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84 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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painstaking
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extremely careful
- The jewler was painstaking in his effort not to change the shape of the metal he was working on. |
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palliate
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to relieve or alleviate something without getting rid of the problem
- Asprin is a palliate. |
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palpable
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capable of being touched
- The tumor was palpable. |
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paltry
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insignificant; worthless
- The lawyer's efforts on our behalf were paltry. |
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panacea
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something that cures everything
- The administration felt that a tax cut would be a panacia for the country's economic ills. |
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pardigm
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a model or example
- All the cars the company produced were based on one paradigmatic design. |
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paradox
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a true statement or phenomenon that nonetheless seems to contradict itself
- Mr. Cooper is a political paradox; he's a republican who only votes for democrats. |
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parochial
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narrow or confined in point of view
- The journalist's parochial point of view prevented him from becoming a nationally known figure. |
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parsimonious
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stingy
- Brooke was so parsimonious that she would walk for miles rather than call a cab. |
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partisan
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one who supports a particular person, cause, or idea
- I am the partisan of any candiadate who promises not to increase taxes. |
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patent
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obvious
- She is always coming up with pantenly foolish ideas. |
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pathology
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the science of diseases
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patriarch
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the male head of a family or tribe
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patrician
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a person of noble birth
- Mr. Perno was a patrician. |
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paucity
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scarcity
- There wasa paucity of fresh vegetables at the supermarket. |
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peccadilo
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a minor offense
- The smiling defendent acted as though murder was only a peccadilo. |
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pedantic
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boringly scholarly or academic
- The professor's intrepretation of the poem was pedantic. |
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pedestrian
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unimaginative, banal
- The cafeteria's menu was pedestrian. |
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pejorative
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negative
- Abe had a pejorative opion of the school. |
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penchant
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a strong taste or liking for something
- Dogs have a penchant for chasing cats and cars. |
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penitent
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sorry
- Julie was penitent when Kanye explained how much pain she had caused him. |
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pensive
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thoughtful and sad
- Tiska became pensive when someone brought up her estranged mother. |
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peremptory
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final; categorical
- Asher's father peremptorily banished him to his room. |
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perennial
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continual
- Milton was a a perennial candidate for governer. |
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perfidy
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treachery
- I was appalled at the general's treachery. |
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perfunctory
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unenthusiastic
- Sandra's lawn mowing was perfunctory at best. |
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peripatetic
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wandering
- Groupies are a peripatetic bunch. |
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periphery
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the outside edge of something
- Jose never got involved in any of our activities; he was always at the periphery. |
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perjury
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lying under oath
- The defendent was convicted of perjury during his trial. |
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permeate
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to spread or seep through
- a horrible smell permeated the room. |
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pernicious
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deadly; extremely evil
- The drug dealer concluded their pernicious business on the street corner. |
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perquisite
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a privilege that goes along with a job
- The corporate lawyer's perquisites included limo service. |
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pertinent
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relevant
- Make sure to only use pertinent information in your paper. |
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perturb
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disturb greatly
- The boy's mother was perturbed by his rude behavior at the dinner party. |
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peruse
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to read carefully
- The lawyer perused the contact for many hours. |
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pervade
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to spread throughout
- On exam day, doom pervaded the classroom. |
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petulant
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rude; cranky
- The petulant waiter slammed down our water glasses. |
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philanthropy
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love of mankind
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philistine
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a smugly ignorant person with no appreciation of intellectual or artistic matters
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pious
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reverent or devout; hypocritical
- The adulterous minister's sermon was filled with pious disregard for his own sins. |
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pivotal
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crucial
- It is pivotal that everyone attend the meeting. |
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placate
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to pacify; to soothe
- The tribe placated the angry volcano by throwing a few teenagers in. |
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plaintive
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expressing sadness or sorrow
- The little bird's song seemed plaintive. |
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platitude
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a dull remark; cliche
- The CEO's speech was full of platitudes. |
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plebian
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common; vulgar
- Hillary would never eat frozen dinner, saying they were too plebian for her. |
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plethora
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an excess
- We ate a plethora of candy on Halloween. |
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poignant
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painfully emotional
- The woman's appearance on Oprah was poignant. |
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polarize
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to up into opposing factions
- The political party was polarized. |
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polemic
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a powerful argument often to made to attack a controversial issue
- The book was a convincing polemic. |
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ponderous
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so large as to be clumsy
- The wedding cake was a ponderous blob of icing. |
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portent
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an omen
- The distant rumbling we heard this morning was a portent of the thunderstorm that hit our area. |
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postulate
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something accepted as true without proof
- We postulated what the fortune teller had said. |
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pragmatic
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practical
- She was pragmatic in her beliefs. |
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precept
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a rule to live by; a maxim
- "Love thy neighbor" is a precept we have sometimes found difficult to follow. |
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precipitate
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to cause to happen abruptly
- The police were afraid the angry rioters might precipitate a riot. |
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precipitous
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steep
- Andrea stumbled down a precipitous slope into drug addiction. |
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preclude
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to prevent something from ever happening
- Ann feared that her low GPA might preclude her from getting into law school. |
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precursor
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forerunner
- The arrival of the million dollar check was a precursor to the new car. |
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predilection
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a natural preference for something
- The impatient judge had a predilection for well-prepared lawyers. |
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preeminent
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better than anyone else; outstanding
- Oprah Winfrey is preeminent in her reign as talkshow queen. |
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preempt
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to seize something by prior right
- The Office preempts 30 Rock's spot on NBC at 8:30 PM. |
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prepossess
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to preoccupy
- My dream prepossessed me for days. |
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prodigal
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wastefully extravagant
- The young artist was prodigal with his talents. |
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prodigious
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extraordinarily; enormous
- The little boy caught a prodigious fish. |
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profligate
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extravagantly wasteful and usually immoral
- The fraternity brothers were a profligate bunch. |
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profound
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deep
She had a profound respect for her manager. |
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profuse
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flowing; extravagant
- The homeless man's gratitude was profuse after I gave him my coat. |
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proliferate
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to spread or grow rapidly
- Honey bees proliferated when we filled our garden with flowers. |
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prolific
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abundantly productive
- The artist was prolific. |
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promulgate
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to proclaim
- The principal promulgated a new dress code for the school. |
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propensity
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a natural inclinationor tendancy
- Jessie had a propensity for saying stupid things. |
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propitious
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marked by favorable signs or conditions
- Rush hour is not a propitious time to drive in the city. |
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proponent
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an advocate
- The proponents of a tax incrase will probably not be re-elected. |
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propietary
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characteristic of an owner of property
- George felt propietary after opening his own business. |
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propriety
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properness; good manners
- Propriety prevented the young man from trashing the hotel room as he celebrated. |
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prosaic
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dull; unimaginative
- The boy's ambitions were prosaic. |
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proscribe
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to outlaw
- The doctor proscribed smoking around the building where he practiced. |
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proselytize
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to convert someone from one religion or doctrine to another
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protract
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to prolong
- The trial was so protracted that one of the jurors died of old age. |
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provident
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preparing for the future
- We were provident with our limited food supplies. |
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provincial
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limited in outlook to one's own small corner of the world
- The farmers were provincial. |
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provisional
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conditional; temporary
- Louis had been accepted as a provisional member of the club. |
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purported
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rumored; claimed
The heiress is purported to have been kidnapped by her own brother. |
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putative
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commonly accepted; supposed
- The putative reason for placing the monument downtown is that nobody wanted it anyone else. |
