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27 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Astral
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adj. relating to the stars. She was amazed by the sheer number of astral bodies.
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Astringent
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adj. binding; causing contraction; harsh or severe. The astrigent quality of the unswetened lemon juice made swallowing difficult.
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Asunder
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adv. into parts; apart. A fierce quarrel split the partnership asunder.
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Atavism
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n. resemblance to remote ancestors rather than to partents; reversion to an eralir 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.
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Attenuate
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v. make thinner; weaker or lessen. The lond dry spell attenuated the creek to the merest trickle.
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Attrition
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n. gradual decrease in numbers; reductionin the work force without firing employees; wearing away of oppositon by means of harassment. Rather than firing staff members, the administration followed a policy of attrition. Urban churches suffered from attrtion due to the agragarian exodous.
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Augury
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n. omen, prophecy
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August
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adj. impressive or majestic
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Aureole
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n. the sun's halo
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Austere
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adj. forbiddingly stern; severely simple and unornamented. The headmaster's austere demeanor tended to scare off the more timid students.
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Autocratic
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adj. having absolute, unchecked power; dictatorial. A person accustomed to exercising authority may become autocratic if his or her power is unchecked.
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Auxiliary
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adj. offering or providing help; additioal or subsidiary. To prepare for the emergency, they built an auxiliary power station.
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Avarice
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n. greediness for wealth. It is not poverty, but wealth that breeds avarice.
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Aver
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v. asset confidetnly or declare; as used in law, state formally as a fact. The self-proclaimed psychic averred that, because he had exgrasenosry perception he did not need technology.
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Avert
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v. to prevent or turn away. She averted her eyes from his peircing gaze.
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Aviary
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n. enclosure for birds. Teh aviary at the zoo held nearly 300 birds.
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Avocation
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n. secondary or minor occupation. His hobby proved to be so stimulating that he eventually quite his job to focus on his avocation.
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Avuncular
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adj. like an uncle. Avuncular pride did not prevent him from seeing his nephew's shortcomings.
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Awl
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n. pointed tool used for piercing. She used an awl to pierce additional holes.
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Bacchanalian
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adj. drunken. Neron attended the bacchanalian orgy.
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Badinage
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n. teasing conversation. Her friends greeted the news of her engagement with cheefrul badinage.
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Bait
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v. harass; tease. The school bully baited the smaller children.
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Baleful
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adj. threatening; meacing; sinister; foreshadowing evil. The bully's baleful glare across the classroom warned Tim to expect trouble after school.
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Balk
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v. stop short; foil. When the warden learned of the inmates' plant to riot, he took steps to balk their plan.
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Ballast
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n. heavy substance used to add stability or weight. The ship was leaning badly to one side. So the shipman shifted the ballast.
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Banal
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adj. hackneyed; sommonplace; trite; lacking orginality. The hack writer's worn-out cliches made his comics seem banal.
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Bandy
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v. discuss lightly or glibly; exchange words heatedly. While the presiden was happy to bandy patriotic generalizations with anyone who would listen to him, he refused to bandy words with unfriendly reporters at the press conference.
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