Vocab

Front 1

caitiff

Back 1

–noun
1. a base, despicable person.
–adjective
2. base; despicable.

Front 2

camarilla

Back 2

noun
a group of unofficial or private advisers to a person of authority, esp. a group much given to intrigues and secret plots; cabal; clique.

Front 3

cockaigne

Back 3

–noun
a fabled land of luxury and idleness.

Front 4

deus ex machina

Back 4

–noun
1. (in ancient Greek and Roman drama) a god introduced into a play to resolve the entanglements of the plot.
2. any artificial or improbable device resolving the difficulties of a plot.

Front 5

disport

Back 5

–verb (used with object)
1. to divert or amuse (oneself).
2. to display (oneself) in a sportive manner: The picnickers disported themselves merrily on the beach.
–verb (used without object)
3. to divert oneself; sport.
–noun
4. diversion; amusement; play; sport

Front 6

flummery

Back 6

–noun, plural -mer⋅ies.
1. oatmeal or flour boiled with water until thick.
2. fruit custard or blancmange usually thickened with cornstarch.
3. any of various dishes made of flour, milk, eggs, sugar, etc.
4. complete nonsense; foolish humbug.

Front 7

flummox

Back 7

–verb (used with object) Informal. to bewilder; confound; confuse

Front 8

dilettante

Back 8

–noun
1. a person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement, esp. in a desultory or superficial way; dabbler.
2. a lover of an art or science, esp. of a fine art.
–adjective
3. of or pertaining to dilettantes.

Front 9

importunate

Back 9

–adjective
1. urgent or persistent in solicitation, sometimes annoyingly so.
2. pertinacious, as solicitations or demands.
3. troublesome; annoying: importunate demands from the children for attention.

Front 10

pugnacious

Back 10

–adjective
inclined to quarrel or fight readily; quarrelsome; belligerent; combative.

Front 11

rodomontade

Back 11

–noun
1. vainglorious boasting or bragging; pretentious, blustering talk.
–adjective
2. bragging.
–verb (used without object)
3. to boast; brag; talk big.

Front 12

roister

Back 12

-verb
1. to act in a swaggering, boisterous, or uproarious manner.
2. to revel noisily or without restraint.

Front 13

noisome

Back 13

–adjective
1. offensive or disgusting, as an odor.
2. harmful or injurious to health; noxious.

Front 14

venality

Back 14

–noun
the condition or quality of being venal; openness to bribery or corruption

Front 15

phantasmagoria

Back 15

–noun
1. a shifting series of phantasms, illusions, or deceptive appearances, as in a dream or as created by the imagination.
2. a changing scene made up of many elements.
3. an optical illusion produced by a magic lantern or the like in which figures increase or diminish in size, pass into each other, dissolve, etc.

Front 16

lissom

Back 16

–adjective
1. lithesome or lithe, esp. of body; supple; flexible.
2. agile, nimble, or active.

Front 17

sylph

Back 17

–noun
1. a slender, graceful woman or girl.
2. (in folklore) one of a race of supernatural beings supposed to inhabit the air.

Front 18

imprecation

Back 18

–noun
1. the act of imprecating; cursing.
2. a curse; malediction.

Front 19

febrile

Back 19

–adjective
pertaining to or marked by fever; feverish

Front 20

sonorous

Back 20

–adjective
1. giving out or capable of giving out a sound, esp. a deep, resonant sound, as a thing or place: a sonorous cavern.
2. loud, deep, or resonant, as a sound.
3. rich and full in sound, as language or verse.
4. high-flown; grandiloquent: a sonorous speech.

Front 21

grandiloquent

Back 21

–adjective
speaking or expressed in a lofty style, often to the point of being pompous or bombastic

Front 22

eschew

Back 22

–verb (used with object)
to abstain or keep away from; shun; avoid: to eschew evil.

Front 23

sotto voce

Back 23

–noun
in a low, soft voice so as not to be overheard.

Front 24

prestidigitation

Back 24

–noun
sleight of hand; legerdemain.

Front 25

incongruous

Back 25

–adjective
1. out of keeping or place; inappropriate; unbecoming: an incongruous effect; incongruous behavior.
2. not harmonious in character; inconsonant; lacking harmony of parts: an incongruous mixture of architectural styles.
3. inconsistent: actions that were incongruous with their professed principles.

Front 26

froideur

Back 26

–noun French.
an attitude of haughty aloofness; cold superiority.

Front 27

simulacrum

Back 27

-noun
1. a slight, unreal, or superficial likeness or semblance.
2. an effigy, image, or representation: a simulacrum of Aphrodite.

Front 28

delipate

Back 28

–verb (used with object), -lat⋅ed, -lat⋅ing.
to remove the hair from (hides, skin, etc.).

Front 29

peccadillo

Back 29

–noun, plural -loes, -los.
a very minor or slight sin or offense; a trifling fault.

Front 30

hoi polloi

Back 30

–noun
the common people; the masses (often preceded by the).

Front 31

flotsam

Back 31

–noun
1. the part of the wreckage of a ship and its cargo found floating on the water. Compare jetsam, lagan.
2. material or refuse floating on water.
3. useless or unimportant items; odds and ends.
4. a vagrant, penniless population: the flotsam of the city slums in medieval Europe.

Front 32

pernicious

Back 32

–adjective
1. causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful: pernicious teachings; a pernicious lie.
2. deadly; fatal: a pernicious disease.
3. Obsolete. evil; wicked