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99 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
munificence
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(n.) generosity in giving
The royal family’s munificence made everyone else in their country rich. |
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palliate
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(v.) to reduce the severity of
The doctor trusted that the new medication would palliate her patient’s discomfort. |
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promulgate
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(v.) to proclaim, make known
The film professor promulgated that both in terms of sex appeal and political intrigue, Sean Connery’s James Bond was superior to Roger Moore’s. |
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adhere
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(n.) to stick to something
We adhered the poster to the wall with tape. (n.) |
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obdurate
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(adj.) unyielding to persuasion or moral influences
The obdurate old man refused to take pity on the kittens. |
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enamor
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(v.) to fill with love, fascinate, usually used in passive form followed by “of” or “with”
I grew enamored of that boy when he quoted my favorite love poem. |
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pretense
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(n.)an appearance or action intended to deceive
Though he actually wanted to use his parents’ car to go on a date, Nick borrowed his parents’ car under the pretense of attending a group study session. |
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exult
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(v.) to rejoice
When she found out she won the literature prize, Mary exulted by dancing and singing through the school’s halls. |
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ardor
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(n.) extreme vigor, energy, enthusiasm
The soldiers conveyed their ardor with impassioned battle cries. |
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intransigent
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(adj.) refusing to compromise, often on an extreme opinion
The intransigent child said he would have 12 scoops of ice cream, or he would bang his head against the wall until his mother fainted from fear. |
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anecdote
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(n.) a short, humorous account
After dinner, Marlon told an anecdote about the time he got his nose stuck in a toaster. |
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exorbitant
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(adj.) excessive
Her exorbitant praise made me blush and squirm in my seat. |
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fecund
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(adj.) fruitful, fertile
The fecund tree bore enough apples to last us through the entire season. |
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hiatus
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(n.) a break or gap in duration or continuity
The hiatus in service should last two or three months—until the cable lines are repaired . |
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abjure
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(v.) to reject, renounce
To prove his honesty, the President abjured the evil policies of his wicked predecessor. |
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burnish
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(v.) to polish, shine
His mother asked him to burnish the silverware before setting the table. |
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antipathy
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(n.) a strong dislike, repugnance
I know you love me, but because you are a liar and a thief, I feel nothing but antipathy for you. |
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fetid
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(adj.) having a foul odor
I can tell from the fetid smell in your refrigerator that your milk has spoiled. |
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placate
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(v.) to ease the anger of, soothe
The man purchased a lollipop to placate his irritable son. |
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turpitude
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(n.) depravity, moral corruption
Sir Marcus’s chivalry often contrasted with the turpitude he exhibited with the ladies at the tavern. |
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reprieve
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(n.) a temporary delay of punishment
Because the governor woke up in a particularly good mood, he granted hundreds of reprieves to prisoners. |
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restive
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(adj.) resistant, stubborn, impatient
The restive audience pelted the band with mud and yelled nasty comments. |
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unctuous
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(adj.) smooth or greasy in texture, appearance, manner
The unctuous receptionist seemed untrustworthy, as if she was only being helpful because she thought we might give her a big tip. |
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inveterate
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(adj.) stubbornly established by habit
I’m the first to admit that I’m an inveterate coffee drinker—I drink four cups a day. |
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colloquial
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(adj.) characteristic of informal conversation
Adam’s essay on sexual response in primates was marked down because it contained too many colloquial expressions. |
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approbation
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(n.) praise
The crowd welcomed the heroes with approbation. |
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felicitous
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(adj.) well suited, apt
While his comments were idiotic and rambling, mine were felicitous and helpful. (adj.) delightful, pleasing I spent a felicitous afternoon visiting old friends. |
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exacerbate
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(v.) to make more violent, intense
The gruesome and scary movie I saw last night exacerbated my fears of the dark. |
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incorrigible
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(adj.) incapable of correction, delinquent
You can buy Grandma nicotine gum all you want, but I think that after sixty-five years of smoking she’s incorrigible. |
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commodious
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(adj.) roomy
Holden invited the three women to join him in the back seat of the taxicab, assuring them that the car was quite commodious. |
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banal
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(adj.) dull, commonplace
The client rejected our proposal because they found our presentation banal and unimpressive. |
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adept
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(adj.) extremely skilled
Tarzan was adept at jumping from tree to tree like a monkey. |
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litigant
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(n.) someone engaged in a lawsuit
When the litigants began screaming at each other, Judge Koch ordered them to be silent. |
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spurious
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(adj.) false but designed to seem plausible
Using a spurious argument, John convinced the others that he had won the board game on a technicality. |
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usurp
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(v.) to seize by force, take possession of without right
The rogue army general tried to usurp control of the government, but he failed because most of the army backed the legally elected president. |
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bombastic
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(adj.) excessively confident, pompous
The singer’s bombastic performance disgusted the crowd. |
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concord
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(n.) harmonious agreement
Julie and Harold began the evening with a disagreement, but ended it in a state of perfect concord. |
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ribald
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(adj.) coarsely, crudely humorous
While some giggled at the ribald joke involving a parson’s daughter, most sighed and rolled their eyes. |
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lethargic
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(adj.) in a state of sluggishness or apathy
When Jean Claude explained to his boss that he was lethargic and didn’t feel like working that day, the boss fired him. |
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putrid
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(adj.) rotten, foul
Those rotten eggs smell putrid. |
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flagrant
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(adj.) offensive, egregious
The judge’s decision to set the man free simply because that man was his brother was a flagrant abuse of power. |
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altercation
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(n.) a dispute, fight
Jason and Lionel blamed one another for the car accident, leading to an altercation. |
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stolid
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(adj.) expressing little sensibility, unemotional
Charles’s stolid reaction to his wife’s funeral differed from the passion he showed at the time of her death. |
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antecedent
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(n.) something that came before
The great tradition of Western culture had its antecedent in the culture of Ancient Greece. |
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ameliorate
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(v.) to improve
The tense situation was ameliorated when Sam proposed a solution everyone could agree upon. |
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execrable
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(adj.) loathsome, detestable
Her pudding is so execrable that it makes me sick. |
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concomitant
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(adj.) accompanying in a subordinate fashion
His dislike of hard work carried with it a concomitant lack of funds. |
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oration
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(n.) a speech delivered in a formal or ceremonious manner
The prime minister was visibly shaken when the unruly parliament interrupted his oration about failed domestic policies. |
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gregarious
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(adj.) drawn to the company of others, sociable
Well, if you’re not gregarious, I don’t know why you would want to go to a singles party! |
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nondescript
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(adj.) lacking a distinctive character
I was surprised when I saw the movie star in person because she looked nondescript. |
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incessant
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(adj.) unending
We wanted to go outside and play, but the incessant rain kept us indoors for two days. |
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pillage
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(v.) to seize or plunder, especially in war
Invading enemy soldiers pillaged the homes scattered along the country’s border. |
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tenuous
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(adj.) having little substance or strength
Your argument is very tenuous, since it relies so much on speculation and hearsay. |
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advocate
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(v.) to argue in favor of something
Arnold advocated turning left at the stop sign, even though everyone else thought we should turn right. (n.) a person who argues in favor of something In addition to wanting to turn left at every stop sign, Arnold was also a great advocate of increasing national defense spending. |
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coup
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(n.) a brilliant, unexpected act
Alexander pulled off an amazing coup when he got a date with Cynthia by purposely getting hit by her car. (n.) the overthrow of a government and assumption of authority In their coup attempt, the army officers stormed the Parliament and took all the legislators hostage. |
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partisan
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(n.) a follower, adherent
The king did not believe that his rival could round up enough partisans to overthrow the monarchy. |
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hedonist
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(n.) one who believes pleasure should be the primary pursuit of humans
Because he’s such a hedonist, I knew Murray would appreciate the 11 cases of wine I bought him for his birthday. |
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congruity
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(n.) the quality of being in agreement
Bill and Veronica achieved a perfect congruity of opinion. |
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dubious
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(adj.) doubtful, of uncertain quality
Suspicious that he was only trying to get a raise, she found his praise dubious. |
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proclivity
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(n.) a strong inclination toward something
In a sick twist of fate, Harold’s childhood proclivity for torturing small animals grew into a desire to become a surgeon. |
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incisive
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(adj.) clear, sharp, direct
The discussion wasn’t going anywhere until her incisive comment allowed everyone to see what the true issues were. |
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confidant
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(n.) a person entrusted with secrets
Shortly after we met, she became my chief confidant. |
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coherent
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(adj.) logically consistent, intelligible
Renee could not figure out what Monroe had seen because he was too distraught to deliver a coherent statement. |
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bias
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(n.) a tendency, inclination, prejudice
The judge’s hidden bias against smokers led him to make an unfair decision. |
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garish
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(adj.) gaudy, in bad taste
Mrs. Watson has poor taste and covers every object in her house with a garish gold lamé. |
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acquiesce
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(v.) to agree without protesting
Though Mr. Correlli wanted to stay outside and work in his garage, when his wife told him that he had better come in to dinner, he acquiesced to her demands. |
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acclaim
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(n.) high praise
Greg’s excellent poem won the acclaim of his friends. |
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implement
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(n.) an instrument, utensil, tool
Do you have a knife or some other sort of implement that I could use to pry the lid off of this jar? (v.) to put into effect, to institute After the first town curfew failed to stop the graffiti problem, the mayor implemented a new policy to use security cameras to catch perpetrators in the act. |
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prosaic
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(adj.) plain, lacking liveliness
Heather’s prosaic recital of the poem bored the audience. |
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pulchritude
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(n.) physical beauty
Several of Shakespeare’s sonnets explore the pulchritude of a lovely young man. |
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torpid
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(adj.) lethargic, dormant, lacking motion
The torpid whale floated, wallowing in the water for hours. |
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inoculate
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(v.) to introduce a microorganism, serum, or vaccine into an organism in order to increase immunity to illness; to vaccinate
I’ve feared needles ever since I was inoculated against 37 diseases at age one; but I have also never been sick. |
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elicit
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(v.) to bring forth, draw out, evoke
Although I asked several times where the exit was, I elicited no response from the stone-faced policeman. |
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increment
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(n.) an enlargement; the process of increasing
The workmen made the wall longer, increment by increment. |
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impudent
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(adj.) casually rude, insolent, impertinent
The impudent young man looked the princess up and down and told her she was hot even though she hadn’t asked him. |
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limpid
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(adj.) clear, transparent
Mr. Johnson’s limpid writing style greatly pleased readers who disliked complicated novels. |
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salve
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(n.) a soothing balm
After Tony applied a salve to his brilliant red sunburn, he soon felt a little better. |
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induce
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(v.) to bring about, stimulate
Who knew that our decision to boycott school lunch would induce a huge riot? |
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vitriolic
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(adj.) having a caustic quality
When angry, the woman would spew vitriolic insults. |
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empirical
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(adj.) based on observation or experience
The scientist gathered empirical data on the growth rate of dandelions by studying the dandelions behind his house. |
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alias
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(n.) a false name or identity
He snuck past the guards by using an alias and fake ID. |
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atrophy
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(v.) to wither away, decay
If muscles do not receive enough blood, they will soon atrophy and die. |
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seminal
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(adj.) original, important, creating a field
Stephen Greenblatt’s essays on Shakespeare proved to be seminal, because they initiated the critical school of New Historicism. |
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corroborate
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(v.) to support with evidence
Luke’s seemingly outrageous claim was corroborated by witnesses. |
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astute
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(adj.) very clever, crafty
Much of Roger’s success in politics results from his ability to provide astute answers to reporters’ questions. |
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grandiloquence
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(n.) lofty, pompous language
The student thought her grandiloquence would make her sound smart, but neither the class nor the teacher bought it. |
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indigent
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(adj.) very poor, impoverished
I would rather donate money to help the indigent population than to the park sculpture fund. |
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polemic
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(n.) an aggressive argument against a specific opinion
My brother launched into a polemic against my arguments that capitalism was an unjust economic system. |
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iridescent
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(adj.) showing rainbow colors
The bride’s large diamond ring was iridescent in the afternoon sun. |
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manifest
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(adj.) easily understandable, obvious
When I wrote the wrong sum on the chalkboard, my mistake was so manifest that the entire class burst into laughter. (v.) to show plainly His illness first manifested itself with particularly violent hiccups. |
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repose
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(v.) to rest, lie down
The cat, after eating an entire can of tuna fish, reposed in the sun and took a long nap. |
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ambiguous
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(adj.) uncertain, variably interpretable
Some people think Caesar married Cleopatra for her power, others believe he was charmed by her beauty. His actual reasons are ambiguous. |
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apocryphal
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(adj.) fictitious, false, wrong
Because I am standing before you, it seems obvious that the stories circulating about my demise were apocryphal. |
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figurative
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(adj.) symbolic
Using figurative language, Jane likened the storm to an angry bull. |
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vehemently
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(adv.) marked by intense force or emotion
The candidate vehemently opposed cutting back on Social Security funding. |
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transgress
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(v.) to violate, go over a limit
The criminal’s actions transgressed morality and human decency. |
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bequeath
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(v.) to pass on, give
Jon’s father bequeathed his entire estate to his mother. |
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criteria
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(n.) standards by which something is judged
Among Mrs. Fields’s criteria for good cookies are that they be moist and chewy. |
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augment
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(v.) to add to, expand
The eager student seeks to augment his knowledge of French vocabulary by reading French literature. |