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102 Cards in this Set

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archives
n. public records; place where public records are kept. These documents should be part of the archives so that historians may be able to evaluate them in the future.
ardor
n. heat; passion; zeal.. Katya's ardor was contagious; soon all her fellow demonstrators were busily making posters and handing out flyers, inspired by her ardent enthusiasm for the cause. ardent, ADJ.
arduous
adj. hard; strenuous. Her arduous efforts had sapped her energy.
argot
argot
n. slang. In the argot of the underworld, she "was taken for a ride."
aria
n. operatic solo. At her Metropolitan Opera audition, Marian Anderson sang an aria from Norma.
arid
adj. dry; barren. The cactus has adapted to survive in an arid environment.
aristocracy
n. hereditary nobility; privileged class. Americans have mixed feelings about hereditary aristocracy: we say all men are created equal, but we describe particularly outstanding people as natural aristocrats.
armada
n. fleet of warships. Queen Elizabeth's navy was able to defeat the mighty armada that threatened the English coast.
aromatic
adj. fragrant. Medieval sailing vessels brought aromatic herbs from China to Europe.
arraign
v. charge in court; indict. After his indictment by the Grand Jury, the accused man was arraigned in the County Criminal Court.
arraign
v. charge in court; indict. After his indictment by the Grand Jury, the accused man was arraigned in the County Criminal Court.
array
v. marshal; draw up in order. His actions were bound to array public sentiment against him. also N.
array
v. clothe; adorn. She liked to watch her mother array herself in her finest clothes before going out for the evening. also N.
arrears
n. being in debt. Because he was in arrears with his car payments, the repo men repossessed his Porsche.
arrest
verb
v. stop or check; seize or capture (the attention). According to Connolly's "Theory of Permanent Adolescence," the triumphs and disappointments that boys experience at the great British public schools are so intense as to dominate their lives and to arrest their development.
arrhythmic
adj. lacking rhythm or regularity. The doctors feared his arrhythmic heartbeat might be the first symptom of an imminent heart attack. arrhythmia, N.
arrogance
n. pride; haughtiness. Convinced that Emma thought she was better than anyone else in the class, Ed rebuked her for her arrogance.
arroyo
n. gully. Until the heavy rains of the past spring, this arroyo had been a dry bed.
arsenal
n. storage place for military equipment. People are forbidden to smoke in the arsenal lest a stray spark set off the munitions stored there.
artful
adj. cunning; crafty; sly. By using accurate details to suggest a misleading picture of the whole, the artful propagandist turns partial truths into more effective instruments of deception than lies.
articulate
adj. effective; distinct. Her articulate presentation of the advertising campaign impressed her employers. also v.
artifact
n. object made by human beings, either handmade or mass-produced. Archaeologists debated the significance of the artifacts discovered in the ruins of Asia Minor but came to no conclusion about the culture they represented.
artifice
n. deception; trickery. The Trojan War proved to the Greeks that cunning and artifice were often more effective than military might.
artisan
n. manually skilled worker; craftsman, as opposed to artist. Elderly artisans from Italy trained Harlem teenagers to carve the stone figures that would decorate the new wing of the cathedral.
artless
adj. without guile; open and honest. Red Riding Hood's artless comment, "Grandma, what big eyes you have!" indicates the child's innocent surprise at her "grandmother's" changed appearance.
ascendancy
n. controlling influence. President Marcos failed to maintain his ascendancy over the Philippines.
ascertain
v. find out for certain. Please ascertain her present address.
ascetic
adj. practicing self-denial; austere. The wealthy, self-indulgent young man felt oddly drawn to the strict, ascetic life led by members of some monastic orders. also
ascribe
v. refer; attribute; assign. I can ascribe no motive for her acts.
aseptic
adj. preventing infection; having a cleansing effect. Hospitals succeeded in lowering the mortality rate as soon as they introduced aseptic conditions.
ashen
adj. ash-colored; deadly pale. Her face was ashen with fear.
asinine
adj. stupid. Your asinine remarks prove that you have not given this problem any serious consideration.
askance
adv. with a sideways or indirect look. Looking askance at her questioner, she displayed her scorn.
askew
adv. crookedly; slanted; at an angle. When the clown placed his hat askew upon his head, the children in the audience laughed.
asperity
n. sharpness (of temper). These remarks, spoken with asperity, stung the boys to whom they had been directed.
aspersion
n. slanderous remark. Rather than attacking President Cleveland's arguments with logic, his opponent resorted to casting aspersions on the president's noral character.
aspirant
n. seeker after position or status. Although I am an aspirant for public office, I am not willing to accept the lictates of the party bosses. also ADJ.
aspire
v. seek to attain; long for. Because he aspired to a career in professional sports, Philip enrolled in a grad-rate program in sports management. aspiration, N.
assail
v. assault. He was assailed with questions after lis lecture.
assay
v. analyze; evaluate. When they assayed the ore, hey found that they had discovered a very rich vein. also
assent
v. agree; accept. It gives me great pleasure to ssent to your request. also. N.
assert
v. state strongly or positively; insist on or demand ecognition of (rights, claims, etc.). When Jill asserted hat nobody else in the junior class had such an early :;urfew, her parents asserted themselves, telling her that f she didn't get home by nine o'clock she would be grounded for the week. assertion, N.
assiduous
adj. diligent. It took Rembrandt weeks of assiduous labor before he was satisfied with his portrait )f his son.
assimilate
v. absorb; cause to become homogenous. The manner in which the United States was able to assimilate the hordes of immigrants during the nineeenth and early part of the twentieth centuries will always be a source of pride.
assuage
v. ease or lessen (pain); satisfy (hunger); soothe anger). Jilted by Jane, Dick tried to assuage his heartache Dy indulging in ice cream. One gallon later, he had assuaged his appetite but not his grief. assuagement, N.
assumption
n. something taken for granted; the taking )ver or taking possession of. The young princess made he foolish assumption that the regent would not object to ler assumption of power. assume, v.
assurance
n. promise or pledge; certainty; self-confidence. Nhen Guthrie gave Guinness his assurance that rehearsals were going well, he spoke with such assurance that "..;uinness was convinced. assure,
asteroid
n. small planet. Asteroids have become commonplace to the readers of interstellar travel stories in science fiction magazines.
astigmatism
n. eye defect that prevents proper focus. As 30011 as his parents discovered that the boy suffered rom astigmatism, they took him to the optometrist for corrective glasses.
astral
adj. relating to the stars. She was amazed at the number of astral bodies the new telescope revealed.
astringent
adj. binding; causing contraction; harsh or severe. The astringent quality of the unsweetened lemon juice made swallowing difficult. also N.
astronomical
adj. enormously large or extensive. The government seemed willing to spend astronomical sums on weapons development.
astute
adj. wise; shrewd; keen. The painter was an astute observer, noticing every tiny detail of her model's appearance and knowing exactly how important each one was.
asunder
adv. into parts; apart. A fierce quarrel split the partnership asunder; the two partners finally sundered their connections because their points of view were poles asunder.
asylum
n. place of refuge or shelter; protection. The refugees sought asylum from religious persecution in a new land.
asymmetric
adj. not identical on both sides of a dividing central line. Because one eyebrow was set markedly higher than the other, William's face had a particularly asymmetric appearance. asymmetry, N.
atavism
n. resemblance to remote ancestors rather than to parents; reversion to an earlier type; throwback. In his love for gardening, Martin seemed an atavism to his Tuscan ancestors who lavished great care on their small plots of soil. atavistic, ADJ.
atheist
n. one who denies the existence of God. "An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support."
atone
v. make amends for; pay for. He knew no way in which he could atone for his brutal crime.
atrocity
atrocity
n. brutal deed. In time of war, many atrocities are committed by invading armies.
atrophy
atrophy
n. wasting away. Polio victims need physiotherapy to prevent the atrophy of affected limbs. also v.
attentive
adj. alert and watchful; considerate; thoughtful. Spellbound, the attentive audience watched the final game of the tennis match, never taking their eyes from the ball. A cold wind sprang up; Stan's attentive daughter slipped a sweater over his shoulders without distracting his attention from the game.
attenuate
attenuate
v. make thinner; weaken or lessen (in density, force, degree). The long, dry spell attenuated the creek to the merest trickle. When a meteor strikes the ground, the initially intense shock attenuates or lessens as it diverges outward.
attest
attest
v. testify; bear witness. Having served as a member of a grand jury, I can attest that our system of indicting individuals is in need of improvement.
attribute
attribute
n. essential quality. His outstanding attribute was his kindness.
attribute
attribute
v. ascribe; explain. I attribute her success in science to the encouragement she received from her parents.
attrition
n. gradual decrease in numbers; reduction in the work force without firing employees; wearing away of opposition by means of harassment. In the 1960s urban churches suffered from attrition as members moved from the cities to the suburbs. Rather than fire staff members, church leaders followed a policy of attrition, allowing elderly workers to retire without replacing them.
atypical
atypical
adj. not normal. The child psychiatrist reassured Mrs. Keaton that playing doctor was not atypical behavior for a child of young Alex's age. "Perhaps not," she replied, "but charging for house calls is!"
audacious
audacious
adj. daring; bold. Audiences cheered as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia made their audacious, death-defying leap to freedom and escaped Darth Vader's troops. audacity, N.
audit
n. examination of accounts. When the bank examiners arrived to hold their annual audit, they discovered the embezzlements of the chief cashier. also v.
augment
augment
v. increase; add to. Armies augment their forces by calling up reinforcements; teachers augment their salaries by taking odd jobs.
augury
augury
n. omen; prophecy. He interpreted the departure of the birds as an augury of evil. augur, v.
august
august
adj. impressive; majestic. Visiting the palace at Versailles, she was impressed by the august surroundings in which she found herself.
aureole
aureole
n. sun's corona; halo. Many medieval paintings depict saintly characters with aureoles around their heads.
auroral
auroral
adj. pertaining to the aurora borealis. The auroral display was particularly spectacular that evening.
auspicious
adj. favoring success. With favorable weather conditions, it was an auspicious moment to set sail. Thomas, however, had doubts about sailing: a paranoid, he became suspicious whenever conditions seemed auspicious.
auspicious
adj. forbiddingly stern; severely simple and unornamented. The headmaster's austere demeanor tended to scare off the more timid students, who never visited his study willingly. The room reflected the man, austere and bare, like a monk's cell, with no touches of luxury to moderate its austerity.
authenticate
v. prove genuine. An expert was needed to authenticate the original Van Gogh painting, distinguishing it from its imitation.
authoritatian
adj. subordinating the individual to the state; completely dominating another's will. The leaders of the authoritarian regime ordered the suppression of the democratic protest movement. After years of submitting to the will of her authoritarian father, Elizabeth Barrett ran away from home with the poet Robert Browning.
authoritative
adj. having the weight of authority; peremptory and dictatorial. Impressed by the young researcher's well-documented presentation, we accepted her analysis of the experiment as authoritative.
authority
adj. having absolute, unchecked power; dictatorial. A person accustomed to exercising authority may become autocratic if his or her power is unchecked. Dictators by definition are autocrats. Bosses who dictate behavior as well as letters can be autocrats too. autocracy, N.
automaton
n. mechanism that imitates actions of humans. Long before science fiction readers became aware of robots, writers were creating stories of automatons who could outperform humans.
autonomous
adj. self-governing. Although the University of California at Berkeley is just one part of the state university system, in many ways Cal Berkeley is autonomous, for it runs several programs that are not subject to outside control. autonomy, N.
autopsy
n. examination of a dead body; postmortem. The medical examiner ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death. also v.
auxiliary
adj. offering or providing help; additional or subsidiary. To prepare for the emergency, they built an auxiliary power station. also N.
avalanche
n. great mass of falling snow and ice. The park ranger warned the skiers to stay on the main trails, where they would be in no danger of being buried beneath a sudden avalanche.
avarice
n. greediness for wealth. Montaigne is correct in maintaining that it is not poverty, but rather abundance, that breeds avarice: the more shoes Imelda Marcos had, the more she craved.
avenge
v. take vengeance for something (or on behalf of someone). Hamlet vowed he would avenge his father's murder and punish Claudius for his horrible crime.
averred
v. assert confidently or declare; as used in law, state formally as a fact. The self-proclaimed psychic averred that, because he had extrasensory perception on which to base his predictions, he needed no seismographs or other gadgets in order to foretell earthquakes.
averse
adj. reluctant; disinclined. The reporter was averse to revealing the sources of his information.
aversion
n. firm dislike. Bert had an aversion to yuppies; Alex had an aversion to punks. Their mutal aversion was so great that they refused to speak to one another.
avert
v. prevent; turn away. She averted her eyes from the dead cat on the highway.
aviary
n. enclosure for birds. The aviary at the zoo held nearly 300 birds.
avid
adj. greedy; eager for. He was avid for learning and read everything he could get. avidity, N.
avocation
n. secondary or minor occupation. His hobby proved to be so fascinating and profitable that gradually he abandoned his regular occupation and concentrated on his avocation.
avow
v. declare openly. Lana avowed that she never meant to steal Debbie's boyfriend, but no one believed her avowal of innocence.
avuncular
adj. like an uncle. Avuncular pride did not prevent him from noticing his nephew's shortcomings.
awe
n. solemn wonder. The tourists gazed with awe at the tremendous expanse of the Grand Canyon.
awl
n. pointed tool used for piercing. She used an awl to punch additional holes in the leather belt she had bought.
awry
adv. distorted; crooked. He held his head awry, giving the impression that he had caught cold in his neck during the night. also ADJ.
axiom
n. self-evident truth requiring no proof. The Declaration of Independence records certain self-evident truths or axioms, the first of which is "All men are created equal." To Sherlock Holmes, it was axiomatic that the little things were infinitely the most important; he based his theory of detection on this obvious truth.
azure
azure
adj. sky blue. Azure skies are indicative of good weather.