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70 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Prolific |
a. producing a lot
marked by abundant inventiveness or productivity producing young or fruit especially freely : fruitful |
Since [David] Mamet is a prolific writer of Hollywood screenplays, there are today more people who know his work than know that they know it. |
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Unfrock |
v. to remove a presit from his position
Defrock: to deprive (as a priest) of the right to exercise the functions of office : to remove from a position of honor or privilege |
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Demur |
v. refuse, hesitate (politely)
to disagree politely with another person's statement or suggestion : to politely refuse to accept a request or suggestion |
She suggested that he would win easily, but he demurred, saying he expected the election to be close. |
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notes: qualms |
a feeling of uneasiness about a point especially of conscience or propriety |
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allay |
v. to lessen
to subdue or reduce in intensity or severity : alleviate : to make quiet : calm |
The new advertising campaign is an attempt to allay the public's concerns about the safety of the company's products.
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Stereotype |
n. fixed image
to believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same |
It's not fair to stereotype a whole group of people based on one person you don't like.
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Maelstrom |
n. Whirlpool; storm in the ocean
: a dangerous area of water that moves very fast in a circle |
a situation in which there are a lot of confused activities, emotions, etc.
She was caught in a maelstrom of emotions. The ship was drawn into the maelstrom.
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Omniscient |
a. all-knowing
having infinite awareness, understanding, and insight : possessed of universal or complete knowledge |
Navy destroyers will steam offshore readying virtual cruise missiles and the omniscient eye of trainers will watch it all.
Well-curated shots of the household provide an omniscient view of the action.
No one is omniscient, there's a limit, so have some humility when presenting your case and maybe you'll find more receptive ears. |
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Hedonism |
n. self-indulgence, pleasure-seeking
the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life |
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Onus |
n. burden
the responsibility for something |
Consumers should be able to limit the use of information beyond what's essential to complete a transaction. There are two principal ways to do this: Web sites can permit them to "opt in," or explicitly grant advance permission to share information. Or they can put the onus on consumers to "opt out" if they don't want information shared. |
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Degrogatory |
a. uncomplimentary
expressing a low opinion of someone or something : showing a lack of respect for someone or something |
In Powell's memoir, Lemann points out, terms like "expert" and "academic" are clearly derogatory |
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Alchemy |
n. Medieval chemistry attempting to change base metal into gold
a power or process of transforming something common into something special |
a power or process of transforming something common into something special
She practiced her alchemy in the kitchen, turning a pile of vegetables into a delicious salad.
The company hoped for some sort of economic alchemy that would improve business. |
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Corpulent |
a. fat
having a large bulky body : obese |
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Bestial |
a. behaving like a beast, brutal |
debauchery: ad or immoral behavior that involves sex, drugs, alcohol, etc. |
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Protege |
n. under the protection, or guidance by other
one who is protected or trained or whose career is furthered by a person of experience, prominence, or influence |
He was a protégé of the great composer.
The only thing that grows down is potatoes, he told his protégé.
The first rule of patronage has always been that the protégé's actions and manner reflect on the patron. |
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Inviolable |
a. cannot be invaded
secure from violation or profanation : secure from assault or trespass : unassailable |
Such companies frequently bleat that personal data is secure and inviolable. |
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Reverse quiz 1 |
1. Medieval chemistry, attempting to change base metal to gold
2. Fat |
1. n. Alchemy 2. a. corpulent |
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Reverse quiz 2 |
1. behaving like a beast, brutal
2. Person under the protection, or guided by other
3. Cannot be invaded |
1. a. bestial
2. n. protege
3. Inviolable |
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Lamentation |
n. Expression of sorrow or regret
an expression of great sorrow or deep sadness |
bitter lamentations for the dead words spoken in lamentation for the dead |
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Enshroud |
v. Cover
to cover (something or someone) in a way that makes seeing or understanding difficult |
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Nuzzle |
v. cuddle, snuggle
to gently push or rub your nose or face against (someone or something) to show affection |
The dog nuzzled my leg. He nuzzled into her neck. |
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Asylum |
n. A place for safety or refuge
protection given by a government to someone who has left another country in order to escape being harmed
: a hospital where people who are mentally ill are cared for especially for long periods of time : a mental hospital |
She asked for political asylum. She was granted asylum after it was made clear that she would be killed if she returned to her native country. |
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Laconic |
a. using a few words, to the point
using or involving the use of a minimum of words : concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious |
He had a reputation for being laconic.
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Reverse quiz 3 |
1. Expression of regret or sorrow
2. Cuddle; snuggle
3. using a few words; brief; to the point |
1. Lamentation 2. Nuzzle 3. Laconic |
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Reverse quiz 4 |
1. Cover |
1. Enshroud |
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Reverse quiz 4.2 |
1. Place of refuge or safety
2. Succinct, def? |
1. Asylum 2. Brief |
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Belligerent |
a. Aggressive; ready to fight
: angry and aggressive : feeling or showing readiness to fight : fighting a war : engaged in a war |
Coots are belligerent, territorial, quick-tempered birds. Nothing irritates a coot like another coot
He was drunk and belligerent.
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Whelp |
n. Young dog
any of the young of various carnivorous mammals and especially of the dog : a young boy or girl |
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Consensus |
n. general agreement
a general agreement about something : an idea or opinion that is shared by all the people in a group |
Everyone on the council seems to understand the need for consensus.
There is a lack of consensus among the citizens.
The decision was made by consensus. |
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Caldron |
n. A huge cooking pot |
a large kettle or boiler
: something resembling a boiling cauldron in intensity or degree of agitation cauldron of intense emotions> |
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Malefactor |
n. a wrong-doer
someone who is guilty of a crime or offense : a person whose behavior is wrong or evil |
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Reverse quiz 5 |
1. wrong-doer 2. aggressive, ready to fight 3. a huge cooking pot |
1. maelfactor 2. belligerent 3. caldron |
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Reverse quiz 6 |
1. general agreement 2. young dog |
1. consensus 2. whelp |
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Obtuse |
a. mentally dull
stupid or unintelligent : not able to think clearly or to understand what is obvious or simple mathematics : not ending in a sharp point : measuring between 90 degrees and 180 degrees
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He is too obtuse to take a hint. |
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Blasphemy |
n. Speech which offends religious sentiments
great disrespect shown to God or to something holy : something said or done that is disrespectful to God or to something holy |
She was condemned by the church for uttering blasphemies.
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Callow |
a. Immature
lacking adult sophistication : immature |
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Respite |
n. a break; intermission
: a period of temporary delay : an interval of rest or relief |
The bad weather has continued without respite. But in the middle of each semester there came a short respite, separate from the traditional holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. |
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Pivotal |
a. of central importance
of, relating to, or constituting a pivot : vitally important : critical |
She is at a pivotal point in her career. |
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Reverse quiz 7 |
1. mentally dull
2. immature
3. of central importance |
1. obtuse 2. callow 3. pivotal |
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Reverse quiz 8 |
1. speech which offends religious sentiments
2. a break; intermission |
1. blasphemy 2. respite |
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Weighty |
a. serious
having a lot of weight powerful : very important and serious influential: having the power to influence the opinions of other people |
She grabbed a weighty book off the shelf.
The film deals with some weighty issues.
Those are weighty arguments in your favor.
He was a weighty figure in the art world. |
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Fervor |
n. passion; enthusiasm
a strong feeling of excitement and enthusiasm intense heat |
The fervor surrounding her campaign continued right through election day.
The novel captures the revolutionary fervor of the period.
As Nina has grown more observant, Andras has become distanced from her. Her religious fervor doesn't interest him. Coming to tradition late, Nina has all the pedantry of an autodidact. Her strivings seem inauthentic to Andras, and not at all spiritual. |
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Befuddle |
v. Confuse |
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Effusive |
gushing; dmonstrative
gushing: to speak in an extremely enthusiastic way> |
hey offered effusive thanks for our help. |
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Drone |
n. male bee v. monotonous noise to speak with no emotion
Monotonous: used to describe something that is boring because it is always the same |
We could hear wasps droning in the garden.
a : to make a sustained deep murmuring, humming, or buzzing sound
b : to talk in a persistently dull or monotonous tone
: to pass, proceed, or act in a dull, drowsy, or indifferent manner |
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Function of a male bee (notes) |
a stingless male bee (as of the honeybee) that has the role of mating with the queen and does not gather nectar or pollen |
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Reverse quiz 9 |
1. Serious 2. Confuse |
1. Weighty 2. befuddle |
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Reverse quiz 10 |
1. passion, enthrusiasm 2. gushing, demonstrative |
1. Fervor 2. effusive |
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Sacrosanct |
a. very holy; inviolable |
the government's most sacrosanct institutions
The tradition is regarded as sacrosanct. |
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Concatenate |
v. link together |
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Tangent |
a. going off the main subject
diverging from an original purpose or course : irrelevant
meeting a curve or surface in a single point if a sufficiently small interval is considered |
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Pariah |
n. an outcast from society
one that is despised or rejected : outcast a member of a low caste of southern India
outcast: one that is cast out or refused acceptance (as by society) : pariah |
He's a talented player but his angry outbursts have made him a pariah in the sport of baseball.
For decades, African states longed for the day when South Africa would be liberated from its status as the apartheid pariah and become the economic engine that would pull Africa out of its mire of poverty and underdevelopment, much as Japan did for the Pacific Rim. |
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Carping |
a. Constant criticism
marked by or inclined to querulous and often perverse criticism inclined: wanting to do something or likely to do something querulous: complaining in an annoyed way perverse: wrong or different in a way that others feel is strange or offensive |
peevish: querulous in temperament or mood |
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Reverse quiz 11 |
1. a. very holy, inviolable 2. a. going off the main subject 3. n. constant criticism |
1. sacrosnct 2. tangent 3. carping |
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Reverse quiz 12 |
1. v. link together 2. n. an outcast from society |
1. concatenate 2. pariah |
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Beret |
n. a type of cap |
a round hat with a tight band around the head and a top that is flat, soft, and loose |
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Diligent |
a. hard-working
characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort : painstaking — dil·i·gent·ly adverb
Painstaking: the action of taking pains : diligent care and effort |
The American intelligence community's single greatest failing is its lack of good "humint"—human intelligence, the dirty, diligent, shoe-leather penetration of terror networks. |
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Brevity |
n. being brief
a. Succinct, laconic
the use of few words to say something shortness of duration; especially : shortness or conciseness of expression |
The book's major flaw is its brevity.
Mike Espy resigned under pressure as Secretary of Agriculture yesterday at a news conference remarkable for its brevity and general absence of whining. |
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Recuperate |
v. get better after illness
to return to normal health or strength after being sick, injured, etc.
to get back (money that has been spent, invested, lost, etc. |
She took a day off to recuperate.
: to get back (money that has been spent, invested, lost, etc. |
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Lucid |
a. clear
: very clear and easy to understand : able to think clearly |
He is able to recognize his wife in his lucid moments.
His lucid history of this grim subject is scrupulously accurate, so far as I am able to judge |
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Reverse quiz 13 |
1. a. hard-working |
1. diligent |
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Reverse quiz 14 |
1. Being brief |
1. brevity |
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Reverse quiz 14.2 |
1. v. get better after illness 2. a. clear 3. a type of cap |
1. recuperate 2. lucid 3. beret |
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Reprieve |
n. respite, postponement of a sentence
to delay the punishment of (as a condemned prisoner)
to prevent (something) from being closed, destroyed, etc., for a period of time |
He was sentenced to death but then reprieved.
The library has been reprieved and will remain open for at least another year.
And many murderers have been reprieved because they were condemned for the wrong murder, quite probably just as many as have been executed for the only murder they did not in fact commit. |
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Dilettante |
n. person who dabbles in a subject without serious study
a person whose interest in an art or in an area of knowledge is not very deep or serious |
You can always tell a true expert from a dilettante.
I recently spent a week in Alaska trying to learn how to be a mountaineer. I did not succeed very well, and the details are not very interesting. I finished the course (I was enrolled in a course) thinking that perhaps I am better off remaining a slightly-above-average mountain dilettante. |
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Sardonic |
a. mocking
disdainfully or skeptically humorous : derisively mocking Disdainful: felling strong dislike or disapproval for something or someone you think does not deserve respect : feeling or showing disdain |
The movie is a sardonic look at modern life.
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Sanguinary |
a. bloody, bloodthirsty |
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Metaphorically |
ad. figuratively, symbolically
a word or phrase for one thing that is used to refer to another thing in order to show or suggest that they are similar |
"He was drowning in paperwork" is a metaphor in which having to deal with a lot of paperwork is being compared to drowning in an ocean of water.
Her poems include many imaginative metaphors. |
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Reverse quiz 15 |
1. postponement of a sentence, respite 2. a. mocking |
1. reprieve 2. sardonic 3. metaphorically |
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Reverse quiz 16 |
1. n. Person who dabbles in a subject without serious study 2. a. bloody, bloodthirsty |
1. dilettante 2. sanguinary |
