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60 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Disarming
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When something's disarming, it calms hostility. A disarming smile from you can transform what could have been a tense conversation with an angry neighbor.
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Condone
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If you condone something, you allow it, approve of it, or at least can live with it. Some teachers condone chewing gum, and some don't.
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Applaud
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To applaud is to show approval, encouragement, or appreciation. You can applaud by clapping your hands at a performance, or you can applaud with just your mouth, as when you tell someone "I applaud your decision to start exercising."
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Repudiate
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This verb usually refers to rejecting something that has authority, such as a legal contract, doctrine, or claim. In connection with debts or other obligations, repudiate is used in the specialized sense "to refuse to recognize or pay."
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Arrogate
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To arrogate is to take over. When the teacher steps out of the classroom and some bossy girl marches up to the front chalkboard? What she's trying to do is arrogate the teacher's authority to herself
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Rejoice
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To rejoice is to be incredibly happy, or to express your incredible happiness. If you just won millions in the lottery, you might rejoice by screaming at the top of your lungs.
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Recoil
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Movements of backwards
1.When you jump backwards in horror away from a dead body you have just spotted, this is an example of recoil. |
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Frail
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Frail can also used to describe a person's physical condition:
My grandmother's frail frame." Another way to use frail is in reference to a person's emotional state. As the poet Sylvia Plath astutely observed, "How frail the human heart must be." |
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Relapse
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Relapse is to return to a prior condition, or to have an illness or addiction reoccur.When an alcoholic has been sober for two months and he slips and has a drink, this is an example of a situation where he relapses
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Vigorous
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Anything vigorous is done with force and energy. Vigorous exercise makes you sweat, and a vigorous denial makes someone else sweat.
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Repine
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VERB) COMPLAIN, MURMUR
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Inhumane
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The adjective inhumane means cruel and heartless. Use it to describe terrible things like your neighbor's inhumane treatment of his hound dogs.
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Revulsion
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Revulsion means an intense, violent, sometimes physical, dislike of something. People feel revulsion to different things. You may feel revulsion at the thought of seeing a horror movie.
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Distention
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Noun) the state of being stretched beyond normal dimensions.
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Chimerical
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Use the adjective chimerical to describe something that is wildly fanciful or imaginative — like the chimerical illustrations of unicorns in a children's book.
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Acrimonious
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The definition of acrimonious is when someone or something is bitter or harsh in manner.
When a person says mean and hurtful things to someone, it is an example of acting in an acrimonious manner. |
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Laxity
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NOUN) laxity is the quality or condition of being loose and neglectful.
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Posterity
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Noun) Posterity is a noun meaning "future generations."
If you save something "for posterity," you're hoping that years later people will appreciate it. |
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Probity
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NOUN) complete and confirmed integrity; having strong moral principles. If you show fiscal probity, it means you are responsible and ethical with your money
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Onus
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Take the noun, onus, as a formal word for responsibility or obligation. If your teacher assigns onus as a vocabulary word, it puts the onus on you to find out what it means.
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Pernicious
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Pernicious means harmful and subtle, such as a poison gas that causes cancer in those exposed to it over the course of years
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Inveterate
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The definition of inveterate is something longstanding, ingrained or unlikely to change.
A person who has smoked for 50 years is an example of someone who would be described as an inveterate smoker. |
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Fiscal
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This word has to do with anything financial, which is another fancy word for the world of money. When you're an adult, you have fiscal responsibilities like paying rent, buying groceries, and paying taxes
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Intrinsic
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The intrinsic qualities of something have to do with its nature. An intrinsic quality of dogs is that they're loyal.
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Inept
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A clumsy, incompetent person — or an ineffective action — is inept. When you're inept, you don't know what you're doing or just can't get it done
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Ambiguous/ Ambivalent
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Something ambiguous is unclear or vague, like the end of a short story that leaves you scratching your head. But if you're ambivalent about something, you can take it or leave it. Whatever.
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Mollify
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To mollify is to calm someone down, talk them off the ledge, make amends, maybe even apologize.
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Insipid
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Some insipid is lacking in flavor or interest. You'll probably find the generic poems inside of greeting cards insipid
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Churlish
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A churlish person is one whose middle name might as well be Rude. He’s the one who was never taught to mind his manners and avoid telling vulgar jokes at the dinner table.
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Receptive
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To be receptive is to be open to new ideas or change. If you’re responsive to other people’s suggestions and not set in your ways, then you’re not only receptive, but flexible.
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Dour
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Dour describes something gloomy. You might look dour on your way to picking up your last check from the job you just got fired from
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Placid
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ADJ) calm or quiet.
An example of placid is a still lake in the middle of a forest |
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Detrimental
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Detrimental is a formal way of saying "harmful." Anything detrimental hurts. Detrimental things do damage.
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Pious
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If someone is deeply religious and visibly follows all the moral and ethical codes of his religion, he is pious. Don't become a priest if you're not prepared to live a pious life
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Callous
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A callous person is insensitive or emotionally hardened. If you laugh at your little sister while she's trying to show you her poetry, you're being callous
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Impoverished
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Being really, really poor, either from having no money or being in bad health, Destitute !
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Vouchsafe
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Vouchsafe is a verb meaning to offer something in a condescending way. You might vouchsafe to your brother the secret to your key lime pie recipe.
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Ensconce
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VERB) firmly settled in or to settle yourself or someone else in a place of comfort or safety. "ensconced with the tissue and TV remote"
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Promulgate
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To promulgate is to officially put a law into effect. Your state may announce a plan to promulgate a new traffic law on January 1st.
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Parlay
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is to take something you have or something you win and transform it into something more valuable.
"parlayed 100$ into 100 thousands ..." |
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Brittle
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Something brittle is easily broken. Do you have brittle bones? Then, no football or rugby for you.
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Shatter
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VERB) break into many pieces
VERB) cause to damage, destroy |
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Frosty
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ADJ) "cold" in manner or feeling; austere; unfriendly
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Capsize
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To capsize is to overturn, and it usually happens to boats. Don't rock the boat, baby, or you might just capsize.
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Obviate
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To obviate means to eliminate the need for something or to prevent something from happening. If you want to obviate the possibility of a roach infestation, clean your kitchen regularly.
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Inculcate
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To inculcate is to teach through frequent instruction. If you repeatedly tell your brother how important it is to be responsible, then you’re trying to inculcate in him a sense of responsibility.
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Bolster
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When you cheer up a friend who's feeling down, you bolster them. To bolster is to offer support or strengthen.
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Enervate
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When you enervate something, you disturb it, possibly weakening it mentally or morally.
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Prosaic
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Prosaic means ordinary or dull. Most of us lead a prosaic everyday life, sometimes interrupted by some drama or crisis.
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Appealing
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The adjective appealing describes someone who is able to attract interest or is easy to like. For example, your easy sense of humor and way of making people feel comfortable make you appealing to friends.
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Enchanted
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ADJ) Captivated, charmed, bewitched, under a spell
"enchanted frog !" |
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Ensconce
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Verb) Settling for a while quietly and calmly
"ensconced with tissues" |
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Jilt
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Verb) Suddenly reject or abandon (a lover) :(
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Regress
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To regress is to return to a former state or condition, and not usually in a good way. It often means "relapse" or "get worse."
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Equivocate
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When you are unwilling to make a decision and almost intentionally go back and forth between two choices, you are equivocating.
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Dissemble
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Behave unnaturally
"A sweet religion, indeed, that obliges men to dissemble and tell lies, both to God and man, for the salvation of their souls! (John Locke |
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Consensus
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NOUN) agreement in the judgment or opinion reached by a group as a whole
“those rights and obligations are based on an unstated consensus” |
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Rationale
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Noun) The rationale for something is the basic or underlying reason or explanation for it. " What was the rationale behind his decision to quit?"
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Culpable
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ADJ) Culpable is being deserving of blame, punishable, at fault.
"culpable negligence" |
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Precedent
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Precedent refers to something that went before; it precedes something or serves as an example:
This may be a dangerous precedent that facilitates and enables dozens |