Vacabulary Building Words

Front 1

littoral

Back 1

1.Pertaining to the shore of a lake, sea, or ocean.
2.(On ocean shores) of or pertaining to the biogeographic region between the sublittoral zone and the high-water line and sometimes including the supralittoral zone above the high-water line.
3.Of or pertaining to the region of freshawater lake beds from the sublittoral zone up to and including damp areas on shore.

Hint 1

quotes: the extensive artificialization of lake shorelines reduces the native littoral vegetation in quantity and quality.
2. There was an exuberant fireceness in the littoral here, a vital competition for existence.

Front 2

ensconce (en-SKONS)

Back 2

1.To settle securely or snugly.
2.To cover or shelter; hide securely

Hint 2

1.Here, Ryan would ensconce himself in a hammock.
2.They did not trouble him, and he was quite content to ensconce himself in a cosy corner.

Front 3

kowtow

Back 3

1.To act in an obsequious manner; show servile deference.
2. To touch the forehead to the ground while kneeling, as an act worship, reverence, apology, etc., especially n former Chinese custom.

Hint 3

It's a new one for Morrison to meet a girl who doesn't kowtow. He's a very great personage in his line, and he can't help knowing it

Front 4

Obsequious

Back 4

1. Obedient, compliant with someone else's orders or wishes.
2. Excessively eager to please or to obey all instructions; fawning, subservient

Hint 4

Translation falls especially short of this conceit which carries the whole flamboyance of the Spanish language. It was intended as an obsequious flattery of the Condesa, and was untrue.

Front 5

bedraggled (be-drag-gled)

Back 5

1. a. Wet; limp
b. Soiled by or as if by having been dragged through mud.
2. Being in a condition of deterioration; dilapidated:

Hint 5

A street of bedraggled tenements.
"The beggar's bedraggled clothes"

Front 6

poppycock (pop-py-cock)

Back 6

Senseless talk; nonsense
Informal senseless chatter
A characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves)

Front 7

profligacy (noun)
profligate (adj)

Back 7

n.the trait of spending extravagantly. a lack of prudence and care by someone in the management of resources.
adj. given over to dissipate; disssolute. recklessly wasteful

Front 8

dissipation (noun)

Back 8

The act of dissipating or the condition of having been dissipated.
2. Wasteful expenditure or consumption.
3. Dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure; intemperance

Front 9

seditious (adj)
seditiously (adv)
seditiousness (noun)

Back 9

1. Of, relating to, or having the nature of sedition.
2. Given to or guilty of engaging in or promoting sedition.
3. arousing to action or rebellion

Hint 9

incitive, instigative, inflammatory, incendiary

Front 10

sedition (noun)

Back 10

1. Conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of a state.
2. insurrection; rebellion

Front 11

truculent (adj)

Back 11

1. Disposed to flight; pugnacious
2. Expresing bitter opposition; scathing e.g. a truculent speech against the new government.
3. Disposed to or exhibiting violence or destructiveness; fierce.
4. aggressively hostile; belligerent

Hint 11

hostile, defiant, belligerent, bad-tempered, cross, violent, aggressive, fierece, contentious, combative, sullen, scrappy

Front 12

scathing (adj)

Back 12

1. Bitterly denunciatory; harhly critical e.g. "a scathing tract on the uselessness of war"
2. Harmful or painful; injurious.
3. harshly critical;; scornful

Hint 12

vitriolic, trenchant, mordant, mordacious, belittling, sarcastic, caustic, scornful, withering

Front 13

riveting (adj)

Back 13

Wholly absorbing or engrossing one's attention; fascinating: The lat chapter was so riveting that I was reading past midnight.

Hint 13

enthralling, arresting, gripping, fascinating, absorbing, captivating, hypnotic, engrossing, spellbinding

Front 14

staid (adj)

Back 14

1. Characterized by sedate dignity and often a strait-laced sense of propriety; sober
2.fixed; permanent: "There is nothing settled, nothing staid in this universe"

Hint 14

sedate, serious, sober, quiet, calm, grave, steady, composed, solemn, demure, decorous, self-restrained

Front 15

Decorous (adj)
decorously (adv)
decorousness (n)

Back 15

1.Characterized by or exhibiting decorum; proper
2.characterized by propriety in manners, conduct, etc
3.showing respect for social customs and manners

Hint 15

proper, becoming, seemly, fitting, fit, correct, appropriate, mannerly, suitable, decent, polite, sedate, befitting, well-behaved, comely

Front 16

Sedate (adj)
sedately (adv)
sedateness (noun)

Back 16

1.Serenely deliberate, composed, and dignified in character or manner
2. habitually calm and composed in manner; serene
3. staid, sober, or decorous

Hint 16

calm, collected, quiet, seemly, serious, earnest, cool, grave, proper, solemn, staid, decorous, placid, tranquil, serene

Front 17

fawn (verb)
fawner (n)
fawningly (adv)

Back 17

1. to exhibit affection or attempt to please, as a dog does by wagging its tail, whining, or cringing
2. To seek favor or attention by flattery and obsequious behavior.

Hint 17

fawning (adj): obsequious, crawling, flattering, cringing, abject, grovelling, prostrate, deferential, sycophantic, servile, slavish, bowing and scraping.

Front 18

imperishable (adj)
imperishability, imperishableness (noun)
imperishably (adv)

Back 18

1.Not subject to decay or deterioration
2. not likely to be forgotten

Hint 18

indestructible, permanent, enduring, eternal, abiding, perennial, perpetual, immortal, unforgettable, everlasting, undying, unfading

Front 19

preponderance (noun)

Back 19

superiority in weight, force,importance, or influence. the fact or quality of being preponderant.
the preponderance of good over evil; the preponderance of wealth and power.

Hint 19

1.predominance, instance, dominance, prevalence
2. greater part, mass, bulk, weight, lion's share, greater numbers, extensiveness
3. domination, power, sway, superiority, supremacy, dominion, ascendancy

Front 20

nuance (noun)
nuanced (adj)

Back 20

1. A subtle or slight degree of difference, as in meaning, feeling, or tone; a gradation.
2. Expression or appreciation of subtle shades of meaning, feeling or tone.
e.g. "without understanding the finer nuances you can't enjoy the humor"

Hint 20

subtlety, degree, distinction, graduation, refinement, nicety, gradation

Front 21

indignation (noun)

Back 21

Anger aroused by something unjust, mean, or unworthy
a feeling of righteous anger
e.g. No wonder he could hardly contain his indignation.

Hint 21

resentment, anger, rage, fury, wrath, ire, exasperation, pique, umbrage

Front 22

precarious (adj)
precariously (adv)
precariousness (noun)

Back 22

1. Dangerously lacking in security or stability; a precarious posture, precarious footing on the ladder
2. Subject to chance or unknown conditions: "His kingdom was still precarious; the Danes far from subdued"
3. Based on uncertain, unwarranted, or unproved premises: a precarious solution to a difficult problem

Front 23

modicum (noun)

Back 23

A small, moderate, or token amount: "England still expects a modicum of eccentricity in its artists"

Hint 23

little, bit, drop, touch, inch, scrap, dash, grain, particle, fragment, atom, pinch, ounce, shred, small amount, crumb, tinge, mite, tad

Front 24

fraught (adj)

Back 24

1. Filled with a specified element or elements; charged: an incident fraught with danger; an evening fraught with high drama
2. Marked by or causing distress; emotional: "an account of a fraught mother-daughter relationship"

Hint 24

tense, trying, difficult, distressing, tricky, emotionally charged. It has been a somewhat fraught day.
2. agitated, anxious, distressed, tense, distracted, emotive, uptight.
fraught with : filled with, full of, charged with, accompanied by, attended by, stuffed with, laded with

Front 25

conflate (v)

Back 25

1. To bring together; meld or fuse
2. To combine (two variant texts, for example) into one whole.

Hint 25

coalesce, fuse, immix, mix, merge, commingle, flux, blend, meld, combine

Front 26

kindle (v)

Back 26

1. To build or fuel (a fire). To set fire to; ignite..
2. To cause to glow; light up:
3. To arouse (an emotion, for example):

Hint 26

2.The sunset kindled the skies
3. "No spark had yet kindled in him an intellectual passion

1.arouse, excite, inspire, stir, thrill, stimulate, provoke, induce, awaken, animate, rouse, sharpen, inflame, foment, bestir, enkindle
These poems have helped kindle the imagination of generations of children.
2. light, start, ignite, fire, spark, torch, inflame, set fire to, set a match to..i came in and kindled a fire in the stove

Front 27

Intransigent (adj)

Back 27

1. Refusing to moderate a position, especially an extreme position; uncompromising.

2. Impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, reasons

Hint 27

adamant, inexorable, inflexible, intractable, adamantine, tenacious, obstinate, obdurate

Front 28

Obdurate (adj)

Back 28

1. Hardened in wrongdoing or wickedness; stubbornly impenitent

2. Hardened against feeling; hardhearted

3. Not giving in to persuasion; intractable. ESP to moral persuasion

Hint 28

1. Obdurate conscious of the old sinner

2. Cussed, obstinate, unrepentant, unregenerate, fixed, unbending

Front 29

Commiseration (noun)

Back 29

1. The feeling or expression of pity or sorrow

2. An expression of sympathy with another's grief

Hint 29

sympathy, pity, compassion, consolation, condolence, pathos

Front 30

Proclivity

Back 30

1. A natural propensity or inclination; predisposition

Hint 30

predilection, leaning, tendency, liking, disposition, partiality

He was indulging his peculiar sexual proclivities