Pds English Vocab 201-250

Front 1

Ungainly

Back 1

Adj. - Lacking grace or ease of movement or form, clumsy.

Front 2

Unseemly

Back 2

Adj. - Not in accord with accepted standards of good taste, grossly improper.

Front 3

Vanguard

Back 3

N. - The foremost position in an army or fleet advancing into battle or the foremost or leading position in a trend or movement.

Front 4

Vegetate

Back 4

V. - To engage in relaxing or passive activities, such as watching television.

Front 5

Venerable

Back 5

Adj. - Commanding respect by virtue of age, dignity, character, or position.

Front 6

Veracious

Back 6

Adj. - Honest, truthful.

Front 7

Virulent

Back 7

Adj. - Intensely irritating, obnoxious, or harsh.

Front 8

Vulnerable

Back 8

Adj. - Susceptible to physical or emotional injury.

Front 9

Winsome

Back 9

Adj. - Harming, often in a childlike or naive way.

Front 10

Wrest

Back 10

V. - To obtain by or as if by pulling with violent twisting movements.

Front 11

Abut

Back 11

V. - To touch or end at one end or side.

Front 12

Advent

Back 12

N. - The coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important.

Front 13

Affable

Back 13

Adj. - Easy and pleasant to speak to, approachable.

Front 14

Amazon

Back 14

N. - Tall, aggressive, strong-willed woman.

Root: Greek Mythology
- A race of women - tall - skilled with bow and arrow and known to cut off their left breast to shoot better.

Front 15

Ambivalence

Back 15

N. - The uncertainty or indecisiveness.

Front 16

Anneal

Back 16

V. - To strengthen or harden for objects or ideas.

Front 17

Apocalyptic

Back 17

Adj. - Relating to an extremly destructive force of ultimate doom.

Front 18

Atavism

Back 18

N. - The reappearance of a characteristic of previous behavior after a period of absence.

Front 19

Avocation

Back 19

N. - A hobby.

Front 20

Beholden

Back 20

Adj. - To beheld by an obligation, such as gratitude.

Front 21

Bereavement

Back 21

N. - State of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one.

Front 22

Blanch

Back 22

V. - To take the color from or bleach or to draw back in fear.

Front 23

Brindled

Back 23

Adj. - Grayish with streaks or spots of a darker color.

Front 24

Caste

Back 24

N. - A social class separated from others by distinctions of hereditary rank, profession, or wealth and of traditional Hindu society.

Front 25

Casuistry

Back 25

N. - Specious or excessively subtle reasoning intended to rationalize or mislead.

Front 26

Conduit

Back 26

N. - A pipe or channel for conveying fluids, such as water or a means by which something is transmitted.

Front 27

Credo

Back 27

N. - Any system of principles or belifs.

Front 28

Crepuscular

Back 28

Adj. - Of or like twilight.

Front 29

Crypt

Back 29

N. - An underground vault or chamber, especially one beneath a church that is used as a burial place.

Front 30

Cul-de-sac

Back 30

N. - A dead-end street that curves around with only one outlet.

Root: French - Bottom of bag.

Front 31

Curmudgeon

Back 31

N. - An ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions.

Front 32

Cynosure

Back 32

N. - A center of attention or a guide.

Front 33

Denigrate

Back 33

V. - To attack the character or reputation of, speak ill of, defame.

Front 34

Denouement

Back 34

N. - The final resolution or clarification of a dramatic or narrative plot.

Front 35

Disabuse

Back 35

V. - To free from a falsehood or misconception.

Front 36

Dispassionate

Back 36

Adj. - Devoid of or unaffected by passion, emotion, or bias.

Front 37

Eclat

Back 37

N. - Great brilliance, as of performance or achievement.

Front 38

Excoriate

Back 38

V. - To tear or wear off the skin or to express strong disapproval or harsh criticism.

Front 39

Fanfare

Back 39

N. - A loud flourish of brass instruments, especially trumpets or a spectacular public display.

Front 40

Fluted

Back 40

Adj. - Having or marked by grooves.

Front 41

Fracas

Back 41

N. - A noisy, disorderly fight or quarrel, a brawl.

Front 42

Gargoyle

Back 42

N. - A roof spout in the form of a grotesque or fantastic creature projecting from a gutter to carry rainwater clear of the wall.

Front 43

Gastronomy

Back 43

N. - The art or science of good eating.

Front 44

Genealogy

Back 44

N. - A record or table of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or ancestors, a family tree.

Front 45

Hermetically

Back 45

Adj. - Completely sealed, especially airtight.

Root: Hermes: Greek god that had a sealed box.

Front 46

Idiosyncratic

Back 46

N. - A structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group.

Front 47

Incarnation

Back 47

N. - Something that becomes flesh.

Root: Carn means flesh.

Front 48

Incontinent

Back 48

Adj. - Lacking normal voluntary control of excretory functions or lacking sexual restraint.

Front 49

Interdict

Back 49

V. - To destroy, damage, or cut off (as an enemy line of supply) by firepower to stop or hamper an enemy.

Front 50

Irksome

Back 50

Adj. - Causing annoyance or weariness.