Second Semester Sophomore. Vocabulary

Front 1

altercation

Back 1

The altercation started when he called the other boy a bad name.

a heated or angry dispute; noisy argument or controversy.

Front 2

salient

Back 2

The salient features of the new benefits package are an improved health plan, flex time, and an extra vacation day for every six months of perfect attendance.

important; striking, remarkable

Front 3

aboriginal

Back 3

The aboriginal people of Tahiti wore only loincloths.

original or earliest known; native; indigenous

Front 4

viable

Back 4

Capable of success; effectiveness; practicable

a viable plan; a viable national economy.

Front 5

voracious

Back 5

His voracious appetite made him go to the lunch line 3 times!

Large; craving or consuming large quantities

Front 6

trepidation

Back 6

She was filled with fear and trepidation when she saw her young son walk into the street alone.


tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation; perturbation.

Front 7

anomaly

Back 7

He is an anomaly among his friends; he is nice but they are not.

abnormality, exception, peculiarity.

Front 8

defile

Back 8

1.
to make foul, dirty, or unclean; pollute; taint; debase.
2.
to violate the chastity of.
3.
to make impure for ceremonial use; desecrate.
4.
to sully, as a person's reputation.

Do not defile your thoughts or your body.

Front 9

resilient

Back 9

1. Marked by the ability to recover readily, as from misfortune.
2. Capable of returning to an original shape or position, as after having been compressed.

The resilient woman found love a few years after her divorce.

Front 10

philistine

Back 10

–noun
1. (sometimes initial capital letter) a person who is lacking in or hostile or smugly indifferent to cultural values, intellectual pursuits, aesthetic refinement, etc., or is contentedly commonplace in ideas and tastes.
2. (initial capital letter) a native or inhabitant of ancient Philistia.


The Philistine Pentapoli were found in the region just west of the Judean mountains which covered the greater part of Biblical Shephelah.

Front 11

denigrate

Back 11

To attack the character or reputation of; speak ill of; defame. 2. To disparage; belittle

Front 12

Eclectic

Back 12

The buffet was made up of eclectic food from various countries.

1.
selecting or choosing from various sources.
2.
made up of what is selected from different sources.

Front 13

excoriate

Back 13

to denounce or berate severely; flay verbally:
He was excoriated for his mistakes.

to strip off or remove the skin from: Her palms were excoriated by the hard labor of shoveling.

Front 14

fortuitous

Back 14

Getting into BYU was a fortuitous event becasue her grades were not all that good.

1.
happening or produced by chance; accidental: a fortuitous encounter.
2.
lucky; fortunate: a series of fortuitous events that advanced her career.

Front 15

importune

Back 15

demand with urgency or persistence.

to make improper advances toward (a person).

to beg for (something) urgently or persistently.

Front 16

inordinate

Back 16

He drank an inordinate amount of wine.

excessive; uncontrolled.

Front 17

inexorable

Back 17

unyielding; unalterable: inexorable truth; inexorable justice.

not to be persuaded, moved, or affected by prayers or entreaties: an inexorable creditor.

Front 18

moribund

Back 18

in a dying state; near death.

on the verge of extinction or termination.

not progressing or advancing; stagnant: a moribund political party.

Front 19

officious

Back 19

objectionably aggressive in offering one's unrequested and unwanted services, help, or advice; meddlesome: an officious person.
2. marked by or proceeding from such forwardness: officious interference.

Front 20

palliate

Back 20

–verb (used with object)
1. to relieve or lessen without curing; mitigate; alleviate.
2. to try to mitigate or conceal the gravity of (an offense) by excuses, apologies, etc.; extenuate.

These verbs mean to cause a fault or offense to seem less grave or less reprehensible: palliate a crime

Front 21

perfidious

Back 21

false, disloyal; unfaithful, traitorous.

They believed him to be with them but his perfidious action nearly lost them the battle.

Front 22

predilection

Back 22

–noun
a tendency to think favorably of something in particular; partiality; preference: a predilection for Bach.



His predilection for the sea drew him to a voyage around the Cape of Good Hope

Front 23

profligate

Back 23

1. shamelessly immoral or debauched
2. wildly extravagant or wasteful

The profligate man wasted all his money on things that were not useful.

Front 24

supercilious

Back 24

displaying arrogant pride, scorn, or indifference


The supercilious colonizers did not care about the natives or their traditions.

Front 25

truculent

Back 25

1. Disposed to fight; pugnacious.
2. Expressing bitter opposition; scathing: a truculent speech against the new government.
3. Disposed to or exhibiting violence or destructiveness; fierce.

a truculent speech against the new government.

Front 26

adduce

Back 26

To cite as an example or means of proof in an argument.

to adduce reasons in support of a constitutional amendment.

Front 27

ancillary

Back 27

subordinate; subsidiary, secondary

Sculpture was never more than ancillary to his painting

Front 28

assiduous

Back 28

1.
constant; unremitting:

assiduous reading.

2.
constant in application or effort; working diligently at a task; persevering; industrious; attentive:

an assiduous student.

Front 29

canard

Back 29

a false or baseless, usually derogatory story, report, or rumor.

All blacks like fried chicken and collared greens is a canard.

Front 30

incontrovertible

Back 30

The absolute and incontrovertible truth is that God lives.


not open to question or dispute; indisputable

Front 31

obdurate

Back 31

He was an obdurate sinner and would not be persuaded to believe in God.

unmoved by persuasion; stubborn; unyielding.

Front 32

onus

Back 32

The onus is on the landlord to make sure the walls are protected from mildew.

The onus was on the lawyer to prove the guilt of the man.

-burden of proof

-blame or responsibility.

Front 33

penchant

Back 33

She had a penchant for dance-related sports.


a strong inclination, taste, or liking for something

Front 34

perfunctory

Back 34

He did a perfunctory job cleaning his dad's car, finishing quickly but leaving a few spots still dirty.

lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm; performed merely as a routine duty

Front 35

phlegmatic

Back 35

If you are a phlegmatic, you most likely possess a dry wit and a steady, amicable demeanor.

1.
not easily excited to action or display of emotion; apathetic; sluggish.
2.
self-possessed, calm, or composed.

Front 36

probity

Back 36

The journalist was well known for her probity. She would never ask immoral questions of the people she interviewed.

integrity and uprightness; honesty.

Front 37

recalcitrant

Back 37

Even when scolded, the recalcitrant young girl simply stomped her foot and refused to finish her lima beans.

not obedient;
hard to deal with, manage, or operate

Front 38

taciturn

Back 38

Though Jane never seems to stop talking, her brother is quite taciturn.

silent, uncommunicative, reticent, quiet

Front 39

ubiquitous

Back 39

His name was Lenny Wilkens, and he was as ubiquitous that day as he was inscrutable.

existing or being everywhere, esp. at the same time; omnipresent:

Front 40

vitiate

Back 40

Our group was quite close and well-behaved until one person joined us and vitiated a few others.

debase; corrupt; pervert.

Front 41

aggrandize

Back 41

Joseph always dropped the names of the famous people his father knew as a way to aggrandize his personal stature.

inflate, strengthen, exalt, magnify

Front 42

assuage

Back 42

The kind words at the funeral helped to assuage his pain.

to make milder or less severe; relieve; ease; mitigate:

Front 43

concomitant

Back 43

The marriage and its concomitant circumstances made all the family happy.

existing or occurring with something else, often in a lesser way; accompanying; concurrent

Front 44

deleterious

Back 44

The deleterious influences of her friends made her a rebel that finally was arrested.

1.
injurious to health: deleterious gases.
2.
harmful; injurious:

Front 45

enervated

Back 45

"the luxury which enervates and destroys nations" (Henry David Thoreau).

To weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of

Front 46

impecunious

Back 46

The impecunious boy was always begging for money


having little or no money; penniless; poor.

Front 47

indolence

Back 47

Only her indolence prevented her from becoming a great writer.


Laziness

Front 48

internecine

Back 48

The internecene fight brought bloodshed to both sides.

Mutually destructive; ruinous or fatal to both sides.

Characterized by bloodshed or carnage.

Front 49

odious

Back 49

Scrubbing the toilet is an odious task.

highly offensive; repugnant; disgusting

Front 50

ostensible

Back 50

1.
outwardly appearing as such; professed; pretended: an ostensible cheerfulness concealing sadness.

2.
apparent, evident, or conspicuous: the ostensible truth of their theories.

Front 51

penurious

Back 51

The penurious stew would have been more accurately labeled broth.


extremely poor; destitute; indigent

Front 52

petulance

Back 52

In a burst of petulance she threw the book out of the window.

Unreasonably irritable or ill-tempered

Front 53

ponderous

Back 53

1.
of great weight; heavy; massive.

2.
awkward or unwieldy: He carried a ponderous burden on his back.

3.
dull and labored: a ponderous dissertation.

Front 54

proclivity

Back 54

She loved a clean house and had a proclivity to always vacuum and dust.

natural or habitual inclination or tendency; propensity; predisposition

Front 55

refulgent

Back 55

Crystal chandeliers and gilded walls made the opera house a refulgent setting for the ball.

shining brightly; radiant; gleaming

Front 56

subterfuge

Back 56

Back in the days when women were not supposed to be writers, female authors often adopted male names or used initials as a subterfuge to hide their true identities.

a deception used to evade a rule, escape a consequence, hide something, etc.

Front 57

unctuous

Back 57

The unctuous receptionist seemed untrustworthy, as if she was only being helpful because she thought we might give her a big tip.

Characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness

Front 58

apotheosis

Back 58

This poem is the apotheosis of lyric expression.

the ideal example; epitome; quintessence

Front 59

baleful

Back 59

He never greeted me, just glared out of ringed, baleful eyes, threw his dilations down on my desk like the glove preceding a duel, and stumped back to the rat race.


full of menacing or malign influences

Front 60

cupidity

Back 60

Written as a manifesto for American renewal, the book rails against the cupidity of the past.

eager or excessive desire, esp. to possess something; greed; avarice.