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129 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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abate
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subside, moderate, reduce in intensity
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The storm has abated and we can now safely play outside.
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aberrant
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abnormal, deviant
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The teacher addressed Mikey's abberant behavior during the meeting with his parents.
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abeyance
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temporary inactivity, suspension, cessation
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Please forgive the abbeyance of internet access on campus last night.
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abscond
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depart secretly and hide
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The criminal absconded behind the building as a crowd began to gathrer.
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abstemious
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sparing or moderate in eating and drinking, temperate in diet
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Many weight loss solutions are a combination of exercise and an abstemious diet.
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alacrity
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cheerful readiness, promptness, willingness
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Some alacritous students raise their hands to answer every question.
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ambivalence
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the simultaneous existence of two opposed and conflicting attitudes, emotions, etc
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He was ambivalent about his work because he both enjoyed it and wanted to retire from it.
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apprise
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to give notice to; inform; advise
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The family was apprised of the death of their neighbor.
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approbation
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approval; commendation
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The crowd welcomed the heroes with approbation.
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artless
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not artificial; natural; uncontrived; ingenuous
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Such as we were we gave ourselves outright
(The deed of gift was many deeds of war) To the land vaguely realizing westward, But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced, Such as she was, such as she would become (Robert Frost) |
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assiduous
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constant; unremitting; persistent; diligent
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Five months of assiduous labor produced a beautiful log cabin.
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attenuate
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to weaken or reduce in force, intensity, effect, quantity, or value
to make thin |
Walls surrounding highways serve to attenuate traffic noise.
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austere
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grave; sober; solemn; serious
without excess, luxury, or ease; simple; limited |
Green living has many austere qualities.
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aver
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to assert or affirm with confidence; declare in a positive or peremptory manner
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He went to the police to aver his innocence.
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banal
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devoid of freshness or originality; hackneyed; trite
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The client rejected our proposal because they found our presentation banal and unimpressive.
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belie
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to show to be false; contradict
to misrepresent |
His trembling hands belied his calm voice.
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bombastic
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high-sounding; high-flown; inflated; pretentious
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He gave a bombastic lecture about the influence of Schopenhauer on Wagner.
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boorish
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unmannered; crude; insensitive
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Her boorish attitude at the funeral offended the family.
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capricious
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fanciful or witty
characterized by or liable to sudden unpredictable changes in attitude or behaviour; impulsive; fickle |
The judge was skeptical of the witness' capricious accounts of the events of the day.
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coda
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a concluding section or part, esp. one of a conventional form and serving as a summation of preceding themes, motifs, etc.
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The coda at the end of the book failed to summarize what was presented.
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cogent
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convincing or believable by virtue of forcible, clear, or incisive presentation; telling.
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The judge was impressed and swayed by her cogent arguments.
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commensurate
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corresponding in amount, magnitude, or degree
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Your paycheck should be commensurate with the amount of time worked.
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condone
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to disregard or overlook
to pardon or forgive to give tacit approval to |
It's one thing to forgive adultery; it's another thing to condone it.
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contrite
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caused by or showing sincere remorse
filled with a sense of guilt and the desire for atonement; penitent |
Roseanne was truly contrite about the harsh words she had spoken in anger.
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craven
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cowardly
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The craven lion was shaking at the knees.
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deference
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respectful or courteous regard to another
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They all went to school that day in deference to his wishes.
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delineate
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to trace the outline of; sketch or trace in outline; represent pictorially
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He delineated the state of Texas on the map with a red pencil.
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denigrate
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to speak damagingly of; criticize in a derogatory manner; sully; defame
to make black; blacken |
The critics will denigrate our efforts.
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desultory
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passing or jumping from one thing to another, esp in a fitful way; unmethodical; disconnected; haphazard
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A 25 per cent price cut resulted in a desultory 2.6 per cent rise in LCD TV sales.
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diatribe
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a bitter, sharply abusive denunciation, attack, or criticism
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The political science professor explained that an argumentative paper is not a diatribe.
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diffident
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lacking self-confidence; timid; shy
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While eating dinner with the adults, the diffident youth did not speak for fear of seeming presumptuous.
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dirge
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a funeral song or tune, or one expressing mourning in commemoration of the dead.
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The autumn wind sang the dirge of summer.
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disingenuous
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lacking in frankness, candor, or sincerity; falsely or hypocritically ingenuous; insincere
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The disingenuous methods used by the pollsters render the survey's results utterly worthless.
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disinterested
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unbiased by personal interest or advantage; not influenced by selfish motives
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A good referee should make disinterested rulings.
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disparage
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to speak of or treat slightingly; depreciate; belittle
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Do not disparage good manners.
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dissemble
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to give a false or misleading appearance to; conceal the truth or real nature of
to pretend; simulate |
Try to avoid hiring someone who dissembles his incompetence in business.
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dissolution
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the undoing or breaking of a bond, tie, union, partnership
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After the founder died, and his sons disagreed, the company fell into dissolution
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divest
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to strip or deprive; to rid of or free from
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He divested himself of all responsibility for the decision.
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ebullient
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overflowing with fervor, enthusiasm, or excitement; high-spirited
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The award winner was in an ebullient mood at the dinner in her honor.
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effrontery
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shameless or impudent boldness; barefaced audacity
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She had the effrontery to ask for two free samples.
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enervate
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to deprive of force or strength; destroy the vigor of; weaken
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Enervated by the extreme heat, the garden club spent the afternoon sipping lemonade instead of weeding.
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equanimity
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mental or emotional stability or composure, esp. under tension or strain; calmness; equilibrium.
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Marge was able to maintain a state of equanimity while others rushed around in panic.
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equivocate
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to use ambiguous or unclear expressions, usually to avoid commitment or in order to mislead; prevaricate or hedge
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When asked directly for his position on disarmament, the candidate only equivocated.
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erudite
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characterized by great knowledge; learned or scholarly
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My Latin teacher is such an erudite scholar that he has translated some of the most difficult and abstruse ancient poetry.
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exculpate
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to clear from a charge of guilt or fault; free from blame; vindicate
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My discovery of the ring behind the dresser exculpated me from the charge of having stolen it.
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exigency
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a case or situation that demands prompt action or remedy; emergency
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He promised help in any exigency.
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facetious
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not meant to be taken seriously or literally; amusing; humorous
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I was being facetious when I told you to keep that gun in case of a zombie invasion.
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fallacious
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deceptive; misleading
disappointing; delusive |
All formal dogmatic religions are fallacious and must never be accepted by self-respecting persons as final.
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fatuous
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foolish or inane, esp. in an unconscious, complacent manner
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His poetry was filled with fatuous images of flying cows and green sunflowers
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fawning
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to seek notice or favor by servile demeanor
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The courtiers fawned over the king.
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felicitous
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well-suited for the occasion, as an action, manner, or expression; apt; appropriate
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Gold companies benefited from a felicitous exchange rate this year.
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flag
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to fall off in vigor, energy, activity, interest
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Public enthusiasm flagged when the team kept losing.
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flout
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to treat with disdain, scorn, or contempt; scoff at; mock
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They flouted the conventions and were asked to leave.
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gainsay
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to deny, dispute, or contradict
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Must you gainsay my every word?
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garrulous
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excessively talkative in a rambling, roundabout manner, esp. about trivial matters.
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The wine made him garrulous.
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goad
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something that encourages, urges, or drives; a stimulus
a stick with a pointed or electrically charged end, for driving cattle, oxen |
A broad-backed ox can be driven straight on his road even by a small goad.
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gregarious
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fond of the company of others; sociable
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The glasses he wore for astigmatism gave him a deceptively clerkish appearance, for he had an ebullient, gregarious personality, a hot temper, and an outsized imagination.
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guileless
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sincere; honest; straightforward; frank
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So as to not sugarcoat the situation, the doctor guilelessly informed the family of the child's condition.
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impassive
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without emotion; apathetic; unmoved
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Every day, starting in the morning, he roams through the devastated areas of the city with a vacillating mind and an impassive face.
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imperturbable
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incapable of being upset or agitated; not easily excited; calm
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Instead his strength, his magnetism, lie in an almost imperturbable inner peace about life and death.
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implacable
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not to be appeased, mollified, or pacified; inexorable
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The implacable infant continued to wail even while sucking on his pacifier.
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inchoate
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not yet completed or fully developed; rudimentary
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The scientists theory was still inchoate, so he hired a team to help develop it.
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indigence
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seriously impoverished condition; poverty
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The indigence of many locals shocked the wealthier tourists who visited.
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indolent
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disliking work or effort; lazy; idle
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The indolent girl resisted doing her homework.
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ingenuous
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artless; innocent; naive
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We were hesitant to approach her because we had heard she was a witch, but her ingenuous manner put us instantly at ease.
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insensible
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incapable of feeling or perceiving; deprived of sensation; unconscious, as a person after a violent blow
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The fall had left him insensible for several minutes, but he soon regained feeling.
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insipid
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lacking taste; unpalatable
without distinctive, interesting, or stimulating qualities; dull |
The play was so insipid, I fell asleep halfway through.
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insularity
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narrow-minded or illiberal; provincial
of or pertaining to an island or islands |
The candidate was considered insular towards cultural diversity, which cost him the election.
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intractable
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not easily controlled or directed; not docile or manageable; stubborn; obstinate
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His intractable disposition made him difficult to compromise with.
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intransigence
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refusing to agree or compromise; uncompromising; inflexible
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The intransigence of both sides frustrated the negotiators.
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inured
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to accustom to hardship, difficulty, pain, etc.; toughen or harden; habituate
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The camper eventually became inured to all the annoyances of living without modern facilities.
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invective
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an insulting or abusive word or expression
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When Sylvia referred to the president as a fear-slurping demon, Janis took the opportunity to try and explain how her constant use of invective made people write her off as an lunatic
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irascible
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easily provoked to anger; very irritable
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Wayne was a good friend to me, but his employees saw him as an irascible old man who was always critical and frequently lost his temper.
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laconic
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using few words; concise; terse
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The student, who regularly gave laconic replies, was encouraged to expand on his answers.
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lassitude
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weariness of body or mind from strain; lack of energy; languor
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Although Emily was back on her feet and even doing a little work, there remained about her an air of lassitude that had her family concerned.
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malinger
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to pretend illness, esp. in order to shirk one's duty, avoid work, etc.
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It is not uncommon on exam days for several students to malinger rather than prepare themselves and show up to class.
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maverick
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a person of independent or unorthodox views
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Andreas is a real maverick and always does things his own way.
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mendacious
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telling lies, esp. habitually; dishonest; lying; untruthful
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Forget Disney's cartoon tale of the mendacious marionette whose doweled nose grows longer with every fib.
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mollify
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to mitigate or reduce; soften
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After Sam forgot their anniversary, roses were not enough to mollify Sadie, who was clear that nothing less than diamonds would get him back in her good graces.
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neophyte
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a beginner or novice
a person newly converted to a belief, as a heathen, heretic, or nonbeliever |
As a neophyte in the literary world, Malik had trouble finding a publisher for his first novel.
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obdurate
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stubbornly resistant to moral influence; persistently impenitent
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Her pleadings were met with obdurate silence.
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obsequious
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servilely compliant or deferential; obedient; dutiful
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The servants were so obsequious they would jump off a bridge if asked.
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obviate
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to anticipate and prevent or eliminate (difficulties, disadvantages, etc.) by effective measures; render unnecessary
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They saved enough money for their purchase and obviated the need to borrow.
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occlude
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to close, shut, or stop up
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Their goal was to occlude the passage with boulders to prevent enemies from coming through
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onerous
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burdensome, oppressive, or troublesome
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Also, the government could set rules onerous enough to ground the fledgling industry.
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opprobium
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a cause of disgrace or ignominy; the state of being abused or scornfully criticized; reproach or censure
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These people should be remembered with the same opprobrium as Benedict Arnold is by the people of the United States.
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ostentatious
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characterized by or given to pretentious or conspicuous show in an attempt to impress others
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The ostentatious first half of his sixth album doesn't have Troy's trademark unpredictability.
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paragon
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a model or pattern of excellence or of a particular excellence.
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The mythical Helen of Troy was considered a paragon of female beauty.
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pedantic
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overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, esp. in teaching.
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The professor's overly detailed and pendantic lecture annoyed the students, who felt he was just showing off.
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penchant
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a strong inclination, taste, or liking for something
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Hagen's penchant for cooking was legendary.
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penury
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extreme poverty; destitution
scarcity; dearth; inadequacy; insufficiency |
The hardship, penury and hunger of the early 1930s is etched in the collective memory of older Americans.
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perfidious
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deliberately faithless; treacherous; deceitful
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They believed him to be on their side but his perfidious action nearly lost them the battle.
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4ASS#4
Are evidentiary searches and seizures protected by the 4th amd? |
Yes, must be reasonable to be valid under the 4th Amd, but here reasonableness requires a warrant except in six circumstances.
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phlegmatic
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self-possessed, calm, or composed
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If you are a phlegmatic, you most likely possess a dry wit and a steady, amicable demeanor.
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platitude
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the state of being flat, dull, or trite
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Obama is praised for the lack of platitude in his speeches.
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pragmatic
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practical point of view or practical considerations
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It was high on idealism and values, but also tremendously pragmatic and utilitarian.
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precipitate
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proceeding rapidly or with great haste; exceedingly sudden or abrupt
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His precipitate appearance caught the group off-guard.
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prevaricate
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to speak falsely or misleadingly; deliberately misstate or create an incorrect impression; lie
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His tendency to prevaricate crippled his relationship because his wife held honesty as her greatest moral.
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probity
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integrity and uprightness; honesty
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She was most admired for her probity during times of controversy and agitation.
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prodigal
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wastefully or recklessly extravagant
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How can he be so prodigal with money on such a tight budget?
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propitiate
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to make favorably inclined; appease; conciliate
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The dark storm clouds visible on the horizon suggested that the weather would not be propitious for sailing.
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propriety
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appropriateness to the purpose or circumstances; suitability
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The manager encouraged her employees to dress with more propriety while meeting with clients, effectively abolishing casual Fridays.
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proscribe
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to banish or exile
to denounce or condemn (a thing) as dangerous or harmful; prohibit |
The town council voted to proscribe the sale of alcohol on weekends.
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qualified
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modified, limited, or restricted in some way
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The company qualified the endorsement to depend on how many homeruns he hits per game.
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quiescent
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being at rest; quiet; still; inactive or motionless
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The bats were quiescent at that time of day, so we slowly entered the cave.
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rarefied
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to make rare or rarer; make less dense
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The air at the top of a high mountain is rarefied.
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recalcitrant
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resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant; refractory
hard to deal with, manage, or operate |
Even when scolded, the recalcitrant young girl simply stomped her foot and refused to finish her lima beans.
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recondite
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dealing with very profound, difficult, or abstruse subject matter
little known; obscure |
Study and meditation are required to understand the recondite principles of astrobiophysics.
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refractory
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hard or impossible to manage; stubbornly disobedient
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Many of the vague and refractory cases of neck and shoulder pain and of migraine may be due to cervical disc disease.
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reproach
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to find fault with (a person, group, etc.); blame; censure
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Brian reproached the customer for failing to rewind the video he had rented.
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reprobate
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a depraved, unprincipled, or wicked person
morally depraved; unprincipled; bad |
FRSC warned that such persons would be booked as reprobate offenders, adding that they risked being jailed.
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repudiate
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to reject as having no authority or binding force
to cast off or disown |
Kwame made a strong case for an extension of his curfew, but his mother repudiated it with a few biting words.
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reticent
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disposed to be silent or not to speak freely; reserved
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I was reticent about revealing the source of my information.
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sanction
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authoritative permission or approval, as for an action
to ratify or confirm |
Existentialism is about being a saint without God; being your own hero, without all the sanction and support of religion or society.
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secrete
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to place out of sight; hide; conceal
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The squirrels secreted nuts in the hollow tree trunk.
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solicitous
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anxious or concerned
careful or particular |
Some people are overly solicitous about their health, taking every precaution to avoid germs.
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soporific
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causing or tending to cause sleep
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The doctor prescribed a soporific to help him sleep.
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specious
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superficially pleasing or plausible; pleasing to the eye but deceptive
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This idea that we must see through what we have started is specious, however good it may sound.
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stint
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to be frugal; get along on a scanty allowance
a limited, prescribed, or expected quantity, share, rate |
Unemployed with no high school degree, he had to stint to support his family.
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stolid
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showing little or no emotion or interest
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The Indian sat on the front seat, saying nothing to anybody, with a stolid expression of face, as if barely awake to what was going on.
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supersede
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to set aside or cause to be set aside as void, useless, or obsolete, usually in favor of something mentioned
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They superseded the old statue with the new one
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tacit
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understood without being openly expressed; implied
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There was a tacit agreement with the police (nothing said or written down).
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tenuous
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thin or slender in form
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Your argument is very tenuous, since it relies so much on speculation and hearsay.
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tractable
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easily worked, shaped, or otherwise handled; malleable
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The secretary was so organized that all problems were very tractable.
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truculence
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brutally harsh; vitriolic; scathing
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He truculently criticized her work, causing her to run home crying.
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vacillate
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to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute
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I prefer a definite answer, but my boss kept vacillating between the distinct options available to us.
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veracious
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habitually speaking the truth; truthful; honest
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The judge expected the witnesses to be veracious in their testimony.
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vituperation
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abusive language or venomous censure
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Cinderella recieved much vituperation from her step sisters.
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welter
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a confused mass; a jumble or muddle
a state of commotion, turmoil, or upheaval |
The politician saw a welter of anxious faces in the crowd as he began to address the state of emergency.
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