |
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Opaque |
Impossible to see through, preventing the passage of light The heavy buildup of dirt and grime on the windows almost made the opaque |
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Prodigal |
Lavish, wasteful The prodigal son quickly wasted all of his inheritance on a lavish lifestyle devoted to pleasure |
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Enigma |
A puzzle, a mystery Speaking in riddles and dresses in old robes, the artist gained a reputation as something of an enigma |
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Fervid |
Intensely emotional, feverish The fans of Maria Callas were unusually fervid, doing anything to catch a glimpse of the great opera singer |
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Placate |
To sooth or pacify The burglar tried to placate the snarling dog by saying "nice doggy," and offering a treat. |
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Zeal |
Passion, excitement She brought her typical zeal to the project, sparking enthusiasm in the other team members. |
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Abstain |
To choose not to do something She abstained from choosing a mouth watering dessetlrt fr the tray. |
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Audacious |
Fearless and daring Her audacious nature allowed her to fulfill her dream of skydiving. |
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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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Gullible |
Easily decieved The conversation man pretended to be a bank officer so as to fool gullible bank customers into giving him their account information. |
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Laud |
To give praise, to glorify Parades and fireworks were staged to laud the success of the rebels. |
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Pedant |
Someone who shows off learning The graduate instructor's tedious and excessive commentary on the subject soon gained her a reputation as a pedant. |
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Vacillate |
To sway physically, to be indecisive The customer held up the line as he vacillated between ordering chocolate chip or rocky road ice cream. |
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Adulterate |
To make impure
The chef made his ketchup last longer by adulterating it with water. |
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Capricious |
Changing ones mind, quickly and often Queen Elizabeth I was quite capricious; her courtier could never be sure which of their number would catch her fancy. |
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Engender |
To produce, cause, or bring about His fear and hatred of Clowns was engendered when he witnessed the death of his father at the hands of a clown. |
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Homogeneous |
Of a similar kind The class was fairly homogeneous, since all of the students were senior journalism majors. |
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Loquacious |
Talkative She was naturally loquacious, which was a problem in situations in which listening was more important than talking. |
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Loquacious |
Talkative She was naturally loquacious, which was a problem in situations in which listening was more important than talking. |
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Pragmatic |
Practical as opposed to idealistic While daydreaming gamblers think they can get rich by frequenting casinos, pragmatic gamblers realize that the odds are heavily stacked against them. |
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Volatile |
Easily aroused or changeable, lively or explosive His volatile personality made it difficult to predict his reaction to anything. |
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Apathy |
Lack of interest of emotion The apathy of voters is so great that less than half the people who are eligible to vote actually bother to do so. |
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Corroborate |
To provide supporting evidence.
Fingerprints corroborated the witness's testimony that he saw the dependent on the victim's apartment. |
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Ephemeral |
Lasting a short time The lives of mayflies seem ephemeral to us, since the flies average life span is a matter of hours. |
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Laconic |
Using few words She was a laconic poet who built her reputation on using words as sparingly as possible. |
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Mitigate |
To soften, to lessen A judge may mitigate a sentence if she decides that a person commuted a crime out of need. |
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Mitigate |
To soften, to lessen A judge may mitigate a sentence if she decides that a person commuted a crime out of need. |
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Propriety |
Correct behavior; obedience to rules and customs The aristocracy maintained a high level of propriety, seeing to even the most minor social rules. |
