Vocab Unit 1

Front 1

adjunct

Back 1

something added to something else as helpful or useful but not essential;an assistant or helper, a valuable quality or characteristic; added or connected in a subordinate capacity; attached to a faculty or staff in an auxillary capacity.

Front 2

bellwether

Back 2

the male sheep that leads the flock to the slaughterhouse; a leader, as in a desperate or violent undertaking; and indicator of trends

Front 3

caterwaul

Back 3

to howl or screech like a cat; to quarrel; a harsh or noisy cry; a racket

Front 4

chimerical

Back 4

asurd, wildly fantastic, impossible

Front 5

effete

Back 5

lacking in wholesome vigor or energy; worn-out or exhausted; sterile or unable to produce; out-of-date

Front 6

fait accompli

Back 6

an accomplished and presumably irreversible deed, fact, or action

Front 7

hidebound

Back 7

narrow-minded and rigid, especially in opinions or prejudices; stubbornly and unthinkingly conservative

Front 8

hierarchy

Back 8

any system of things or people arranged or graded one above another in order of rank, wealth, class, etc.

Front 9

liturgy

Back 9

a religious service or rite; the form of a ritual or other act of public worship

Front 10

mirage

Back 10

something illusory, without substance, or without a basis in reality, an illusion

Front 11

morass

Back 11

a patch of low,soft, wet ground; a swamp; a confusing situation in which one is entrapped, as in quicksand

Front 12

noisome

Back 12

offensive or disgusting; foul-smelling; harmful or injurious

Front 13

oblivious

Back 13

forgetful; unaware

Front 14

poltroon

Back 14

a base coward

Front 15

proselyte

Back 15

a convert; a disciple

Front 16

quasi

Back 16

resembling but not actually being; seemingly but not actually or completely

Front 17

raillery

Back 17

good-humored ridicule; teasing

Front 18

ribald

Back 18

irreverently mocking; coarse, vulgar, or indecent in language

Front 19

supine

Back 19

lying flat on one's back; listless or lethargic, apathetic or passive

Front 20

vignette

Back 20

a short description or sketch; a picture or illustration with edges that gradually shade off; a decorative design on the title page of a book or at the beginning or end of a chapter.