Vocab #5

Front 1

ABRIDGE

Back 1

1. to shorten by omissions while retaining the basic contents: to abridge a reference book.
2. to reduce or lessen in duration, scope, authority, etc.; diminish; curtail: to abridge a visit; to abridge one's freedom.
3. to deprive; cut off.

Front 2

EMENDATION

Back 2

1. a correction or change, as of a text.
2. the act of emending.

Front 3

FINALITY

Back 3

1. the state, quality, or fact of being final; conclusiveness or decisiveness.
2. something that is final; an ultimate act, utterance, belief, etc.

Front 4

GARRULOUS

Back 4

adjective 1. excessively talkative in a rambling, roundabout manner, esp. about trivial matters.
2. wordy or diffuse: a garrulous and boring speech.

Front 5

IMPROMPTU

Back 5

1. made or done without previous preparation: an impromptu address to the unexpected crowds.
2. suddenly or hastily prepared, made, etc.: an impromptu dinner.
3. improvised; having the character of an improvisation.
–adverb 4. without preparation: verses written impromptu.
–noun 5. something impromptu; an impromptu speech, musical composition, performance, etc.
6. a character piece for piano common in the 19th century and having, despite its title, a clear-cut form.

Front 6

INVOKE

Back 6

1. to call for with earnest desire; make supplication or pray for: to invoke God's mercy.
2. to call on (a deity, Muse, etc.), as in prayer or supplication.
3. to declare to be binding or in effect: to invoke the law; to invoke a veto.
4. to appeal to, as for confirmation.
5. to petition or call on for help or aid.
6. to call forth or upon (a spirit) by incantation.
7. to cause, call forth, or bring about.

Front 7

LUCRATIVE

Back 7

profitable; moneymaking; remunerative: a lucrative business.

Producing wealth; profitable: a lucrative income; a lucrative marketing strategy.

Front 8

SHREW

Back 8

a woman of violent temper and speech; termagant.

any of several small, mouselike insectivores of the genus Sorex and related genera, having a long, sharp snout.

Front 9

SUPERCILIOUS

Back 9

haughtily disdainful or contemptuous, as a person or a facial expression

Front 10

VERBOSE

Back 10

characterized by the use of many or too many words; wordy: a verbose report.

Front 11

BOLSTER

Back 11

1. a long, often cylindrical, cushion or pillow for a bed, sofa, etc.
2. anything resembling this in form or in use as a support.
3. any pillow, cushion, or pad.
4. Nautical. a. Also called bolster plate. a circular casting on the side of a vessel, through which an anchor chain passes.
b. a timber used as a temporary support.
c. a beam for holding lines or rigging without chafing.
d. a bag filled with buoyant material, fitted into a small boat.

5. Metalworking. an anvillike support for the lower die of a drop forge.
6. Masonry. a. a timber or the like connecting two ribs of a centering.
b. a chisel with a blade splayed toward the edge, used for cutting bricks.

7. Carpentry. a horizontal timber on a post for lessening the free span of a beam.
8. a structural member on which one end of a bridge truss rests.
–verb (used with object) 9. to support with or as with a pillow or cushion.
10. to add to, support, or uphold (sometimes fol. by up): They bolstered their morale by singing. He bolstered up his claim with new evidence.

Front 12

EXPLETIVE

Back 12

–noun 1. an interjectory word or expression, frequently profane; an exclamatory oath.
2. a syllable, word, or phrase serving to fill out.
3. Grammar. a word considered as regularly filling the syntactic position of another, as it in It is his duty to go, or there in There is nothing here.
–adjective 4. Also, ex‧ple‧to‧ry /ˈɛksplɪˌtɔri, -ˌtoʊri/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ek-spli-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation. added merely to fill out a sentence or line, give emphasis, etc.: Expletive remarks padded the speech.

Front 13

FUROR

Back 13

–noun 1. a general outburst of enthusiasm, excitement, controversy, or the like.
2. a prevailing fad, mania, or craze.
3. fury; rage; madness.

Front 14

IDIOMATIC

Back 14

1. peculiar to or characteristic of a particular language or dialect: idiomatic French.
2. containing or using many idioms.
3. having a distinct style or character, esp. in the arts: idiomatic writing; an idiomatic composer

Front 15

INTANGIBLE

Back 15

–adjective 1. not tangible; incapable of being perceived by the sense of touch, as incorporeal or immaterial things; impalpable.
2. not definite or clear to the mind: intangible arguments.
3. (of an asset) existing only in connection with something else, as the goodwill of a business.
–noun 4. something intangible, esp. an intangible asset: Intangibles are hard to value.

Front 16

LACONIC

Back 16

using few words; expressing much in few words; concise: a laconic reply.

Front 17

RECIPROCATE

Back 17

1. to give, feel, etc., in return.
2. to give and receive reciprocally; interchange: to reciprocate favors.
3. to cause to move alternately backward and forward.
–verb (used without object) 4. to make a return, as for something given.
5. to make interchange.
6. to be correspondent.
7. to move alternately backward and forward.

Front 18

SUBTERFUGE

Back 18

–noun an artifice or expedient used to evade a rule, escape a consequence, hide something, etc.


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[Origin: 1565–75; < LL subterfugium, equiv. to L subterfug(ere) to evade (subter below + fugere to flee) + -ium -ium]


—Synonyms deception, scheme, trick, dodge, ruse.

Front 19

TAWDRY

Back 19

–adjective 1. (of finery, trappings, etc.) gaudy; showy and cheap.
2. low or mean; base: tawdry motives.
–noun 3. cheap, gaudy apparel

Front 20

WISTFUL

Back 20

1. characterized by melancholy; longing; yearning.
2. pensive, esp. in a melancholy way.