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83 Cards in this Set
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Abridge |
(v.) condense or shorten.
EX: Because the publishers felt the public wanted a shorter version of "War and Peace", the proceeded to abridge the novel. |
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Abstemious |
(adj.) sparing in eating and drinking; temperate.
EX: Concerned whether her vegetarian son's abstemious diet provided him with sufficient protein, the worried mother pressed food on him. |
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Abstract |
(adj.) theoretical; not concrete; nonrepresentational.
EX: To him, hunger was an abstract concept; he had never missed a meal. |
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Abstruse |
(adj.) obscure; profound; difficult to understand.
EX: Baffled by the abstruse philosophical texts assigned in class, Dave asked Lexy to explain Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason". |
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Accessible |
(adj.) easy to approach; obtainable.
EX: We asked our guide whether the ruins were accessible on foot. |
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Acclaim |
(v.) applaud; announce with great approval.
EX: The NBC sportscasters acclaimed every American victory in the Olympics and decried every American defeat.
also a noun. |
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Acknowledge |
(v.) to recognize; admit.
EX: Although Iris acknowledged that the Beatles' tunes sounded pretty dated nowadays, she still preferred them to the hip-hop songs her brothers played. |
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Adulation |
(n.) flattery; admiration.
EX: The rock star thrived on the adulation of his groupies and yes men.
adulate, v. |
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Adversary |
(n.) opponent.
EX: The young wrestler struggled to defeat his adversary. |
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Adversity |
(n.) unfavorable fortune; hardship; a calamitous event.
EX: According to the humorist Mark Twain, anyone can easily learn to endure adversity, as long as it is another man's. |
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Advocate |
(v.) urge; please for.
EX: The abolitionists advocated freedom for the slaves. |
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Aesthetic |
(adj.) artistic; dealing with or capable of appreciation of the beautiful. aesthete, n.
EX: The beauty of Tiffany's stained glass appealed to Esther's aesthetic sense. |
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Affable |
(adj.) easily approachable; warmly friendly.
EX: Accustomed to cold, aloof supervisors, Nicholas was amazed at how affable his new employer was. |
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Affirmation |
(n.) positive assertion; confirmation; solemn pledge by one who refuses to take an oath.
EX: Despite Tom's affirmations of innocence, Aunt Polly still suspected he had eaten the pie. |
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Alleviate |
(v.) relive.
EX: This should alleviate the pain; if it does not, we shall have to use stronger drugs. |
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Aloof |
(adj.) apart; reserved.
EX: Shy by nature, she remained aloof while all the rest conversed. |
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Altruistic |
(adj.) unselfishly generous, concerned for other.
EX: In providing college scholarships for economically disadvantaged youths, Eugene Land preformed a truly altruistic deed. |
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Ambigyuous |
(adj.) unclear or doubtful in meaning.
EX: His ambiguous instructions misled us; we did not know which road to take.
ambiguity, n. |
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Ambivalence |
(n.) the state of having contradictory of conflicting emotional attitudes.
EX: Torn between loving her parents one minutes and hating them the next, she was confused by the ambivalence of her feelings. |
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Analogous |
(adj.) comparable.
EX: She called our attention to the things that had been done in an analogous situation and recommended we do the same. |
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Anarchist |
(n.) person who seeks to overturn the established government; advocate of abolishing authority.
EX: Denying she was an anarchist, Katya maintained she wished only to make changes in our government, not to destroy it entirely. |
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Anecdote |
(n.) short account of an amusing or interesting event.
EX: Rather than make concrete proposals for welfare reform, President Reagan told anecdotes about poor people who became wealthy despite their impoverished backgrounds. |
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Animosity |
(n.) active enmity.
EX: He incurred the animosity of the ruling class because he advocated limitation of their power. |
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Antagonism |
(n.) hostility; active resistance.
EX: Barry showed his antagonism toward his new stepmother by ignoring her whenever she tried talking to him.
antagonistic, adj. |
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Antidote |
(n.) medicine to counteract a poison or disease.
EX: When Marge's child accidentally swallowed some cleaning fluid, the local poison control hotline instructed Marge how to administer the antidote. |
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Antiquated |
(adj.) old-fashioned; obsolete.
EX: Philip had grown so accustomed to editing his papers on word processors that he thought typewriters were too antiquated for him to use. |
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Apathy |
(n.) lack of caring; indifference.
EX: A firm believer in democratic government, she could not understand the apathy of people who never bothered to vote.
apathetic, adj. |
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Appease |
(v.) pacify or soothe; relive.
EX: Tom and Jody tried to appease the crying baby by offering him one toy after another, but he would not calm down until they appeased his hunger by giving him a bottle. |
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Apprehension |
(n.) fear
EX: His nervous glances at the passersby on the deserted street revealed his apprehension. |
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Arbitraty |
(adj.) capricious; randomly chosen; tyrannical.
EX: Tom's arbitrary dismissal angered him; his boss had no reason to fire him. |
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Archaic |
(adj.) antiquated.
EX: "Methinks," "thee," and "thou" are archaic words that are no longer part of our normal vocabulary. |
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Arrogance |
(n.) pride; haughtiness.
EX: Convinced that Emma thought she was better than anyone else in the class, Ed rebuked her or her arrogance. |
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Articulate |
(adj.) effective; distant.
EX: Her articulate presentation of the advertising campaign impressed her employers. |
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Artifact |
(n.) object made by human beings, either hand-made or mass-produced.
EX: Archaeologists debated the significance of the artifacts discovered in the ruins of Asia Minor but came to no conclusion about the culture they represented. |
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Artisan |
(n.) manually skilled worker; craftsman, as oppose to artist.
EX: A noted artisan, Arturo was known for the fine craftsmanship of his inlaid cabinets. |
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Ascendancy |
(n.) controlling influence; domination
EX: Leaders of religious cults maintain ascendancy over their followers by methods that can verge on brainwashing. |
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(adj.) practicing self-denial; austere.
EX: The wealthy, self-indulgent young man felt oddly drawn to the strict, ascetic life led my members of some monastic orders.
also n. |
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Aspire |
(v.) to seek attain; long for.
EX: Because he aspired to a career in professional sports, Philip enrolled in a graduate program in sports management.
aspiration, n. |
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Astute |
(adj.) wise; shrewd; keen.
EX: John Jacob Astor made astute investments in land, shrewdly purchasing valuable plots throughout New York City. |
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Attribute |
(v.) ascribe; explain.
EX: I attribute her success in science to the encouragement she received from her parents. |
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Augment |
(v.) increase; add to.
EX: Armies augment their forces by calling up reinforcements; teachers augment their salaries by taking odd jobs. |
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Austere |
(adj.) forbiddingly stern; severely simple and unornamented.
EX: The headmaster's austere demeanor tended to scare off the more timid students, who never visited his study willingly. The room reflected the man, austere and bare, like a monk's cell, with no touches of luxury to moderate its austerity. |
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Authoritarian |
(adj.) subordinating the individual to the state; completely dominating another's will.
EX: The leaders of the authoritarian regime ordered the suppression of the democratic protest movement. After years of submitting to the will of her authoritarian father, Elizabeth Barrett ran away from home with the poet Robert Browning. |
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Autonomous |
(adj.) self-governing. autonomy, n.
EX: Although the University of California at Berkeley is just one part of the state university system, in many ways Cal Berkeley is autonomous, for it runs several programs that are not subject to outside control. |
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Aversion |
(n.) firm dislike
EX: Bert had an aversion to yuppies; Alex had an aversion to punks. Their mutual aversion was so great that they refused to speak to one another. |
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Belie |
(v.) contradict; give false impression.
EX: His coarse, hard-bitten exterior belied his inner sensitivity. |
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Benevolent |
(adj.) generous; charitable.
EX: Mr. Fezziwig was a benevolent employer, who wised to make Christmas merrier for young Scrooge and his other employees. |
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Bolster |
(v.) support; reinforce.
EX: The debaters amassed file boxes full of evidence to bolster their arguments. |
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Braggart |
(n.) boaster
EX: Modest by nature, she was no braggart, preferring to let her accomplishments speak for themselves. |
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Brevity |
(n.) conciseness.
EX: Brevity is essential when you send a telegram or cablegram; you are charged for every word. |
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Cajole |
(v.) coax; wheedle.
EX: Diane tried to cajole her father into letting her drive the family car.
cajolery, n. |
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Calculated |
(adj.) deliberately planned; likely.
EX: Lexy's choice of clothes to wear to the debate tournament was carefully calculated. Her conventional suite was on calculated to appeal to the conservative judges. |
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Candor |
(n.) frankness; open honesty.
EX: Jack can carry candor too far: when he told Jill his honest opinion of her, she nearly slapped his face.
candid, adj. |
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Capricious |
(adj.) unpredictable; fickle; fanciful.
EX: The storm was capricious: it changed course constantly. Jill was capricious, too: she changed boyfriends almost as often as she changed clothes.
caprice, n. |
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Censure |
(v.) blame; criticize.
EX: The senator was censure for behavior inappropriate to a member of Congress. |
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Censorious |
(adj.) critical.
Censorious people delight in casting blame. |
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Coercion |
(n.) use of force to get someone to obey.
EX: The inquisitors used both physical and psychological coercion to force Joan of Arc to deny her visions were sent by God. |
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Commemorate |
(v.) honor the memory of.
EX: The statue of the Minute Men commemorates the valiant soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War. |
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Compile |
(v.) assemble; gather; accumulate.
EX: We planned to compile a list of the words most frequently used on SAT examinations. |
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Complacency |
(n.) self-satisfaction; smugness.
EX: Full of complacency about his latest victories, he look |
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Compliance |
(n.) readiness to yield; conformity in fulfilling requirements.
EX: Bullheaded Bill was not noted for easy compliance with the demands of others. |
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Composure |
(n.) mental calmness.
EX: Even the latest work crisis failed to shake her composure. |
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Comprehensive |
(adj.) thorough; inclusive.
EX: This book provides a comprehensive review of verbal and math skills for the SAT. |
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Concede |
(v.) admit; yield.
EX: Despite all the evidence Monica had assembles, Mark refused to concede that she was right. |
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Conciliatory |
(adj.) reconciling; soothing.
EX: She was still angry despite his conciliatory words. |
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Concise |
(adj.) brief and compact.
EX: When you define a new word, be concise; the shorter the definition the easier it is to remember. |
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Concur |
(v.) agree.
EX: Did you concur with the decision of the court or did you find it unfair? |
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Condone |
(v.) overlook; forgive; give tacit approval; excuse.
EX: Unlike Widow Douglass, who condoned Huck's minor offenses, Miss Watson did nothing but scold. |
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Conflagration |
(n.) great fire.
EX: In the conflagration that followed the 1906 earthquake, much of San Francisco was destroyed. |
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Confound |
(v.) confuse; puzzle.
EX: No mystery could confound Sherlock Holmes for long. |
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Consensus |
(n.) general agreement.
EX: The consensus indicates that we are opposed to entering into this pact. |
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Constraint |
(n.) compulsion; repression of feelings.
constrain, v.
EX: There was feeling of constraint in the room because no one dared to criticize the speaker. |
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Contend |
(v.) struggle; compete; assert earnestly.
EX: Sociologist Harry Edwards contends that young black athletes are exploited by some college recruiters. |
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Contentious |
(adj.) quarrelsome.
EX: Disagreeing violently with the referees' ruling, the coach became so contentious that they threw him out of the game. |
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Contract |
(v.) compress or shrink; make a pledge; catch a disease.
EX: Warm metal expands; cold metal contracts. |
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Conviction |
(n.) judgement that someone is guilty of a crime; strongly held belief.
EX: Even her conviction for murder did not shake Peter's conviction that Harriet was innocent of the crime. |
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Cordial |
(adj.) gracious; heartfelt.
EX: Our hosts greeted us at the airport with a cordial welcome and a hearty hug. |
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Corroborate |
(v.) confirm; support.
EX: Though Huck was quite willing to corroborate Tom's story, Aunt Polly knew better than to believe either of them. |
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Credulity |
(n.) belief on slight evidence; gullibility; naivete
EX: Con artists take advantage of the credulity of inexperienced investors to swindle them out of their savings. |
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Criterion |
(n.) standard in judging.
EX: What criterion did you use when you elected this essay as the prizewinner? |
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Cryptic |
(adj.) mysterious; hidden; secret.
EX: Thoroughly baffled by Holmes's cryptic remarks Watson wondered whether Holmes was intentionally concealing his thoughts about the crime. |
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Cursory |
(adj.) casual; hastily done.
EX: Because a cursory examination of the ruins indicates the possibility of arson, we believe the insurance agency should undertake more extensive investigation of the fire's cause. |
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Curtail |
(v.) shorten; reduce.
EX: When Herb asked Diane for a date, she said she was really sorry she couldn't go out with him, but her dad had ordered her to curtail her social life. |
