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194 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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abjure
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To renounce or repudiate under oath
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abrogate
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To abolish or repeal through authority
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aesthete
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A deep admirer of beauty or aesthetics (often excessively so)
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aggress
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To initiate an attack, fight or war
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amortize
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To liquidate a debt by installment payments into a sinking fund
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animadversion
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The utterance of criticism or censure
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apogee
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The farthest or highest point; the apex
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apostate
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One who has abandoned his beliefs
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apse
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A domed projection of a building
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atavistic
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Suggesting the characteristics of an ancestor or a primitive type
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bailiwick
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A person's specific area of skill, interest or authority
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beatify
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To make blessedly happy; to mark someone as blessed and worthy of veneration in a particular region
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bedaub
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To smear or soil; To ornament in a vulgar fashion
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bequest
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The act of giving or passing on something to another (usu. by will)
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besotted
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Stupefied (usu. from liquor); inebriated
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bilge
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To lowest part of a ship's hull; the bulging portion of a barrel
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bilious
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Of or relating to bile; sickly; having a peevish disposition
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bowdlerize
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To modify content by shortening, simplifying or skewing; to expurgate prudishly (usu. a book)
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bumptious
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Crudely or loudly assertive; pushy
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cabal
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A conspiratorial group of people; a secret scheme
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cadge
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To beg or get by begging
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canard
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A false and deliberately misleading story
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cant
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Insincere speech full of platitudes or pious expressions; singsong speech
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cavil
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To raise trivial objections or find fault unnecessarily
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churl
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A rude, boorish person
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cipher
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Some or something having no value; a nonentity
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comestible
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Edible; something edible
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comport
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To conduct oneself in a particular manner; to agree or correspond
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conflagration
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A large, destructive fire
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craven
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Cowardly
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defenestration
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The act of throwing someone out a window
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descry
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To catch sight of; to detect through careful observation
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diaphanous
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Transparent
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diffidence
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Self-distrust
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dilatory
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Tending to cause delay
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dilettante
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One who dabbles in an art or field of knowledge; amateurish
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dint
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Force or effort; power
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discomfit
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To make uneasy or confused; to disconcert or frustrate
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dissemble
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To disguise or hide behind a false appearance; to feign
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docent
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A teacher or lecturer
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ecumenical
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Of worldwide scope; universal
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educe
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To draw out; to deduce
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effete
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Depleted of energy or effectiveness; marked by decadence; effeminate
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egress
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An exit; the act of exiting
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emolument
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Payment for an office or employment; compensation
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epicure
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A person with refined tastes or devoted to please
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eponym
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A person whose name is or is thought to be the source of the name of something, such as a people or a location (e.g. Romulus = the eponymous founder of Rome)
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equable
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Unvarying; steady
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equanimity
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The quality of being even-tempered and calm; composure
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evince
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To show or clearly demonstrate
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excoriate
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To tear the skin off of; to criticize severely
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exigency
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A state or quality of requiring much effort or action; a need
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expatiate
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To wander freely; to speak or write at length
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expostulate
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To reason earnestly with someone in order to persuade or correct
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factious
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Given to or promoting internal dissension
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fallow
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Plowed but left unseeded; characterized by inactivity
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fascicle
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A small bundle; one section of a book published in many parts
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fatuous
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Foolish
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feckless
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Feeble or ineffective
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fecund
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Productive of offspring or vegetation; fruitful
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fetid
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Having an offensive odor
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fop
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A man preoccupied with his clothes and manners; a dandy
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forbearance
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Patient endurance or toleration of offenses
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ford
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A shallow place in a body of water where one can cross
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forestall
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To delay or hinder by taking precautionary measures; to anticipate
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forswear
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To renounce or disavow under oath
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frieze
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A decorative horizontal band
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gamut
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The whole range or sequence
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gerontic
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Of or relating to old age
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gewgaw
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A decorative trinket; a bauble
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gourmand
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A lover of fine food and drink; a gluttonous eater
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grandiloquence
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Pompous or bombastic speech or expression
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immolate
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To kill as a sacrifice
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impassive
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Devoid of or not subject to emotion
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importunate
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Urgent in character
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importune
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To harass with persistent demands or entreaties
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impute
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To attribute or credit; to charge with fault or responsibility for
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inculcate
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To teach by frequent repetition; to indoctrinate
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ineluctable
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Impossible to avoid; inevitable
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inexorable
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Incapable of being persuaded by treaty; Unrelenting
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interdict
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An authoritative act of prohibition; to prohibit authoritatively
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intransigent
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Refusing to moderate a position; uncompromising
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inveigh
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To give vent to angry disapproval; to protest vehemently
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invidious
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Tending to rouse ill will, animosity or resentment
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jocose
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Given to joking; merry
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juggernaut
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Something that elicits blind devotion; a terrible, destructive force
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junket
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To hold a party or banquet; a party, banquet or tour
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junta
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A group of military officers ruling a country after seizing power
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kowtow
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To show servile deference; the act of doing so
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lachrymose
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Given to weeping; tearful
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leviathan
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Something unusually large of its kind (esp. a ship); a large animal (usu. a whale or sea monster)
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lien
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A legal claim or hold on a property used as security for a debt
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ligature
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Something used for tying or binding; an alphabetic character combining two or more letters
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livery
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A uniform or distinctive manner of dress
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lodestone
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One that attracts strongly
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malapropism
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Ludicrous misuse of a word
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mendacious
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Lying; false or untrue
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mendicant
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A beggar
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missive
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A written message; a letter
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munificent
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Extremely generous
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nexus
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A link or tie
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nice
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Pleasing or agreeable in nature; overly delicate or fastidious
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obsequious
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Exhibiting servile behavior; fawning
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obtest
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To supplicate or entreat
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obtrude
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To impose on others without invitation or with undue insistence
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obdurate
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To close or obstruct
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obverse
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Facing or turned towards the observer; serving as a counterpart
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obvert
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To turn so as to present another side to; to alter the appearance of
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overweening
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Presumptuously arrogant; excessive or immoderate
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paladin
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A paragon of chivalry or heroic champion; a strong supporter of defender a cause
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palliate
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To make an offense or crime appear less serious; to mitigate
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palpate
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To examine or explore by touching (usu. an organ)
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panacea
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A remedy for all diseases, evils or difficulties; a cure-all
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panegyric
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A formal public eulogy; elaborate praise
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pedant
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One who exhibits learning or scholarship in an ostentatious manner
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pellucid
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Translucent
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penultimate
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Next to last
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peregrinate
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To travel through, over or from place to place (esp. on foot)
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perfidy
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Treachery
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perfunctory
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Done routinely and with little interest or care
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peripatetic
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Walking about from place to place; traveling on foot
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perseveration
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The act or tendency to repeat something continuously despite the cessation of the original stimulus
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persnickety
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Overly particular about details; snobbish or pretentious
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perspicacity
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Acuteness of discernment or understanding
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petrous
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Stony
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plenary
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Complete in all respects; fully attended by all qualified members
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polyglot
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A person who speaks two or more languages
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precatory
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Relating to or expressing entreaty or supplication
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precept
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A rule or principle prescribing a particular course of conduct
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prolix
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Excessively wordy
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promulgate
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To make known by public declaration; to announce officially
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propinquity
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Nearness
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propitiate
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To conciliate or appease
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protuberant
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Bulging
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provenance
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Place of origin; proof of authenticity or past ownership
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provident
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Providing for the future; frugal
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prurient
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Inordinately interested in sex; lascivious
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putrefaction
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Decomposition of organic material into foul-smelling matter
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purvey
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To supply or furnish; to advertise or circulate
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raffish
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Cheaply vulgar in appearance or nature; unconventional in a carefree manner
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rapacious
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Greedy
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recidivism
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A tendency to lapse into a previous pattern of behavior
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remonstrate
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To say or plead in protest; to present an objection
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remunerate
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To pay a suitable equivalent for goods or services already provided
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repast
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A meal; figuratively, any refreshment
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restive
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Resisting control
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ribald
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Characterized or indulging in vulgar, lewd humor
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risible
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Eliciting laughter; ludicrous
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sanguine
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Ruddy; passionate; cheerfully confident
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scurvy
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A disease caused by vitamin C deficiency; mean or contemptible
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sententious
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Pithy; abounding in or given to pompous moralizing
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septic
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Causing, affected by or relating to sepsis (poisoning by microscopic organisms); infected or putrefying
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simian
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Resembling a monkey or an ape; a monkey or ape
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sinuous
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Characterized by curves or turns
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slake
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To satisfy a craving (usu. thirst); to quench
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somatic
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Of, relating to or affecting the body
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stint
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To be sparing with; a fixed amount of work allotted
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suborn
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To induce to commit an unlawful act
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subreption
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A calculated misrepresentation through concealment of the facts
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subrogate
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To substitute (one person) for another
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supernumerary
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Exceeding a fixed or standard number; extra or superfluous
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suss
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To discover or figure out
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syllogism
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Deductive reasoning (e.g. All men are mortal, I am human, therefore I am mortal); a subtle or specious piece of reasoning
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sylvan
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Relating to or characteristic of the forest
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syncopate
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To shorten by removing something from the middle
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tamp
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To pack down by a succession of blows or taps
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tautology
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Needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy
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toothsome
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Delicious or luscious; pleasant or attractive
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trenchant
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Cutting deeply and quickly; incisive, distinct
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turbid
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Muddy or muddled; in a state of turmoil
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tyro
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A beginner in learning anything; a novice
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umbrage
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A sense of offense or resentment; shade
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uncouth
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Crude or unrefined; ungraceful or clumsy
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unctuous
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Oily; characterized by exaggerated or insincere earnestness
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vagary
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An extravagant or erratic notion of action
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vainglory
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Excessive, pretentious, and demonstrative vanity
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venal
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Mercenary or corrupt; open to bribery
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venial
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Easily excused or forgiven; pardonable
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venous
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Of, relating to or contained in the veins
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vernal
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Of or relating to springtime
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verisimilitude
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The quality of appearing to be true or real
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vetted
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Thoroughly examined or evaluated
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vicissitude
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A change of condition, circumstance or fortune (oft. unexpected)
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viscid
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Thick and adhesive (used of a fluid)
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vitriol
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Bitterly abusive feeling or expression
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vitiate
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To reduce the value, validity or purity of; to debase
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vituperate
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To criticize harshly or abusively
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voluble
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Fluent
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wag
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A humorous or droll person
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welter
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To move or sit as if in or on water; a confused mass or jumble
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wend
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To go on or proceed
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yon
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Yonder; something at a distance
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zeitgeist
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The spirit of the time; the tastes and outlook of a generation
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zephyr
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A gentle breeze; something that is soft and airy
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