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30 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Anomaly
Noun [uh -nahm- uh lee] |
deviation from what is normal
Albino animals may display too great an anomaly in their coloring to attract normally colored mates. Synonyms: aberration; abnormality; deviation; irregularity |
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Antagonize
Verb [aan -taa- guh niez] |
to annoy or provoke to anger
The child discovered that he could antagonize the cat by pulling its tail. Synonyms: clash; conflict; incite; irritate; oppose; pester; provoke; vex |
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Antipathy
noun [aan -tih- puh thee] |
extreme dislike
The antipathy between fans of the rival soccer team made the game even more electrifying to watch. Synonyms: animosity: animus; antagonism; aversion; enmity |
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Apathy
Noun [-aa- pah thee] |
Lack of interest or emotion
The apathy of voters is so great that fewer than half the people who are eligible to vote actually bother to do so. Synonyms: disinterest; disregard; indifference; insensibility |
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Apocryphal
adj [uh -pahk- ruh fuhl] |
of questionable authority or authenticity
There is no hard or authoritative evidence to support the apocryphal tales that link the rosewell, New Mexico incident to a downed U.F.O. |
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Apostate
Noun [uh -pahs- tayt] |
one who renounces a religious faith
So that he could divorce his wife, the king scoffed at the church doctrines and declared himself an apostate. Synonyms: defector; deserter; traitor |
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Approbation
Noun [aa pruh -bay- shuhn] |
Approval and praise
The approbation that the comedian Jerry Lewis recieved in France included a medal from the Ministry of Culture. Synonyms: acclaim; adulation; applause; commendations; compliments |
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Arbitrary
adj [-ahr- bih trayr ee] |
determined by chance or impulse
When you lack the information to judge what to do next, you are forced to make an arbitrary decision. Synonyms: changeable; erractic; indiscriminate; random; wayward |
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Arbitrate
Verb [-ahr- bih trayt] |
to judge a dispute between two opposing parties
Since the couple could not come to an agreement, a judge was forced to arbitrate their divorce proceedings. Synonyms: adjudge; adjudicate; determine; intermediate; intervene; judge;moderate; referee; rule |
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archaic
Adj [ahr -kay- ihk] |
ancient, old-fashioned
Her archaic Commodore computer could not run the latest software. Synonyms: obsolete; outdated; vintage |
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Ardor
Noun [-ahr- duhr] |
Intense and passionate feeling
Bishop's ardor for landscape was evident when he passionately described the beauty of the scenic Hudson Valley. Synonyms: devotion; enthusiasm; fervency; fervidity; fervidness; fervor; fire; passion;zeal; zealousness |
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Arrogate
Verb [-aa- ruh gayt] |
to claim without justification; to claim for oneself without right
Gretchen watched in astonishment as her boss arrogated the credit for her brilliant work on the project. Synonyms: appropriate; presume; take |
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Articulate
adj [ahr -tih- kyuh luht] |
able to speak clearly and expressively
She is extremely articulate when it comes to expressing her pro-labor views; as a result, unions are among her strongest supporters. Synonyms: eloquent; expressive; fluent; lucid; silver-tongued; smooth-spoken |
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Assail
Verb [uh -sayl-] |
To attack, assault
The forieng army will try to assail our bases, but they will not be sucessful in their attack. Synonyms: beset; strike; storm |
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Assuage
Verb [uh -swayi-] [uh -swayzh-] [uh -swahzh] |
to make something unpleasant less severe
Like many people, philip used food to assuage his sense of loneliness Synonyms: Allay; alleviate; apease; ease; lighten; mitigate; mollify;pacify |
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Attenuate
Verb [uh -tehn- yoo ayt] |
to reduce in force or degree; to weaken
The bill of Rights attenuated the traditional power of goverment to change laws at will. Synonyms: debilitate; devitalize; dilute; enervate; enfeeble; rarefy; sap; thin; undermine; undo;unnerve; water ; weaken |
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Audacious
Adj [aw -day- shuhs] |
fearless and daring
The audacious peasant dared to insult the knight's mother. Synonyms: adventuresome; assertive; bold; brave; courageous; daring |
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Augury
Noun [-aw- gyuh ree] [-aw- guh ree] |
Prophecy; prediction of events
Troy hoped the rainbow was an augury of good things to come. Synonyms: auspices; harbinger; omen; portent;presage |
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August
adj [aw -guhst-] |
dignified, grandiose
The august view of the Grand Teton summit took my breath away. Synonyms: admirable; awesome; grand majestic |
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Austere
adj [aw -steer-] |
Severe or stern in appearance; undecorated
The lack of decoration makes Zen temples seem austere to the untrained eye. Synonyms: Bleak; dour; grim; hard; severe |
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Axiom
Noun [-aak- see uhm] |
Premise; postulate; self-evident truth
Halle lived her life based on the axioms her grandmother had passed on to her. Synonyms: adage; apothegm; aphorism;maxim; rule |
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Banal
adj [buh -naal-] [-bay- nuhl] |
Predictable; cliched,boring
His conversation consisted of banal phrases like'Have a nice day' or Another day , another dollar.' Synonyms: bland; cliched; commonplace; tired; trite; vapid; worn-out |
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Belfry
Noun[-behl- free] |
bell tower; room in which a bell is hung
The town was shocked when a bag of money was found stashed in the old belfry of the church. Synonyms: spire; steeple |
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Bevy
Noun [-beh- vee] |
Group
As predicted, a bevy of teenagers surrounded the rock star's limousine. Synonyms: band;bunch; gang;pack; troop |
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Bifurcate
Verb[-bi- fuhr kayt][bi -fuhr- kayt] |
Divide into parts
The large corporation just released a press statement announcing its plans to bifurcate. Synonym: bisect |
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Bilk
Verb [bihlk] |
to cheat, defraud
When the greedy salesman realized that his customer spoke poor French, he bilked the tourist out of 20 euros. Synonyms: beat; defraud; diddle;gyp; overeach |
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Blight
Verb [bliet] |
to afflict; to destroy
The farmers feared that the night's frost would blight the potato crops entirely. Synonyms: damage; plague |
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Blithe
adj [blieth] |
Joyful, cheerful, or without appropriate thought
Summer finally came, and the blithe students spent their days at the beach. Synonyms: carefree; lighthearted; merry |
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Bolster
Verb [-bohl- stuhr] |
to support; to prop up
The presence of giant footprints bolstered the argument that Bigfoot was in the area. Synonyms: brace; buttress; crutch; prop; stay; support; sustain; underpinning; uphold |
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Bombastic
adj [bahm -baast- ihk] |
Pompous in speech and manner
Mussolini's speeches were mostly bombastic; his boasting and outrageous claims had no basis in fact. Synonyms: bloated; declamatory; fustian; grandiloquent; grandiose; high-flown; magniloquent; orotund; pretentious; rhetorical; self-important |
