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;
166 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Anomaly
|
deviation from what is normal
Synonyms: aberrant; aberration; abnormality; deviance; deviation; irregularity; preternaturalness |
|
|
Accretion
|
a growth in size; an increase in amount
Synonyms: accumulation; buildup |
|
|
Aggrandize
|
to increase in power, influence, and reputation
Synonyms: amplify; apotheosize; augment; dignify; elevate; enlarge; ennoble; exalt; glorify; magnify; swell; uplift; wax |
|
|
Apocryphal
|
of questionable authority or authenticity
Synonyms: disputed; doubtful; fictitious; fraudulent |
|
|
Ameliorate
|
to make better; to improve
Synonyms: amend; better; improve; pacify; upgrade |
|
|
Analgesia
|
a lessening of pain without loss of consciousness
Synonyms: pain relief |
|
|
Attenuate
|
reduce in force or degree; weaken
Synonyms: debilitate; devitalize; dilute; enervate; enfeeble; rarefy; sap; thin; undermine; undo; unnerve; water; weaken |
|
|
Apostate
|
one who renounces a religious faith
Synonyms: defector; deserter; traitor |
|
|
Ardor
|
intense and passionate feeling
Synonyms: devotion; enthusiasm; fervency; fervidity; fervidness; fervor; fire; passion; zeal; zealousness |
|
|
August
|
dignified; grandiose
Synonyms: admirable; awesome; grand; majestic |
|
|
Bifurcate
|
divide into two parts
Synonyms: bisect |
|
|
Blight
|
to afflict; to destroy
Synonyms: damage; plague |
|
|
Bevy
|
group
Synonyms: band; bunch; hang; pack; troop |
|
|
Bolster
|
support; prop up
Synonyms: brace; buttress; crutch; prop; stay; support; sustain; underpinning; uphold |
|
|
Cabal
|
a secret group seeking to overturn something
Synonyms: camp; circle; clan; clique; coterie; in-group; mafia; mob; ring |
|
|
Blithe
|
joyful; cheerful; without appropriate thought
Synonyms: carefree; lighthearted; merry |
|
|
Candid
|
impartial and honest in speech
Synonyms: direct; forthright; frank; honest; open; sincere; straight; straightforward; undisguised |
|
|
Cartography
|
science or art of making maps
Synonyms: charting; surveying; topography |
|
|
Cacophony
|
harsh, jarring noise
Synonyms: chaos; clamor; din; discord; disharmony |
|
|
Caustic
|
biting in wit
Synonyms: acerbic; biting; mordant; trenchant |
|
|
Coffer
|
strongbox; large chest for money
Synonyms: treasury; chest; exchequer; war chest |
|
|
Chauvinist
|
someone prejudiced in favor of a group to which he or she belongs
Synonyms: biased; colored; one-sided; partial; partisan; prejudicial; prepossessed; tendentious |
|
|
Castigate
|
to punish or criticize harshly
Synonyms: admonish; chastise; chide; rebuke; reprimand; reproach; reprove; scold; tax; upbraid |
|
|
Contrite
|
deeply sorrowful and repentant for a wrong
Synonyms: apologetic; regretful; remorseful |
|
|
Collusion
|
collaboration; complicity; conspiracy
Synonyms: connivance; intrigue; machination |
|
|
Cloying
|
sickly sweet; excessive
Synonyms: excessive; fulsome |
|
|
Curmudgeon
|
cranky person; usually old
Synonyms: crab; coot; grouch |
|
|
Craven
|
lacking courage
Synonyms: faint-hearted; spineless; timid |
|
|
Condone
|
to overlook; to pardon; to disregard
Synonyms: exculpate; excuse; pardon; remit |
|
|
Demur
|
to express doubts or objections
Synonyms: dissent; expostulate; kick; protest; remonstrate |
|
|
Credulous
|
too trusting; gullible
Synonyms: naive; susceptible; trusting |
|
|
Decorous
|
proper; tasteful; socially correct
Synonyms: appropriate; comme il faut; courteous; polite |
|
|
Decorum
|
appropriateness of behavior or conduct; propriety
Synonyms: correctness; decency; etiquette; manners; mores; propriety; seemliness |
|
|
Diatribe
|
an abusive, condemnatory speech
Synonyms: fulmination; harangue; invective; jeremiad; malediction; obloquy; tirade |
|
|
Deride
|
to speak of or treat with contempt; to mock
Synonyms: gibe; jeer; mock; ridicule; scoff; sneer; taunt |
|
|
Dictum
|
authoritative statement
Synonyms: adage; apothegm; aphorism; decree; edict |
|
|
Desiccate
|
to dry out thoroughly
Synonyms: dehydrate; dry; parch |
|
|
Dissonance
|
a harsh and disagreeable combination; especially of sounds
Synonyms: clash; contention; discord; dissension; dissent; dissidence; friction; strife; variance |
|
|
Distend
|
to swell; to inflate; to bloat
Synonyms: broaden; bulge |
|
|
Dissemble
|
to present a false appearance; to disguise one's real intentions or character
Synonyms: act; affect; assume; camouflage; cloak; counterfeit; cover up; disguise; dissimulate; fake; feign; mask; masquerade; pose; pretend; put on; sham |
|
|
Droll
|
amusing in a wry, subtle way
Synonyms: comic; entertaining; funny; risible; witty |
|
|
Dupe
|
to deceive; a person who is easily deceived
Synonyms: beguile; betray; bluff; cozen; deceive; delude; fool; hoodwink; humbug; mislead; take in trick |
|
|
Doctrinaire
|
rigidly devoted to theories without regard for practicality; dogmatic
Synonyms: dictatorial; inflexible |
|
|
Eclectic
|
selecting from or made up from a variety of sources
Synonyms: broad; catholic; selective |
|
|
Efficacy
|
effectiveness
Synonyms: dynamism; effectiveness; efficiency; force; power; productiveness; proficiency; strength; vigor |
|
|
Ebullient
|
exhilarated; full of enthusiasm and high spirits
Synonyms: ardent; avid; bubbly; zestful |
|
|
Emulate
|
to copy; to try to equal or excel
Synonyms: ape; imitate; simulate |
|
|
Endemic
|
belonging to a particular area; inherent
Synonyms: indigenous; local; native |
|
|
Effigy
|
stuffed doll; likeness of a person
Synonyms: dummy; figure; image |
|
|
Ephemeral
|
lasting a short time
Synonyms: evanescent; fleeting; momentary; transient |
|
|
Erudite
|
learned; scholarly; bookish
Synonyms: learned; scholastic; wise |
|
|
Engender
|
to produce, cause, or bring about
Synonyms: beget; generate; procreate; proliferate; reproduce; spawn |
|
|
Fetid
|
foul-smelling; putrid
Synonyms: funky; malodorous; noisome; rank; stinky |
|
|
Flag
|
to decline in vigor, strength, or interest
Synonyms: dwindle; ebb; slacken; subside; wane |
|
|
Fecund
|
fertile; fruitful; productive
Synonyms: flourishing; prolific |
|
|
Fortuitous
|
happening by chance; fortunate
Synonyms: chance; fortunate; haphazard; lucky; propitious; prosperous |
|
|
Frenetic
|
frantic; frenzied
Synonyms: corybantic; delirious; feverish; mad; rabid; wild |
|
|
Florid
|
excessively decorated or embellished
Synonyms: Baroque; elaborate; flamboyant; ornate; ostentatious; Rococo |
|
|
Garrulous
|
tending to talk a lot
Synonyms: effusive; loquacious |
|
|
Glower
|
to glare; to stare angrily and intensely
Synonyms: frown; lower; scowl |
|
|
Garner
|
to gather and store
Synonyms: amass; acquire; glean; harvest; reap |
|
|
Guile
|
deceit; trickery
Synonyms: artifice; chicanery; connivery; duplicity |
|
|
Hoary
|
very old; whitish or gray from age
Synonyms: ancient; antediluvian; antique; venerable; vintage |
|
|
Gradation
|
process occurring by regular degrees or stages; variation in color
Synonyms: nuance; shade; step; subtlety |
|
|
Idiosyncrasy
|
peculiarity of temperament; eccentricity
Synonyms: humor; oddity; quirk |
|
|
Impetuous
|
quick to act without thinking
Synonyms: impulsive; precipitate; rash; reckless; spontaneous |
|
|
Iconoclast
|
one who opposes established beliefs, customs, and institutions
Synonyms: maverick; nonconformist; rebel; revolution |
|
|
Inexorable
|
inflexible; unyielding
Synonyms: adamant; relentless; obdurate |
|
|
Inter
|
to bury
Synonyms: entomb; inhume; sepulcher; sepulture; tomb |
|
|
Implacable
|
unable to be calmed down or made peaceful
Synonyms: inexorable; intransigent; irreconcilable; relentless; remorseless; unforgiving; unrelenting |
|
|
Irascible
|
easily made angry
Synonyms: cantankerous; irritable; ornery; testy |
|
|
Kinetic
|
relating to motion; characterized by movement
Synonyms: active; dynamic; mobile |
|
|
Laconic
|
using few words
Synonyms: concise; curt; pithy; taciturn; terse |
|
|
Lampoon
|
to ridicule with satire
Synonyms: tease |
|
|
Languid
|
lacking energy; indifferent; slow
Synonyms: faineant; lackadaisical; listless; sluggish; weak |
|
|
Lassitude
|
a state of diminished energy
Synonyms: debilitation enervation; fatigue; languor; listlessness; tiredness; weariness |
|
|
Levity
|
an inappropriate lack of seriousness, overly causal
Synonyms: amusement; humor |
|
|
Libertine
|
a free thinker, usually used disparagingly; one without moral restraint
Synonyms: hedonist |
|
|
Lionize
|
to treat as a celebrity
Synonyms: feast; honor; ply; regale |
|
|
Livid
|
reddened with anger
Synonyms: furious; enraged; fuming; incensed |
|
|
Loquacious
|
talkative
Synonyms: effusive; garrulous; verbose |
|
|
Lumber
|
to move slowly and awkwardly
Synonyms: galumph; hulk; lurch; stumble |
|
|
Machination
|
plot or scheme
Synonyms: cabal; conspiracy; design; intrigue |
|
|
Maelstrom
|
whirlpool; turmoil; agitated state of mind
Synonyms: Charybdis; eddy; turbulence |
|
|
Malinger
|
to evade responsibility by pretending to be ill
Synonyms: shirk; slack |
|
|
Mannered
|
artificial or stilted in character
Synonyms: affected; unnatural |
|
|
Mar
|
to damage; deface; to spoil
Synonyms: blemish; disfigure; impair; injure; scar |
|
|
Maudlin
|
overly sentimental
Synonyms: bathetic; mawkish; saccharine; weepy |
|
|
Militate
|
to operate against; work against
Synonyms: influence; affect; change |
|
|
Misanthrope
|
a person who dislikes others
Synonyms: curmudgeon |
|
|
Missive
|
a written note or letter
Synonyms: message |
|
|
Mollify
|
to calm or make less severe
Synonyms: appease; assuage; conciliate; pacify |
|
|
Monastic
|
extremely plain or secluded, as in a monastery
Synonyms: austere; contemplative; disciplined; regimented; self-abnegating |
|
|
Mores
|
fixed customs or manners; moral attitudes
Synonyms: conventions; practices |
|
|
Multifarious
|
diverse
Synonyms: assorted; indiscriminate; heterogeneous; legion; motley; multifold; multiform; multiplex; multivarious; populous; varied |
|
|
Nadir
|
lowest point
Synonyms: bottom; depth; pit |
|
|
Neologism
|
new word or expression
Synonyms: slang; slip-of-the-tongue |
|
|
Nominal
|
existing in name only; negligible
Synonyms: minimal; titular |
|
|
Oblique
|
indirect; evasive; misleading; devious
Synonyms: glancing; slanted; tangential |
|
|
Obsequious
|
overly submissive and eager to please
Synonyms: compliant; deferential; servile; subservient |
|
|
Onerous
|
troublesome and oppressive; burdensome
Synonyms: arduous; backbreaking; burdensome; cumbersome; difficult; exacting; formidable; hard; laborious; oppressive; rigorous; taxing; trying |
|
|
Opine
|
to express an opinion
Synonyms: point out; voice |
|
|
Ossify
|
to change into bone; to become hardened or set in a rigidly conventional pattern
|
|
|
Ostensible
|
apparent
Synonyms: represented; supposed; surface |
|
|
Pallid
|
lacking color or liveliness
Synonyms: ashen; blanched; ghostly; pale; wan |
|
|
Paragon
|
model of excellence or perfection
Synonyms: apotheosis; ideal; quintessence; standard |
|
|
Parley
|
discussion, usually between enemies
Synonyms: debate; dialogue; negotiations; talks |
|
|
Pathogenic
|
causing disease
Synonyms: infecting; noxious |
|
|
Peccadillo
|
minor sin or offense
Synonyms: failing; fault; lapse; misstep |
|
|
Pedant
|
someone who shows off learning
Synonyms: doctrinaire; nit-picker; pedagogue; scholar; schoolmaster; sophist |
|
|
Penury
|
an oppressive lack of resources (as money); severe poverty
Synonyms: destitution; impoverishment |
|
|
Perspicacious
|
shrewd; astute; keen-witted
Synonyms: insightful; intelligent; sagacious |
|
|
Phlegmatic
|
calm and unemotional in temperament
Synonyms: apathetic; calm; emotionless; impassive; indifferent; passionless; unemotional |
|
|
Pithy
|
concise; succinct; to the point
Synonyms: brief; compact; laconic; terse |
|
|
Plastic
|
able to be molded, altered, or bent
Synonyms: adaptable; ductile; malleable; pliant |
|
|
Plebeian
|
crude or coarse; characteristic of commoners
Synonyms: conventional; unrefined |
|
|
Politic
|
shrewd and practical in managing or dealing with things; diplomatic
Synonyms: tactful |
|
|
Polyglot
|
a speaker of many languages
Synonyms: multilingual |
|
|
Prattle
|
meaningless, foolish talk
Synonyms: babble; blather; chatter; drivel; gibberish |
|
|
Precipitate
|
to throw violently or bring about abruptly; lacking deliberation
Synonyms: abrupt; hasty; headlong; hurried; ill-considered; impetuous; impulsive; prompt; rash; reckless; sudden |
|
|
Prescient
|
having foresight
Synonyms: augural; divinatory; mantic; oracular; premonitory |
|
|
Probity
|
complete honesty and integrity
Synonyms: integrity; morality; rectitude; uprightness; virtue |
|
|
Propriety
|
the quality of behaving in a proper manner; obeying rules and customs
Synonyms: appropriateness; decence; decorum; modesty |
|
|
Puerile
|
childish; immature; silly
Synonyms: infantile; jejune; juvenile |
|
|
Pugilism
|
boxing
Synonyms: fighting; sparring |
|
|
Quixotic
|
overly idealistic; impractical
Synonyms: capricious; impulsive; romantic; unrealistic |
|
|
Raconteur
|
witty, skillful storyteller
Synonyms: anecdotalist; monologist |
|
|
Redress
|
relief from wrong or injury
Synonyms: amends; indemnity; quittance; reparation; restitution |
|
|
Rejoinder
|
response
Synonyms: retort; riposte |
|
|
Ribald
|
humorous in a vulgar way
Synonyms: coarse; gross; indelicate; lewd; obscene |
|
|
Sacrosanct
|
extremely sacred; beyond criticism
Synonyms: holy; inviolable; off-limits |
|
|
Salient
|
prominent; of notable significance
marked; noticeable; outstanding |
|
|
Sanguine
|
ruddy; cheerfully optimistic
Synonyms: confident; hopeful; positive; rosy; rubicund |
|
|
Sardonic
|
cynical; scornfully mocking
Synonyms: acerbic; caustic; sarcastic; satirical; snide |
|
|
Sedition
|
behavior that promotes rebellion or civil disorder against the state
Synonyms: conspiracy; insurrection |
|
|
Seraphic
|
angelic; sweet
Synonyms: cherubic; heavenly |
|
|
Soporific
|
causing sleep or lethargy
Synonyms: hypnotic; narcotic; slumberous; somnolent |
|
|
Spartan
|
highly self-disciplined; frugal; austere
Synonyms: restrained; simple |
|
|
Specious
|
deceptively attractive; seemingly plausible but fallacious
Synonyms: illusory; ostensible; plausible; sophistic; spurious |
|
|
Stentorian
|
extremely loud
Synonyms: clamorous; noisy |
|
|
Stolid
|
unemotional; lacking sensitivity
Synonyms: apathetic; impassive; indifferent; phlegmatic; stoical; unconcerned |
|
|
Sublime
|
lofty or grand
Synonyms: august; exalted; glorious; grand; magnificent; majestic; noble; resplendent; superb |
|
|
Surfeit
|
excessive amount
Synonyms: glut; plethora; repletion; superfluity; surplus |
|
|
Sycophant
|
a self-serving flatterer; yes-man
Synonyms: bootlicker; fawner; lickspittle; toady |
|
|
Syncopation
|
temporary irregularity in musical rhythm
Synonyms: deliberate upsetting; deviation; temporary shifting; momentary contradiction |
|
|
Tacit
|
done without using words
Synonyms: implicit; implied; undeclared; unsaid; unuttered |
|
|
Talon
|
claw of an animal, especially a bird of prey
Synonyms: claw; nail |
|
|
Toady
|
one who flatters in the hope of gaining favors
Synonyms: parasite; sycophant |
|
|
Torpor
|
extreme mental and physical sluggishness
Synonyms: apathy; languor |
|
|
Trenchant
|
acute; sharp; incisive; forceful; effective
Synonyms: biting; caustic; cutting; keen |
|
|
Turgid
|
swollen as from a fluid; bloated
Synonyms: distended |
|
|
Tyro
|
beginner; novice
Synonyms: apprentice; fledgling; greenhorn; neophyte; tenderfoot |
|
|
Umbrage
|
offense; resentment
Synonyms: asperity; dudgeon; ire; pique; rancor |
|
|
Upbraid
|
to scold sharply
Synonyms: berate; chide; rebuke; reproach; tax |
|
|
Usury
|
the practice of lending money at exorbitant rates
Synonyms: loan-sharking |
|
|
Variegated
|
varied; marked with different colors
Synonyms: diversified |
|
|
Verdant
|
green with vegetation; inexperienced
Synonyms: grassy; leafy; wooded |
|
|
Vex
|
to annoy; irritate; puzzle; confuse
Synonyms: annoy; bother; chafe; exasperate; irk; nettle; peeve; provoke |
|
|
Viscous
|
thick and adhesive, like a slow-flowing fluid
Synonyms: gelatinous; glutinous; thick |
|
|
Wan
|
sickly pale
Synonyms: ashen; sickly |
|
|
Wanton
|
undisciplined; unrestrained; reckless
Synonyms: capricious; lewd; licentious |
|
|
Winsome
|
charming; happily engaging
Synonyms: attractive; delightful |
|
|
Wizened
|
shriveled; withered; wrinkled
Synonyms: atrophied; desiccated; gnarled; wasted |
|
|
Xenophobia
|
a fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers
Synonyms: bigotry; chauvinism; prejudice |
|
|
Yoke
|
to join together
Synonyms: bind; harness; pair |
|
|
Zealot
|
someone passionately devoted to a cause
Synonyms: enthusiast; fanatic; militant; radical |
