Vocabulary Workshop Units 7-10

Front 1

aberration

Back 1

a departure from what is proper, right, expected, or normal; a lapse from a sound mental state

Front 2

abeyance

Back 2

a state of being temporarily inactive, suspended, or set aside

Front 3

acumen

Back 3

keen insight

Front 4

ad hoc

Back 4

for this specific purpose; improvised; with respect to this

Front 5

adjudicate

Back 5

to hear and judge a case

Front 6

ambivalent

Back 6

having opposite and conflicting feelings about someone or something

Front 7

anachronism

Back 7

something out of place in time

Front 8

apocryphal

Back 8

of questionable authority or authenticity

Front 9

bane

Back 9

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

Front 10

bathos

Back 10

the intrusion of commonplace or trite material into a context whose tone is lofty or elevated; grossly insincere or exaggerated sentimentality; the lowest phase, nadir; an anticlimax, comedown

Front 11

beatitude

Back 11

a state of perfect happiness or blessedness; a blessing

Front 12

beleaguer

Back 12

to set upon from all sides; to surround with an army; to trouble, harass

Front 13

bete noire

Back 13

someone or something that one especially dislikes, dreads, or avoids

Front 14

bode

Back 14

foreshadow; portend

Front 15

cantankerous

Back 15

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

Front 16

carte blanche

Back 16

full freedom or authority to act at one's own discretion

Front 17

casuistry

Back 17

the determination of right and wrong in questions of conduct or conscience by the application of general ethical principles; specious argument

Front 18

cataclysm

Back 18

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

Front 19

dank

Back 19

damp

Front 20

de facto

Back 20

actually existing or in effect, although not legally required or sanctioned; in reality, actually

Front 21

debauch

Back 21

to corrupt morally, seduce; to indulge in dissipation (n.) an act or occasion of dissapation or vice

Front 22

depredation

Back 22

the act of preying upon or plundering

Front 23

disparity

Back 23

an inequality; a gap; an imbalance

Front 24

dissimulate

Back 24

to hide or disguise one's true thoughts, feelings, or intentions

Front 25

éclat

Back 25

dazzling or conspicuous success or acclaim; great brilliance (of performance or achievement)

Front 26

ecumenical

Back 26

worldwide or universal in influence or application

Front 27

empathy

Back 27

(n.) a sympathetic understanding of or identification with the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of someone or something else

Front 28

empirical

Back 28

based on observation or experiment

Front 29

fastidious

Back 29

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

Front 30

fervid

Back 30

intensely emotional; feverish

Front 31

fetid

Back 31

foul-smelling; putrid

Front 32

flamboyant

Back 32

highly elaborate; showy

Front 33

fulsome

Back 33

excessive, overdone, sickeningly abundant

Front 34

gambol

Back 34

to jump or skip about playfully

Front 35

gargantuan

Back 35

huge

Front 36

harbinger

Back 36

a forerunner, herald; to herald the approach of

Front 37

hedonism

Back 37

the belief that the attainment of pleasure is life's chief aim; devotion to or pursuit of pleasure

Front 38

heyday

Back 38

golden age; prime

Front 39

imbue

Back 39

to soak or stain thoroughly; to fill the mind

Front 40

immolate

Back 40

to kill as a sacrifice

Front 41

imperceptible

Back 41

impossible to perceive

Front 42

inchoate

Back 42

just beginning; not fully shaped or formed

Front 43

incubus

Back 43

a demon or evil spirit supposed to haunt human beings in their bedrooms at night; anything that oppresses or weighs upon one, like a nightmare

Front 44

infrastructure

Back 44

fundamental facilities and systems

Front 45

inveigle

Back 45

to obtain by deception or flattery

Front 46

kudos

Back 46

fame, glory, or honor

Front 47

lackey

Back 47

a slavish follower

Front 48

lackluster

Back 48

lacking brillance or vitality; dull

Front 49

lagniappe

Back 49

an extra or unexpected gift or gratuity

Front 50

lampoon

Back 50

a malicious satire; to satirize, ridicule

Front 51

liaison

Back 51

person who serves as a connection between individuals or groups; a go-between

Front 52

malcontent

Back 52

discontented with or in open defiance of prevailing conditions; such a person

Front 53

malleable

Back 53

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

Front 54

mellifluous

Back 54

flowing sweetly or smoothly; honeyed

Front 55

monolithic

Back 55

massive, rigid, totally uniform

Front 56

mot juste

Back 56

the most suitable or exact word or expression

Front 57

nemesis

Back 57

an agent or force inflicting vengeance or punishment; retribution itself; an unbeatable rival

Front 58

nepotism

Back 58

undue favoritism to or excessive patronage of one's relatives

Front 59

nihilism

Back 59

belief that existence and all traditional values are meaningless

Front 60

opt

Back 60

to make a choice or decision

Front 61

pander

Back 61

to cater to or provide satisfaction for the low tastes or vices of others; a person who does this

Front 62

patrician

Back 62

belonging to or characteristic of the nobility or aristocracy

Front 63

peccadillo

Back 63

a minor sin or offense; a trifling fault or shortcoming

Front 64

philistine

Back 64

lacking in, hostile to, or smugly indifferent to cultural and artistic values or refinements; such a person

Front 65

picaresque

Back 65

involving or characteristic of clever rogues or adventurers

Front 66

piece de resistance

Back 66

the pricnipal dish of a meal; the principal event incident, or item; an outstanding accomplishment

Front 67

prolix

Back 67

long-winded and wordy

Front 68

propitiate

Back 68

to appease or pacify

Front 69

protege

Back 69

a person under the guidance or training of another

Front 70

prototype

Back 70

full-scale working model used to test a design concept by making actual observations and necessary adjustments

Front 71

queasy

Back 71

nauseated or uneasy; casuing nausea or uneasiness; troubled

Front 72

refractory

Back 72

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

Front 73

remand

Back 73

to send or order back; in law, to send back to jail or to a lower court

Front 74

savoir-faire

Back 74

the ability to say and do the right thing in any situation; social competence

Front 75

sic

Back 75

intentionally written so

Front 76

sublimate

Back 76

to transfer or redirect

Front 77

sycophant

Back 77

a self-serving flatterer; yes-man

Front 78

syndrome

Back 78

a group of symptoms or signs that collectively characterize or indicate a disease, disorder, abnormality, etc.

Front 79

tautology

Back 79

a repetition or redundancy

Front 80

truckle

Back 80

to yield or submit tamely or submissively