Miscellaneous Word List 1401-1500

Front 1

splutter

Back 1

v. to make repeated or sporadic spitting sounds; to speak hastily and incoherently, as when confused or angry

Front 2

balustrade

Back 2

n. a railing at the side of a staircase or balcony to prevent people from falling

Front 3

valediction

Back 3

n. the action of bidding farewell; a farewell

Front 4

caitiff

Back 4

n./adj. cowardly and mean

Front 5

curio

Back 5

n. a valued, novel object; an object valued as a curiosity, often a collectible

Front 6

dissever

Back 6

v. to separate or part; sever

Front 7

emetic

Back 7

adj./n. causing vomit; an agent that causes vomiting

Front 8

sequacious

Back 8

adj. (1) proceeding smoothly and regularly (2) disposed to follow, especially slavishly

Front 9

brutum fulmen

Back 9

insensible thunderbolt; a futile threat or display

Front 10

sepulcher

Back 10

n. a burial place; tomb; a structure or niche in a church in which sacred relics are deposited

Front 11

emulsion

Back 11

n. (1) a mixture of two liquids in which particles of one are suspended evenly throughout the other (2) a light sensitive coating for paper or film

Front 12

elocution

Back 12

n. the art of speaking or reading clearly in public, including gestures, pronunciations, and tones

Front 13

ablaut

Back 13

n. the systematic substitution of one root vowel sound for another in different inflectional forms or derivatives of a word (ring, rang, rung)

Front 14

molder

Back 14

v. to crumble to dust; disintegrate

Front 15

beatific

Back 15

adj. exalted happy; blissful

Front 16

cached

Back 16

adj. stored; hidden

Front 17

kibbutz

Back 17

n. an israeli communal settlement, especially a farm cooperative

Front 18

macrobiotic

Back 18

adj. a dietary system derived from Zen Buddhism and purported to prolong life

Front 19

wanderlust

Back 19

n. a strong desire to wander or travel

Front 20

xanthous

Back 20

adj. yellow; yellowish

Front 21

yegg

Back 21

n. a burglar who robs safes; safecracker

Front 22

lope

Back 22

v./n. to run or ride with a steady, easy gate

Front 23

tumescent

Back 23

adj. somewhat tumid; becoming swollen, swelling

Front 24

ablution

Back 24

n. the washing of one's body or part of it

Front 25

acidulous

Back 25

adj. biting, caustic, harsh

Front 26

ad libitum

Back 26

adv. In accordance with one's wishes; ad lib

Front 27

ad rem

Back 27

adj. pertinent to the matter or person at issue; directed at the specific thing

Front 28

aegis

Back 28

n. the direction; control; supervision

Front 29

Aesopian

Back 29

adj. conveying an innocent meaning to an outsider but a concealed meaning to an informed member of a conspiracy

Front 30

afflatus

Back 30

n. a creative impulse; a divine warrant or inspiration

Front 31

agglutinate

Back 31

v. to unite or combine into a group or mass

Front 32

ablescent

Back 32

adj. becoming white; shining out more conspicuously

Front 33

anfractuous

Back 33

adj. full of twists and turns; winding; tortuous

Front 34

anneal

Back 34

v. to strengthen; toughen

Front 35

anomie

Back 35

n. a state or rootlessness in which normative standards of conduct and belief have weakened or disappeared, characterized by personal disorientation, anxiety, and social isolation

Front 36

antinomian

Back 36

adj. opposed to, defiant of, or rejecting moral law

Front 37

antipodal

Back 37

adj. opposed; widely different

Front 38

apercu

Back 38

n. a brief glimpse or immediate impression, especially an intuitive insight

Front 39

appoggiatura

Back 39

n. an accessory embellishing note or notes preceding an essential melodic note or tone

Front 40

arbiter elegantie

Back 40

n. the person who rules on matters of fashion, protocol, or taste

Front 41

arrant

Back 41

adj. naked; unmitigated

Front 42

arterial

Back 42

adj. of or designating a route of transportation carrying a main flow of with many breaches

Front 43

assonant

Back 43

adj. marked by resemblance of sound in words or syllables; resemblance

Front 44

asymptotic

Back 44

adj. getting closer and closer to a goal, but never quite reaching it

Front 45

Attican

Back 45

adj. athenian in its classical simplicity; elegant

Front 46

aught

Back 46

n. nothing; zero; cipher

Front 47

auto-da-fe

Back 47

n. the ritual accompanying the execution of a heretic, used especially in connection with the Inquisition

Front 48

banausic

Back 48

adj. of purely mechanical interest or purpose

Front 49

bawdy

Back 49

adj. obscene; lewd; indecent; smutty

Front 50

sacryn

Back 50

n. an artificial sweetener

Front 51

becket

Back 51

n. a simple device for holding something in place

Front 52

belles lettres

Back 52

n. creative writing valued for esthetic content

Front 53

billingsgate

Back 53

n. foul; vulgar; abusive talk

Front 54

blasé

Back 54

adj. apathetic to pleasure or life; indifferent as a result of excessive indulgence or enjoyment

Front 55

booboisie

Back 55

n. the ignorant class, composed substantially by members of the bourgeoisie

Front 56

bowdlerize

Back 56

v. (1) to expurgate prudishly (2) to modify, as by shortening or simplifying or by skewing the content in a certain manner

Front 57

breviary

Back 57

n. an ecclesiastical book containing the daily prayers or canonical prayers for the canonical hours

Front 58

bull

Back 58

n. an authoritative declaration or statement

Front 59

bumptious

Back 59

adj. presumptuously, obtusely, and often noisily self-assertive

Front 60

buncombe

Back 60

n. talkthat is empty, insincere, or merely for effect; humbug

Front 61

bursary

Back 61

n. the arrangement which students do work for the school or college in return for a remission of a part of their tuition

Front 62

cacoethes

Back 62

n. an uncontrollable desire

Front 63

caeteris paribus

Back 63

adv. If all other relevant things remain unaltered

Front 64

callow

Back 64

adj. lacking in adult sophistication, experience, perception, or judgment

Front 65

canard

Back 65

n. a false or unfounded report or story; a groundless rumor or belief

Front 66

caravanserai

Back 66

n. an inn in Near or Far Eastern countries where caravans rest at night

Front 67

Carthusian

Back 67

adj. austerely self-disciplined, self-denying; relating to members of the St. Bruno's cult in 1084

Front 68

caudillo

Back 68

n. a latin american dictator, usually self-installed

Front 69

codicil

Back 69

n. a provision, as of a document, made subsequently to and appended to the original

Front 70

colonic

Back 70

adj. having to do with the colon

Front 71

commonweal

Back 71

n. the common interest; the good-better society

Front 72

concupiscent

Back 72

adj. lustful

Front 73

condign

Back 73

adj. deserved; appropriate; adequate

Front 74

continence

Back 74

n. self-restraint from yielding to impulse or desire

Front 75

cordon sanitaire

Back 75

n. a line designed to act as a buffer between two territories actually or potentially hostile to each other

Front 76

coterie

Back 76

n. a small group of people bound together by common interests or loyalties

Front 77

coterminous

Back 77

adj. contained within the same period; coextensive

Front 78

Coventry

Back 78

n. a state of ostracism or exclusion from the society of one's fellows

Front 79

credenda

Back 79

n. the constituent element of what forms your belief in religion, politics, etc

Front 80

danseur

Back 80

n. the male dancer in a ballet group; often used to suggest said dancer's exhibitionistic impulses

Front 81

decoct

Back 81

v. to figure out by deduction what the true meaning is of a statement, a symbol, an oblique communication

Front 82

demurral

Back 82

n. the act of taking exception

Front 83

desiccate

Back 83

v. to drain of vitality, especially to divest of vigor, spirit, passion, or a capability of evoking mental or emotional excitement

Front 84

de trop

Back 84

adj. too much or too many; in the way; superfluous; unwanted

Front 85

detumesce

Back 85

v. to subside from a state of swelling; to diminish in size

Front 86

diapasonal

Back 86

adj. a musical term which suggests fully orchestrated; full; harmonious

Front 87

diaphonous

Back 87

adj. of such fine texture as to be transparent or translucent

Front 88

discountenance

Back 88

v. to put to shame; reject; abash; disconcert; refuse to look upon with favor

Front 89

dissipation

Back 89

n. wasteful expenditures and intemperate living

Front 90

dithyrambic

Back 90

adj. truly exaggerated in praising something or somebody

Front 91

dowdy

Back 91

adj. lacking stylishness or neatness; shabby; old-fashioned; antiquated

Front 92

dudgeon

Back 92

n. a sullen, angry, or indignant, humor; a feeling of intense indignation

Front 93

dulcet

Back 93

adj. pleasing to the ear; melodiouis; having a soothing agreeable quality

Front 94

dysgenic

Back 94

adj. pertaining to or causing degeneration in the offspring produced

Front 95

dysphasia

Back 95

n. impairment of speech or verbal comprehension, especially associated with brain injury

Front 96

eleemosynary

Back 96

adj. of, relating, or dependent on charity; generous in assisstance to the poor

Front 97

emplace

Back 97

v. to put into place or position

Front 98

encyst

Back 98

v. to enclose in or as if in a cyst

Front 99

envoi

Back 99

n. a brief stanza concluding certain forms of poetry

Front 100

epigone

Back 100

n. a second-rate imitator or follower, especially of an artist or a philosopher