• Shuffle
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Alphabetize
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Front First
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Both Sides
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Read
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
Reading...
Front

Card Range To Study

through

image

Play button

image

Play button

image

Progress

1/50

Click to flip

Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;

Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;

H to show hint;

A reads text to speech;

50 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
1. ALACRITY (uh-LAK-ri-tee)
NewLine Cheerful readiness, eagerness, or promptness in action or movement: "The duty of thefirefighter is to answer every alarm with alacritv."
Synonyms: quickness, liveliness, briskness, enthusiasm, animation, zeal, celerity (suh-LER-i-tee).N.B. This discussion distinguishes the words alacrity and celerity.
2. OBVIATE (AHB-vee-ayt)
To prevent, make unnecessary, meet and dispose of, clear out of the way.
Etymology and related word: Latin obviare, to prevent, from obvius, in the way, thesource also of obvious, which means literally "lying in the way."
3. EMOLUMENT (i-MAHL-yuh-ment)
Wages, salary, payment received for work.
Synonyms: compensation, recompense, remuneration (Level 6, Word 30).
Etymology and usage: Latin emolumentum, the fee a miller received for grinding grain,from emolere, to grind out. By derivation, emolument means "that which is ground outby one's exertion." In the modern world, emolument has come to mean wages, pay,compensation for one's labor.
4. INTRANSIGENT (in-TRAN-si-jint)
Uncompromising, refusing to come to an agreement, unwilling to modify one's positionor give ground.
Synonyms: unreconcilable, unyielding, diehard, hidebound, obstinate (Level 1, Word 34), resolute (Level 1, Word 26), tenacious, recalcitrant, intractable, refractory (Level 6, Word 42), obdurate.
Antonyms: compromising, flexible, obliging, submissive, compliant, malleable (Level 2, Word 29), docile (Level 7, Word 28), tractable, deferential, acquiescent,complaisant (kumPLAY-zint).
Etymology: Intransigent combines the privative prefix in-, meaning "not," with theLatin verb transigere, to come to a settlement, and means literally refusing to settle,unwilling to come to an agreement, uncompromising.N.B. This discussion distinguishes the words resolute, tenacious, obstinate, intractable,refractory, obdurate, and intransigent, which suggest firmness or fixity in ascendingintensity.
5. MORDANT (MOR-dint or MORD'nt)
Biting, cutting, keen, sarcastic, scathing.
Additional synonyms: incisive, caustic, trenchant, virulent, acrimonious.
Mnemonic device, etymology, and usage: When you think of mordant, think ofgnashing teeth. Mordant comes from Old French and Latin words meaning to bite, cutinto, nip, or sting. Today mordant is chiefly used of speech or writing that is biting orcutting in a bitterly sarcastic way (mordant satire, mordant wit, mordant criticism).
6. SAGACIOUS (suh-GAY-shus)
Wise, shrewd, perceptive, showing sound judgment and keen insight, especially inpractical matters.
Synonyms: insightful, discerning, astute (Level 4, Word 3), judicious (Level 5, Word 16), percipient, sage, sapient, perspicacious.
Antonyms: undiscriminating, undiscerning, simpleminded, witless, inane, gullible,credulous, obtuse, addlepated.
Corresponding noun: sagacity, wisdom, shrewdness, keen insight or discernment.
Etymology: Latin sagax, having keen senses, especially a keen sense of smell.Sagacious originally was used of hunting dogs to mean quick in picking up a scent.
7. ACERBIC (uh-SUR-bik)
Sour, bitter, and harsh in flavor, tone, or character.
Synonyms: tart, caustic, pungent, astringent, acrid, acidulous.
Direct antonym: sweet.
Usage: Acerbic may be used literally to mean sour or bitter tasting (the lemon is anacerbic fruit). However, the word acidic probably is more often used in this literalsense, and acerbic usually is used figuratively to mean sour, bitter, and harsh in tone orcharacter (an acerbic mood, acerbic words, are bitter words, an acerbic person).
8. VARIEGATED (VAR-ee-uh-gay-tid)
In a broad sense, varied, diverse, showing variety of character or form, in a strict sense,spotted, streaked, or dappled, having marks or patches of different colors (a variegatedquilt, variegated cat, variegated design).N.B. The corresponding verb to variegate is now often used figuratively to mean to givevariety to, diversify. The adjective variegated is, also frequently used in this way tomean varied, diverse, or multifaceted (variegated interests, a variegated selection,variegated accomplishments).
9. SUCCOR (SUHK-ur, like sucker)
To aid, help, relieve, give assistance to in time of need or difficulty (to succor thewounded, succor the sick).
Corresponding noun: succor, help, aid, relief, assistance in time of need or distress (togive succor to the homeless).N.B. Succor and sucker have the same pronunciation but are otherwise unrelated.
10. IMPORTUNE (IM-por-T(Y)OON)
To trouble or annoy with requests or demands, make urgent or persistent entreaties orsolicitations.
Corresponding adjective: importunate (im-POR-chuu-nit), troublesomely demanding,persistent in a vexatious way.
11. PALLIATE (PAL-ee-ayt)
To lessen the severity of, gloss over, make something seem less serious or severe.
Synonyms: soften, diminish, mitigate, extenuate,
Antonyms: worsen, intensify, aggravate, exacerbate. Exacerbate means to increase inbitterness or severity (to exacerbate a problem, exacerbate a conflict).
Etymology: Latin palliare, to cloak or conceal, from pallium, a cloak.
Usage: Palliate means to conceal or cloak the seriousness of something, make it appearless severe or offensive than it is (to palliate suffering, palliate a social indiscretion,palliate the enormity of a crime). Palliate often connotes glossing over or disguising theseriousness of something by making excuses or apologies.
12. WIZENED (WIZ-ind)
Dried up, shriveled, withered, shrunken and wrinkled.N.B. This discussion distinguishes the verbs to wither, shrivel, and wizen, which implydrying up.
Usage: The verb to wizen now is somewhat rare, but its past participle, wizened, is stilloften used of persons or parts of the body to mean shrunken and wrinkled, dried up byage or disease (a wizened face, a wizened body, a wizened man).
13. CAPTIOUS (KAP-shus)
Faultfinding, quick to point out faults or raise trivial objections.
Synonyms: carping, quibbling, caviling, censorious, querulous. This discussiondistinguishes the adjectives critical, carping, and captious.
N.B. Critical, though often used in a negative sense, is in fact a neutral word: Thecritical person tries to judge something fairly and objectively by weighing its meritsand faults, a critical assessment is a fair, impartial assessment, and a criticalexamination may result in a supportive conclusion.
14. EMENDATION (EE-men-DAY-shin)
A correction, alteration, change made to correct or improve, especially a change made ina piece of writing to correct an error or restore the text to its original state.
Corresponding verb: emend, to make scholarly corrections to a text.N.B. Emendation may also mean the act of emending, correcting and improving a pieceof writing.
15. TRUCULENT (TRUK-yuh-lint)
Fierce, ferocious, especially in a brutal, bullying, threatening, or aggressively defiantway.
Corresponding noun: truculence, fierceness, ferocity, brutal aggression.
Synonyms: pugnacious, belligerent, malevolent, rapacious, feral (FEER-ul).
Antonyms: humane, merciful, compassionate, benevolent, clement, which suggestmercy or mildness, and also timid, demure, diffident, apprehensive, and timorous, whichsuggest shyness or fear.
Usage: Truculent applies to fierce, savage, or ferocious people or to behavior that isbrutal, threatening, bullying, or aggressively defiant. Truculent is now also used ofspeech or writing to mean scathing, vicious, or vitriolic.
16. EXPURGATE (EKS-pur-gayt)
To cleanse by removing offensive material, free from objectionable content.
Synonyms: censor, purge, bowdlerize.N.B. Bowdlerize comes from Thomas Bowdler, an English editor who in the early 1800spublished expurgated, or cleansed, editions of the Bible and Shakespeare's works.
Etymology and related words: Expurgate comes from the Latin expurgare, to cleanse,purify, and by derivation is related to the verb to purge, to free from impurities, and theadjective pure.
17. REPROBATE (REP-ruh-bayt)
Thoroughly bad, wicked, corrupt, morally abandoned, lacking all sense of decency andduty.
Synonyms: unprincipled, shameless, base, vile, degenerate, depraved, irredeemable,incorrigible.
Antonyms: virtuous, pure, righteous, honorable, chaste, unsullied, exemplary.
Etymology: Latin reprobate, to reprove, disapprove of strongly.
Usage: In theology, the adjective reprobate means damned, predestined for damnation, thenoun reprobate means a person rejected by God and excluded from salvation. In generalusage, the noun reprobate means a corrupt, unprincipled person, a scoundrel, the adjectivereprobate means morally abandoned, bad-to-the-core, lacking all sense of decency andduty.
18. SPURIOUS (SPYOOR-ee-us)
False, counterfeit, artificial, not true, authentic, or genuine.
Synonyms: sham, bogus, phony, fictitious, fabricated, fraudulent, illusory,apocryphal (Level 9, Word 2), supposititious.
Antonyms: genuine, authentic, valid, bona fide.
Usage: Spurious applies to that which is not what it claims or is claimed to be (aspurious document, spurious gems, spurious statements, spurious feelings, a spuriouscharge).
19. VOLITION (voh-LISH-in)
Will, choice, decision, determination.
Etymology and usage: In Latin, velle means to will or wish, and volo means "I will."From these words comes the English noun volition, which may refer either to the powerof using the will or the act of exercising it in making a conscious choice or decision.
20. INTERPOLATE (in-TUR-puh-layt)
To insert, introduce, specifically, to insert words into a piece of writing or a conversation.
Corresponding noun: interpolation, an insertion of words into a piece of writing or aconversation.N.B. This discussion distinguishes the verbs interpolate, interject, and interpose, whichmean to insert or place between.
21. ADDUCE (uh-D(Y)OOS)
To offer or cite as a reason, as evidence, or as authority for an opinion or course ofaction.
22. MISCREANT (MIS-kree-int)
An evil, unscrupulous, vicious person, someone without principles or conscience, avillain, criminal.
Synonyms: scoundrel, rascal, rogue, hoodlum, hooligan, ne'er-do-well, varlet,rapscallion, blackguard, desperado, scapegrace, scofflaw, malefactor, reprobate(Level 8, Word 17).
Etymology and usage: Miscreant combines the prefix mis-, meaning "bad" or "not,"with the Latin credere, to believe. By derivation a miscreant is someone who does notbelieve. Miscreant was once used to mean a heretic, but since the time of Shakespeare ithas been used to mean a morally bad person, vile wretch, detestable scoundrel.
Corresponding adjective: miscreant, villainous, evil, destitute of conscience.
23. QUIXOTIC (kwik-SAHT-ik)
Foolishly impractical or idealistic, especially in an extravagantly chivalrous or romanticway, inclined to pursue lofty, unreachable goals or far-fetched, unworkable schemes.
Synonyms: fanciful, whimsical, visionary, utopian, impracticable, chimerical (ki-MER-ikuul).
Antonyms: realistic, practical, pragmatic, utilitarian.
Etymology: Quixotic comes from Don Quixote, the hero and title of a 17th-centurysatirical romance by Miguel de Cervantes.
Usage: Quixotic may refer to a person who is extravagantly idealistic or romantic, likeDon Quixote, or to an idea or goal that is so impractical and far-fetched as to seemfoolish.
24. SUPPURATE (SUHP-ur-ayt)
To fester, form or discharge pus.
Corresponding noun: suppuration.
Usage: Suppurate applies to wounds, boils, ulcers, etc., that become infected anddischarge pus.
Additional useful words: lesion (LEE-zhun), a wound, injury, infection, or harmfulchange in some part of the body, putrefy, to rot or decay, putrid, rotten, foul-smelling,
fetid: putrefaction, rotting, decomposition, foul-smelling decay.
25. MARTINET (mahr-ti-NET)
A strict disciplinarian, taskmaster, rigid enforcer of rules and regulations.
Etymology: General Jean Martinet was a 17thcentury French drillmaster who becamelegendary for subjecting his troops to harsh discipline and for his rigid adherence tomilitary rules and regulations.
Usage: A martinet may be a strict military disciplinarian, or any rigid, authoritarianenforcer of rules and regulations.
26. COMPUNCTION (kum-PUNGK-shin)
A twinge of regret caused by an uneasy conscience, a pang of guilt for a wrong done orfor pain that one has caused another.
Synonyms: remorse, misgiving, scruple, qualm. A stronger synonym is contrition(Level 5, Word 9), repentance, deep and devastating sorrow for one's sins or forsomething one has done wrong.
Etymology and related words: Late Latin compunctio, a pricking of conscience,ultimately from the Latin pungere, to prick, sting, pierce, or stab. Pungere is also thesource of puncture, to prick, pierce, or stab, pungent, piercing or stinging to the smell ortaste, and poignant, piercing or penetrating to the senses, the emotions, or the intellect.
27. MERCURIAL (mur-KYOOR-ee-ul)
Quick to change moods or change one's mind, having an unpredictable temperament.
Synonyms: flighty, impulsive, fickle, capricious (Level 1, Word 11), volatile (Level 4,Word 47), erratic, protean.
Antonyms: stable, fixed, steadfast, invariable, immutable.
Etymology: Mercurial comes from the ancient Roman god Mercury, known to theGreeks as Hermes. Mercury was the messenger or courier of the gods, but he was also thedeity who conducted the souls of the dead to the underworld, and the god of commerce,travel, eloquence, and thievery. The element mercury (named after this god) is used inthermometers, and also goes by the name quicksilver.
Additional useful word: caduceus (kuh-D(Y)OO-see-us), the winged staff with twoserpents coiled around it, carried by Hermes. The caduceus is the symbol of the medicalprofession.
28. NOSTRUM (NAHS-trum)
A quack remedy or medicine, a panacea, hence, a dubious or dishonest plan or schemefor curing a social or political problem.
Etymology and usage: Latin noster, meaning "our." Nostrum means literally "ourremedy."
29. PROPITIATE (pruh-PISH-ee-ayt)
To appease, gain or regain the goodwill or favor of, cause to become favorably inclined.
Synonyms: conciliate, pacify, mollify, placate, assuage (Level 2, Word 37).
Antonyms: alienate, offend, antagonize, estrange, disaffect.
Corresponding noun: propitiation, appeasement, conciliation, the act of getting into thegood graces of.
Related word: propitious, favorable, marked by favorable conditions.
30. EFFICACY (EF-i-kuh-see)
Effectiveness, the power to produce a desired effect or result.
Usage: Efficacy applies to things that have the power to produce an intended effect: theefficacy of a drug, a scientific method, or an advertising campaign.
Corresponding adjective: efficacious, effective, capable of producing a desired effect orresult (an efficacious law, policy, or marketing plan).
31. TANTAMOUNT (TAN-tuh-mownt)
Equivalent, having equal force, effect, or value.
Etymology and usage: Anglo-French, "to amount to as much, be equal to", ultimatelyfrom the Latin tantus, so much, so great. In modern usage, when one thing is tantamountto another, it amounts to as much as the other, adds up to the same thing.N.B. Take care not to confuse tantamount and paramount, supreme in rank, preeminent.
32. PARIAH (puh-RY-uh)
An outcast, a person despised or rejected by society.
Etymology: Pariah entered English in the early 1600s from Tamil, one of the languagesof India. In the traditional social system of India, people were divided into classes calledcastes (pronounced like casts), and the pariah caste was one of the lowest on the socialladder. Its members worked chiefly as agricultural and domestic laborers and as servantsto the British when India was a British colony. From this sense of social inferiority, theword pariah came to be used in English of any person despised or rejected by society, anoutcast.
33. GERMANE (jur-MAYN)
Relevant, fitting, appropriate, precisely to the point.
Synonyms: pertinent, suitable, applicable, apposite, apropos.
Antonyms: inappropriate, unsuitable, irrelevant, inapplicable, alien, extraneous,incongruous, malapropos.N.B. This discussion distinguishes the words germane, apposite, pertinent, and relevant.
34. LICENTIOUS (ly-SEN-shus)
Sexually abandoned, lacking moral restraint, especially in sexual conduct.
Synonyms: lewd, loose, lustful, lecherous, lascivious, libertine, lickerish, libidinous,lubricious, bawdy, wanton, ribald, prurient, debauched, dissolute, salacious,concupiscent.
Antonyms: pure, chaste, virtuous.
Etymology, related word, and usage: Latin licentia, freedom, leave, liberty, the sourcealso of the English word license. By derivation licentious means taking license, and theword implies doing something one is not supposed to do, especially something sexuallyimmoral.
35. SUPERANNUATED (SOO-pur-AN-yoo-ay-tid)
Retired because of age, weakness, or ineffective- ness, old and worn out, outdated,outmoded, obsolete.
Synonyms: timeworn, antiquated, decrepit, passé, effete.
Etymology: Superannuated combines the prefix super-, beyond, with the Latin annum, ayear, and by derivation means beyond the useful years.
36. EGREGIOUS (i-GREE-jus)
Conspicuously bad, remarkable or outstanding for some undesirable or offensivequality.
Synonyms: flagrant, outrageous, excessive, shocking, gross, monstrous, notorious,grievous, arrant.
Etymology and usage: Latin egregius, not of the common herd, and therefore select oroutstanding. Egregious was once used to mean outstanding or remarkable, but thissense is long obsolete, and for at least three hundred years the word has most often beenused to mean outstanding or remarkable in a bad way, conspicuously bad, offensive, orundesirable.
37. VAPID (rhymes with rapid)
Lifeless, dull, boring, flat, stale, lacking spirit, interest, or flavor.
Synonyms: unsavory, insipid, unpalatable, trite, prosaic (Level 4, Word 16),pedestrian, and jejune (Level 10, Word 1).
Antonyms: lively, vigorous, vivid, animated, robust, vivacious, emphatic.
Etymology: Latin vapidus, spiritless, spoiled, flat.
38. CROTCHET (KRAHTCH-it)
An odd notion or whim that one clings to stubbornly.
Corresponding adjective: crotchety.
Etymology, related word, and usage: Crotchet comes from a Middle English wordmeaning a staff with a hook at the end. It is related to crochet, the form of needlework inwhich thread is looped with a hooked needle. In modern usage, a crotchet is an oddnotion or whim that hooks you or that you cling to stubbornly, as if with a hook.
39. EPIGRAPH (EP-i-graf)
An inscription, especially, an inscription on a building or monument, or a brief quotationat the beginning of a literary composition that suggests or is germane to its theme.N.B. This discussion distinguishes an epigraph from an epigram, a short, witty poem ora short, pointed saying that displays terse wit or a clever twist of thought, and an epitaph,an inscription on a gravestone or tomb in memory of the person buried.
Etymology: Epigraph is formed from the prefix epi-, meaning "on" or "above," and theGreek verb graphein, to write.N.B. Whenever you see a word containing graph, you can reasonably assume that it hassomething to do with writing.
40. EXPATIATE (ek-SPAY-shee-ayt)
To elaborate, speak or write at great length.
Synonyms: discourse, expound, descant.
Etymology and usage: Latin expatiari, to wander. Expatiate suggests wandering at willover a subject.
41. SINECURE (SY-nuh-kyoor, also SIN-uh-kyoor)
A position that provides a good income or salary but that requires little or no work, incolloquial terms, a cushy job.
Etymology and related word: Latin beneficium sine cura, "a benefice without cure." Abenefice (BEN-uh-fis) is an endowed church position or office that provides a member ofthe clergy with a fixed income or guaranteed living. A "benefice without cure" means apaid position for a member of the clergy that does not require pastoral work-in otherwords, the curing of souls.
42. PREDILECTION (PRED-i-LEK-shin)
A preference, partiality, preconceived liking, an inclination or disposition to favorsomething.
Synonyms: fondness, leaning, bias, prejudice, predisposition, affinity (Level 4, Word 46), penchant (Level 3, Word 9), propensity, proclivity.
Etymology: French, from Medieval Latin praediligere, to prefer.
Usage: Unlike the words bias and prejudice, which are often used negatively,predilection has either a neutral or positive connotation and is used as a stronger synonymof preference and partiality.
43. IMBROGLIO (im-BROHL-yoh)
A complicated or intricate situation, a difficult, perplexing state of affairs, also, a misunderstandingor disagreement of a complicated and confusing nature.
Synonyms: entanglement, embroilment, predicament, quandary.N.B. The unraveling of an imbroglio is a common plot in many plays, novels, and operas,but there are plenty of imbroglios in real life as well political imbroglios, financialimbroglios, marital imbroglios, and criminal imbroglios.
44. INEFFABLE (in-EF-uh-buul)
Inexpressible, unable to be expressed or described in words.
Synonyms: unutterable, unspeakable, indescribable.
Etymology: Latin ineffabilis, unutterable, not able to be spoken.
Usage: Ineffable usually applies to good or pleasant things (ineffable beauty, ineffablejoy), but it may occasionally apply to something unpleasant that is inexpressible(ineffable disgust).
45. STOLID (STAHL-id)
Not easily moved, aroused, or excited, showing little or no feeling or sensitivity, mentallyor emotionally dull, insensitive, or obtuse.
Synonyms: unemotional, unresponsive, sluggish, apathetic, impassive, indifferent,phlegmatic (Level 9, Word 33).
Etymology: Latin stolidus, stupid, dull, unmoving.
Usage: Unlike stoic people, who display firmness of mind and character in their thickskinned,unflinching indifference to pain and suffering, people who are stolid are noteasily moved because they are oafs, dolts, louts, or half-wits. Stolid is sometimes alsoapplied figuratively to behavior or things that are unresponsive, insensitive, or not easilymoved (a stolid countenance or expression, a stolid bureaucracy, stolid opposition).
46. OFFAL (like awful, also AHF-ul)
Waste, garbage, refuse, rubbish.
Etymology and usage: Middle English, a combination of the words off and fall.Originally, offal applied to anything that fell off or was thrown off in the process of doingsomething. Since the early 1400s, offal has also been used of the waste parts removed inthe process of butchering an animal. From that unsavory sense, the meaning of offalbroadened to denote waste or garbage in general, anything thrown away as worthless.
47. LISSOME (LIS-um)
Limber, flexible, moving with ease and grace.
Synonyms: nimble, agile, supple, lithe.N.B. This discussion distinguishes the words lissome, lithe, and limber.
48. MELLIFLUOUS (me-LIF-loo-us)
Flowing smoothly and sweetly, like honey.
Usage: Mellifluous often applies to sounds or words, as a mellifluous voice, mellifluousmusic, a mellifluous speaker, mellifluous writing.
49. SURFEIT (SUR-fit)
To supply, fill, or feed to excess, especially to the point of discomfort, sickness, ordisgust.
Synonyms: sate and satiate, which may mean either to fill or supply to satisfaction or tofill or supply beyond what is necessary or desired, also, stuff, cram, glut, gorge, choke,inundate, cloy.
Corresponding noun: surfeit, an excess or oversupply.
50. BLANDISHMENT (BLAN-dish-mint)
Flattering or coaxing speech or action, an ingratiating remark or gesture.
Etymology: Latin blandiri, to flatter, caress, coax, from blandus, flattering, fondling,caressing. By derivation, blandishment means speech or action that flatters, fondles,coaxes, or caresses in an attempt to win over or persuade a person.
Usage: The word is usually employed in its plural form, blandishments. Unlike flattery,which is generally perceived as self-serving, blandishments are not necessarily insincere.They may be expressions of honest affection, kindness, or desire.
Corresponding verb: blandish, to coax with flattering or ingratiating statements oractions.