Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
15 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
|
Abstruse
|
Difficult or hard to understand
|
The professor's article, on the meaning of meaning, was very abstruse. Michael couldn't even pronounce the words in it.
|
|
|
Affectation
|
Unnatural or artificial behavior, usually intended to impress.
|
Bucky's English accent is an affectation. He spent only a week in England, and that was several years ago.
|
|
|
Adulterate
|
to contaminate; to make impure
|
We discovered that our orange juice had radioactive waste in it; we discovered, in other words, that our orange juice had been adulterated.
|
|
|
Wanton
|
malicious; unjustifiable; unprovoked' egregious
|
Terrorists commit wanton acts on a helpless populace to make their point.
|
|
|
Affable
|
easy to talk to; friendly
|
Susan was an affable girl; she could strike up a pleasant conversation with amost anyone.
|
|
|
Adamant
|
stubborn; unyielding; complitely inflexible
|
Candice was adamant: she would never go out with Paul again.
|
|
|
Aberration
|
something not typical; a deviation from the standard
|
A snowstorm in June is an aberration; snow doesn't normally fall in June.
|
|
|
Ameliorate
|
to make better or more tolerable
|
The condition of the prisioners was ameliorated when the warden gave them color TV's and keys to their cells.
|
|
|
Delineate
|
to describe accurately; to draw in outline
|
After Jack had delineated his plan, we had no doubt about what he intended to do.
|
|
|
Acerbic
|
bitter; sour; severe
|
Barry sat silently as our teacher read aloud her acerbic comments on his paper.
|
|
|
Deride
|
to ridicule; to laugh at comtemptuously
|
The boss derided the secretary mercilessly, so she poisoned him. She was someone who could not accept derision.
|
|
|
Abstract
|
theoretical; impersonal
|
To like somethin in the abstract is to like the idea of it. He liked oysters in the abstract, but when he actually tried one he became nauseated.
|
|
|
Tautological
|
redundant; circular
|
A tautology is a needless repition of words, or saying the same thing using different words. For example: The trouble with bachelors is that they aren't married.
|
|
|
Impugn
|
to attack, especially to attach the truth or integrity of something
|
The critic impugned the originality of Jacob's novel, claiming that long stretches of it had been lifted from the word of someone else.
|
|
|
Eclectic
|
choosing the best from many sources; drawn from many sources
|
Zeke's taste in art was eclectic. He liked the Old Masters, the Impressionists, and Walt Disney.
|
