Gre Vocab

Front 1

abate

Back 1

verb: to decrease; reduce

Front 2

abdicate

Back 2

verb: to give up a position, right, or power

Front 3

aberrant

Back 3

adjective: deviating from what is normal

Front 4

aberration

Back 4

noun: something different from the usual or normal

Front 5

abeyance

Back 5

noun: temporary suppresion or suspension

Front 6

abject

Back 6

adjective: miserable; pitiful

Front 7

abjure

Back 7

verb: to reject; abandon formally

Front 8

abscission

Back 8

noun: the act of cutting; the natural separation of a leaf or other part of a plant

Front 9

abscise

Back 9

verb: to cut off or away

Front 10

abscond

Back 10

verb: to depart secretly

Front 11

abstemious

Back 11

adjective: moderate in appetite

Front 12

abstinence

Back 12

noun: the giving up of certain pleasures

Front 13

abysmal

Back 13

adjective: very bad

Front 14

accretion

Back 14

noun: growth in size or increase in amount

Front 15

accrue

Back 15

verb: to accumulate; grow by additions

Front 16

adamant

Back 16

adjective: uncompromising; unyielding

Front 17

adjunct

Back 17

noun: something added, attached, or joined

Front 18

admonish

Back 18

verb: to caution or reprimand

Front 19

adulterate

Back 19

verb: to corrupt or make impure

Front 20

aesthetic

Back 20

adjective: relating to beauty or art

noun: a conception of what is artistically beautiful
"The Gothic aesthetic dominated European art and architecture from approximately the 12th to the 15th century."

Front 21

aesthete

Back 21

noun: someone who cultivates a special sensitivity to beauty

Front 22

affected

Back 22

adjective: pretentious, phony

"It has been argued that the emphasis on so-called "proper English" leads to unnatural and affected speech"

Front 23

affinity

Back 23

noun: fondness; liking; similarity

Front 24

aggrandize

Back 24

verb: to make larger or greater

One of the concerns of the framers of the U.S. constitution was that one branch of government would try to aggrandize itself at the expense of the others

Front 25

aggregate

Back 25

adjective: amounting to a whole; total

The aggregate wealth of a country includes private as well as public resources and possesions.

verb: to collect into a mass

noun: collective mass or sum

Front 26

alacrity

Back 26

noun: cheerful willingness; eagerness; speed

Front 27

alchemy

Back 27

noun: medieval chemical philosophy based on changing mtal into gold; a seemingly magical power or process of transmutation

Front 28

allay

Back 28

verb: to lessen; ease; soothe

Improvements in antivirus software have allayed many people's fears of having their computers infected with malicious software

Front 29

alleviate

Back 29

verb: to relieve; improve partially

Front 30

alloy

Back 30

noun: a combination; a mixture of two or more metals

Front 31

allure

Back 31

noun: the power to entice by charm

verb: to entice by charm

Front 32

amalgamate

Back 32

verb: to combine into a unified whole

Former members of Game and Minority Report were amalgamated to form Browntown

Front 33

ambiguous

Back 33

adjective: unclear or doubtful in meaning

Front 34

ambivalence

Back 34

noun: the state of having conflicting emotional attitudes

John felt some ambivalence about getting married before finishing college

Front 35

ambrosia

Back 35

noun: something delicious; the food of the gods

adjective: ambrosial

Front 36

ameliorate

Back 36

verb: to improve

Front 37

amenable

Back 37

adjective: agreeable; cooperative; suited

The young writer is amenable to suggestions for improving her prose style to make it more interesting

Front 38

amenity

Back 38

noun: something that increases comfort

Many amenities considered normal and necessary by people in developed countries, such as indoor plumbing, were luxuries only a few generations ago

Front 39

amulet

Back 39

noun: ornament worn as a charm againts evil spirits

Front 40

anachronism

Back 40

noun: something out of the proper time

Some experts regard the retirement age of 65 as an anachronism at a time when people in the developed world have much longer life expectancies than previously.

Front 41

analgesic

Back 41

noun: medication that reduces or eliminates pain

Front 42

analogous

Back 42

adjective: comparable

Front 43

analog

Back 43

noun: something that is comparable to something else

Some commentators have posited the existence of an analog to the Protestant work ethic in Chinese culture, which they call the "Confucian work ethic," to explain the economic success of some countries with large Chinese populations.

Front 44

anarchy

Back 44

noun: absence of government; state of disorder

Front 45

anodyne

Back 45

noun: something that calms or soothes pain

Some people use alcohol as an anodyne to numb their emotional pain

Front 46

anodyne

Back 46

adjective: relaxing or capable of soothing pain

The public relations officer is remarkably anodyne; all he does is mouth comforting, politically correct platitudes,saying nothin of substance

Front 47

anomalous

Back 47

adjective: irregular; deviating from the norm

Front 48

antecedent

Back 48

noun: something that comes before

Front 49

antediluvian

Back 49

adjective: prehistoric

Front 50

antipathy

Back 50

noun: dislike; hostility

Front 51

apathy

Back 51

noun: indifference

Front 52

apex

Back 52

noun: the highest point

Front 53

apogee

Back 53

noun: the point in an orbit most distant from the body being orbited; the highest point

Front 54

apothegm

Back 54

noun: a terse, witty saying
also spelled apophthegm

One of the best-known political apothegms was written by the British historian, Lord Acton: "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Front 55

appease

Back 55

verb: to calm; pacify; placate

Front 56

appellation

Back 56

noun: name

Front 57

apposite

Back 57

adjective: strikingly appropriate and relevant

Front 58

apprise

Back 58

verb: to inform

Front 59

approbation

Back 59

noun: praise; approval

Front 60

appropriate

Back 60

verb: to take possession for one's own use; confiscate

The invading army appropriated supplies from the houses of the local people

Front 61

apropos

Back 61

adjective: relevant

Apropos of nothing, the speaker declared that the purpose of life is to love.

Front 62

arabesque

Back 62

noun: ornate design featuring intertwined curves; a ballet position in which one leg is extended in back while the other supports the weight of the body

The ballerina stunned the audience with her perfectly executed arabesque

Front 63

archeology

Back 63

noun: the study of material evidence of past human life

Front 64

ardor

Back 64

noun: great emotion or passion

Front 65

arduous

Back 65

adjective: extremely difficult; laborious

Front 66

argot

Back 66

noun: a specialized vocabulary used by a group

Writers of crime fiction often use the argot of criminals and detectives to create a realistic atmosphere.

Front 67

arrest

Back 67

verb: to stop; to seize

Temporary arrest of the patient's respiration made it easier for the doctor to perform surgery on him

Front 68

artifact

Back 68

noun: item made by human craft

Front 69

artless

Back 69

adjective: guileless; natural

Front 70

ascetic

Back 70

noun: one who practices self denial
Muslim ascetics consider the internal battle againts human passions a greater jihad than the struggle againts infidels.

adjective: self-denying or austere
The writer's ascetic lifestyle helped her to concentrate on finishing her novel.

noun: asceticism

Front 71

asperity

Back 71

noun: severity; harshness; irritability

Front 72

aspersion

Back 72

noun: slander; false rumor

The Republic of Singapore is a young democracy, and its leaders often respond strongly to journalists and others who cast aspersions on their integrity.

Front 73

assiduous

Back 73

adjective: diligent; hard-working

Front 74

assuage

Back 74

verb: to make less severe

Front 75

astringent

Back 75

adjective: harsh; severe

Front 76

asylum

Back 76

noun: place of refuge or shelter

Front 77

atavism

Back 77

noun: in biology, the reappearance of a characteristic in an organism after several generations of absence; individual or a part that exhibits atavism; return of a trait after a period of absence

Front 78

attenuate

Back 78

verb: to weaken

Front 79

audacious

Back 79

adjective: bold; daring

Front 80

austere

Back 80

adjective: stern; unadorned

Front 81

autonomous

Back 81

adjective: self-governing; independent

Front 82

avarice

Back 82

noun: greed

Front 83

aver

Back 83

verb: to affirm; declare to be true

Front 84

avocation

Back 84

noun: secondary occupation

Dan became so proficient at his avocation -computer programming- that he is thinking of giving up his job as a teacher to do it full time.

Front 85

avuncular

Back 85

adjective: like an uncle, benevolent and tolerant

Front 86

axiomatic

Back 86

adjective: taken for granted; self-evident; obvious; containing aphorisms or maxims

Front 87

bacchanalian

Back 87

adjective: pertaining to riotous or drunken festivity; pertaining to revelry

Front 88

banal

Back 88

adjective: commonplace; trite

Front 89

banter

Back 89

noun: playful conversation

Front 90

bard

Back 90

noun: poet

Front 91

bawdy

Back 91

adjective: obscene

Front 92

beatify

Back 92

verb: to sanctify; to bless; to ascribe a virtue to

noun: beatification

Front 93

bedizen

Back 93

verb: to dress in a vulgar, showy manner

Janell went to the costume party bedizened as a french maid.

Front 94

behemoth

Back 94

noun: huge creature; anything very large and powerful

Front 95

belie

Back 95

verb: to contradict; misrepresent; give a false impression

Raymond's austere facial expression belies his fun personality.

Front 96

beneficent

Back 96

adjective: kindly; doing good

Front 97

bifurcate

Back 97

verb: to divide into two parts

noun: bifurcation

Front 98

blandishment

Back 98

noun: flattery

Front 99

blase, apostrophe thing over the "e"

Back 99

adjective: bored because of frequent indulgence; unconcerned

Front 100

bolster

Back 100

verb: to give a boost to; prop up; support

Front 101

bombastic

Back 101

adjective: pompous; using inflated language

Front 102

boorish

Back 102

adjective: rude; insensitive

Front 103

bovine

Back 103

adjective: cowlike

Front 104

brazen

Back 104

adjective: bold; shameless

Front 105

broach

Back 105

verb: to mention for the first time

Front 106

bucolic

Back 106

adjective: characteristic of the countryside; rustic; pastoral

Front 107

burgeon

Back 107

verb: to flourish

The burgeoning world population resulted in an increase in pollution.

Front 108

burnish

Back 108

verb: to polish

The poet T.S. Eliot burnished his reputation as one of the master poets of the twentieth century with Four Quartets, four long poems published between 1936 and 1942.

Front 109

buttress

Back 109

verb: to reinforce; support

Front 110

cacophonous

Back 110

adjective: unpleasant or harsh-sounding

Front 111

cadge

Back 111

verb: to beg; sponge

An enduring image of he Great Depression in America is the out-of-work man cadging money with the line, "Hey, mister, can you spare a dime for a cup of coffee?"

Front 112

callous

Back 112

adjective: thick skinned; insensitive

Front 113

calumny

Back 113

noun: false and malicious accusation; slander

Front 114

canard

Back 114

noun: false, deliberately misleading story

Front 115

canon

Back 115

noun: an established principle; a basis or standard for judgement; a group of literary works

Canons of aesthetic taste vary over the years; the Rococo period, for example, valued ornate art.

The 60-volume Great Books of th Western World is an attempt to gather the central canon of Western civilization into one collection.

Adjective: canon

The system of civil law originated in the Roman Empire and was kept alive in the Middle Ages in the canon law of the Church.

Adjective: canonical - belonging to a group of literary works

The English professor is trying to persuade the chairperson of her department to let her teach some writers that are not canonical.

Front 116

cant

Back 116

noun: insincere talk; language of a particular group

Commentators dismissed the speech as the mere cant of someone desperately trying to be reelected.

Front 117

cantankerous

Back 117

adjective: irritable; ill-humored

I will always remember lola Norma as a cantankerous old woman who was constantly complaining about something or other.

Front 118

capricious

Back 118

adjective: fickle

Front 119

caprice

Back 119

noun: an inclination to change one's mind compulsively

Styles in high fashion seem governed by caprice as much as anything else.

Front 120

captious

Back 120

adjective: faultfinding; intended to entrap, as in an argument

The English teacher is so pedantic and captious in her marking that her students hve become discouraged.

Front 121

cardinal

Back 121

adjective: of foremost importance

Front 122

carnal

Back 122

adjective: of the flesh or body; related to physical appetites

Front 123

carping

Back 123

verb: to find fault; complain

The band decided to continue to play in their new style despite the carping of critics who said it was a sell-out to commercial interests.

Front 124

cartography

Back 124

noun: the science of making maps

Front 125

caste

Back 125

noun: any of the hereditary social classes of Hindu society; social stratification

adjective: caste

Most modern corporations employ a sort of caste system, with senior executives at the top and ordinary workers at the bottom.

Front 126

castigation

Back 126

noun: punishment; chastisement; criticism

Front 127

cataclysm

Back 127

noun: a violent upheaval that causes great destruction and change

The French Revolution of 1789 was a cataclysm whose effects are still felt today.

Front 128

catalyst

Back 128

noun: something that causes change

Front 129

categorical

Back 129

adjective: absolute; without exception

Incest is categorically forbidden by every state in the US.

Front 130

caucus

Back 130

noun: smaller group within an organization

The workers formed an informal caucus to discuss their difficulties.

The parliament's minority caucus issued a report condemning government policy.

Front 131

causal

Back 131

adjective: involving a cause

Front 132

caustic

Back 132

adjective: sarcastically biting; burning

Front 133

celestial

Back 133

adjective: concerning the sky or heavens; sublime

Front 134

centrifugal

Back 134

adjective: moving away from the center

As the empire expanded, there was an ever-increasing centrifugal stress as remote colonies sought autonomy.

Front 135

centripetal

Back 135

adjective: moving or directed toward a center

Front 136

champion

Back 136

verb: to defend or support

Robin Hood is famous for championing the underdogs of England

Front 137

chasten

Back 137

verb: to correct by punishment or reproof; to restrain or subdue

The child's behavior improved after she had been chastened by punishment.

Front 138

chicanery

Back 138

noun: trickery; fraud

Front 139

chicanery

Back 139

noun: trickery; fraud

The governor ordered an audit to investigate alleged financial chicanery.

Front 140

chivalry

Back 140

noun: the qualities idealized by knighthood such as bravery and gallantry toward women

Front 141

churlish

Back 141

adjective: rude; boorish

Front 142

circuitous

Back 142

adjective: roundabout

After robbing the store, the theif took a circuitous route back to his house in case anyone was following her.

Front 143

clairvoyant

Back 143

noun: one who can predict the future; psychic

Front 144

clamor

Back 144

noun: noisy outcry

Over the past 12 years or so the voices clamoring for better protection of the Earth's rain forests have increased dramatically.

verb: clamor - to cry out noisily

The crowd clamored their disapproval of the plan.

Front 145

cloister

Back 145

verb: to confine; seclude

The writer cloistered herself in a country house to finish her novel.

adjective: cloistered - shut away from the world

The journalist described the large American philanthropic foundations as arrogant, elitist, and cloistered.

noun: cloister - a monastery or convent

Front 146

coagulate

Back 146

verb: to thicken; congeal

Front 147

coalesce

Back 147

verb: to cause to become one

A recent theory of how the Earth got its moon is that a very large object collided with the Earth about 4.5 million years ago to cause iron-free material that gradually coalesced into the moon.

Front 148

coda

Back 148

noun: concluding part of a literary or musical composition; something that summarizes or concludes

The coda of the Danish composer Per Norgard's Sixth Symphony seems to return to the serene sounds of the opening

Front 149

codify

Back 149

verb: to systematize

The state legislature voted to codify regulations governing banking fraud.

noun: codification

The most influential codification of civil law as the Napoleonic Code in France.

adjective: codified

Front 150

cognizant

Back 150

adjective: informed; conscious; aware

Front 151

collage

Back 151

noun: artistic composition of materials pasted over a surface; an assemblage of diverse elements

Modern Singapore is a multiethnic collage of Malays, Indians, Chinese, and many other groups.

Front 152

commensurate

Back 152

adjective: proportional

One of the cornerstones of capitalism is the conviction that a worker's rewards should be commensurate with his or her contribution.

Front 153

compendium

Back 153

noun: brief, comprehensive summary

When one is studying a complex novel, it is helpful to have a compendium that gives information about characters, setting, plot, etc.

Front 154

complacent

Back 154

adjective: self-satisfied

Although Tom received an "A" on his midterm exam, Professor Donovan warned him not to become complacent since the work in the second term would be harder.

Front 155

complaisant

Back 155

adjective: overly polite; willing to please; obliging

Front 156

complement

Back 156

noun: something that completes or makes up a whole

Front 157

compliant

Back 157

adjective: yielding

Front 158

compunction

Back 158

noun: uneasiness caused by guilt

One of the main goals of military training is to train soldiers to kill without compunction.

I felt much compunction while asking kellie to fill out documentation for my volunteer hours; I felt she was doing me big favor and I was over-staying my welcome.

Front 159

concave

Back 159

adjective: curving inward

Front 160

conciliatory

Back 160

adjective: overcoming distrust or hostility

The leader of the country made conciliatory statements assuring the world that his country did not intend to acquire nuclear weapons.

Front 161

concoct

Back 161

verb: to invent

Front 162

concomitant

Back 162

noun: existing concurrently

It appears that bureaucracies are today a necessary evil, a concomitant of modern society

Front 163

condone

Back 163

verb: to overlook voluntarily; forgive

Front 164

confound

Back 164

verb: to baffle; perplex; mix up

Front 165

congenial

Back 165

adjective: similar in tastes and habits; friendly; suited to

The dating service matches men and women with congenial interests.

Front 166

conjugal

Back 166

adjective: pertaining to marriage agreement

Front 167

connoisseur

Back 167

noun: a person possessing expert knowledge or training; a person of informed and discriminating taste

Front 168

conscript

Back 168

noun: person compulsorily enrolled for military service

verb: conscript - to enroll a person for military service

noun: conscription

Front 169

consecrate

Back 169

verb: to declare sacred

Front 170

contend

Back 170

verb: to assert

noun: contention - an assertion

The study's contention is that obesity is America's biggest health problem.

Front 171

contentious

Back 171

adjective: quarrelsome; causing quarrels

Front 172

acrimonious

Back 172

adjective: caustic, stinging, or bitter in nature, speech, behavior, etc.

There was an acrimonious debate between the two candidates.

Front 173

contiguous

Back 173

adjective: touching; neighboring; connecting without a break

There are 48 contiguous states in the US.

Front 174

continence

Back 174

noun: self-control; abstention from sexual activity

Front 175

contrite

Back 175

adjective: very sorrowful for a wrong

Front 176

contumacious

Back 176

adjective: disobedient; rebellious

Ethan is sometimes contumacious, not listening when he is told to stop jumping on the couch.

In the late eighteenth century, Great Britain tried unsuccessfully to put down the uprising againts their rule by contumacious Americans, leading eventually to the establishment of a separate nation.

Front 177

conundrum

Back 177

noun: riddle; puzzle with no solution

The paradoxical statement "This statement is false" presents us with a conundrum

Front 178

convention

Back 178

noun: practice widely observed in a group; custom; accepted technique or device

Front 179

converge

Back 179

verb: to approach; come together; tend to meet

Front 180

convex

Back 180

adjective: curved outward

Front 181

convivial

Back 181

adjective: sociable

Kevin is so convivial; he knows everbody and he is so well-liked.

One of the jobs of an ambassador is to provide an convivial atmosphere for diplomats to meet.

Front 182

convoluted

Back 182

adjective: twisted; complicated

Unraveling the convoluted genetic code is one of the great achievements of modern science.

When I put a pair of ear phones in my pocket, the wires often get convoluted.

If you don't study circuits, it be convoluted to you.

Front 183

copious

Back 183

adjective: abundant; plentiful

The copious rainfall was welcomed by farmers in the parched land.

A typical bento party is characterized my copious amounts of hair gel and shirts from express men.

Front 184

coquette

Back 184

noun: woman who flirts

The cute nurse I saw at University Hospital was a coquette; she eye F-ed me all morning.

Front 185

cornucopia

Back 185

noun: horn overflowing with fruit and grain; state of abundance; an abundant, overflowing supply

The US economy has produced a cornucopia of employment opportunities.

Thanks to my dad I now have a cornucopia of polo ralph lauren shirts.

Front 186

cosmology

Back 186

noun: study of the universe as a totality; theory of the origin and structure of the universe

Front 187

cosmos

Back 187

noun: the physical universe regarded as a totality

Front 188

cosmic

Back 188

adjective: relating to the physical universe, especially as distinct from earth, and suggests infinite vastness

Front 189

covert

Back 189

adjective: hidden; secret

The cute nurse thought I was a spy on a covert, or secret mission.

Front 190

contrived

Back 190

adjective: obviously planned or forced; artificial; strained; obviously planned or calculated; not spontaneous or natural; labored

Front 191

chagrin

Back 191

noun: feeling of mental unease, as of annoyance or embarrassment, caused by failure, disappointment, or a disconcerting event

To her chagrin, the party ended just as she arrived.

Front 192

covetous

Back 192

adjective: desiring something owned by another

I am covetous of rolando's receiver gloves.

Front 193

cozen

Back 193

verb: to mislead by trick or fraud; deceive

I could not cozen Ethan into believing that mommy and daddy was downstairs. To my chagrin, ethan did not fall for my chicanery and continued to cry.

Front 194

craven

Back 194

adjective: cowardly

Raymond is craven when asked to kill an insect.

Front 195

credence

Back 195

noun: acceptance of something that is true

If you cry wolf often with no real danger, people will be less likely to give credence to your future calls for help.

Front 196

credo

Back 196

noun: statement of belief or principle

My credo is "If you're not hot or I can't get anything from you, then there's no point in me talking to you."

Front 197

daunt

Back 197

verb: to discourage; intimidate; dishearten

Front 198

dearth

Back 198

noun: scarcity

In america affluence is located disproportionately in the private sector, leaving a dearth of resources available for the publix sector.

There is a dearth of hot puti girls that eye F kenny, he claims.

Front 199

debauchery

Back 199

noun: corruption

According to my dad, there is much debauchery in the Philippine government, since politicians often give and accept bribes.

Front 200

decorum

Back 200

noun: proper behavior

Although I think Kellie is smokin' hot, I know I am just a volunteer observing a skilled therapist, so I must keep it professional by not flirting and by maintaining decorum.

adjective: decorous

Front 201

defame

Back 201

verb: to malign; harm someone's reputation

Socrates was defamed as a teacher who corrupted the morals of his students.

Front 202

default

Back 202

verb: to fail to act

Front 203

deference

Back 203

noun: respect; regard for another's wish

The proposal was dropped in deference to the objections of a number of people.

Front 204

defer

Back 204

verb: to submit to the wishes of another due to respect or recognition of the person's authority or knowledge

The young lawyer deferred to the view of the senior partner in the law firm.

Front 205

dufunct

Back 205

adjective: no longer existing

Front 206

delineate

Back 206

verb: to represent or depict

Quantum theory led to the formation of the uncertainty principle, which was delineated in 1937 by Werner Heisenberg

Front 207

demographic

Back 207

adjective: related to population balance

Demographic trends in many European countries indicate that in the next generation there will be relatively fewer working people to support retired people.

Front 208

demography

Back 208

noun: the study of human population

demographer is one who studies human population

Front 209

demotic

Back 209

adjective: pertaining to people

Front 210

demur

Back 210

verb: to express doubt

The Supreme Court's decision was not unanimous; one justice demurred, saying that the majority decision used specious reasoning.

Front 211

denigrate

Back 211

verb: to slur someone's reputation

Front 212

denizen

Back 212

noun: an inhabitant; a regular visitor

The US Census Bureau has the responsibility of collecting information about the denizens of the United States.

Front 213

denouement

Back 213

noun: outcome; unraveling of the plot of a play or work of literature

The book tells the story of what was for Europe a rather embarassing denouement to the Crusades.

Front 214

deride

Back 214

verb: to mock

Front 215

derivative

Back 215

noun: something derived; unoriginal

The drug morphine is the principal derivative of opium

adjective: derivative

The critic dismissed the new novel as dull and derivative.

verb: derive - obtained from another source

Front 216

dessicate

Back 216

verb: to dry completely

Front 217

desuetude

Back 217

noun: state of disuse

NASA is considering a plan to refurbish booster rockets from the Apollo Program that have fallen into desuetude.

Front 218

desultory

Back 218

adjective: random; disconnected; rambling

The jury had difficulty following the witnesses' desultory testimony.

Rather than go through his GRE book in a desultory manner, Raymond delineated a plan to split up the book in sections, and finish them in a certain order, so that the task would appear less daunting.

Front 219

deterrent

Back 219

noun: something that discourages or hinders

Front 220

detraction

Back 220

noun: the act of taking away; derogatory comment on a person's character

The writer responded in a letter to the critic's long list of detractions about his book.

Front 221

diaphanous

Back 221

adjective: transparent; fine-textured; insubstantial; vague

In WWII, many soldiers went to war with diaphanous dreams of glory, but fund instead horror and death.

Front 222

diatribe

Back 222

noun: bitter verbal attack

The crazy lady from the movie Jesus camp launched into a diatribe againts the evils of Harry Potter books.

Front 223

dichotomy

Back 223

noun: division into two usually contradicting parts

The philosopher is a dualist who argues that there is a dichotomy between the mind and physical phenomena.

Front 224

diffidence

Back 224

noun: shyness; lack of confidence

My diffidence shows when I am around beautiful women, which is evident in the fact that I hardly talk to them.

Front 225

diffuse

Back 225

verb: to spread out

The idea of equality and liberty diffused through society after the French Revolution.

adjective: diffuse - wordy; rambling; spread out

This essay is so diffuse it is difficult to follow its central argument.

Front 226

digression

Back 226

noun: the act of straying from the main point

Front 227

platonic

Back 227

adjective: spiritual, without sensual desire, or theoretical

Front 228

dirge

Back 228

noun: funeral hymn

Front 229

disabuse

Back 229

verb: to free from a misconception

Front 230

discerning

Back 230

adjective: perceptive; exhibiting keen insight and good judgement

verb: discern - to perceive something obscure

Front 231

discomfit

Back 231

verb: to make uneasy; disconcert

Raymond was discomfited by having to carry the chocolates and thank you card all morning in the hospital.

Front 232

discordant

Back 232

adjective: not in tune

In a pluralistic society there exists a cacophony of discordant voices, each shouting to be heard.

Front 233

discredit

Back 233

verb: to dishonor; disgrace; cause to be doubted

Front 234

discrepancy

Back 234

noun: difference between

Front 235

dirge

Back 235

noun: funeral hymn

The pianist played a dirge at Matt's funeral.

Front 236

disabuse

Back 236

verb: to free from a misconception

One year of medical school was enough to disabuse Steve of the idea that medical school is a "piece of cake"

Front 237

discrete

Back 237

adjective: constituting a separate thing; distinct

Like the physicist, the abstract artist strives to identify the discrete elements of reality and to understand how they interact.

Front 238

discretion

Back 238

noun: quality of showing self-restraint in speech or actions; circumspection; freedom to act on one's own

Front 239

circumspect

Back 239

adjective: heedful of potential consequences; prudent; careful and sensible; marked by sound judgement

Front 240

disingenuous

Back 240

adjective: not candid; crafty

Front 241

disinterested

Back 241

adjective: unprejudiced; objective

The newspaper reporter looked for disinterested witnesses to the events so that she could get an objective account of what had happened.

Front 242

disjointed

Back 242

adjective: lacking order or coherence; dislocated

Front 243

dismiss

Back 243

verb: put away from consideration; reject

Investigators dismissed the man's account of a visit to another planet aboard an alien spacecraft as the product of an overactive imagination.

Front 244

disparage

Back 244

verb: to belittle

Philosophy is sometimes disparaged as merely an intellectual game.

Front 245

disparate

Back 245

adjective: dissimilar

Many technological projects are interdisciplinary, requiring a knowledge of fields as disparate as physics and biology.

Front 246

dissemble

Back 246

verb: to pretend; disguise one's motives

I dissembled that I did not find Kellie attractive, though I did glance at her whenever I felt she wouldn't notice.

I believe you are dissembling. Tell me the truth! Do you really like my haircut?

Front 247

disseminate

Back 247

verb: to spread; scatter; disperse

I disseminated the seeds in the back yard and waited for flowers to sprout.

Belief in reincarnation appeared as doctrine first in India an was disseminated throughout Asia by Buddhism.

Front 248

dissident

Back 248

noun: person who disagrees about beliefs, etc.

Front 249

dissolution

Back 249

noun: disintegration; debauchery

Some philosophers maintain that the dissolution of the body does not mean the destruction of the mind

Front 250

dissonance

Back 250

noun: discord; lack of harmony

Front 251

distend

Back 251

verb: to expand; swell out

Front 252

distill

Back 252

verb: extract the essential elements

Front 253

distrait

Back 253

adjective: inattentive; preoccupied

The chairperson became distrait because his secretary was not sitting in her usual position on his right.

Front 254

diverge

Back 254

verb: to vary; go in different directions from the same point

Front 255

divest

Back 255

verb: to strip; deprive; rid

The candidate for secretary of defense pledged to divest himself of the shares he held in defense-related companies.

Front 256

divulge

Back 256

verb: to make known something that is secret

Under the Geneva Conventions prisoners of war cannot be tortured and forced to divulge information.

Front 257

doctrinaire

Back 257

adjective: relating to a person who cannot compromise about points of a theory or doctrine; dogmatic; unyielding

The doctrinaire Marxists say that capitalism is merely a temporary phenomenon on the road to socialism.

Front 258

doggerel

Back 258

noun: poor verse

Front 259

dogmatic

Back 259

adjective: stating opinions without proof

Since every case is unique, jurists must not be dogmatic in applying precedents to make their decision, but instead must base their decision on a combination of such precedents and the facts of the case at hand.

Front 260

dogma

Back 260

noun: a belief asserted on authority without evidence

Religions whose dogma specifies a time of the creation of the world have found difficulty in reconciling their view of creation with that of modern science.

Front 261

dormant

Back 261

adjective: inactive

Front 262

dross

Back 262

noun: waste; worthless matter; trivial matter

One of the ways the dross among blogs on the internet are filtered out from the worthwhile ones is through links good blogs provide to other good blogs.

Front 263

dupe

Back 263

verb: to deceive; trick

Front 264

ebullient

Back 264

adjective: exhilarated; enthusiastic

The ebullient candidate for president appeared before his supporters to announce that he had one in a landslide.

Front 265

eclectic

Back 265

adjective: selecting from various sources

Front 266

effervescence

Back 266

noun: state of high spirits or liveliness; the process of bubbling as gas escapes

adjective: effervescent

Front 267

effete

Back 267

adjective: depleted of vitality, exhausted; overrefined; decadent; no longer productive, infertile

It is interesting to observe how some traditions remain strong, while others gradually become effete.

Front 268

efficacy

Back 268

noun: efficiency; effectiveness

Front 269

effrontery

Back 269

noun: shameless boldness; presumptuousness

In her essay the student had the effrontery to argue that school is largely a waste of time.

Front 270

egoism

Back 270

noun: the tendency to see things in relation to oneself; self-centeredness

Front 271

egotistical

Back 271

adjective: excessively self-centered; conceited

Front 272

elegy

Back 272

noun: poem or song expressing lamentation

Adonais is a pastoral elegy written by Percy Bysshe Shelly in the spring of 1821 after he learned of the death of his friend and fellow poet John Keats.

Front 273

elicit

Back 273

verb: to provoke; draw out

The Socratic method is designed to elicit responses that guide the student toward understanding.

Nothing the teacher could say was able to elicit a response from the bored students.

Front 274

elixir

Back 274

noun: a substance believed to hve the power to cure ills

Front 275

Elysian

Back 275

adjective: blissful; delightful

The novel portrays an Elysian world in which suffering and death have been eliminated.

Front 276

emaciated

Back 276

adjective: thin and wasted

The prisoner was emaciated after being fed only bread and water for three months.

Front 277

embellish

Back 277

verb: to adorn; decorate; enhance; make more attractive by adding details

It seems to be almost a natural human trait to embellish a good story to make it an even better story.

Front 278

emollient

Back 278

adjective: soothing; mollifying

The veteran mediator is famous for his emollient approach that rarely fails to find a way to bring opposing sides together.

noun: emollient - an agent that soothes or makes more acceptable

Front 279

empirical

Back 279

adjective: derived from observation or experiment

It has been said that Charles Darwin, virtually single-handedly, emancipated science from the idealogies of philosophy and religion by being fiercely independent in his thinking, rejecting all prevailing dogmas as to the immutability of species and relying solely on empirical evidence.

Front 280

emulate

Back 280

verb: to imitate; copy

Front 281

heuristic

Back 281

adjective: educational method in which students learn from their own investigations

Front 282

encomium

Back 282

noun: a formal expression of praise

The prime minister asked her speechwriter to compose an encomium for the retiring general.

Encomiums to Pope Paul II began to be published in newspapers around he world shortly after his death in 2005.

Front 283

endemic

Back 283

adjective: inherent; belonging to an area

Malaria, once endemic to the area, has now been largely eradicated.

Faced with endemic high unemployment, the government lowered taxes on foreign investment to encourage economic growth.

Front 284

enervate

Back 284

verb: to weaken

During WWII Russian commanders counted on the bitter cold to enervate German soldiers invading their country.

Front 285

engender

Back 285

verb: to cause; produce

Freudians believe that the traumatic events of infancy often engender repression that creates neuroses.

Much of the tragedy of the Holocaust can be attributed to the fanatical racism engendered by the Nazis.

Front 286

enhance

Back 286

verb: to increase; improve

Front 287

entomology

Back 287

noun: the scientific study of insects

Front 288

enunciate

Back 288

verb: to pronounce clearly

In everyday speech the sounds of many words are not enunciated clearly.

Front 289

ephemeral

Back 289

adjective: short-lived; fleeting

Front 290

epistemology

Back 290

noun: branch of philosophy that examines the nature of knowledge

The cognitive sciences are providing epistemology with new insights into how the mind acquires knowledge.

Front 291

equable

Back 291

adjective: steady; unvarying; serene

Throughout the crisis the president remained equable.

Perth, Australia is often cited as a pleasant place to live because of its equable climate.

Front 292

equitable

Back 292

adverb: fair, just, impartial

Some people want to ensure that the fruits of capitalism are shared equitably.

Front 293

equanimity

Back 293

noun: composure; calmness

Emergency room doctors and nurses are trained to maintain their equanimity when treating patients.

Front 294

equivocate

Back 294

verb: to intentionally use vague language; to use ambiguous or unclear expressions, usually to avoid commitment or in order to mislead; be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to withhold information;
synonyms: evade, stall, dodge

Mary Jane said to Peter Parker, "Don't equivocate; tell me if you love me or not."

Front 295

semantics

Back 295

noun: interpretation of a word, sentence, or other language form

Front 296

errant

Back 296

adjective: mistaken; straying from the proper course

The pitcher's errant fastball struck the batter on the shoulder.

Front 297

erudite

Back 297

adjective: learned; scholarly

The young history Ph.D candidate is not as erudite his supervising professor, who appears to know just about everything that happened in history.

Members of the Society of Jesus (often called Jesuits), are famous for their erudition, which they believe should be used in the service of God.

Front 298

esoteric

Back 298

adjective: hard to understand; known only to a few

Much slang originates in a specific group as a sort of argot that allows that group to share something esoteric.

Front 299

essay

Back 299

verb: to make an attempt; subject to a test

The composer began work on a sonata, a form she had not previously essayed.

The infant essayed walking up a stairs for the first time in her life.

Front 300

estimable

Back 300

adjective: admirable; possible to estimate

Chris Everet was an estimable tennis player who won three Wimbeldon titles.

Front 301

ethnocentric

Back 301

adjective: based on the attitude that one's group is superior

The words "primitive" and "savage" reflect an ethnocentric bias in Western culture that regards societies that do not have Western science and technology as inferior because they have not achieved as much material success as Western societies.

noun: ethnocentrism - During certain periods of Chinese history, foreigners were considered to be "barbarians"; perhaps this ethnocentrism made it difficult for the Chinese to accept innovations from other countries.

Front 302

etiology

Back 302

noun: causes or origins

The diversity of factors involved in triggering cancers maes it difficult to be certain of the etiology of a particular case of cancer.

Front 303

etymology

Back 303

noun: origin and history of a word

"Folk etymology" is the term used by linguists to refer to popular theories of how words originated or changed their meaning.

Front 304

eugenics

Back 304

noun: study of factors that influence the hereditary qualities of the human race and ways to improve these qualities.

Alexander Graham Bell advocated a form of eugenics; from his research, he concluded that deafness was hereditary and in 1881 he recommended that deaf people be prohibited from getting married.

Front 305

eulogy

Back 305

noun: high praise, especially of a person who has recently died

Front 306

euphemism

Back 306

noun: use of agreeable or inoffensive language in place of unpleasant or offensive language.

Front 307

euphoria

Back 307

noun: a feeling of extreme happiness

Front 308

eugenics

Back 308

noun: study of factors that influence the hereditary qualities of the human race and ways to improve these qualities.

Alexander Graham Bell advocated a form of eugenics; from his research, he concluded that deafness was hereditary and in 1881 he recommended that deaf people be prohibited from getting married.

Front 309

euthanasia

Back 309

noun: mercy killing

Front 310

evince

Back 310

verb: to show plainly; be an indication of

The student's response to the teacher's question evinced his ignorance of the subject.

Front 311

evocative

Back 311

adjective: tending to call to mind or produce a reaction

noun: evocation
Some literary critics believe that Charles Dicken's use of caricature makes his characters one-dimensional, but others see these characters as evocations of universal human types that resonate powerfully with readers' experiences of real people.

verb: evoke
The terms "loaded language" and "charged language" are used to specify language that has so many connotations for most readers that it is difficult for a writer to use it without evoking myriad associations, which will distract attention from the topic under discussion.

Front 312

exacerbate

Back 312

verb: to aggravate; make worse

Front 313

exact

Back 313

verb: to force the payment of; demand and obtain by authority

The conquering rulers exacted a tax of 10% from every adult male in the country.

Front 314

exacting

Back 314

adjective: extremely demanding

Amateur radio equipment generally is not built to the exacting standards that professional and military radio equipment is.

Front 315

exculpate

Back 315

verb: to clear of blame; vindicate

The report exculpated the FBI of any wrongdoing in its handling of the investigation.

The defendant's attorney brought forward new evidence that exculpated her of the crime.

Front 316

execrable

Back 316

adjective: detestable; abhorrent

The people living in the slums of Mexico City live in execrable conditions.

Front 317

exhort

Back 317

verb: to urge by strong appeals

The principal exhorted the students to study hard for the final exams.

Front 318

exigency

Back 318

noun: crisis; urgent requirements

Astronauts must be prepared for exigencies such as damage to their spacecraft's life support system.

Front 319

existential

Back 319

adjective: having to do with existence; based on experience; having to do with the philosophy of existentialism

Existential writers writers such as Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre tend to focus on the individual human condition as opposed to human social interaction.

Front 320

exorcise

Back 320

verb: to expel evil spirits; free from bad influences

Front 321

expatiate

Back 321

verb: to speak or write at length

Every year the book club invites a famous author to come to expatiate on the art of writing

The literature student was amazed that the professor could expatiate for an hour on a poem containing only 12 words.

Front 322

expatriate

Back 322

verb: to send into exile

People seeking asylum in another country are sometimes expatriated

noun: expatriate - a person living outside his or her own land
The eminent poet T.S. Eliot was born in the United States in 1888 and lived in England as an expatriate from 1914 until 1927, when he became a British subject.
adjective: expatriate

Front 323

expiate

Back 323

verb: to atone for

The pilgrims undertook their long journey to expiate their sins.

The bad guy from Da Vinci code whipped himself to expiate his sins.

noun: expiation - atonement; compensation for a wrong

Front 324

explicate

Back 324

verb: to explain; interpret; classify

The literature exam requires students to explicate three poems they studied in class.

In 8th grade english, we once had to explicate the song "Crash" by Dave Matthews Band.

noun: explication - an explanation; interpretation

Front 325

expository

Back 325

adjective: explanatory; serving to explain: an expository essay; expository writing

Front 326

extant

Back 326

adjective: in existence; not lost

Unfortunately for Bible scholars, there are no extant writings of Jesus Christ.

The book contains all the extant writings of Edgar Allen Poe.

Front 327

extemporaneous

Back 327

adjective: unrehearsed

I hate doing "free style" or extemporaneous dancing while trying out for small group; I never know what to do.

Front 328

extirpate

Back 328

verb: to root up; to destroy

The new federal prosecutor promised voters that he would extirpate corruption in the state.

Front 329

extraneous

Back 329

adjective: not essential

Front 330

extrapolation

Back 330

noun: the act of estimation by projecting known information

verb: extrapolate - I extrapolate that I will not do well on the verbal section based on the current information that I have not learned all 800 words yet.

Front 331

extrinsic

Back 331

adjective: not inherent or essential

Being born to a wealthy family can be considered an extrinsic advantage to a person.

Front 332

facetious

Back 332

adjective: humorous

Front 333

facilitate

Back 333

verb: to make less difficult

Front 334

factotum

Back 334

noun: a person who does all sorts of work; a handyman

The general's aide-de-camp functions as the general's factotum.

Front 335

fallacious

Back 335

adjective: based on a false idea or fact; misleading

The belief of the Nazis that they could create a "master race" was based on the fallacious premise that some races are inherently superior to others.

Front 336

fallacy

Back 336

noun: an incorrect idea

Front 337

fallow

Back 337

adjective: plowed but not sowed; uncultivated

The farmer could not afford to let any of his fields lie fallow.

At the beginnin of each school year the teacher looks out at the new students and thnks of a fallow field, ready to be cultivated.

Front 338

fatuous

Back 338

adjective: foolishly self-satisfied; foolish or silly, especially in a smug or self-satisfied way.

"Don't you like the poor bachelor?" he yammered in a fatuous way.

The teacher was becoming tired of her student's fatuous response to literature.

Front 339

fauna

Back 339

noun: animals of a period or region

When humans introduce fauna from one habitat into another habitat, the ecological balance is upset.

Front 340

fawning

Back 340

adjective: seeking favor by flattering

In an episode of Scrubs, the fawning surgeons did favors for the head doctor so they could keep their jobs.

Front 341

felicitous

Back 341

adjective: suitably expressed; appropriate; well-chosen

The Gettysburg Address is full felicitious phrases such as "government of the people, by the people, and for the people."

Front 342

feral

Back 342

adjective: existing in a wild or untamed state

Feral dogs returning to an untamed state after domestication sometimes form packs, becoming a threat to humans.

Front 343

fervor

Back 343

noun: warmth and intensity of emotion

American soldiers were welcomed back to the United States with fervor after the end of WWII.

Tim Tebow passes and runs with equal fervor.

Front 344

fervent

Back 344

adjective: full of strong emotion; impassioned

Niels, a fervent born again christian, believes strongly in no sexual relations before marriage. F that ****.

Front 345

fetid

Back 345

adjective: having a bad smell

Mosquitoes are breeding in the fetid pond.

Front 346

fetter

Back 346

verb: to bind; confine

The poet William Blake believed that each person creates "mind-forged manacles," fettering his or her natural instincts and spirit.

noun: fetter - something that restricts or restrains

The libertarian believes that modern democratic governments place unacceptable fetters on individual liberty

adjective: fettered - bound or confined

Front 347

fiat

Back 347

noun: arbitrary order; authorization; an authoritative decree, sanction, or order by a person or group of persons having absolute authority to enforce it:

The king ruled by fiat.

Front 348

arbitrary

Back 348

adjective: subject to individual will or judgement without restriction: an arbitrary decision; having unlimited power; uncontrolled or unrestricted by law; despotic; tyrannical

Front 349

fidelity

Back 349

noun: loyalty; exact correspondence

Front 350

filibuster

Back 350

noun: use of obstructive tactics in a legislature to block passage of a law

The senator threatened that his filibuster would include a full reading of his eight-volume autobiography.

Front 351

finesse

Back 351

verb: to handle with a deceptive or evasive strategy; to use finesse, that is, refinement in performance

Engineers decided that the problem could be finessed by using lighter materials.

Front 352

fissure

Back 352

noun: crevice

Geologists measure the width of the fissure regularly to monitor movement of the Earth's plates in the area.

Front 353

flag

Back 353

verb: to droop; grow weak

The marathon runner began to flag about two miles from te finish line.

Front 354

fledgling

Back 354

noun: beginner; novice

adjective: fledgling - immature or inexperienced

Front 355

flora

Back 355

noun: plants of a region or era

Front 356

florid

Back 356

adjective: ruddy; reddish; flowery

A florid style is generally best avoided when one is writing a business letter or report.

Front 357

flourish

Back 357

noun: an embellishment or ornamentation

Rhetorical flourishes are generally frowned upon under the canons of modern English.

verb: flourish - to grow vigorously, or to thrive

Front 358

sophistry

Back 358

noun: reasoning that is subtle and seemingly true but is actually incorrect

Front 359

flout

Back 359

verb: to treat scornfully

The student's essay flouts the rules of written English.

Front 360

flux

Back 360

noun: flowing; a continuous moving

The education system is in a state of flux, as administrators struggle to keep up with changes in society.

Front 361

foment

Back 361

verb: to incite; arouse

The government accused the newspaper of fomenting unrest in the country.

The country accused the neighboring country of employing agents to foment revolution.

Front 362

forbearance

Back 362

noun: patience

The president warned that great courage and forbearance would be required to see the war through to a successful conclusion.

Front 363

forestall

Back 363

verb: to prevent; delay

The government took steps to forestall an economic downturn by increasing government spending.

Front 364

formidable

Back 364

adjective: menacing; threatening

By the middle of the nineteenth century the United States had become a formidable economic and military power.

Front 365

forswear

Back 365

verb: renounce; repudiate

When she became a US citizen, Julia forswore allegiance to all other countries and pledged to defend the United States if called upon to do so.

Front 366

founder

Back 366

verb: to sink; fail; collapse

The negotiations foundered when agreement could not be reached on the central issue.

Front 367

fracas

Back 367

noun: a loud quarrel; brawl

The police were called in to break up a fracas that had erupted in the bar.

Front 368

fractious

Back 368

adjective: quarrelsome; unruly; rebellious

In an effort to unify their divided party, its leaders decided to first placate the party's most fractious elements.

Front 369

fresco

Back 369

noun: a painting done on plaster

Front 370

frieze

Back 370

noun: ornamental band on a wall

Archaeologists are studying the frieze, which they hope will give them a better understanding of life in ancient greece.

Front 371

froward

Back 371

adjective: stubbornly contrary; obstinately disobedient

The froward horse resisted every effort of its rider to make it follow the path.

Whenever Ethan acts frowardly, he gets a time out.

Front 372

frugality

Back 372

noun: thrift

Front 373

fulminate

Back 373

verb: to attack loudly; denounce

The reformer fulminated againts a society in which wealth is distributed so unequally.

Front 374

fulsome

Back 374

adjective: so excessive as to be disgusting

The actor was embarrassed by the fulsome praise he received after winning the Academy Award for best actor.

Front 375

fusion

Back 375

adjective: union; synthesis

Front 376

fission

Back 376

splitting into two parts

Front 377

futile

Back 377

adjective: ineffective; useless; fruitless

Front 378

gainsay

Back 378

verb: to deny; dispute; oppose

No one can gainsay the fact that UF beat OSU's ass in the BCS title game.

Front 379

gambol

Back 379

verb: to frolic; leap playfully

Ethan gamboled around the airport waiting area while we waited for Karen to tell us whether or not we would be stuck in New York for the weekend.

noun: gambol - frolicking about

Front 380

garrulous

Back 380

adjective: very talkative; wordy

Sharkey is often garrulous - talkative and wordy.

The garrulous witness keps digressing from his account of the incident to tell amusing anecdotes.

Front 381

gauche

Back 381

adjective: coarse and uncouth; clumsy

The protagonist of the novel is a shy woman who becomes flustered and gauche in formal social situtions.

What is considered gauche in one culture might not be considered gauche in another culture; for example, burping is considered rude in America but is acceptible in China.

Front 382

geniality

Back 382

noun: cheerfulness; kindliness; sociability

The host's geniality impressed everyone at the party.

adjective: genial - having a pleasant or friendly disposition

Front 383

gerrymander

Back 383

verb: to divide an area into voting districts in a way that favors a political party

Front 384

glib

Back 384

adjective: fluent in an insincere way; offhand; marked by ease and fluency of speech or writing that often suggests or stems from insincerity, superficiality, or deceitfulness

The suspect's explanation sounded suspiciously glib to the detective.

Front 385

goad

Back 385

verb: to prod; urge on

I goaded Kevin into trying out flag football. He quit right away.

Front 386

gossamer

Back 386

adjective: sheer; light and delicate, like cobwebs

The pilot assured me that the glider's gossamer wings would support the aircraft just fine, but I still had my doubts.

Some experts in NASA believe that what they call a gigantic "gossamer spacecraft" could be constructd in space using extremely lightweight materials.

Front 387

gouge

Back 387

verb: to tear out; scoop out; overcharge

The store is able to gouge its customers because it is the only store in the area that carries that particular line of merchandise.

Front 388

grandiloquent

Back 388

adjective: pompous; bombastic

The orator abandoned grandiloquent phrases and instead uses simple and direct language.

Front 389

gregarious

Back 389

adjective: sociable

Human beings are gregarious creatures that are comfortable living in groups of around 150 individuals.

Greg Podraza is gregarious, meaning sociable. Probably why Melissa Santilli likes him.

Front 390

grouse

Back 390

verb: to complain

Instead of grousing about your noisy neighbors, do something about it: knock on their door and tell them to shut the hell up.

noun: grouse
The lieutenant told his men "If you have any grouses, take them to the captain."

Anyone with a grouse about my speed drills can talk to me after practice.

Front 391

guileless

Back 391

adjective: free of cunning or deceit; artless

Front 392

guile

Back 392

noun: deception or trickery

Front 393

guise

Back 393

noun: outward appearance; false appearance; pretense

According to Hindu belief, God appears throughout history in many guises.

Front 394

gullible

Back 394

adjective: easily deceived

Front 395

gustatory

Back 395

adjective: affecting the sense of taste

Front 396

halcyon

Back 396

adjective: calm and peaceful; happy; golden; prosperous

The movie evokes the halcyon years immediately after WWII when America was at peace and the economy was booming.

Front 397

hallowed

Back 397

adjective: holy; sacred

Front 398

harangue

Back 398

noun: long, pompous speech; tirade

Browntown listened to Roger's half-time harangue about poor flag pulling, dropped passes, and overall lack of fervor in the football game.

Front 399

harrowing

Back 399

adjective: extremely distressing; terrifying

The journey "inward" to explore the unconscious mind has been described as more harrowing than the most dangerous voyage to explore the earth.

Front 400

hermetic

Back 400

adjective: tightly sealed; magical

The "hermetic tradition" refers to a number of interrelated subjects such as alchemy, magic, and astrology.

Front 401

heterodox

Back 401

adjective: unorthodox; not widely accepted

The orthodox view among scientists is that the ancestors of the great apes and humans evolved solely in Africa; however, recently a competing, heterodox view has arisen theorizing that they also may have evolved in Euroasia.

Front 402

hieroglyphics

Back 402

noun: a system of writing in which pictorial symbols represent meaning or sounds; writing or symbols that are difficult to decipher; the symbols used in advanced mathematics.

Front 403

hirsute

Back 403

adjective: covered with hair

Monkeys and the sasquatch are hirsute, meaning covered with hair.

Front 404

histrionic

Back 404

adjective: relating to exaggerated emotional behavior calculated for effect; theatrical arts or performances; deliberately affected or self-consciously emotional; overly dramatic, in behavior or speech

Most mothers are astute at judging whether their child's tears are genuine or merely histrionic.

noun: histrionics - emotional behavior done for effect

"Cut the histrionics and tell me how you really feel," the woman said to her angry husband.

Front 405

homeostasis

Back 405

noun: automatic maintenance by an organism of normal temperature, chemical balance, etc. within itself

Front 406

homily

Back 406

noun: sermon; tedious moralizing lecture; platitude

Front 407

homogeneous

Back 407

adjective: composed of identical parts; uniform in composition

Front 408

hyperbole

Back 408

noun: purposeful exaggeration for effect

It would be hyperbole to say that scientists have gained a perfect understanding of the process of human evolution; however, it is fair to say that over the last century and a half a reasonably clear idea of it has emerged.

Front 409

iconoclastic

Back 409

adjective: attacking cherished traditions

The linguist and political commentator Noam Chomsky has been described as gleefully iconoclastic because of the zeal with which he attacks many of the central beliefs of American society.

Front 410

icon

Back 410

noun: an image or representation

Front 411

idolatry

Back 411

noun: idol worship; blind or excessive devotion

During the Protestant Reformation images in churches were felt to be a form of idolatry and were banned and destroyed.

Front 412

igneous

Back 412

adjective: produced by fire; volcanic

Front 413

imbroglio

Back 413

noun: complicated situation; an entanglement

The president warned Congress that the US should not become involved in the diplomatic imbroglio.

Front 414

immutable

Back 414

adjective: unchangeable

noun: immutability
The dogma of creation and the immutability of species was endorsed virtually unanimously by the leading anatomists, botanists, and zoologists of Charles Darwin's day.

Front 415

impair

Back 415

verb: to damage; injure

Front 416

impassive

Back 416

adjective: showing no emotion

The judge sat impassive through the entire murder trial, carefully considering the evidence presented.

Front 417

impecunious

Back 417

adjective: poor; having no money

The impecunious artist is applying for a grant so that she can continue playing full time.

Front 418

impede

Back 418

verb: to hinder; block

The development of the western region of China has been impeded by a lack of trained workers.

Front 419

impermeable

Back 419

adjective: impossible to penetrate

Front 420

imperturbable

Back 420

adjective: not easily disturbed

An important attribute of a leader is the ability to remain imperturbable in a crisis.

Front 421

impervious

Back 421

adjective: impossible to penetrate; incapable of being affected

We were amazed how Laura could sit at the noisy party studying organic chemistry, impervious to the noise around her.

Front 422

impinge

Back 422

verb: to strike; encroach

When you look at a star that is 50 light years away, the light that is impinging on your retina forms an image of the star as it was 50 years in the past.

Front 423

implacable

Back 423

adjective: inflexible; incapable of being pleased

Sometimes seen as implacable foes of science, many theologians are working to reconcile divergent views of science and religion.

Front 424

implausible

Back 424

adjective: unlikely; unbelievable

It seems implausible to some people that a complex organ such as the human eye developed purely as a result of the process of evolution through natural selection.

Front 425

implicit

Back 425

adjective: implied; understood but not stated

Implicit in the idea of democracy is the notion of individual liberty.

Front 426

implication

Back 426

that which is hinted at or suggested; something implied

Front 427

implode

Back 427

verb: to collapse inward violently

Front 428

imprecation

Back 428

noun: curse

The convicted man was taken away by court officers, uttering imprecations againts the jury that had found him guilty.

Front 429

impute

Back 429

verb: to relate to a particular cause or source; attribute the fault to; assign as a characteristic

People often impute great cleverness to cats.

Front 430

inadvertently

Back 430

adverb: carelessly; unintentionally

Nickelback says that it is easy to inadvertently use the melody of another song when composing.

Front 431

incarnate

Back 431

adjective: having bodily form

Christians believe that Jesus Christ was God incarnate.

Front 432

inchoate

Back 432

adjective: imperfectly formed or formulated

In his book, Chronicles, Bob Dylan describes the process of how some of his songs went from an inchoate state to finished, well-produced songs.

Front 433

incongruity

Back 433

noun: state of not fitting

There is an incongruity between the poem's solemn tone and its light-hearted theme.

Front 434

incongruous

Back 434

adjective: not fitting

Front 435

inconsequential

Back 435

adjective: insignificant; unimportant

The meeting of Ray and Jenilee at the flag football game seemed inconsequential at the time, but in retrospect it was the beginning of their long relationship.

Front 436

incorporate

Back 436

verb: introduce something into another thing already in existence; combine

According to Bob Dylan in his autobiography, Chronicles, he systematically tried to incorporate what he learned about life and music into the songs he wrote.

Front 437

incursion

Back 437

noun: sudden invasion

At first, the Native Americans were not too concerned about the incursions of European settlers, but their anxiety grew with the relentless flow of people, until, finally, calamitous wars were fought between the two sides.

Front 438

indeterminate

Back 438

adjective: uncertain; indefinite

The novel describes the main character as "being of an indeterminate age, somewhere between 50 and 60."

Front 439

indigence

Back 439

noun: poverty

Most economists believe that the best way to prevent indigence is to expand employment opportunities.

Those living in indigence are often impecunious.

Front 440

indigent

Back 440

adjective: in poverty

For approximately 20% of he world's population, nearly all of whom are indigent, malnutrition is the main impediment to achieving good health

Front 441

indolent

Back 441

adjective: habitually lazy; idle

An arguement againts welfare is that it encourages people to be indolent.

My indolent ways are over; I will now stay busy and work hard every day so I will get accepted into PT school.

Front 442

ineluctable

Back 442

adjective: not to be avoided or escaped; inevitable

No one can escape the ineluctable truth that every creature that is born will one day die.

Front 443

inert

Back 443

adjective: unable to move; sluggish

The teacher was frustrated by his inability to get an answer to his question from his inert class.

The old buckeye that had a tumor removed was inert; Kellie essentially moved his muscles and joints for him.

Front 444

inertia

Back 444

noun: disinclination to action or change

The fact that industrialization occured in Europe hundreds of years before it did in china, which had reached a similar level of technology, is perhaps attributable to cultural factors such as bureaucratic inertia in china an a culture that placed a high value on the status quo.

Front 445

status quo

Back 445

the existing state of affairs

Front 446

ingenuous

Back 446

adjective: naive and trusting; lacking sophistication

The conman could not bring himself to take advantage of the ingenuous boy.

Front 447

inherent

Back 447

adjective: firmly established by nature or habit

Front 448

innocuous

Back 448

adjective: harmless

RJ looks inocuous, but his martial arts training will kick your ass.

Front 449

insensible

Back 449

adjective: unconscious; unresponsive

The gas is intended to render enemy soldiers insensible.

A punch to the head by Chuck Lidell will most likely leave you insensible.

Front 450

insinuate

Back 450

verb: to suggest; say indirectly; imply

If you read his speech carefully you will see that the senator is insinuating that his party has taken the wrong path.

Front 451

insipid

Back 451

adjective: lacking flavor; dull

Ironically, the book about how to write lively, engaging prose is an insipid piece of writing.

Indonesians who travel to America sometimes find the food so insipid that they add chili to it.

Front 452

insouciant

Back 452

adjective: indifferent; lacking concern or care

Considering the gravity of the situation, Nancy's colleagues could not understand her insouciant attitude.

The "cool" look that many fashion models affect seems meant to convey a look of insouciance.

Front 453

insularity

Back 453

noun: narrow-mindedness; isolation

The country's insularity makes it difficult for its people to accept ideas from different cultures.

Front 454

insuperable

Back 454

adjective: insurmountable; unconquerable

Since, according to the theory of relativity, an object traveling at the speed of light would have infinite mass, astronauts traveling at that speed would, presumably, face insuperable difficulties.

Front 455

intangible

Back 455

adjective: not material

When considering what occupation to pursue it is prudent to consider intangible rewards as well as financial ones.

Front 456

interdict

Back 456

verb: to forbid; prohibit; to confront and halt the activities, advance, or entry of

Under US law, interdicted goods can be seized by customs officials.

Military intelligence officers played a major role in interdicting spies attempting to pass top-secret intelligence to the enemy.

Front 457

internecine

Back 457

adjective: deadly to both sides

The US civil war was an internecine conflict that lead to the deaths of 620,000 soldiers out of the 2.4 million who fought in the war

Front 458

interpolate

Back 458

verb: to insert; change by adding new words or material

Scholars disagree on whether the text is entirely the work of the original author or cantains passages interpolated by later writers.

Front 459

interregnum

Back 459

noun: interval between reigns; gap in continuity

The interregnum between the two empires was a period of near anarchy.

Front 460

intimate

Back 460

adjective: marked by close aquaintance

Over the years the boss and her assistant have become intimate friends as well as colleagues.

verb: intimate - to make known subtly and indirectly

The editor intimated that substantial changes would have to be made in the book.

Front 461

intractable

Back 461

adjective: not easily managed

General practitioners are equipped to deal with most psychosomatic disorders, but in intractable cases a psychiatrist is consulted.

Although the majority of Americans are members of what has been called the "affluent society", poverty remains an intractable problem, with a sizable minority of people living below what is considered to be an acceptable standard of living.

Front 462

intransigence

Back 462

noun: stubbornness; refusal to compromise

Each side in the negotiations accused the other of intransigence, so talks broke down.

Front 463

introspective

Back 463

adjective: contemplating one's own thoughts and feelings

In many ways William Wordsworth's great poem The Prelude is an introspective work, retrospectively exploring his thoughts and feelings as he matured.

Front 464

inundate

Back 464

verb: to cover with water; overwhelm

Farmers in the arid areas called for the government to build a dam to provide water to irrigate their crops and provide hydroelectric power; however, this plan was opposed by enviromentalists, who dislike inundation of land because it would have an adverse effect on wildlife.

Front 465

inured

Back 465

verb: hardened; accustomed; used to

After 20 years in the army, the chaplain had not become inured to the sight of men dying in the battlefield.

Front 466

invective

Back 466

noun: verbal abuse

The debate judge cautioned participants not to engage in invective, but rather in reasoned and decorous discourse.

Front 467

inveigh

Back 467

verb: to disapprove; protest vehemently

The conservative writer inveighed againts the school board's decision to exclude moral education from the curriculum.

Front 468

inveigle

Back 468

verb: to win over by flattery or coaxing

The students inveigled their professor into postponing the test for a week.

Front 469

inveterate

Back 469

adjective: confirmed; long-standing; deeply rooted

The columnist is an inveterate iconoclast who continually questions conventional wisdom.

Front 470

invidious

Back 470

adjective: likely to provoke ill will; offensive

Most publications in the United States prohibit their writers from making invidious comparisons between racial groups.

Front 471

irascible

Back 471

adjective: easily angered

The irascible old man complains every time someone makes a little noise.

Front 472

irresolute

Back 472

adjective: unsure of how to act; weak

The president admonished Congress, saying that although it faced difficult choices it must not be irresolute.

Front 473

itinerant

Back 473

adjective: wandering from place to place; unsettled

According to state law, companies hiring itinerant workers must provide adequate housing for them.

Front 474

itinerary

Back 474

noun: route of a traveler's journey

Front 475

jaundiced

Back 475

adjective: having a yellowish discoloration of the skin; affected by envy, resentment, or hostility

Norman's experience as an infantryman during the war has given him a jaundiced view of human nature.

jaundice - noun, a medical condition often due to liver disease and characterized by yellowness of the skin.

Front 476

jibe

Back 476

verb: to be in agreement

The auditor checked the company's account books to make sure that they jibed with the tax return it filed.

Front 477

jocose

Back 477

adjective: fond of joking; jocular; playful

Front 478

juggernaut

Back 478

noun: a huge force destroying everything in its path

Some people in Britain regard American English as a juggernaut sweeping through the British Isles, destroying British English.

Front 479

junta

Back 479

noun: group of people united in political intrigue

The country's ruling junta consists of a general, an admiral, and the mayor of the capital city.

Front 480

juxtapose

Back 480

verb: place side by side

Front 481

juxtapose

Back 481

verb: place side by side

noun: juxtaposition - side-by-side placement

Front 482

kudos

Back 482

noun: fame; glory; honor

Kudos won by Bod Dylan include an honorary doctorate in music from Princeton University.

Front 483

labile

Back 483

adjective: likely to change

Blood pressure in human beings is, to varying degrees, labile.

Front 484

laconic

Back 484

adjective: using few words

The laconic actor seemed to be a good choice to play the strong, silent hero in the western.

Front 485

lambaste

Back 485

verb: to thrash verbally or physically

The critic lambasted the movie in her column, calling it "the most insipid, jejune film made in our generation."

Front 486

lascivious

Back 486

adjective: lustful

The court ruled that the movie could be censored because its sole aim was to promote lascivious thoughts.

Front 487

lassitude

Back 487

noun: lethargy; sluggishness

After the death of his wife, Steven suffered a three-month period of lassitude and depression.

Front 488

latent

Back 488

adjective: present but hidden; potential

Some experts in human psychology believe that we are just beginning to explore the latent powers of the human mind.

Front 489

laud

Back 489

verb: to praise

Front 490

lethargic

Back 490

adjective: inactive

After the 18-hour flight from new york to singapore, the passengers were lethargic.

Front 491

levee

Back 491

noun: an embankment that prevents a river from overflowing

An extensive system of levees is the only way to prevent the river from flooding the area during periods of heavy rain.

Front 492

levity

Back 492

noun: light manner or attitude

The comedian has a gift for finding an element of levity in the most serious of subjects.

Front 493

liberal

Back 493

adjective: tolerant; broad-minded; generous; lavish

Front 494

libertine

Back 494

noun: one without moral restraint

Don Juan is a legendary, archetypal libertine whose story has been told by many poets, such as Lord Byron.

Front 495

libido

Back 495

noun: sexual desire

According to psychologists, the libido of human males peaks at around the age of 18.

Front 496

Lilliputian

Back 496

adjective: extremely small

Microbiologists study Lilliputian organisms.

Front 497

limn

Back 497

verb: to draw; describe

The artist based his painting on a sketch he had limned several years earlier.

Front 498

limpid

Back 498

adjective: clear; transparent

At the bottom of the limpid water in Boracay we could see schools of fish swimming.

Front 499

linguistic

Back 499

adjective: pertaining to language

Humans are at the acme of their linguistic proficiency in the first several years of life, during which they master thousands of complex grammatical operations.

Front 500

linguistics

Back 500

noun: the scientific study of language

linguist - someone who studies language

Front 501

litany

Back 501

noun: lengthy recitation; repetitive chant

The student listened intently to his teacher's litany of the grammatical errors commited by the class.

Front 502

literati

Back 502

noun: scholarly or learned persons

Front 503

litigation

Back 503

noun: legal proceedings

The radio amateur's neighbor resorted to litigation in an attempt to have her neighbor dismantle his 100-foot-high antenna tower.

Front 504

log

Back 504

noun: record of voyage; record of daily activities

Front 505

loquacious

Back 505

adjective: talkative

Front 506

limpid

Back 506

adjective: clear; transparent

At the bottom of the limpid water in Boracay we saw schools of fish.

The critic praised the novel for its limpid prose and original characters.

Front 507

lucid

Back 507

adjective: bright; clear; intelligible

Dr. Barnard made his views on euthanasia clear in this lucid injunction: "Just do it."

Front 508

lucre

Back 508

noun: money or profits

Many religions regard the pursuit of lucre for what it can do to help others as laudable.

Front 509

luminous

Back 509

adjective: bright; brilliant; glowing

The moon is the most luminous object in the night sky.

noun: luminosity

A supernova can suddenly increase its luminosity to as much as a billion times its normal brightness.

Front 510

lustrous

Back 510

adjective: shining

On the clear night we gazed up in awe at the lustrous stars.

Lil John's teeth and crunk cup are lustrous with diamonds.

Front 511

Machiavellian

Back 511

adjective: crafty; double-dealing

One theory of the evolution of high intelligence in primates is that it evolved largely as a result of Machiavellian calculations on the part of apes.

Front 512

machinations

Back 512

noun: plots or schemes

The mayor resorted to behind-the-scenes machinations to try to win his party's nomination for governor.

Front 513

maelstrom

Back 513

noun: whirpool; turmoil

Nearly everyone in europe was caught up in the maelstrom that was WWII.

Front 514

magnanimity

Back 514

noun: generosity; nobility

The senator showed is magnanimity when he conceded defeat to his opponent in the disputed election, saying that further uncertainty would be harmful to public confidence in the political system.

Front 515

malign

Back 515

verb: to speak evil of

Lawyers are sometimes maligned as greedy and dishonest.

Front 516

malinger

Back 516

verb: to feign illness to escape duty

In order to discourage malingering, the company decided to require employees taking sick leave to produce a doctor's certification of their illness.

Front 517

malleable

Back 517

adjective: capable of being shaped by pounding; impressionable

Front 518

maverick

Back 518

noun: dissenter

Bernie Sanders of Vermont has a reputation as a maverick; he is one of only two members of the United States Congress who is independent (that is, not a member of the Republican or Democratic party).

Front 519

megalomania

Back 519

noun: delusions of power or importance

In his farewell speech the retiring trial judge warned his colleagues to beware of megalomania as they exercise their power in the courtroom.

Front 520

menagerie

Back 520

noun: a variety of animals kept together

Linda seems to take home every abandoned pet in the town; she now has an incredible menagerie of dogs, cats, turtles, rabbits, and other animals.

Front 521

mendacious

Back 521

adjective: dishonest

The judge ruled the testimony inadmissable because he considered it mendacious.

Front 522

mendicant

Back 522

noun: beggar

In thailand it is traditional for young men to become monks for a year, a period during which they become mendicants.

Mendicants can't be choosers.

Front 523

meretricious

Back 523

adjective: gaudy; plausible but false; specious; alluring by a show of flashy or vulgar attractions; pertaining to or characteristic of a prostitute; attracting attention in a vulgar manner; having the ring of truth or plausibility but actually fallacious

One of the allures of jargon is that it can make a poor idea appear worthwhile, or something meretricious easier to accept because it is dressed in fancy language.

Front 524

mesmerize

Back 524

verb: to hypnotize

Front 525

metamorphosis

Back 525

noun: change; transformation

Front 526

metaphysics

Back 526

noun: a branch of philosophy that investigates the ultimate nature of reality

Front 527

meteorological

Back 527

adjective: concerned with the weather

meteorology - science that deals with weather and atmospheric phenomena

Front 528

meticulous

Back 528

adjective: very careful; fastidious; painstaking; taking or showing extreme care about minute details

Science is an empirical field of study based on the belief that the laws of nature can best be discovered by meticulous observation and experimentation.

Front 529

mettle

Back 529

noun: courage; endurance

In many cultures, young men are expected to test their mettle by performing difficult and dangerous tasks, like in Sparta.

Front 530

mettlesome

Back 530

adjective: full of courage and fortitude; spirited

The mettlesong young officer was well regarded by all the senior officers.

Front 531

meddlesome

Back 531

adjective: inclined to interfere

Front 532

microcosm

Back 532

noun: a small system having analogies to a larger problem; small world

Front 533

militate

Back 533

verb: to work againts

The manager asked all of his employees to think of any factors that might militate againts the project's success.

Don't militate againts Hattie the therapist. She wants you to get better as soon as possible so you will leave Hanna House.

Front 534

minatory

Back 534

adjective: threatening; menacing

Intelligence information suggests minatory troop concentrations on the border.

Front 535

miniscule

Back 535

adjective: very small

Front 536

minutia

Back 536

noun: petty details

President Ronald Reagan said that a president should concentrate on the formulation and execution of broad policy and leave the minutia of running the country to subordinates.

Front 537

misanthrope

Back 537

noun: one who hates humanity

Mr. scrooge was a misanthrope - he hated humanity.

Front 538

miscellany

Back 538

noun: mixture of writings on various subjects

The book is a fascinating miscellany collected from the writer's life work.

Front 539

miscreant

Back 539

noun: villain; criminal

The public execution of miscreants was common in Great Britain in the eighteenth century.

Front 540

misogynist

Back 540

noun: one who hates women

Some people have called the philosopher Freidrich Nietzsche a misogynist because of the numerous negative comments he made about women.

Front 541

mitigate

Back 541

verb: to cause to become less harsh, severe, or painful; alleviate

noun: mitigation - the act of reducing the severity or painfulness of something

Before sentencing the woman, the judge asked if she had anything to say in mitigation.

Front 542

mnemonic

Back 542

adjective: related to memory; assisting memory

The more absurd, exaggerated, grotesque the images used as a mnemonic device to help remember a poem, the easier it will be to recall.

Front 543

mnemonics

Back 543

noun: a system that develops and improves the memory

Front 544

modicum

Back 544

noun: limited quantity

The scientist Carl Sagan wrote about astronomy and other scientific subjects in a way that enabled a reader with even a modicum of knowledge of science to understand what he was saying.

Front 545

mollify

Back 545

verb: to soothe

The prime minister tried to mollify people protesting the tax increase with a promise that she would order a study of other means to raise revenue.

Front 546

monolithic

Back 546

adjective: solid and uniform; constituting a single, unified whole

In the fifteenth century, there was a significant movement to revitalize the Church from within; however, it had become so monolithic over the centuries and contained so many vested interest that piecemeal reform was difficult and ineffective.

Front 547

morose

Back 547

adjective: ill-humored; sullen

Front 548

motley

Back 548

adjective: many colored; made up of many parts

The new political party is made up of a motley group of people who are unhappy with the existing parties.

Front 549

multifarious

Back 549

adjective: diverse

The nationalities of the members of FSA are quite multifarious, but most of them are asian countries.

Front 550

ire

Back 550

noun: intense anger; wrath

Front 551

mundane

Back 551

adjective: worldy as opposed to spiritual; concerned with the ordinary

Fundamentalists contend that the Bible's account of the creation is literally true, while others believe tht it is the retelling of a powerful myth current in the Middle East that sought to explain the mundane in spiritual language.

Front 552

necromacy

Back 552

noun: black magic

Television might seem like necromacy to a time traveler from the fifteenth century.

Front 553

negate

Back 553

verb: to cancel out; nullify

The soldiers' poor treatment of the prisoners negated any goodwill they had built up among the population.

Front 554

neologism

Back 554

noun: new word or expression

Front 555

neophyte

Back 555

noun: novice; beginner

The school provides extensive support and guidance for neophyte teachers.

Front 556

nexus

Back 556

noun: a means of connection; a connected group or series; a center

Wall Street is the nexus of America's financial system.

Front 557

nonplussed

Back 557

adjective: bewildered; completely puzzled or confused; perplexed

The members of the football team were nonplussed by the presence of a female reporter in the locker room.

Front 558

nostalgia

Back 558

noun: sentimental longing for a past time

The product's marketing is centered on nostalgia for the 1950s.

Front 559

nostrum

Back 559

noun: medicine or remedy of doubtful effectiveness; supposed cure

Although there are many nostrums urged on obese consumers, the ony effective remedy for this condition is prosaic but nonetheless valid: eat less and exercise more

Front 560

prosaic

Back 560

adjective: commonplace or dull; unimaginative

Front 561

neologism

Back 561

noun: new word or expression

Since I have been away from gainesville all summer, I am not familiar with the neologism "rapex".

Front 562

narcotic

Back 562

noun: anything that exercises a soothing or numbing affect or influence

Television is a narcotic for many people.

Front 563

nugatory

Back 563

adjective: trifling; invalid; of very little importance; trivial; insignificant

The historian has a knack for focusing on information that appears nugatory but that, upon examination, illuminates the central issue.

Front 564

obdurate

Back 564

adjective: stubborn

Raymond is obdurate about one thing: no talking while watching LOST.

Front 565

obsequious

Back 565

adjective: overly submissive

Tom's tendency to submit meekly to any bullying authority is so great that his wife suggested he overcome his obsequiousness by taking an assertiveness training couse.


During my short stay at Auntie Conchita's house, I acted obsequious to avoid conflict, because she is so overbearing and controlling.

Front 566

obsequy

Back 566

noun: funeral ceremony (often used in the plural, obsequies)

Solemn obsequies were held for President John F. Kennedy following his assassination.

Front 567

obviate

Back 567

verb: to make unnecessary; to anticipate and prevent; prevent from happening

An experienced physician can often discern if a patient's symptoms are psychosomatic, thus obviating the need for expensive medical tests.

Front 568

occlude

Back 568

verb: to shut; block

Front 569

occult

Back 569

adjective: relating with practices connected with supernatural phenomena

In his book Supernature the biologist Lyell Watson explores what he regards as phenomena on the border between natural and occult phenomena.

Front 570

odyssey

Back 570

noun: a long, adventurous voyage; a quest

Front 571

officious

Back 571

adjective: too helpful; meddlesome

Auntie conchita's officious nature showed when she made Karen attempt to buy diapers at the closed pharmacy.

Front 572

meddlesome

Back 572

adjective: interfering; intrusive

Front 573

olfactory

Back 573

adjective: concerning the sense of smell

Front 574

oligarchy

Back 574

noun: form of government in which power belongs to only a few leaders

Front 575

onerous

Back 575

adjective: burdensome

The duty the judge considers most onerous is sentencing convicted criminals.

Front 576

onomatopoeia

Back 576

noun: formation or use of words that imitate sounds of the actions they refer to

One theory of the origin of language is that it began a a sort of onomatopoeia as early humans imitated sounds they heard.

Front 577

opprobrium

Back 577

noun: disgrace; contempt

It is difficult to imagine the opprobrium heaped on a person who is a traitor to hs or her group.

Front 578

ornithologist

Back 578

noun: scientist who studies birds

Front 579

oscillate

Back 579

verb: to move back and forth

Front 580

oscillate

Back 580

verb: to move back and forth

The teacher oscillates between a student-centered approach to teaching and a subject-centered approach.

Front 581

ostentatious

Back 581

adjective: showy; trying to attract attention; pretentious

Some would regard buying a castle in france as an ostentatious display of wealth.

Front 582

pretentious

Back 582

adjective: making an exaggerated outward show; ostentatious; showy; claiming or demanding a position of distinction or merit, especially when unjustified.

Front 583

overweening

Back 583

adjective: presumptuous; arrogant; overbearing

The ancient greeks believed that overweening pride - what they called hubris - would be punished eventually, by the gods

Front 584

paean

Back 584

noun: song of joy or triumph; a fervent expression of joy

Fundamentally, the poem is a paean of joy, celebrating the coming of democracy to the country.

Front 585

paleontology

Back 585

noun: study of past geological eras through fossil remains; the study of the forms of life existing n prehistoric or geologic times, as represented by the fossils of plants, animals, and other organisms.

Front 586

pallid

Back 586

adjective: lacking color or liveliness

Archeological evidence indicates that women have been using makeup to give color to a pallid face for millenia.

Front 587

panegyric

Back 587

noun: elaborate praise; formal hymn of praise

Many panegyrics were written to Abraham Lincoln in the years after his death, and he has become one of the most revered figures in American history.

Front 588

paragon

Back 588

noun: model of excellence or perfection

The epic poet Homer was regarded by the ancient greeks as a paragon of literary excellence.

Front 589

partisan

Back 589

adjective: one-sided; commited to a party, group, or cause; prejudiced

Front 590

pathological

Back 590

adjective: departing from normal condition

Front 591

pathos

Back 591

noun: a quality, as of an experience or a work of art, that arouses feelings of pity, sympathy, tenderness or sorrow

Front 592

patois

Back 592

noun: a regional dialect; nonstandard speech; jargon

In singapore the lingua franca is increasingly becoming singapore english, widely regarded as a patois.

Front 593

paucity

Back 593

noun: scarcity; dearth

Front 594

pedantic

Back 594

adjective: showing off learning

Front 595

pedant

Back 595

noun: a person who makes an excessive or inappropriate display of learning; a person who adheres rigidly to book knowledge without regard to common sense.

Front 596

pellucid

Back 596

adjective: transparent; translucent; easily understood

Front 597

penchant

Back 597

noun: inclinaton

Sue has a penchant for science, while her brother is more interested in the arts.

Front 598

aloof

Back 598

adverb: at a distance, especially in feeling or interest; apart

adjective: reserved or reticent; indifferent; not interested

Front 599

penury

Back 599

noun: extreme poverty

I'd rather not pay money to watch another penury to riches movie, even if it has will smith.

Front 600

peregrination

Back 600

noun: a wandering from place to place

Swami Vivekanada's peregrinations took him all over india.

Neil's family's peregrinations across america will end in papua new guinea.

Front 601

peremptory

Back 601

adjective: imperative; leaving no choice

The general's words were spoken in the peremptory tone of a man who is used to having his commands obeyed without question.

Front 602

perennial

Back 602

adjective: present throughout the years; persistent

Perennial warfare has left most of the people of the country in poverty.

Front 603

perfidious

Back 603

adjective: faithless; disloyal; untrustworthy

I have a history of being a perfidious boyfriend.

Front 604

perfunctory

Back 604

adjective: superficial; not thorough; performed really as a duty

The perfunctory inspection of the airplane failed to reveal structural faults in the wing.

Flight attendants usually show the safety procedures in an aircraft like putting on a seatbelt in a perfunctory manner.

Front 605

perigree

Back 605

noun: point in an orbit that is closest to the earth

The earth observation satellite reaches a perigree of 320 miles above the earth's surface.

Front 606

permeable

Back 606

adjective: penetrable

Wetsuits, used by divers in cold water, are permeable to water but designed to retain body heat.

Front 607

perturb

Back 607

verb: to disturb greatly; make uneasy or anxious; cause a body to deviate from its regular orbit

The fallacious article explaining a scheduled change in the GRE this september greatly perturbed Raymond.

noun: perturbation - disturbance

"perturbations in the Earth's orbit around the sun."

Front 608

pervasive

Back 608

adjective: spread throughout every part

Front 609

pervade

Back 609

verb: to spread throughout every part

Front 610

petulant

Back 610

adjective: rude; peevish

The boy's father worried that his disobedient and petulant child would grow up to be a bitter and annoying man.

Front 611

phlegmatic

Back 611

adjective: calm in temperament; sluggish

Front 612

phoenix

Back 612

noun: anything that is restored after suffering great destruction

The captain believed the battalion had been destroyed by the enemy and was amazed to see it arise, phoenix-like, its men still fighting valliantly.

Front 613

physiognomy

Back 613

noun: facial features

I'm a big face guy. I'm a sucker for girls who have beautiful physiognomy.

Front 614

piety

Back 614

noun: devoutness

The medieval French monk was revered for his piety.

Front 615

devout

Back 615

adjective: devoted to divine worship or service

Front 616

piquant

Back 616

adjective: appealingly stimulating; pleasantly pungent; attractive

Many of the guests enjoyed the piquant barbecue sauce but others found it too spicy for their taste.

Front 617

pique

Back 617

noun: fleeting feeling of hurt pride

Sally left the restaurant in a fit of pique after her date called to say he couldn't come because he was working late.

Front 618

pique

Back 618

verb: to provoke or arouse

The geologist's curiosity was piqued by the unusual appearance of the rock formation.

Front 619

placate

Back 619

verb: to lessen another's anger; to pacify

Jenilee placated raymond's anger by singing the oscar meyer weiner song.

Front 620

placid

Back 620

adjective: calm

We were amazed how the monk was able to remain placid despite the fire that was raging through the building.

Front 621

plaintive

Back 621

adjective: melancholy; mournful

After the battle all that could be heard was the plaintive cries of women who had lost their husbands.

Front 622

phlegmatic

Back 622

adjective: not easily excited to action or display of emotion; apathetic; calm, composed

Rebecca is a quiet person, but beneath a phlegmatic exterior lies a continual ferment of emotion.

Front 623

ferment

Back 623

noun: a state of agitation or turbulent change or development

The political ferment produced new leadership

Front 624

plasticity

Back 624

noun: condition of being able to be shaped or formed; pliability

The sociologist is continually amazed by the plasticity of social institutions.

Front 625

platitude

Back 625

noun: stale, overused expression

Though Sarah's marriage didn't seem to be going well she took comfort in the platitude that the first six months of a marriage were always the most difficult.

Front 626

platonic

Back 626

adjective: spiritual; without sensual desire; theoretical

Gradually what had been a platonic relationship between tim and kyoko became a romantic one.

Front 627

plethora

Back 627

noun: excess; overabundance

The funeral business has produced a plethora of euphemisms such as the "slumber room" for the place where the corpse is placed for viewing.

Front 628

plumb

Back 628

verb: to determine the depth; to examine deeply

"a person plums the depths of despair"

Front 629

plume

Back 629

verb: to congratulate oneself in a self-satisfied way

John plumed himself on his ability to read both Sanskrit and Greek.

Front 630

plummet

Back 630

verb: to fall; plunge

The fighter jet, struck by an enemy missle, plummeted to earth.

Front 631

plutocracy

Back 631

noun: society ruled by the wealthy

It has been argued that modern democracies are plutocracies to the extent that wealth allows certain people to have a disproportionately large influence on political decision-making.

Front 632

porous

Back 632

adjective: full of holes

Front 633

poseur

Back 633

noun: person who affects (pretend or feign) an attitude or identity to impress others

People who wear skater clothes, but don't skate, are usually called poseurs.

Front 634

pragmatic

Back 634

adjective: practical

Front 635

pragmatism

Back 635

a practical way of approaching situations or solving problems

Front 636

pragmatist

Back 636

noun: someone who approaches situations in a practical way

Front 637

prate

Back 637

verb: to talk idly; chatter

The "talk radio" program allows people to call in and prate about their pet peeves.

Front 638

prattle

Back 638

noun: meaningless, foolish talk

Front 639

preamble

Back 639

noun: preliminary statement

Front 640

precarious

Back 640

adjective: uncertain

Jenilee is sometimes precarious of my faithfulness to her, especially after the jenny talana episode; however, I will never cheat on her.

Front 641

precept

Back 641

noun: principle; law

A good precept I like to follow in playing team sports is if you don't go to practice, you shouldn't play in the game.

Front 642

precipitate

Back 642

verb: to cause to happen; throw down from a height

A declaration of war was precipitated by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

adjective: rash; hasty; sudden

The secretary of state advised the president not to take precipitate action.

adjective: precipitous - hasty; quickly with too little caution

Front 643

precursor

Back 643

noun: forerunner; predecessor

The precursor to the theory of plate tectonics was the theory of continental drift.

Front 644

porous

Back 644

adjective: full of holes

Front 645

preempt

Back 645

verb: to supersede; appropriate for oneself; to cause to be set aside, especially to displace as inferior; to take the place of; replace

The movie was preempted for the president's emergency address to the nation.

Front 646

prehensile

Back 646

adjective: capable of grasping

Animals with prehensile tails using it for grabbing onto ****.

Front 647

antiquate

Back 647

verb: to make obsolete, old-fashioned, or out of date by replacing with something newer or better

This latest device will antiquate the ice-cube tray.

Front 648

premonition

Back 648

noun: forewarning; presentiment

Shortly after his reelection in 1864, President Abraham Lincoln had a premonition of hs impending death and on April 14, 1865, he was shot and died the next day.

Front 649

presage

Back 649

verb: to foretell; indicate in advance

The english poet william blake believed hs work presaged a new age in which people would achieve political and spiritual freedom.

Front 650

presumptuous

Back 650

adjective: rude; improperly bold

The new employee did not offer her advice to her boss because she was afraid he might consider it presumptuous for a recent graduate to make a suggestion to someone with 30 years experience in the field.

Front 651

presumptuous

Back 651

adjective: rude; improperly bold

verb: presume

noun: presumption

Front 652

preternatural

Back 652

adjective: beyond the normal course of nature; supernatural

Most scientists believe that putative preternatural phenomena are outside the scope of scientific inquiry.

Front 653

putative

Back 653

adjective: commonly regarded as such; reputed; supposed

The putative boss of the mob.

Front 654

prevaricate

Back 654

verb: to quibble; evade the truth

Journalists accused government leaders of prevaricating about the progress of the war.

Front 655

quibble

Back 655

noun: an instance of the use of ambiguous, prevaricating, or irrelevant language to evade a point at issue

verb: to evade the truth of a point or question by raising irrelevant objections

Front 656

primordial

Back 656

adjective: original; existing from the beginning

Scholars are divided as to whether polytheism represents a degeneration from a primordial monotheism, or was a precursor to a more sophisticated view, monotheism.

Front 657

pristine

Back 657

adjective: untouched; uncorrupted

The bank's hermetically sealed vault has kept the manuscript in pristine condition for 50 years.

Jenilee is the virgin slayer; she likes pristine boys.

Front 658

probity

Back 658

noun: honesty; high-mindedness; integrity and uprightness; having strong moral principles

No one questioned the probity of the judge being considered for elevation to the US supreme court.

Front 659

problematic

Back 659

adjective: posing a problem; doubtful; unsettled

Front 660

prodigal

Back 660

adjective: wasteful; extravagant; lavish

Jenilee discourages raymond's prodigal spending on Jcrew stuff.

Front 661

profound

Back 661

adjective: deep; not superficial

Front 662

profundity

Back 662

noun: the quality of being profound

Front 663

prohibitive

Back 663

adjective: so high as to prevent the purchase or use of; preventing; forbidding

Most people in poor countries are unable to purchase a computer because of its prohibitive price

noun: prohibition

Front 664

proliferate

Back 664

verb: to increase rapidly

With the pervasive influence of American culture, "fast-food" restaurants are proliferating in many countries

noun: proliferation

A problem with proliferation of jargon is that it impedes communication between different fields of knowledge.

Front 665

propensity

Back 665

noun: inclination; tendency

There is a natural propensity to stress the importance of what one is saying by exaggerating it.

Front 666

propitiate

Back 666

verb: to win over; appease

Front 667

libation

Back 667

noun: a pouring out of wine or other liquid in honor of a deity

Front 668

propriety

Back 668

noun: correct conduct; fitness; the quality of being proper; appropriateness

Judges are expected to conduct themselves with propriety, especially in the courtroom.

Front 669

fitness

Back 669

noun: suitability or appropriateness; the quality of being suitable; the quality of being qualified

"they had to prove their fitness for the position"

Front 670

proscribe

Back 670

verb: to condemn; forbid; outlaw

Front 671

proscriptive

Back 671

adjective: relating to prohibition; prohibitive

Proponents of the view that dictionaries should be proscriptive, dictating what correct usage is, believe that without such guides the standard of language will decline.

Front 672

provident

Back 672

adjective: providing for future needs; frugal

The provident ant that spends the summer saving food for the winter.

Front 673

puissant

Back 673

adjective: powerful

The article analyzes the similarities and differences between the Roman Empire and the British Empire when each was at its most puissant.

noun: pussiance - power

Front 674

punctilious

Back 674

adjective: careful in observing rules of behavior or ceremony; strictly attentive to minute details of form in action or conduct

The prime minister reminded his staff that they must be punctilious in following protocol during the visit by the foreign head of state.

Front 675

pungent

Back 675

adjective: stong or sharp in smell or taste; penetrating; caustic; to the point

Slang frequently expresses an idea succinctly and pungently.

Front 676

purport

Back 676

verb: to profess; suppose; claim

Nearly everyone in the US purports to believe in God and many people are members of churches.

Front 677

purport

Back 677

verb: to profess; suppose; claim

noun: meaning intended or implied; the meaning; purpose, intention, object

the main purport of your letter

the main purport of their visit to france

Front 678

pusillanimous

Back 678

adjective: cowardly

A ship captain is considered pusillanimous if he abandons his ship before everyone else has.

noun: pusillanimity - cowardice

Front 679

quagmire

Back 679

noun: marsh, bog; difficult situation; a predicament

a quagmire of financial indebtedness

The federal government's antitrust suit in the 1990s againts microsoft created a legal quagmire.

Front 680

extricate

Back 680

verb: to free or release from entanglement; disengage

"to extricate someone from a dangerous situation or quagmire."

Front 681

quail

Back 681

verb: to cower; lose heart

The defendant quailed when the judge entered the room to announce the sentence.

Front 682

qualified

Back 682

adjective: limited; restricted in some way

"a qualified endorsement"

noun: qualification - limitation or restriction

So many qualifications had been added to the agreement that Sue was now reluctant to sign it.

verb: qualify - to modify or limit in some way

"to qualify an endorsement"

Front 683

qualm

Back 683

noun: sudden feeling of faintness or nausea; uneasy feeling about the rightness of actions

The judge had no qualms about sentencing the thief to five years imprisonment.

Raymond had a qualm after reading the fallacious artice purporting that the GRE was being changed this september.

Front 684

query

Back 684

verb: to question

The ability of george to throw a nice spiral was not queried.

Front 685

query

Back 685

verb: to question

noun: a question

Front 686

quibble

Back 686

verb: to argue over insignificant or irrelevant details

The lawyers spent so much time quibbling over details that they made little progress in reaching an agreement on the central issue.

noun: an evasion of the point of an argument by raising irrelevant distinctions or objections

Front 687

quiescent

Back 687

adjective: inactive; still

Although malignant tumors may remain quiescent for a period of time, they never become benign.

noun: quiescence - inactiveness; stillness

Front 688

quorum

Back 688

noun: number of members necessary to conduct a meeting

The US senate's majority leader asked three members of his party to be available to help form a quoroum.

Front 689

raconteur

Back 689

noun: witty, skillful storyteller

Former president bill clinton is known as an accomplished raconteur who can entertain guests with amusing anecdotes about politics all evening.

Front 690

rail

Back 690

verb: to scold with bitter or abusive language

Dad rails apu everytime the dumb dog barks too much or destroys something.

Front 691

raiment

Back 691

noun: clothing

It took two hours for the princess' handmaidens to help her put on her splendid raiment for her coronation as queen.

Front 692

ramification

Back 692

noun: implication; outgrowth; consequence

The full ramification of the invention of the laser did not become apparent for many years; now it is used on a great variety of applications, from DVD players to surgery.

Front 693

rarefied

Back 693

adjective: refined

Many scholars flourish in the rarefied intellectual atmosphere of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, New Jersey.

verb: rarefy - to make thinner, purer, or more refined

Front 694

rationale

Back 694

noun: fundamental reason

Front 695

rebus

Back 695

noun: puzzle in which pictures or symbols represents words

Egyptian writing uses the principle of the rebus, substituting pictures for words.

Front 696

recalcitrant

Back 696

adjective: resisting authority or control

The officer had no choice but to recommend that the recalcitrant soldier be court-martialed.

Front 697

recant

Back 697

verb: to retract a statement or opinion

Jenilee often calls me mean things, only to recant it later.

The bishop told the theologian that he must recant his heretical teaching or risk excommunication.

Front 698

recluse

Back 698

noun: person who lives in seclusion and often in solitude

adjective: reclusive

John is a reclusive person who enjoys reading more than anything else.

Front 699

recondite

Back 699

adjective: abstruse; hard to understand; profound; beyond ordinary knowledge or understanding

Many classical and biblical references known to educated nineteenth-century readers are now considered recondite by most readers.

Front 700

redoubtable

Back 700

adjective: formidable; arousing fear; worthy of respect

As a result of winning 95% of her cases, the prosecutor has earned a reputation as a redoubtable attorney.

Front 701

refractory

Back 701

adjective: stubborn; unmanageable; resisting ordinary methods of treatment

The general practitioner called in specialists to help determine the cause of the patient's refractory illness.

verb: refract - to deflect sound or light

Front 702

refulgent

Back 702

adjective: brightly shining; resplendent(shining brilliantly; gleaming; splendid)

On the queen's neck was a necklace of jewels, in the middle of which was a large, refulgent diamond.

troops resplendent in white uniforms

resplendent virtues

Front 703

refute

Back 703

verb: to contradict; disprove

noun: refutation

Front 704

regale

Back 704

verb: to entertain

Former US presidents lyndon johnson, ronald reagan, and bill clinton often regaled visitors with amusing political anecdotes.

Front 705

relegate

Back 705

verb: to send or consign(to banish or set apart in one's mind) to an inferior position

He has been relegated to a post at the fringes of the diplomatic service.

Front 706

remonstrate

Back 706

verb: to object or protest

Minority members of the committe remonstrated with the majority members, saying that the proposal was unjust.

Front 707

renege

Back 707

verb: to go back on one's word

He has reneged on his promise.

Front 708

reparation

Back 708

noun: amends; compensation

The judge said she would not sentence the man to jail on the condition that he pay full reparation to the family hurt by his crime.

Front 709

repine

Back 709

verb: fret; complain

The president told the congressional representative he should stop repining over the lost opportunity and join the majority in exploring new ones.

Front 710

reprise

Back 710

noun: a repetition, especially of a piece of music; repeat an earlier theme of a composition

The standing ovation at the end of the set meant that the band had little choice but to reprise a few of their most popular tunes.

Front 711

reproach

Back 711

verb: to find fault with; blame

The speaker in andrew marvell's poem "to his coy mistress" reproaches his beloved for ignoring the passing time and for not being willing to physically express her love for him.

Front 712

reproach

Back 712

verb: to find fault with; blame

noun: blame; disgrace, discredit, or blame incurred

"to bring reproach on one's family"

Front 713

reprobate

Back 713

noun: morally unprincipled person

The social worker refused to give up hope of reforming the criminal who was generally regarded as a reprobate.

Front 714

repudiate

Back 714

verb: to reject as having no authority

In the 1960s, many black leaders such as Malcom X repudiated integration and nonviolence in favor of black separatism and passive resistance in the fight for civil rights.

Front 715

rescind

Back 715

verb: to cancel

The salesperson said he would rescind his offer to sell the goods at a 10% discount unless he received ful payment within 24 hours.

Front 716

resolution

Back 716

noun: determination; resolve

Raymond's resolution to get accepted into PT school reached new heights after observing at University Hospital.

Front 717

resolve

Back 717

noun: determination; firmness of purpose

President Abraham Lincoln displayed remarkable resolve in preventing the confederate states from seceding.

verb: resolve - to come to a definite or earnest decision about; determine to do something

I have resolved that I shall live to the full.

Front 718

reticent

Back 718

adjective: not speaking freely; reserved; reluctant

Many people in the west are reticent to criticize science, which in the view of many has become a sacred cow.

Front 719

reverent

Back 719

adjective: expressing deep respect; worshipful

The biologist Loren Eisely had what could be described as a reverent attitude toward nature.

verb: revere

Front 720

riposte

Back 720

noun: a retaliatory action or retort

The commander decided that the enemy attack must be countered with a quick riposte.

Front 721

rococo

Back 721

adjective: excessively ornate; highly decorated; style of architecture in 18th century europe

Front 722

rubric

Back 722

noun: title or heading; category; established mode of procedure or conduct; protocol

The data from the experiment was so diverse that the scientist decided to design a new rubric to organize it.

Front 723

rue

Back 723

verb: to regret

The judge old the convicted man that he would come to rue his decision to commit the crime

Front 724

ruse

Back 724

noun: trick; crafty stratagem; subterfuge; any trick devised or used to attain a goal or to gain an advantage over an adversary or competitor.

In july, 1999, a group of christians from the UK traveled to various countries in which Crusaders had massacred people to apologize; however,man of the Moslems spurned this overture, believing it to be another Crusade in the form of a ruse.

Front 725

overture

Back 725

noun: an opening or initiating move toward negotiations, a new relationship, an agreement, etc. a formal or informal proposal or offer

"overtures of peace"

"a shy man who rarely made overtures of friendship"

Front 726

sage

Back 726

adjective: wise

Urban Meyer posted this sage, simple message in the locker room: "The pain of discipline. The pain of regret. You choose."

noun: sage - wise older person

Front 727

salacious

Back 727

adjective: lascivious; lustful

Playboy magazine is too salacious to be in the public library.

Front 728

salubrious

Back 728

adjective: healthful

The salubrious effects of exercise on both physical and mental health have been well documented.

Front 729

salutary

Back 729

adjective: expecting an improvement; favorable to health, promoting health; healthful; promoting or conducive to some beneficial purpose; wholesome

The system of universal education is in our age the most prominent and salutary feature of the spirit of enlightenment.

Front 730

sanction

Back 730

verb: to approve; ratify; permit

noun: approval; ratification; permission

noun: penalization, a penalty that acts to ensure compliance or conformity; a coercive measure adopted usually by several nations acting together againts a nation violating international law

"The UN has the power to compel obedience to international law by sanctions or even war."

Front 731

sanction

Back 731

can also mean...
verb: to penalize

Front 732

sardonic

Back 732

adjective: cynical; scornfully mocking; sneering; bitter

"a sardonic grin"

Satire that is too sardonic often loses its effectiveness.

Front 733

sartorial

Back 733

adjective: pertaining to tailors, tailoring, or tailored clothing

Off-screen, the glamorous actress' sartorial style runs more to jeans and t-shirts than to elaborate gowns

Front 734

satiate

Back 734

verb: to satisfy

The bully satiated his fury by pummeling the helpless little boy.

Front 735

saturate

Back 735

verb: to soak thoroughly; imbue throughout

The writer's recollection of her childhood is saturated with sunshine and laughter.

Front 736

saturnine

Back 736

adjective: gloomy

With the big storm in cleveland during my last morning in University Hospital, my mood was saturnine.

Front 737

satyr

Back 737

noun: a creature tht is half-man half-beast with the horns and legs of a goat; it is a follower of Dionysos; a lecher ( a man given to excessive sexual desire; a lascivious or licentious man)

Front 738

licentious

Back 738

adjective: sexually unrestrained; lascivious; libertine; lewd; unrestrained by law or general morality; immoral; disregarding rules

Front 739

savor

Back 739

verb: to enjoy; have a distinctive flavor or smell; to exhibit the peculiar characteristics

His business practices savor of greed.

Front 740

satyr

Back 740

noun: a creature tht is half-man half-beast with the horns and legs of a goat; it is a follower of Dionysos; a lecher ( a man given to excessive sexual desire; a lascivious or licentious man)

Front 741

schematic

Back 741

adjective: relating to or in the form of an outline or diagram

The engineer outlined the workings of the factory in schematic form.

Front 742

secrete

Back 742

verb: produce and release substance into organism

Front 743

sedition

Back 743

noun: behavior prompting rebellion

The federal prosecutor argued that the journalist's article could be interpreted as an act of sedition since it strongly suggested that the government should be overturned.

Front 744

sedulous

Back 744

adjective: diligent

The nobel prize-winning scientist attributed his success to what he termed "curiousity, a modicum of intelligence, and sedulous application."

Front 745

seismic

Back 745

adjective: relating to earthquakes; earthshaking

Front 746

sensual

Back 746

adjective: relating to the senses; gratifying the physical senses, especially sexual appetites

Front 747

sensuous

Back 747

adjective: relating to the senses; operating through the senses

Front 748

sentient

Back 748

adjective: aware; conscious; able to percieve

noun: sentience

Front 749

servile

Back 749

adjective: submissive; obedient

Front 750

sextant

Back 750

noun: navigation tool that determines latitude and longitude

Front 751

shard

Back 751

noun: a piece of broken glass of pottery

Front 752

sidereal

Back 752

adjective: relating to the stars

Front 753

simian

Back 753

adjective: apelike; relating to apes

"people denied the evolutionary significance of the simian characteristics of human beings."

Front 754

simile

Back 754

noun: comparison of one thing with another using "like" or "as"

Front 755

sinecure

Back 755

noun: well-paying job or office that requires little or no work

Front 756

singular

Back 756

adjective: unique; extraordinary; odd

The defendent's singular appearance made it easy to identify him later.

Front 757

sinuous

Back 757

adjective: winding; intricate; complex

The students had trouble following the philosopher's sinuous line of reasoning.

Front 758

skeptic

Back 758

noun: one who doubts

Front 759

nihilist

Back 759

noun: one who believes tht existance and all traditional values are meaningless

Front 760

sobriety

Back 760

noun: seriousness

she approaches her studies with commendable sobriety

Front 761

sodden

Back 761

adjective: thoroughly soaked; saturated

Front 762

solicitous

Back 762

adjective: concerned; attentive; eager

kellie is solicitous of the health and progress of all her patients.

Front 763

soliloquy

Back 763

noun: literary or dramatic speech by one character, not addressed to others

Front 764

solvent

Back 764

adjective: able to meet financial obligations

During the divorce my dad had difficulty remaining solvent; fortunately he turned out just fine.

Front 765

somatic

Back 765

adjective: relating to or affecting the body; corporeal(of the nature of the physical body; bodily)

Front 766

corporeal

Back 766

adjective: of the nature of the physical body; bodily; material; tangible

"corporeal property"

Front 767

soporific

Back 767

adjective: sleep producing

Front 768

sordid

Back 768

adjective: filthy; contemptible and corrupt

The monica lewinski scandal ranks as one of th most sordid affairs in american history.

Front 769

specious

Back 769

adjective: seeming to be logical and sound, but not really so

the article rebuts the specious argument advanced by the so-called expert in the field

in the logic class, students were asked to identify specious lines of reasoning in several arguments.

Front 770

spectrum

Back 770

noun: band of colors produced when sunlight passes through a prism; a broad range of related ideas or objects

Front 771

spendthrift

Back 771

noun: person who spends money recklessly, person who is not thrifty

adjective: spendthrift - wasteful and extravagant

Greg's spendthrift habits resulted in his accumulating a huge amount of credit card debt.

Front 772

sporadic

Back 772

adjective: irregular

Front 773

squalor

Back 773

noun: filthy, wretched condition

The family lives in squalor in the slums of Manila.

Front 774

staccato

Back 774

adjective: marked by abrupt, clear-cut sounds

we listened to the staccato steps of the woman in high heels running down the street.

Front 775

stanch

Back 775

verb: to stop or check the flow of

the medic used a tourniquet to stanch the woman's bleeding wound.

Front 776

stentorian

Back 776

adjective: extremely loud

The speaker's stentorian voice rang through the hall.

Front 777

stigma

Back 777

noun: mark of disgrace or inferiority

giving psychological treatment to a child may cause him to acquire a stigma as a result of officially being labeled as deviant.

Front 778

stigmatize

Back 778

verb: to mark as disgraceful or inferior

The civil rights movement helped to stigmatize racism.

Front 779

stint

Back 779

verb: to be sparing

Stinting on butter used in cooking is a good idea.

Stinting on funding for education is a bad idea.

noun: stint - a period of time spent doing something

a short stint in the army

Front 780

stipulate

Back 780

verb: to specify as an essential condition

The contract stipulates that the agreement will remain in force unless both sides agree to cancel it.

Front 781

stipulation

Back 781

noun: essential conditions

stipulations in a contract should be clear in order to obviate the need for parties to resort to litigation.

Front 782

stolid

Back 782

adjective: having or showing little emotion

luke was one of those stolid individuals who rarely show their feelings.

Front 783

stratified

Back 783

adjective: arranged in layers

noun: stratum - layer

plural of stratum is strata

social stratification - hierarchical arrangement of individuals in a society into classes or castes

Front 784

striated

Back 784

adjective: marked with thin, narrow grooves or channels

noun: striation -

the geologist examined striations in the rock to learn abut the glacier tha had made them 10,000 years ago.

Front 785

stipulation

Back 785

noun: essential conditions

stipulations in a contract should be clear in order to obviate the need for parties to resort to litigation.

Front 786

stricture

Back 786

noun: something that restrains; negative criticism

lawyers are expected to abide by a set of ethical strictures in their practice of the law

the central paradox of poetry is tht the strictures imposed by form on a talented poet can help produce works of great power.

Front 787

strident

Back 787

adjective: loud; harsh unpleasantly noisy

Calls for the prime minister's resignation became more strident after it was discovered tht he hd strong connections to orgnized crime.

Front 788

strut

Back 788

verb: to swagger; display to impress others

Front 789

stultify

Back 789

verb: to impair or reduce to uselessness

rote learning stultifies students' creativity

businessess complained that government regulations are stultifying free competition and innovation.

Front 790

stupefy

Back 790

verb: to dull the senses of; stun; astonish; to overwhelm with amazement

After 3 shots of tequila, raymond was stupefied

RJ was stupefied that he nearly got a perfect score on the GRE.

Front 791

stygian

Back 791

adjective: dark and gloomy; hellish

The news that the country was being invaded plunged it into a stygian doom.

Front 792

subpoena

Back 792

noun: notice ordering someone to appear in court

Front 793

subside

Back 793

verb: to settle down; grow quiet

Front 794

substantiate

Back 794

verb: to support with proof or evidence

Advocates of the theory that atlantis existed mre than 6,000 years ago sometimes use evidence of dubious authenticity to substantiate their claims.

Front 795

dubious

Back 795

adjective: doubtful

Front 796

substantive

Back 796

adjective: essential; pertaining to the substance

The judge cautioned the attorney to present only information that was subtantive to the case at hand.

Front 797

subsume

Back 797

verb: to include; incorporate

The scientist was abe to formulate a general principle that subsumes five more specific principles.

Front 798

subversive

Back 798

adjective: intended to undermine or overthrow, especially an established government

noun: person intending to undermine somethin

Front 799

succor

Back 799

noun: relief; help in time of distress or want

the woman provided succor to the enemy in the form of food.

the depressed man found succor by going inside the church to pray

Front 800

suffrage

Back 800

noun: right to vote

Front 801

sundry

Back 801

adjective: various

the book tells the story of the protagonist's sundry adventures in Africa over the last 20 years.

Front 802

supersede

Back 802

verb: to replace especially to displace as inferior or antiquated

Some experts predict that books made from paper will one day be superseded by electronic books.

Front 803

supine

Back 803

adjective: lying on the back; marked by lethargy

Front 804

supplant

Back 804

verb: to replace; substitute

some fear that AI machines wil eventually supplant biological life forms

Front 805

suppliant

Back 805

adjective: beseeching(beg eagerly for, to make urgent appeal; to implore urgently)

The worshippers raised their suppliant voices to God, praying for forgiveness.

They besought him to go at once.

Earnestly did I beseech, but to no avail.

Front 806

supplicant

Back 806

noun: person who asks humbly and earnestly

the supplicant approached the king, begging him to forgive their offences.

the mother of the criminal appeared as a supplicant before the governor, asking him to grant her son clemency.

Front 807

supposition

Back 807

noun: the act of assuming to be true or real

Science proceeds on the supposition that knowledge is possible.

The astronomers searching for aliens are proceeding on the supposition that life requires water.

Front 808

syllogyism

Back 808

noun: a form of deductive reasoning that has a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion

Front 809

sylvan

Back 809

adjective: related to the woods or forest

The poet lives in sylvan seclusion, writing about the beauty of nature.

Front 810

tacit

Back 810

adjective: silently understood; implied

By tacit agreement no one in 1425 talked about grace's loud moans during sex while she was in the room.

Front 811

talisman

Back 811

noun: charm to bring good luck and avert misfortune

Front 812

tangential

Back 812

adjective: peripheral; digressing

the evidence had only a tangential bearing on the case, so the judge told the lawyer to present ony a brief summary of it

Front 813

tautology

Back 813

noun: unnecessary repetition

"old adage" is an tautology, or "widow woman"

Front 814

taxonomy

Back 814

noun: the science of classification; in biology, the process of classifying organisms in categories

Front 815

tenet

Back 815

noun: belief; doctrine

A central tenet of democracy is that the law should treat everyone equally.

Front 816

tenuous

Back 816

adjective: weak; insubstantial

The study established a tenuous relationship between brain size in mammals and intelligence.

Front 817

terrestrial

Back 817

adjective: earthly; commonplace

Front 818

theocracy

Back 818

noun: government by priests representing a god

Front 819

secularization

Back 819

noun: process by which society gradually changes from close identification with th institutions of religion to a greater separation of religion from the rest of social life.

Front 820

thespian

Back 820

noun: an actor or actress

Front 821

timbre

Back 821

noun: the characteristic quality of sound produced by a particular instrument or voice; tone color

Front 822

tirade

Back 822

noun: long, violent speech; verbal assault

Front 823

toady

Back 823

noun: flatterer; hanger-on; yes-man

Front 824

tome

Back 824

noun: book, usually large and academic

This 800 page tome called biology contains most of the information students need to learn for the introductory biology course.

Front 825

torpor

Back 825

noun: lethargy; dormancy, as of a hibernating animal; sluggish inactivity

After returning home from the tiring europe trip, Raymond sank into a peaceful torpor, watching tv and sleeping.

Front 826

torque

Back 826

noun: a turning or twisting force

Front 827

tortuous

Back 827

adjective: having many twists and turns; highly complex

The person's tortuous journey from cynicism and despair to faith and hope.

It was hard to follow the tortuous line of reasoning used by mathematicians.

Front 828

tout

Back 828

verb: to promote or praise energetically

the critic touted moby dick as the greatest book in american literature

Front 829

tout

Back 829

verb: to promote or praise energetically

the critic touted moby dick as the greatest book in american literature

Front 830

tractable

Back 830

adjective: obedient; yielding

The violent prisoner became tractable after he was given a sedative.

Front 831

transgression

Back 831

noun: act of trespassing or violating a law or rule

She would not put up with any transgression of classroom rules.

verb: transgress

Western medicine transgressed Hippocrates' prescriptions for medicine when doctors messed up patients with purges and bloodletting.

Front 832

transient

Back 832

adjective: temporary; short-lived; fleeting

Front 833

anomie

Back 833

noun: state or condition of individuals or society characterized by a breakdown or absence of social norms and values, as in the case of uprooted people

Front 834

translucent

Back 834

adjective: partially transparent

Front 835

travail

Back 835

noun: work, especially arduous work; tribulation; anguish

America's early pioneers endured great travail.

Front 836

travesty

Back 836

noun: parody; exaggerated imitation; caricature

The playwright complained tht the musical comedy version of his play was a travesty of his work.

Front 837

treatise

Back 837

noun: article treating a subject systematically and thoroughly

Front 838

tremulous

Back 838

adjective: trembling; quivering; frugal; timid

The soldier, his voice tremulous, begged his captor not to kill him.

Front 839

trepidation

Back 839

noun: fear and anxiety

John tried to hide his trepidation when he proposed to Susie, the girl he loved.

Front 840

truculence

Back 840

noun: aggressiveness; ferocity

When i first started playing flag football I pulled flags with truculence.

Front 841

tryst

Back 841

noun: agreement between lovers to meet; rendezvous

Jenilee and Raymond joke about setting up a tryst at my dad's timeshare.

Front 842

tumid

Back 842

adjective: swollen; distended; pompous or inflated, as language; turgid; bombastic; bulging

The british writer george orwell often satirized tumid political prose.

Front 843

tumid

Back 843

adjective: swollen; distended; pompous or inflated, as language; turgid; bombastic; bulging

The british writer george orwell often satirized tumid political prose.

Front 844

turbid

Back 844

adjective: muddy; opaque; a state of great confusion; not clear or transparent because of stirred up sediment; clouded

the turbid waters near the waterfall

the turbid state of the soldier's mind the night before the big battle was set to begin.

Front 845

turgid

Back 845

adjective: swollen; bloated; pompous, bombastic, tumid

she did not want the report written in the turgid prose too often ound in official documents.

Front 846

tutelary

Back 846

adjective: serving as a guardian or protector

some people believe in guardian angels, a tutelary being that guides and protects them.

Front 847

uncanny

Back 847

adjective: mysterious; strange

Front 848

undulating

Back 848

adjective: moving in waves

The undulating terrain of the area has made it difficult for engineers to build road there.

Front 849

unfeigned

Back 849

adjective: not false; not made up; genuine

Front 850

untenable

Back 850

adjective: indefensible

The prime minister's position became untenable after he lost the support of his own party, so he resigned from office.

Front 851

untoward

Back 851

adjective: not favorable; troublesome; adverse; unruly

The commander told his troops that untoward circumstances had prevented victory, but that if they fought on valiantly, victory would be achieved eventually.

Front 852

usury

Back 852

noun: practice of lending money at exorbitant rates

adjective: usurious

The consumer advocate's group complained about the bank's usurious interest rates.

Front 853

vascillate

Back 853

verb: to waver; oscillate

The senator's position keeps vascillating between remaining neutral and ending his support to the proposal.

Front 854

vacuous

Back 854

adjective: empty; void; lacking intelligence; purposeless

a vacuous young woman with few interests other than having fun

the smart actress plays the stereotyped part of the vacuous "bimbo" in the film

Front 855

valedictory

Back 855

adjective: pertaining to a farewell

The 80 year old actor came out of retirement to give a valedictory performance on broadway.

Front 856

vapid

Back 856

adjective: tasteless; dull

i like to watch vapid situation comedies on tv.

its a mystery to critics how the writer went from producing vapid and sentimental stories to turning out some of the best stories ever written in america.

Front 857

variegated

Back 857

adjective: varied; marked with different colors

Botanists are still working to catalog the variegated species of the tropical rainforest.

From odd bits of material the artist has achieved variegated effects.

Front 858

vaunt

Back 858

verb: to boast; brag

The head coach warned her players not to vaunt their undefeated record

adjective: vaunted - boasted about

The destruction of the forest and wildlife through pollution would cause our vaunted technological and economic systems to founder.

Front 859

venal

Back 859

adjective: bribable; mercenary; corruptible

the mayor in the philippines went into politics for motives that were almost entirely venal.

Front 860

vendetta

Back 860

noun: prolonged feud marked by bitter hostility

Front 861

venerate

Back 861

verb: to adore; honor; respect

mother theresa is venerated for her compassion for the poor people of india.

adjective: venerable - respected because of age, character, or position

Front 862

veracious

Back 862

adjective: truthful; accurate

The jury's decision was based largely on the testimony of a single witness they believed to be veracious.

Front 863

verbose

Back 863

adjective: wordy

Front 864

vertigo

Back 864

noun: dizziness

Front 865

vexation

Back 865

noun: irritation; annoyance; confusion; puzzlement

Some people have the ability to prosper and live happily despite life's inevitable vexations.

Front 866

viable

Back 866

adjective: practicable; capable of developing

spend a great deal of money to keep cities viable by rebuilding decrepit infrastructure

trying to work out a viable plan to give every american access to medical care.

noun: viability

Front 867

vindictive

Back 867

adjective: spiteful; vengeful; unforgiving

The treaty of versailles was deliberately vindictive, imposing tremendous penalties on the defeated nation.

He is vindictiv in seeking revenge againts those he believes have harmed him.

Front 868

virtuoso

Back 868

noun: someone with masterly skill; expert musician

The british guitar virtuoso John Williams

adjective: virtuoso

Merfil is a virtuoso pianist.

Front 869

visage

Back 869

noun: the face, usually with reference to shape, features, expression, etc; countenance(appearance especially the look or expression of the face); aspect; appearance

The infant studied its mother's visage intently.

Front 870

viscous

Back 870

adjective: thick, syrupy, and sticky

Front 871

vitiate

Back 871

verb: to impair the quality of; corrupt morally; make inoperative

Unfortunately, one error in the study's methodology vitiates the entire body of work.

Front 872

vituperative

Back 872

adjective: using or containing harsh, abusive censure

verb: vituperate - to use or address with harsh or abusive language

Front 873

vituperative

Back 873

adjective: using or containing harsh, abusive censure

The judge cautioned the attorney not to use his summing up as an opportunity to make vituperative remarks about imperfections in the criminal justice system.

Front 874

vivisection

Back 874

noun: dissection, surgery, or painful experiments performed on a living animal for the purpose of scientific research

Front 875

vogue

Back 875

noun: prevailing fashion or practice

Front 876

volatile

Back 876

adjective: tending to vary frequently; fickle

Front 877

vortex

Back 877

noun: whirlpool; whirlwind; center of turbulence

The country was drawn into the vortex of war

Front 878

warranted

Back 878

adjective: justified

verb: warrant - to attest to the accuracy or quality; justify; grant authorization

"something decides if there is sufficient evidence to warrant a full trial"

Front 879

wary

Back 879

adjective: careful; cautious

Front 880

welter

Back 880

verb: to wallow or roll; toss about; be in turmoil

The pigs weltered about happily in the mud.

To welter (to become deeply involved, entangled) in setbacks, confusion, and dispair.
noun: welter - a state of commotion, turmoil, or upheaval

the welter that followed the surprise attack.

Front 881

whimsical

Back 881

adjective: fanciful; unpredictable

noun: whimsy - playful or fanciful idea

Front 882

wistful

Back 882

adjective: vaguely longing; sadly thoughtful

The people visiting the war memorial had wistful looks on their faces.

Front 883

zealot

Back 883

noun: one who is fanatically devoted to a cause

noun: zealotry - fanaticism

adjective: zealous - enthusiastically devoted to a cause.