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181 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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welter
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n. a confused mass; turmoil
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viscous
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adj. thick and sticky (fluids)
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vacuous
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adj. dull, stupid; empty-headed
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ubiquitous
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adj. omnipresent; present everywhere
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truculent
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adj. fierce, savage, cruel
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tractable
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adj. easily managed (opposite: intractable)
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tortuous
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adj. full of twists and turns; not straightforward; possibly deceitful
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tenuous
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adj. thin, slim, delicate; weak
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taciturn
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adj. inclined to silence; speaking little; dour, stern
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sycophant
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n. a flatterer of important people
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subjugate
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v. to dominate or enslave
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squalid
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adj. filthy; wretched (from squalor)
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spurious
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adj. not genuine, false; bogus
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specious
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adj. plausible, but deceptive; apparently, but not actually, true
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sinuous
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adj. full of curves; twisting and turning
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salubrious
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adj. promoting good health
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sagacious
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adj. wise
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redundant
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adj. superfluous; exceeding what is needed
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recondite
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adj. hard to understand; concealed; characterized by profound scholarship
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recalcitrant
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adj. stubbornly rebelious
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rancor
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n. strong ill will; enmity
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quiescence
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n. state of being at rest or without motion
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putrefy
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v. to decompose; to rot
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putrefaction
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n. a smelly mass that is the decomposition of organic matter
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propensity
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n. an inclination; a natural tendency toward; a liking for
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pristine
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adj. primitive, pure, uncorrupted
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prevaricate
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v. to speak equivocally or evasively, i.e. to lie
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plethora
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n. a superabundance
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placate
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adj. to appease or pacify
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petulant
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adj. peevish; cranky; rude
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perfunctory
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adj. done in a routine, mechanical way, without interest
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penurious
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adj. stingy, miserly
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pedantic
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adj. overly concerned with minute details, especially in teaching
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parsimonious
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adj. very frugal; unwilling to spend
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paradox
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n. a tenet seemingly contradictory or false, but actually true
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paradigm
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n. model, prototype; pattern
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panegryic
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n. high praise
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palpable
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adj. touchable; clear, obvious
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ossify
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v. to turn to bone; to harden
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obviate
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v. to make unnecessary
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obsequious
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adj. servilely attentive; fawning
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obdurate
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adj. stubborn
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misanthrope
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n. a hater of mankind
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malleable
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adj. easy to shape or bend
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malign
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v. to speak evil of
adj. having an evil disposition toward others (opposite: benign) |
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malevolent
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adj. wishing evil (opposite: benevolent)
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magnanimity
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n. a quality of nobleness of mind, disdaining meanness or revenge
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maculate
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adj. spotted, blotched; hence defiled, impure (opposite immaculate)
v. to stain, spot, defile |
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macerate
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v. to soften by steeping in a liquid (including softening food by the action of a solvent)
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luminous
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adj. emitting light; shining; also enlightening or intelligent
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loquacious
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adj. very talkative; garrulous
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laconic
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adj. sparing of words; terse, pithy concise
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irascible
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adj. prone to anger
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intrepid
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adj. fearless, bold
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intransigent
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adj. uncompromising
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intractable
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adj. stubborn, obstinate; not easily taught or disciplined
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insipid
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adj. uninteresting, boring, flat, dull
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inherent
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adj. part of the essential character; intrinsic
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ingenuous
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adj. noble; honorable; candid; naive
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inert
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adj. not reacting chemically; inactive
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inept
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adj. incompetent; clumsy
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indigenous
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adj. native to a region; inborn or innate
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incredulous
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adj. skeptical
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incisive
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adj. getting to the heart of things; to the point
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inchoate
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adj. not yet fully formed; rudimentary
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impugn
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v. to attack with words; to question the truthfullness or integrity
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implacable
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adj. unwilling to be pacified or appeased
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impervious
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adj. impenetrable; not allowing anything to pass through; unaffected
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imperturbable
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adj. calm; not easily excited
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impassive
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adj. showing no emotion
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iconoclast
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n. one who smashes revered images; an attacker of cherished beliefs
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garrulous
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adj. extremely talkative or wordy
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gainsay
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v. to speak against; to contradict; to deny
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feign
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v. pretend
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facetious
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adj. not meant to be taken seriously; humourous
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extrapolate
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v. to estimate the value of something beyond the scale; to infer what is unknown from something known
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extemporize
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v. to improvise; to make it up as you go along
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exigent
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adj. requiring immediate action; urgent, pressing
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evanescent
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adj. vanishing quickly; dissipating like a vapor
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eulogy
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n. words of praise, especially for the dead
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ephemeral
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adj. very short-lived; lasting only a short time
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engender
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v. to bring about; beget; to bring forth
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enervate
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v. to weaken; to deprive of nerve or strength
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endemic
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adj. native to a particular area or people
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encomium
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n. high praise
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emollient
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adj. softening or soothing to the skin; having power to soften or relax living tissues
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elucidate
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v. to make clear; to explain
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ellipsis
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n. omission of words that would make the meaning clear
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ebullience
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n. an overflowing of high spirits; effervescene
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dissonant
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adj. not in harmony; in dissagreement
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dissemble
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v. to pretend; to feign; to conceal by pretense
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disputatious
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adj. argumentative; inclined to disputes
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disparate
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adj. unequal, dissimilar; different
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disinterested
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adj. neutral; unbiased (alternate meaning: uninterested)
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disingenuous
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adj. not frank or candid; deceivingly simple (opposite: ingenuous)
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discrete
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adj. separate; individually distinct; composed of distinct parts
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discourse
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v. to converse; to communicate in orderly fashion
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diffuse
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adj. spread out; verbose (wordy); not focused
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diffident
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adj. timid; lacking self-confidence
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dichotomy
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n. a division into two parts
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diatribe
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n. a bitter or abusive speech
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desiccate
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v. to dry up
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derision
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n. the act of mocking; ridicule, mockery
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deride
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v. to laugh at with contempt; to mock
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deprecate
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v. to express disapproval of; to protest against
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denigrate
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v. to defame, to blacken or sully; to belittle
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deleterious
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adj. harmful; hurtful; noxious
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decourous
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adj. suitable; proper; seemly
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debilitate
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v. to enfeeble; to wear out
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debacle
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n. disaster; collapse; a rout
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crass
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adj. stupid, unrefined; gross; materialistic
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coterie
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n. a clique; a group who meet frequently, usually socially
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converge
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v. to move toward one point
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conundrum
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n. a puzzle or riddle
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contravene
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v. to act contrary to; to oppose or contradict
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contiguous
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adj. touching; or adjoining and close, but may not be touching
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contentious
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adj. quarrelsome
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constrain
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v. to force, compel; to restrain
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connotative
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adj. containing associated meanings in addition to the primary one
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compliant
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adj. complying; obeying; yielding
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complaisance
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n. the quality of being agreeable or eager to please
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commodious
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adj. spacious and convenient; roomy
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comeliness
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n. a beauty; attractiveness in appearance or behavior
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cohesion
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n. the act or state of sticking together
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coherent
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adj. sticking together; connected; logical; consistent
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cognizant
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adj. aware of; perceptive
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cognitive
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adj. possessing the power to think or mediate; meditative; capable of perception
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cogitate
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v. to think hard; ponder, meditate
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cogent
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adj. to the point; clear; convincing in its clarity and presentation
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codify
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v. to organize laws or rules into a systematic collection (code)
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coda
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n. in music, a concluding passage
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cloying
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adj. to sugary; too sentimental or flattering
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cloture
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n. a parliamentary procedure to end debate and begin to vote
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circumlocution
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n. a roundabout or indirect way of speaking; not to the point
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churlishness
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n. crude or surly behavior; behavior of a peasant
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chicanery
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n. trickery or deception
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catharsis
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n. a purging or relieving of the body or soul
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caprice
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n. a sudden, unpredictable, or whimsical change
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cant
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n. insincere or hypocritical statements of high ideals; the jargon of a particular group or occupation
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cacophony
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n. a harsh, inharmonious collection of sounds; dissonance
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burgeon
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v. to grow or develop quickly
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bombast
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n. pompous speech; pretentious words
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bilateral
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adj. pertaining to or affection both sides or two sides; having two sides
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beneficient
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adj. conferring benefits; kindly; doing good
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banal
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adj. trite; without freshness or originality
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baleful
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adj. harmful, malign, detrimental
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autocrat
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n. an absolute ruler
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autocracy
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n. an absolute monarchy; government where one person holds power
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attenuate
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v. to make thin or slender
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atrophy
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v. to waste away, as from lack of use; to wither
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astringent
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n. a substance that contracts bodily tissues
adj. causing contraction; tightening; stern, austere |
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assuage
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v. to relieve; ease; make less severe
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assiduous
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adj. carefully attentive; industrious
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aspersion
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n. slanderous statement; a damaging or derogatory criticism
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aseptic
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adj. germ free
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ascetic
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n. one who leads a simple life of self-denial
adj. rigorously abstinent |
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articulate
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v. to utter clearly and distinclty
adj. clear, distinct; expressed with clarity; skillful with words |
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arid
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adj. extremely dry, parched; barren, *unimaginative*
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arduous
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adj. laborious, difficult; strenuous
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archetype
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n. the first model from which others are copied; prototype
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arcane
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adj. obscure; secret; mysterious
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apposite
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adj. suitable; apt; relevant
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anitpathy
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n. a natural dislike or repugnance
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anomaly
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n. an oddity, inconsistency; a deviation from the norm
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anachronism
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n. something out of place in time (e.g. an airplane in 1492)
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ameliorate
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v. to improve or make better
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amalgamate
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v. to mix, merge, combine
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amalgam
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n. a mixture or combination (often of metals)
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altruism
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n. unselfish devotion to the welfare of others rather than self
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allusion
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n. an indirect reference (often literary); a hint
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allude
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v. to refer indirectly to something
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alacrity
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n. cheerful promptness or speed
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acerbic
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adj. tasting sour or bitter
n. harsh in language or temper |
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abstemious
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adj. sparing in use of food or drinks
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aberrant
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adj. abnormal; straying from the normal or usual path
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collude
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v. to act in concert; to conspire; to plot
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nascent
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adj. coming or having recently come into existence
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peremptory
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not to be refused; expressing command; showing the attitude of one accustomed to command
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fractious
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adj. tending to cause trouble; unruly; Irritable; snappish; cranky
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sere
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adj. dry; withered
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waddy
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n. cowboy
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