Vocab 6

Front 1

ameliorate

Back 1

To make or become better; improve.

Front 2

atrophy

Back 2

Pathology A wasting or decrease in size of a body organ, tissue, or part owing to disease, injury, or lack of use: muscular atrophy of a person affected with paralysis.
A wasting away, deterioration, or diminution: intellectual atrophy.
To cause to wither or deteriorate; affect with atrophy.
To waste away; wither or deteriorate.

Front 3

flagrant

Back 3

ADJECTIVE:

Conspicuously bad, offensive, or reprehensible

Front 4

immutable

Back 4

ADJECTIVE:

Not subject or susceptible to change.

Front 5

coalesce

Back 5

intr.v.
co·a·lesced , co·a·lesc·ing , co·a·lesc·es
To grow together; fuse.
To come together so as to form one whole; unite

Front 6

sycophant

Back 6

NOUN:

A servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people.

Front 7

esoteric

Back 7

ADJECTIVE:


Intended for or understood by only a particular group: an esoteric cult. See Synonyms at mysterious.
Of or relating to that which is known by a restricted number of people.

Confined to a small group: esoteric interests.
Not publicly disclosed; confidential.

Front 8

stoic

Back 8

NOUN:

One who is seemingly indifferent to or unaffected by joy, grief, pleasure, or pain.
Stoic A member of an originally Greek school of philosophy, founded by Zeno about 308 b.c., believing that God determined everything for the best and that virtue is sufficient for happiness. Its later Roman form advocated the calm acceptance of all occurrences as the unavoidable result of divine will or of the natural order.
ADJECTIVE:
also sto·i·cal (--kl) KEY
Seemingly indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive: "stoic resignation in the face of hunger" (John F. Kennedy).
Stoic Of or relating to the Stoics or their philosophy.

Front 9

volatile

Back 9

ADJECTIVE:

Chemistry
Evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures.
That can be readily vaporized.

Tending to vary often or widely, as in price: the ups and downs of volatile stocks.
Inconstant; fickle: a flirt's volatile affections.
Lighthearted; flighty: in a volatile mood.
Ephemeral; fleeting.
Tending to violence; explosive: a volatile situation with troops and rioters eager for a confrontation.
Flying or capable of flying; volant.

Front 10

hedonistic

Back 10

Pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially to the pleasures of the senses.
Philosophy The ethical doctrine holding that only what is pleasant or has pleasant consequences is intrinsically good.
Psychology The doctrine holding that behavior is motivated by the desire for pleasure and the avoidance of pain.

Front 11

idiom

Back 11

NOUN: 1. A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in keep tabs on. 2. The specific grammatical, syntactic, and structural character of a given language. 3. Regional speech or dialect. 4a. A specialized vocabulary used by a group of people; jargon: legal idiom. b. A style or manner of expression peculiar to a given people: “Also important is the uneasiness I've always felt at cutting myself off from my idiom, the American habits of speech and jest and reaction, all of them entirely different from the local variety” (S.J. Perelman). 5. A style of artistic expression characteristic of a particular individual, school, period, or medium: the idiom of the French impressionists; the punk rock idiom.

Front 12

apocryphal

Back 12

ADJECTIVE: 1. Of questionable authorship or authenticity. 2. Erroneous; fictitious

Front 13

amity

Back 13

NOUN: Inflected forms: pl.
Peaceful relations, as between nations; friendship.

Front 14

hackneyed

Back 14

ADJECTIVE: Overfamiliar through overuse; trite.

Front 15

bastion

Back 15

NOUN: 1. A projecting part of a fortification. 2. A well-fortified position. 3. One that is considered similar to a defensive stronghold

Front 16

desecrate

Back 16

TRANSITIVE VERB: Inflected forms: des·e·crat·ed, des·e·crat·ing, des·e·crates
To violate the sacredness of; profane.

Front 17

torpor

Back 17

NOUN: 1. A state of mental or physical inactivity or insensibility. 2. Lethargy; apathy. See synonyms at lethargy. 3. The dormant, inactive state of a hibernating or estivating animal.

Front 18

supercilious

Back 18

ADJECTIVE: Feeling or showing haughty disdain.

Front 19

pedestrian

Back 19

Undistinguished; ordinary

Front 20

paucity

Back 20

NOUN: 1. Smallness of number; fewness. 2. Scarcity; dearth