Vocab Workshop (G) Units 1-3

Front 1

acquisitive

Back 1

(adj.) able to get and retain ideas or information; concerned with acquiring wealth or property

Front 2

arrogate

Back 2

(v.) to claim or take without right

Front 3

banal

Back 3

(adj.) hackneyed, trite, commonplace

Front 4

belabor

Back 4

(v.) to work on excessively; to thrash soundly

Front 5

carping

Back 5

(adj.) tending to find fault, especially in a petty, nasty, or hairsplitting way; (n.) petty, nagging criticism

Front 6

coherent

Back 6

(adj.) holding or sticking together; making a logical whole; comprehensible, meaningful

Front 7

congeal

Back 7

(v.) to change from liquid to solid, thicken; to make inflexible or rigid

Front 8

emulate

Back 8

(v.) to imitate with the intent of equaling or surpassing the model

Front 9

encomium

Back 9

(n.) a formal expression of praise, a lavish tribute

Front 10

eschew

Back 10

(v.) to avoid, shun, keep away from

Front 11

germane

Back 11

(adj.) relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting

Front 12

insatiable

Back 12

(adj.) so great or demanding as not to be satisfied

Front 13

intransigent

Back 13

(adj.) refusing to compromise, irreconcilable

Front 14

invidious

Back 14

(adj.) offensive, hateful; tending to cause bitterness and resentment

Front 15

largesse

Back 15

(n.) generosity in giving; lavish or bountiful contributions

Front 16

reconnaissance

Back 16

(n.) a survey made for military purposes; any kind of preliminary inspection or examination

Front 17

substantiate

Back 17

(v.) to establish by evidence, prove; to give concrete or substantial form to

Front 18

taciturn

Back 18

(adj.) habitually silent or quiet, included to talk very little

Front 19

temporize

Back 19

(v.) to stall or act evasively in order to gain time, avoid a confrontation, or postpone a decision; to compromise

Front 20

tenable

Back 20

(adj.) capable of being held or defended

Front 21

accost

Back 21

(v.) to approach and speak to first; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way

Front 22

animadversion

Back 22

(n.) a comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval

Front 23

avid

Back 23

(adj.) desirous of something to the point of greed; intensely eager

Front 24

brackish

Back 24

(adj.) having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink

Front 25

celerity

Back 25

(n.) swiftness, rapidity of motion or action

Front 26

devious

Back 26

(adj.) straying or wandering from a straight or direct course; done or acting in a shifty or underhanded way

Front 27

gambit

Back 27

(n.) in chess, an opening move that involves risk or sacrifice of a minor piece in order to gain a later advantage; any opening move of this type

Front 28

halcyon

Back 28

(n.) a legendary bird identified with the kingfisher; (adj.) of or relating to the halcyon; calm, peaceful; happy, golden; prosperous, affluent

Front 29

histrionic

Back 29

(adj.) pertaining to actors and their techniques; theatrical, artificial; melodramatic

Front 30

incendiary

Back 30

(adj.) deliberately setting or causing fires; designed to start fires; tending to stir up strife or rebellion; (n.) one who deliberately sets fires, arsonist; one who causes strife

Front 31

maelstrom

Back 31

(n.) a whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool in violence and destruction

Front 32

myopic

Back 32

(adj.) nearsighted; lacking a broad, realistic view of a situation; lacking foresight or discernment

Front 33

overt

Back 33

(adj.) open, not hidden, expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized

Front 34

pejorative

Back 34

(adj.) tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittling

Front 35

propriety

Back 35

(n.) the state of being proper, appropriateness; (pl.) standards of what is proper or socially acceptable

Front 36

sacrilege

Back 36

(n.) improper or disrespectful treatment of something held sacred

Front 37

summarily

Back 37

(adv.) without delay or formality; briefly, concisely

Front 38

suppliant

Back 38

(adj.) asking humbly and earnestly; (n.) one who makes a request humbly and earnestly, a petitioner, suitor

Front 39

talisman

Back 39

(n.) an object that serves as a charm or is believed to confer magical powers, an amulet, fetish

Front 40

undulate

Back 40

(v.) to move in waves or with a wavelike motion; to have a wavelike appearance or form

Front 41

articulate

Back 41

(v.) to pronounce directly; to express well in words; to connect by a joint or joints; (adj.) expressed clearly and forcefully; able to employ language clearly and forcefully; jointed

Front 42

cavort

Back 42

(v.) to romp or prance around exuberantly; to make merry

Front 43

credence

Back 43

(n.) belief, mental acceptance

Front 44

decry

Back 44

(v.) to condemn, express strong disapproval; to officially depreciate

Front 45

dissemble

Back 45

(v.) to disguise or conceal, deliberately give a false impression

Front 46

distraught

Back 46

(adj.) very much agitated or upset as a result of emotion or mental conflict

Front 47

eulogy

Back 47

(n.) a formal statement of commendation; high praise

Front 48

evince

Back 48

(v.) to display clearly, to make evident, to provoke

Front 49

exhume

Back 49

(v.) to remove from a grave; to bring to light

Front 50

feckless

Back 50

(adj.) lacking in spirit and strength; ineffective, weak; irresponsible, unreliable

Front 51

murky

Back 51

(adj.) dark and gloomy, obscure; lacking in clarity and precision

Front 52

nefarious

Back 52

(adj.) wicked, depraved, devoid of moral standards

Front 53

piquant

Back 53

(adj.) stimulating to the taste or mind; spicy, pungent; appealingly provocative

Front 54

propinquity

Back 54

(n.) nearness in place or time; kinship

Front 55

unwonted

Back 55

(adj.) not usual or expected; not in character

Front 56

utopian

Back 56

(adj.) founded upon or involving a visionary view of an ideal world; impractical

Front 57

verbiage

Back 57

(n.) language that is too wordy or inflated in proportion to the sense or content, wordiness; a manner of expression

Front 58

verdant

Back 58

(adj.) green in tint or color; immature in experience or judgment

Front 59

viscous

Back 59

(adj.) having a gelatinous or gluey quality, lacking in easy movement or fluidity

Front 60

primordial

Back 60

(adj.) developed or created at the very beginning; going back to the most ancient times or earliest stage; fundamental, basic