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42 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Pedant
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uninspired, boring academic
...gained him a reputation as a pedant. |
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Pernicious
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very harmful
...lack of exercise has a pernicious effect on the human body. |
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Phlegmatic
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calm in temperament; sluggish
The phlegmatic old boar snoozed... |
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Ply
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to join together; to use diligently; to engage
The weaver plied the fibers together... |
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Pontificate
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to speak in a pretentious manner
She pontificated about the virtues... |
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Precipitate
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sudden and unexpected
many expected their precipitate marriage to end in divorce. |
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Precipitate
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to cause to happen; to throw down from a height
Lloyd's incessant smoking precipitated his early death. |
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Prodigious
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vast, enormous, extraordinary
The musician prodigious talent... |
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Profligate
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corrupt, denigrate
...the Romans' decadent, profligate behavior... |
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Proselytize
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to convert to a particular belief or religion
door to door in the neighborhood, proselytizing enthusiastically. |
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Protean
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readily assuming different forms or characters
The protean actor... |
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Pulchritude
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beauty
...stunned by her incredible pulchritude. |
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Quagmire
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marsh; difficult situation
...get himself out of the quagmire |
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Quixotic
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overly idealistic, impractical
... of her roommate's quixotic plans... |
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Quotidian
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occurring daily; commonplace
...is so quotidian in New York... |
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Raconteur
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witty, skillful storyteller
The raconteur kept all the passengers... |
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Recalcitrant
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resisting authority or control
The recalcitrant mule refused to go... |
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Redress
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relief from wrong or injury
Seeking redress for the injuries... |
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Repudiate
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to reject as having no authority
...was repudiated when DNA tests showed... |
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Restive
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impatient, uneasy, restless
The customers became restive after having to wait... |
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Retrench
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to cut down; to reduce
...round of layoffs retrenched our staff to only three people. |
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Riddle
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to make many holes in; penetrate
The gunfire riddled the helicopters with thousands of holes. |
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Sacrosanct
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extremely sacred; beyond criticism
...Mother Teresa to be a sacrosanct... |
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Sardonic
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cynical, scornfully mocking
...by the sardonic way in which her date... |
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Scurrilous
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vulgar, low, indecent
...took part in scurrilous activities... |
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Sectarian
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narrow-minded; relating to a group or sect
...plunged into sectarian violence... |
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Sententious
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having a moralizing tone
...took on a sententious tone... |
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Somnolent
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drowsy, sleepy; inducing sleep
Carter became somnolent after he ate a huge meal. |
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Sonorous
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producing a full, rich sound
The sonorous blaring of the foghorn... |
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Spurious
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lacking authenticity; counterfeit, false
Quoting from a spurious document... |
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Stolid
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having or showing little emotion
The prisoner appeared stolid... |
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Supercilious
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arrogant, haughty, overbearing, condescending
...with a supercilious manner. |
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Tenable
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defensible, reasonable
...was tenable only because he had inherited millions of dollars. |
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Tumult
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state of confusion, agitation
The tumult of the. demonstrators... |
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Ubiquitous
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being everywhere simultaneously
Fast food franchises are ubiquitous in the United states... |
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Umbrage
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offense, resentment
The businessman took umbrage at the... |
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Urbane
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courteous, refined, suave
The urbane teenager at the mannerisms... |
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Vaunted
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boasted about, bragged about
The vaunted new computer program... |
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Verisimilitude
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quality of appearing true or real
The TV show's verisimilitude led viewers... |
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Abeyance
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temporary suppression or suspension
... excitement in abeyance while the college... |
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Acrimony
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bitterness, animosity
The acrimony the newly divorced couple... |
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Ameliorate
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to make better improve
...hospital were ameliorated by the hiring... |
