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20 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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accost
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(v) to approach and speak to first; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way
SYN: buttonhole, approach, confront ANT: evade, avoid, shun |
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animadversion
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(n) a comment indicating strong disapproval or criticism
SYN: rebuke, reproof ANT: praise, compliment |
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avid
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(adj) desirous of something to the point of greed; intensely eager
SYN: keen, enthusiastic, grasping ANT:reluctant, indifferent, unenthusiatic |
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brackish
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(adj) having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink
SYN: briny, saline ANT: fresh, clear, sweet |
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celerity
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(n) swiftness, rapidity of motion or action
SYN: promptness, alacrity, speed ANT: slowness, sluggishness, dilatoriness |
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devious
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(adj) straying or wandering from a straight or direct course; done or acting in a shifty or underhanded way
SYN: roundabout, indirect, tricky, sly, artful ANT: direct, straightforward, open, aboveboard |
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gambit
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(n) in chess, an opening move that involves risk or sacrifice of a minor piece; any opening move of this type
SYN: ploy,stratagem, ruse, manuever |
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halcyon
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(n) a legendary bird identified with a kingfisher; (adj) of or relating to the halcyon...calm, peaceful; happy, golden, prosperous, affluent
SYN: tranquil, serence, placid, palmy ANT: turbulent, chaotic, tumultous |
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histrionic
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(adj) pertaining to actors and their techniques; theatrical, artificial, melodramatic
SYN: affected, stagy ANT: low-keyed, muted, untheatrical, subdued |
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incendiary
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(adj) deliberately setting or causing fires; designed to start fires; tending to stir up strife or rebellion; (n) one who delibrately sets fire
SYN: (adj) inflammatory, provocative (n) firebrand ANT: (adj) soothing, quieting (n) peacemaker |
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maelstrom
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(n) a whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool in violence and destruction
SYN: vortex, chaos, turbulence, tumult |
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myopic
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(n) nearsighted; lacking a broad, realistic view of a situation; lacking foresight or discernment
SYN: shortsighted ANT: farsighted |
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overt
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(adj) open, not hidden, expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized
SYN: clear, obvious, manifest, patent ANT: secret, clandestine, covert, concealed |
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pejorative
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(adj) tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittling
ANT: ameliorative, complimentary |
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propriety
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(n) the state of being proper, appropriateness; (pl) standards of what is proper or socially acceptable
SYN: fitness, correctness, decorum ANT: unseemliness, inappropriateness |
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sacrilege
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(n) improper or disrespectful treatment of something held sacred
SYN: desecration, profanation, defilement |
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summarily
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(adv) whitout delay or formality; briefly, concisely
SYN: promptly, peremptorily, abruptly |
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suppliant
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(adj) asking humbly and earnestly (n) one who makes a request humble and earnestly, a petitioner, suitor
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talisman
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(n) an object that serves as a charm or is believed to confer magical powers, an amulet, fetish
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undulate
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(v) to move in waves or with a wavelike motion; to have a wavelike appearance or form
SYN: ripple, fluctuate, rise and fall |
