Grendel Vocab 5-8

Front 1

Intercession

Back 1

noun
the action of intervening on behalf of another : through the intercession of friends, I was able to obtain her a sinecure.
• the action of saying a prayer on behalf of another person : prayers of intercession.

Front 2

Debauched

Back 2

verb [ trans. ]
destroy or debase the moral purity of; corrupt.
• dated seduce (a woman) : he debauched sixteen schoolgirls.
noun
a bout of excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures, esp. eating and drinking.
• the habit or practice of such indulgence; debauchery : his life had been spent in debauch.

Front 3

Dubious

Back 3

adjective
1 hesitating or doubting : Alex looked dubious, but complied. See note at doubtful .
2 not to be relied upon; suspect : extremely dubious assumptions.
• morally suspect : timesharing has been brought into disrepute by dubious sales methods.
• of questionable value : she earned the dubious distinction of being the lowest-paid teacher in the nation.

Front 4

Presuppose

Back 4

verb [ trans. ]
(of an action, process, or argument) require as a precondition of possibility or coherence : his relationships did not permit the degree of self-revelation that true intimacy presupposes.
• [with clause ] tacitly assume at the beginning of a line of argument or course of action that something is the case : your argument presupposes that it does not matter who is in power.

Front 5

Monistic

Back 5

noun Philosophy & Theology
a theory or doctrine that denies the existence of a distinction or duality in some sphere, such as that between matter and mind, or God and the world.
• the doctrine that only one supreme being exists. Compare with pluralism

Front 6

Irascible

Back 6

adjective
(of a person) easily made angry.
• characterized by or arising from anger : their rebukes got progressively more irascible

Front 7

Futility

Back 7

adjective
incapable of producing any useful result; pointless : a futile attempt to keep fans from mounting the stage.

Front 8

Obviate

Back 8

verb [ trans. ]
remove (a need or difficulty) : the Venetian blinds obviated the need for curtains.
• avoid; prevent : a parachute can be used to obviate disaster.

Front 9

Bumptious

Back 9

adjective
self-assertive or proud to an irritating degree : these bumptious young boys today. See note at bold .

Front 10

Interminable

Back 10

adjective
endless (often used hyperbolically) : we got bogged down in interminable discussions. See note at eternal .

Front 11

Nihilist

Back 11

noun
the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless.
• Philosophy extreme skepticism maintaining that nothing in the world has a real existence.
• historical the doctrine of an extreme Russian revolutionary party c. 1900, which found nothing to approve of in the established social order.