Vocab Workshop Units 1-3

Front 1

n.) something added to something else as helpful or useful but not essential; an assistant or helper; a valuable quality or characteristic

Back 1

adjunct

Front 2

adj.) added or connected in a subordinate capacity; attached to a faculty or staff in an auxiliary capacity

Back 2

adjunct

Front 3

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

Back 3

bellwether

Front 4

v.) to howls or screech like a cat; to quarrel;

Back 4

caterwaul

Front 5

n.) a harsh or noisy cry; a racket

Back 5

caterwaul

Front 6

adj.) absurd; wildly fantastic; impossible

Back 6

chimerical

Front 7

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 lacking in wholesome vigor or energy; worn-out or exhausted; sterile or unable to produce; out-of-date

Back 7

effete

Front 8

n.) an accomplished and presumably irreversible deed, fact, or action

Back 8

fait accompli

Front 9

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

Back 9

hidebound

Front 10

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

Back 10

hierarchy

Front 11

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

Back 11

liturgy

Front 12

n.) something illusory, without substance, or without a basis in reality; an illusion

Back 12

mirage

Front 13

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

Back 13

morass

Front 14

adj.) offensive or disgusting; foul-smelling; harmful or injurious

Back 14

noisome

Front 15

adj.) forgetful; unaware

Back 15

oblivious

Front 16

n.) a base coward

Back 16

poltroon

Front 17

n.) a convert; a disciple

Back 17

proselyte

Front 18

adj.) resembling but not actually being; seemingly but not actually or completely

Back 18

quasi

Front 19

n.) good-humored ridicule; teasing

Back 19

raillery

Front 20

adj.) irreverently mocking; coarse, vulgar, or indecent in language

Back 20

ribald

Front 21

adj.) lying flat on one's back; listless or lethargic; apathetic or passive

Back 21

supine

Front 22

n.) 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

Back 22

vignette

Front 23

n.) protection; patronage; sponsorship

Back 23

aegis

Front 24

v.) to inform of; to make aware of by giving oral or written notice

Back 24

apprise

Front 25

adj.) fond of or inclined to drink; absorbent

Back 25

bibulous

Front 26

n.) a group of people hired to applaud a performer or performance; enthusiastic or fawning admirers; an opera hat

Back 26

claque

Front 27

v.) to pull up by the roots; to root out, uproot, or dislocate; to eliminate all traces of

Back 27

deracinate

Front 28

adj.) charitable; dependent upon or supported by charity; derived from or provided by charity

Back 28

eleemosynary

Front 29

adj.) originating in the country or region where found, native; inborn; inherent

Back 29

indigenous

Front 30

adj.) given to tears or weeing; causing to shed tears; mournful, lugubrious

Back 30

lachrymose

Front 31

n.) a dictionary of a language; the special vocabulary of a person, group, or subject; a compendium

Back 31

lexicon

Front 32

n.) a confused struggle; a violent free-for-all; a tumultuous mingling

Back 32

melee

Front 33

n.) a miniature world or universe; a group or system viewed as the model of a larger group or system

Back 33

microcosm

Front 34

adj.) very small, tiny;

Back 34

minuscule

Front 35

n.) a lowercase letter

Back 35

minuscule

Front 36

v.) to darken or obscure; to confuse or bewilder

Back 36

obfuscate

Front 37

n.) the policy or practice of treating or governing people in the manner of a father dealing with his children

Back 37

paternalism

Front 38

v.) to cause to concentrate around two conflicting or contrasting positions; to cause light to vibrate in a pattern

Back 38

polarize

Front 39

n.) the range, extent, or scope of something; in law, the scope of limit of what is provided in a statute

Back 39

purview

Front 40

adj.) having a ruddy complexion; of a naturally cheerful, confident, or optimistic outlook

Back 40

sanguine

Front 41

n.) a substandard or ungrammatical usage; a breach of etiquette; any impropriety or mistake

Back 41

solecism

Front 42

n.) a person under the protection of a feudal lord to whom he or she owes allegiance; a subordinate or dependent; a servant;

Back 42

vassal

Front 43

adj.) subservient

Back 43

vassal

Front 44

n.) the quality of appearing to be true, real, likely, or probable

Back 44

verisimilitude

Front 45

adj.) subordinate or supplementary

Back 45

ancillary

Front 46

v.) to remove material considered offensive (from a book, play, film, etc.)

Back 46

bowdlerize

Front 47

v.) to come down or stoop voluntarily to a lower level; to deal with people in a patronizing manner

Back 47

condescend

Front 48

v.) to trick; to cheat or swindle

Back 48

cozen

Front 49

n.) an enclosed district, region, or area inhabited by a particular group of people or having a special character

Back 49

enclave

Front 50

n.) a person's strong point; what a person does best

Back 50

forte

Front 51

adj.) free;

Back 51

gratis

Front 52

adv.) without charge

Back 52

gratis

Front 53

n.) a representation or image of a sacred personage, often considered sacred itself; an image or picture; a symbol; a graphic symbol on a computer monitor display; an object of blind devotion

Back 53

icon

Front 54

n.) a small, narrow space between things or parts of things

Back 54

interstice

Front 55

n.) the universe considered as a whole; the entire complex structure of something

Back 55

macrocosm

Front 56

n.) a trickster or swindler; a charlatan

Back 56

mountebank

Front 57

n.) a song of praise, joy, or triumph

Back 57

paean

Front 58

n.) lighthearted joking, talk, or writing

Back 58

persiflage

Front 59

n.) overfullness; superabundance; superfluity

Back 59

plethora

Front 60

adj.) concerned with practical considerations or values; dealing with actions and results rather than with abstract theory; stiff in one's opinions

Back 60

pragmatic

Front 61

adj.) puzzled; mocking; odd; equivocal

Back 61

quizzical

Front 62

n.) inordinate greed; the disposition to obtain one's desires by force, extortion, or plunder

Back 62

rapacity

Front 63

n.) a formal split within a religious organization; any division or separation of a group or organization into hostile factions

Back 63

schism

Front 64

adj.) having the power to heal or cure; beneficial

Back 64

therapeutic

Front 65

n.) a brilliant performer; a person with masterly skill or technique;

Back 65

virtuoso

Front 66

adj.) masterly brilliant

Back 66

virtuoso