Vocabulary Test Units 1-8

Front 1

Adjunct

Back 1

something added to something else as helpful or useful but not essential

Front 2

Bellwether

Back 2

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

Front 3

Chimerical

Back 3

absurd; wildly fantastic

Front 4

Effet

Back 4

lacking in wholesome vigor or energy

Front 5

Morass

Back 5

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

Front 6

Noisome

Back 6

offensive or disgusting; foul-smelling

Front 7

Supine

Back 7

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

Front 8

Aegis

Back 8

protection; patronage; sponsorship

Front 9

Bibulous

Back 9

fond of or inclined to drink; absorbent

Front 10

Lachrymose

Back 10

given to tears or weeping; causing to shed tears; mournful, lugubrious

Front 11

Obfuscate

Back 11

to darken or obscure; to confuse or bewilder

Front 12

Polarize

Back 12

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

Front 13

Solecism

Back 13

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

Front 14

Verisimilitude

Back 14

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

Front 15

Anicillary

Back 15

subordinate or supplementary

Front 16

Bowdlerize

Back 16

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

Front 17

Cozen

Back 17

to trick; to cheat or swindle

Front 18

Gratis

Back 18

free; without charge

Front 19

Schism

Back 19

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

Front 20

Virtuoso

Back 20

a brilliant performer; a person with masterly skill or technique; masterly or brilliant

Front 21

Affinity

Back 21

a natural attraction to a person, a thing, or activity; a relationship, connection

Front 22

Derring-do

Back 22

valor or heroism; daring deeds or exploits (often used to poke fun a t false heroics)

Front 23

Folderol

Back 23

foolish talk, ideas, or procedures; nonsense; a trifle

Front 24

Gamut

Back 24

an entire range or series

Front 25

Hoi Polloi

Back 25

the common people, the masses

Front 26

Ineffable

Back 26

not expressible in words; too great or too sacred to be uttered

Front 27

Lucubration

Back 27

Laborious study or thought, especially at night; the result of such work

Front 28

Aficionado

Back 28

an enthusiastic and usually expert follower or fan

Front 29

Diaphanous

Back 29

very sheer and light; almost completely transparent

Front 30

Emolument

Back 30

profit derived from an office or position or from employment; a fee or salary

Front 31

Genre

Back 31

a type, class, or variety, especially a distinctive category of literary composition; a style of painting in which everyday scenes are realistically depicted

Front 32

Obsequies

Back 32

funeral rites or ceremonies

Front 33

Panache

Back 33

a confident and stylish manner, dash; a strikingly elaborate or colorful display

Front 34

Sacrosanct

Back 34

very sacred or holy; inviolable, set apart or immune from questioning or attack

Front 35

Dictum

Back 35

a short saying; an authoritative statement

Front 36

In Medias Res

Back 36

in or into the middle of a plot; into the middle of things

Front 37

Maladroit

Back 37

lacking skill or dexterity; lacking tact, perception, or judgement

Front 38

Maudlin

Back 38

excessively or effusively sentimental

Front 39

Portentous

Back 39

foreshadowing an event to come; causing wonder or awe; self-consciously weighty, pompous

Front 40

Prescience

Back 40

knowledge of events or actions before they happen; foresight

Front 41

Salubrious

Back 41

conducive to health or well-being

Front 42

Saturnalian

Back 42

characterized by riotous or unrestrained revelry or licentiousness

Front 43

Cataclysm

Back 43

a sudden, violent, or devastating upheaval; a surging flood, deluge

Front 44

Debauch

Back 44

to corrupt morally, seduce; to indulge in dissipation; an act or occasion of dissipation or vice

Front 45

Fastidious

Back 45

overly demanding or hard to please; excessively careful in regard to details; easily disgusted

Front 46

Gambol

Back 46

to jump or skip about playfully

Front 47

Lampoon

Back 47

a malicious satire; to satirize, ridicule

Front 48

Malleable

Back 48

capable of being formed into different shapes; capable of being altered, adapted, or influenced

Front 49

Refractory

Back 49

stubborn; hard or difficult to manage; not responsive to treatment or cure

Front 50

Bane

Back 50

the source or cause of fatal injury, death, destruction, or ruin; death or ruin itself; poison

Front 51

Cantankerous

Back 51

ill-tempered, quarrelsome; difficult to get along or deal with

Front 52

Depredation

Back 52

the act of preying upon or plundering

Front 53

Empathy

Back 53

a sympathetic understanding of or identification with the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of someone or something else

Front 54

Hedonism

Back 54

the belief that the attainment of pleasure is life's chief aim; devotion t or pursuit of pleasure

Front 55

Lackluster

Back 55

lacking brilliance or vitality; dull

Front 56

Mellifluous

Back 56

flowing sweetly or smoothly; honeyed

Front 57

Peccadillo

Back 57

a minor sin or offense; a trifling fault or shortcoming

Front 58

Plethora

Back 58

a large or excessive amount

Front 59

mnemonic

Back 59

something to help remember something

Front 60

Hierarchy

Back 60

a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority