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168 Cards in this Set
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alacrity |
cheerful readiness. "accepted... with alacrity." "She animal shelter volunteer accepted the task of brushing the dogs with alacrity." |
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approbation |
approval, praise. "met with approbation." "The bitching app was met with approbation by the tech community." |
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disabuse |
persuade someone that an idea or belief is mistaken. "disabuse her/him/someone of" "The speaker disabused the Hispanic voters of the idea that Donald Trump was campaigning in their best interests." |
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eneverate |
to weaken or destroy the vitality of; to remove part of a nerve (MED) - LAT root nervus (out of muscle). "That hike eneverated the crap out of me." |
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equivocate |
use ambiguous language to conceal the truth. (equivocal is opp of unequivocal). "'We aren't interested in the cookie recipes of Americans,' the NSA director equivocated at the senate hearing." |
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exculpate |
show or declare that someone is not guilty of wrongdoing. "Phoenix Wright pointed to the broken cup, exculpating his client of the murder." |
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exigent |
pressing, demanding. "Walt Disney would re-hire Disney Studio animators as WED employees in order to assign them more exigent tasks for the completion of Disneyland." |
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extemporaneous |
done without preparation, esp. speech. "an extemporaneous speech." "Her responses to Hannity were surprisingly articulate, considering they were given extemporaneously." |
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fulminate |
express vehement protest. CHEM salt or ester of fulminic acid (assoc with explosion ie mercury fulminate). "The student body fulminated against the board's ruling on the reported campus rapes." |
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ingenious |
clever, original, inventive. "Chang's pairing of salted pork and creamy coffee was really ingenious at the time." |
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inured |
accustomed to something (esp unpleasant), LAW come into effect. "inured to" "At this point, I'm just inured to my roommate's constant nudity." |
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obviate |
remote (a need or difficulty), avoid, prevent. "obviate disaster." "They fully believed having two separate launch keys would obviate an accidental nuclear strike." |
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paean |
a song of praise or triumph, a thing that expresses enthusiastic praise. "paeans to" "His analysis of Beowulf focused on paeans to victories in battle." |
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perfunctory |
gesture or action carried out w/minimal effort or reflection. "perfunctory examination" "The research was based on a perfunctory survey of sex workers; the authors' biases prevented them from seeking any women who didn't fit their conception of a 'prostitute.'" |
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perspicacious |
having a ready insight into and understanding of things. "Reverse psychology did not work on the perspicacious child." |
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prevaricate |
speak or act in an evasive way. "He spoke confidently about his general strategy, but would prevaricate when pressed for more technical details of what the plan entailed." |
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reticent |
not revealing one's own thoughts or feelings readily. "The author would discuss her views on the current dialectic readily, but was reticent about her personal experiences." |
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truculent |
eager or quick to argue or fight, aggressively defiant. "The couple really couldn't conceive beforehand what adopting the truculent child would mean to their lives." |
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bucolic |
of or relating to the pleasantries of the countryside or shepherd life (pastoral); a pastoral poem. "Her playlist was full of guided meditations focused on bucolic imagery." "The poet chose to read his latest bucolic." |
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chary |
cautiously or suspiciously reluctant to do something. "chary to" "Many of us are chary to eating whole insects, but might consider eating mealworms as a processed meat replacement." |
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contrite |
feeling or expressing remorse or penitence, affected by guilt. "Even seeing his contrite expression, it was hard to conceal our amusement at his destroying the priceless antique with his selfie stick." |
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disinterested |
not influenced by considerations of personal advantage; having or feeling no interest in something. "We assume financial advisers give disinterested opinions, but many are not legally compelled to disclose the magnitude of their commissions." |
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ebullience |
a quality of being full of energy, exuberance (esp assoc with children). "The ebullient feeling of the song was contagious; everyone in the car was bopping their head to the beat." |
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impecunious |
having little or no money. "The family always appeared so fashionable no one could have guessed at their impecuniousness." |
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incipient |
in an intital stage, beginning to appear develop; for a person, developing into a certain type or role. "The new restaurant was a sign that gentrification of the neighborhood was incipient." |
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intransigent |
unwilling or refusing to change one's view of something, N-an intransigent person. "She wanted more notes on Instagram but was intransigent about allowing the app to access her location." "Even the report on colorectal cancer did not speak to carnivorous intransigents." |
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inveigle |
persuade someone to do something by deception or flattery. "I love how James Woods plays the scene where Hades inveigles the fates in HERCULES." |
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penurious |
extremely poor, poverty-stricken; cheap, mean. "Nearly every person on the reservation was a penurious native, in spite of what critics of the casino thought." "Seemingly in defiance of stereotype, the record producer couldn't attract a social circle with his penurious attitude." |
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prodigious |
impressively great in amount, size, or degree; unnatural or abnormal. "Many internet commentators felt the need to react to the prodigious musculature of the commercial cattle in the photograph." |
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redoubtable |
formidable, esp as an opponent. "Yojimbo is a redoubtable swordsman, even compared to Zatoichi." |
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quiescent |
in a period of dormancy or inactivity. "I'm supposed to be studying for the GRE, but lately I'm just quiescent." |
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torpid |
mentally or physically inactive, dormant (ie animals in hibernation). "So often was in a torpid state on the couch, his mother worried he was either on drugs or seriously ill." |
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dissemble |
disguise or conceal a true intention. "The Monarch went so far as to skip date night with Dr Mrs The Monarch in order to dissemble his transformation into the Blue Morpho." |
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halycon |
A-denoating a time in the past that was idyllically happy or peaceful, N-an asian or african kingfisher with bright plumage, a mythical bird said by ancient writers to breed in a nest floating at sea at the winter solstice, charming the wind and waves into calm. "He thought of the Eisenhower era as his halycon days, though his female peers felt differently." |
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impassive |
not showing feeling or emotion. "His impassive countenance was an asset as a negotiator." |
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inchoate |
just begun, not fully formed; rudimentary. "It seemed to her that 'start-up' was misused as an umbrella phrase to describe any inchoate organization." |
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insipid |
lacking flavor; lacking vigor or interest. "In this day an age, it makes no sense to drink such insipid coffee." "The dealer seemed to be purposefully pushing insipid work into the market." |
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mendacity |
untruthfulness. "The mendacity of the art dealers was protected, since the art historians were afraid of being sued for libel." |
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obdurate |
stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or course of action (stiff-necked). "He was performing poorly in the polls, but was obdurate that appealing to populism would win him the election." |
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occlude |
stop, close up an opening or passage; DENT-tooth coming into contact with another on the opposite jaw. "The nude performers were meant to silent occlude the passage between the galleries, but some museum-goers mistakenly thought their presence was an invitation to touch them." |
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opprobrium |
harsh criticism or censure; public disgrace arising from one's misconduct. "The opprobrium that followed the game's release was especially inappropriate considering its emphasis on personal expression." |
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recalcitrant |
having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline. "Considering the role law enforcement played in the community, the recalcitrant students' attitude to the lecturing police officer was not surprising." |
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salubrious |
healthy; (place) pleasant, not run-down. "They thought a dry climate was salubrious to recovering TB patients." "It's much more effective to take yoga classes in a salubrious studio." |
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spurious |
not being what it reports to be; illegitimate; false. "spurious claims" "spurious reasoning" "The theory that the Mona Lisa is a self-portrait is a spurious but popularly-accepted one." |
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surfeit |
N-an excess of something, V-to make want no more as a result of excess (sate, saturate). "Well that is just a surfeit of donuts." "I am surfeited with donuts." |
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inimical |
tending to obstruct or harm; unfriendly, hostile. "She wanted the affairs of the state to be settled, but her brother insisted on being inimical." |
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intrepid |
fearless, adventurous to a humorous degree. "The writers for the new Mickey Mouse cartoons are making good use of his intrepid character." |
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probity |
having strong morals; honesty, decency. "financial probity" "She accepted that her probity would prevent her from achieving the success of her peers." |
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profligate |
recklessly extravagant; a dissolute person (libertine). "The seafood buffets of Las Vegas are a profligate waste of our oceans' resources; the vast majority of the food is used for display and not for consumption." |
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rarefy |
to become thin, less dense; CHEM-weaken the consistency of. "rarefy the air/atmosphere" "The activities of the iconoclasts rarefied the body of religious icons we see now." |
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recondite |
little known, obtruse. "recondite information" "People often assumed he was autistic because of his tendency to share recondite facts about model trains unprompted." |
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reflugent |
shining brightly. "The carving was inlaid with reflugent amber eyes." |
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sedulous |
showing dedication or dilligence. "sedulous care" "Her exercise schedule interfered with her social life, but she was sedulous in her pursuit of her ideal body." |
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soporific |
tending to induce drowsiness or sleep. "I find experimental film soporific, personally." |
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trenchant |
A-vigorous in expression or style, N(arc)-a sharp blade. "The customer was unnecessarily trenchant in expressing her dissatisfaction." |
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vacillate |
waver, be indecisive. "I tend to vacillate between strong moral conviction and total nihilism." |
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vituperate |
blame or insult with strong language. "It's hard to take his criticism seriously when he spends so much time vituperating his opponents." |
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august |
respective and impressive. "in august company." "They gave an august performance of the Passion play." |
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brook (verb) |
tolerate or allow something. "I will brook no horseplay in the pool area!" |
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fell (secondary def's) |
knock down ("fell the doors"); hill or stretch of high moorland ("The pub's on the other side of Cross Fell"); an evil or ferocity ("she used majik to achieve her fell ends"); an animal's hide or skin with its hair ("hocking hides and fells") |
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elide |
omit when speaking, join together. "The action of fragmentation, the killing, and the dividing [of meat] is elided. Indeed, patriarchal culture surrounds actual butchering with silence." - Carol J. Adams |
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prolix |
w/ writing or speech, containing too many words. "the essay was well-researched, but prolix and garrulous." |
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pecuniary |
of or related to money. "the project suffered not from a lack of community support, but of pecuniary funds." |
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waffle about |
be indicisive about. "i can't believe anyone would waffle about who they're voting for this close to the election." |
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mince about |
no idea. chop? be gay? soften one's words? |
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moiling |
work hard. "she was taken in by seven dwarves who moiled for precious gems." |
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parlous |
full of danger and uncertainty. "the unpopularity of the department head left their jobs in a parlous state."
sec, arc - greatly or excessively, "she is parlous handsome." |
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extemporize |
produce something without preparation, improvise. "he prefered to extemporize at the podium rather than prepare notes." |
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expatiate |
speak or write in detail. "some of the essays chose a gonzo approach to games journalism, while her contribution expatiated on all things GALAGA."
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exagitate |
agitate, discuss, harrass, censure. "What they insisted was an expression of speech was truly just exagitation." |
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opprobrium |
harsh criticism or censure. "The director was not too hurt by the film's reception, knowing this kind of opprobrium was practically tradition at Cannes."
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centurion |
comandeer of a century in the ancient Roman army. "Dude, CENTURION looks awful but Fassbender in one of those leather skirts? Yes please."
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erudition |
showing great knowledge or scholarship. "On the coasts her erudition was seen as an asset, but in the heartland it was perceived as a fault."
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encomiums |
speech or writing that praises someone, a panegyric or paean
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effacious |
successful in producing an intended result, (typ. inanimate or abstract. "While estrogen and progestin has been on the market as an effacious and safe form of birth control for many years, studies are now confirming patients' suspicions that 'the pill' is linked to depression." |
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caluminate |
to utter maliciously false statements (from calumny). "Having already caluminated each other on TV, the queens were free to participate in the false Twitter war they had been anticipating since taping time."
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pillory |
attack or ridicule publicly, "put on the pillory." "You know those things in movies where they put their head and hands in wood and people throw tomatoes and junk at them? That's called a pillory."
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surfeit |
an excessive amount of something. "While it seems there's a surfeit of adult coloring books, they're currently floating the physical media sector of the publishing industry."
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reconnoiter |
make a military observation of a region. "They reconnoitered the beach before the landing."
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vitiate |
spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of. "The rising temperature vitiated the water repellant."
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vituperate |
blame or insult in strong violent language. "She did screw up, but there is no call for that kind of vituperation." |
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panegyric |
public speech or published text in praise of someone. "Amongst the glut of obituaries for Lemmy, the columnist chose to write a panegyric for Jack & Cokes that she thought the late musician would approve of instead." |
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paean |
a song of praise or triumph. "Gurl, that scene in I, CLAUDIUS where he gives the paean to Nero left me shook." |
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euphonious |
(of sound, speech) pleasing to the ear. "The yoga instructor's euphonious speech put me to sleep in savasana." |
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tenebrous |
dark, shadowy, obscure. from lat., "darkness." "The tenebrous album art is what really drew him into Norwegian black metal." |
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inveigle |
persuade someone to do something by deception or flattery. "Don't bother to inveigle the judges, they look only for perfection." |
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limpid |
unclouded, clear. "His big blue eyes are a limpid pool." |
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vulgarian |
an unrefined person. "He truly didn't realize his taste for the ornate betrayed him as a vulgarian, not a sophisticated elite." |
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stygian |
very dark. related to the styx river. "You wouldn't guess that the employee areas in the luxurious hotel comprised a stygian labyrinth." |
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skinflint |
a person who spends as little as possible. "I know you hate paying for parking, but you really don't need to be such a skinflint." |
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ebuillent |
cheerful and full of energy, "youthful ebuillence." "I'm pretty sure I already wrote a flash card for this word, but I'm studying with an embuillence made possible by great amounts of Red Bull." |
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pulchritude |
beauty. "He thought of himself as having an eye for pulchritude, but his taste really ran for the expensive." |
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iniquity |
immoral or grossly unfair behavior. "I'm still #teamalaska but Alyssa Edwards' elimination was truly an iniquity on Detox's part." |
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ablated |
to remove, esp by heating, abrading, or cutting. "After the metal object is formed by the 3-D printer, the softer metal is ablated in the blast furnace and replaced with copper." |
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attenuated |
unusually thin. "She was perfectly svelt, but imagined her ideal appearance as an attenuated figure." sec. weakened in force or effect. "His influence was attenuated as more changed were implemented." |
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bedizened |
dressed up, decorated gaudily. "People think of the middle ages as uncolorful and dark, but medieval objects, clothing, and decorative arts were bedizened with bright pigments and ornate motifs." |
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caparisoned |
(of a horse) having richly decorated coverings. "An influence on the decorated cars in the MAD MAX series is certainly the caparisoned horses of medieval knights." |
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extirpate |
root out, destroy completely. "Trauma cannot be extirpated, but individuals can learn to cope with their anxieties." |
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punctilious |
showing great attention to correct behavior. "As a competitive barista she was punctilious in coffee preparation, but when it came to her morning coffee, Mr. Coffee would do." |
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sententious |
given to moralizing in an affected manner. "He is still sententious on the radio, as though no one knows about his amoral personal life." |
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ignomious |
deserving or causing disgrace or shame. "I love gossip mags on a semiotic level, as they treat not being famous enough as just as ignomious, if not more so, than scandalous behavior." |
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imperious |
assuming power or authority without justification. "The moment he was named de facto leader, his addresses to the team members was imperious." |
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propitious |
indicating a good chance of success. "She sees sunny skies as propitious, even though the universe is equally uncaring and cruel regardless of environmental circumstances." |
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sanguine |
optimistic, positive. "I'm sanguine about the implementation of self-driving cars, at least in mitigating avoidable accidents." |
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venal |
corruptible, susceptible to bribery. "Alaska should know her fellow contestants are not venal in their nature." |
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purile |
childishly silly, trivial. "If casual Friday is that important to that lawyer, then I don't want such a purile person in charge of my legal matters." |
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indolent |
avoiding exertion, lazy. "Everyone says I'm taking too much on at once, but my real fault is my indolence." |
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dissemble |
conceal one's true feelings. "His laughter dissembled his true feelings; his inner monologue said 'i'm kms lol.'" |
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requisition |
demand the supply or use of, esp by official order. "To mitigate the shortage, the state oversaw a requisition of resources from neighboring territories." |
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reticent |
not revealing one's feelings easily. "Her writing online was highly confessional, but among friends she was reticent." |
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tendentious |
intending to promote a particular point of view, esp controversial. "The lecturer liked engaging the discussions in a tendentious view, leading his students' nickname 'lawful evil.'" |
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unexpurgated |
complete, containing all the original text. "The first edition of ULYSSES is only collected for its antique value, since no one would read any version but the unexpurgated one." |
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mellifluous |
(of words or voice) pleasant to hear. "The narrator's mellifluous voice put me to sleep almost immediately." |
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execrable |
extremely bad or unpleasant. "Some find cruise ships luxurious but I think their ambiance is just execrable." |
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evinced |
reveal the presence of a quality or feeling. "His narcissism is evinced by his refusal to admit his mistakes." |
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apposite |
apt in the circumstances of. "An apposite quotation can serve as a good introduction to a text." |
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obstreperous |
noisy and difficult to control. "The combination of chronic migraines and obstreperous children made her career as a teacher short-lived." |
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hirsute |
hairy. "The original Star Trek evinces the period's male beauty standards, often finding excuses to display Kirk's hirsute chest." |
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noisome |
having an offensive smell. "We chose this neighborhood because it is quiet, underestimating the influence of noisome, elderly neighbors." |
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nascent |
just coming into existence. "More new grads are now interested in joining a nascent company than an established institution." |
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excoriate |
censure, criticize harshly. "Until I started studying for the GRE, it didn't occur to me how many synonyms there are for excoriate." |
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oblique |
neither parallel nor at a right angle. "The restoration attempt was thorough, but visitors' eyes were distracted by the oblique angle of the large reattachment." |
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repatriate |
send someone back to their home country. "While some voters imagine repatriating immigrants is a solution to economic woes, they may not fully understand the interconnected nature of modern states in global capitalism." |
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obfuscate |
to render unclear, unintelligible. "Infotainment is seen as harmless by most, but some see it as a tool for obfuscation of real issues." |
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winsome |
attactive, appealing. "Cumberbatch fans see his Anglican features as winsome rather than odd." |
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salient |
most noticable, important. "The new film was similar in tone to the director's previous works, but themes rather than images played a more salient role in the latest installation." |
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disapprobation |
disapproval on moral grounds. "There's anecdotal evidence a harsh religious upbringing leads to a greater desire for children to rebel against the disapprobation of their parents." |
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elucidation |
explanation that makes something clear. "He thought he was elucidating, but it struck everyone else as mansplaining." |
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periphrasis |
an indirect, circumlocutory phrase. "Calling something a 'microagression' is attempt to use direct language about sociale violence rather than periphrasis." |
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dysphemism |
deragatory of unplesant term used intead of pleasant one. "Examples of a dysphemism are 'loonybin' and 'nuthouse' in stead of 'mental hospital.'" |
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somnelence |
a strong desire for sleep. "He couldn't escape his state of somnolence in the morning, even after more than one energy drink." |
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belletrism |
an interested in belles lettres. "She didn't want to join the Austen society, suspecting its members wer less interested in belletrism than cosplay." |
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comestible |
an item of food. "No road trip is complete without a traveling stash of comestibles." |
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esculent |
fit to be eaten. "The insect cafe never failed in transforming distasteful ingredients into esculent dishes." |
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impute |
represent something as being done, caused or possessed by someone, esp. undesirable. "We do not speak of the crimes imputed to Voldemort I mean you know who." |
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modish |
conforming to what is fashionable. "I hate to see the last old Taco Bells revamped into the modish purple box design." |
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refractory |
stubborn or unmanageable. "The young author was turning out to be a refractory client to the literary agent." |
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abtruse |
difficult to understand, obscure. "Though the mathematical evidence of string theory is abtruse to the layperson, its fundamental theories and implications can be easily understood."
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inculcate |
instill by persistent instruction. "Former Westborough Baptist Church members have spoken of how children in the family are inculcated with the group's hateful ideology." |
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ineluctable |
unable to be resisted or avoided. "'Resistance is ineluctable,' said the malfunctioning Borg." |
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inveigh |
speak or write about something with great hostility. "No one could understand what made them inveigh against social activism so vehemently."
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amortize |
reduce or extinguish a debt or asset. "In increasing her monthly payments, she amortized the initial interest she'd expected."
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redound |
contribute to a person's honor. "He thought visiting the children's hospital would redound to his credit, but embarrassingly the children did not find him amusing." |
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peripatetic |
traveling from place to place, esp for short periods. "Most comedians don't want to become 'road comics,' but he found the peripatetic lifestyle suited him perfectly." anc. an Aristotelian "The peripatetic philosopher had unwittingly found himself in a town of Stoics." |
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postliminary |
after an event. "The only thing she found more unbearable than live sports was the postliminary series of interviews an commentary." |
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peregrination |
journey or pilgrimage. "He chose to spend his break on a peregrination across the old trail, rather than on a relaxing getaway." |
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beatitude |
blessing |
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phlegmatic |
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intransigent |
stubbornly clinging to one's views. "When it comes to dungeon RPGs, the community is intransigent about acceptable conventions." |
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torpid |
lethargic. "Somehow, vaping left him torpid on the couch, but edibles compelled him to go on 'adventures.'" |
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blithe |
showing casual or cheerful indifference. "I'm successfully projecting a blithe attitude toward my future, belying my constant state of inner panic." |
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sinuous |
having many curves and turns. "Renting a convertible for his trip to LA had been his fantasy, but he was too intimidated to cruise the sinuous Hollywood hills among the native drivers. |
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minatory |
expressing or conveying a threat. "He thought adopting a minatory demeanor was necessary for his own safety." |
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baleful |
threatening harm. "She shot him a baleful look when he made the off-color joke at the table."
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welter |
move in a turbulent fashion. "The little boat weltered in the waves."
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apochryphal |
of doubtful veracity (from of the Apochrypha). "The stories he told of his accomplishments were apochryphal at best."
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turbid |
of a liquid, thick with suspended matter (opp limpid). "Milk is not actually a liquid, it's a suspension turbid with various amino acids and carbohydrates." |
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philately |
collection of postage stamps. "It was a bad idea to have the stamp collecting convention and coin collector's symposium next to each other--the numismatists and philatelys broke out into a massive brawl."
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perigree |
point in a moon or satellite's orbit nearest to earth. "Consult the almanac for the lunar perigree."
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salutary |
producing good benefits, esp. of something unpleasant. "My mother insisted that bread crust has salutary properties."
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purple |
sec: clothing dyed with Tyrian purple, or a position of rank or privilege. "Many of the Caesar dynasty had to pass before Claudius could assume the purple." |
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salubrious |
health-giving. |
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invidious |
likely to arouse resentment in others. |
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adumbrate |
report in outline, indicate faintly. "The presentation was only an adumbration of the issue."
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officious |
assertive of authority in an overdomineering way. "She was officious as a hall monitor." |
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assiduous |
showing great care or dilligence. "She assidously inspected every feature."
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asservate |
affirm or declare positively or earnestly. "She asservated that she did not know."
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limning |
gerund for limn, to paint in words. "The length of the book might be attributed to his constantly limning of the settings and characters." |
