Word Smart 1

Front 1

abash

Back 1

v. to make ashamed, to embarrass.

Hint 1

Meredith felt abashed by her inability to memorize her lines.

Ken handed in a paper that he had unabashedly copied.

Front 2

abdicate

Back 2

v. to step down from a position of power or responsibility. relinquish, renounce.

Hint 2

King Edward turned in his crown and abdicated.

Abby abdicated her responsibilities as a secretary by flying to the Bahamas.

Front 3

abate

Back 3

v. to subside; to reduce. decrease, diminish.

Hint 3

George spilled coffee his leg. The pain gradually abated.

Bad weather abates when good weather begins to return.

Front 4

aberration

Back 4

n. something not typical; a deviation from the standard. anomaly, departure.

Hint 4

A snowstorm in June is an aberration.

The chef is usually dreadful; this meal was an aberration.

Front 5

abhor

Back 5

v. to hate very, very, much; to detest. despise, detest

Hint 5

To abhor something is to view it with horror.

Front 6

abject

Back 6

adj. hopeless; extremely sad and servile; defeated. hopeless, downtrodden

Hint 6

an abject person is one who is crushed and without hope. An abject slave

Front 7

abnegate

Back 7

v. to deny oneself things; to reject; to renounce. Forgo, abstain.

Hint 7

Self-abnegation is giving up oneself, usually for a higher cause.

Front 8

abortive

Back 8

adj. unsuccessful. Failed, futile.

Hint 8

His attempt to climb the mountain was abortive; he fell off halfway up.

Front 9

abridge

Back 9

v. to shorten; to condense. abbreviate, compress.

Hint 9

An abridged dictionary.

Front 10

absolute

Back 10

adj. total; unlimited. Full, utter.

Hint 10

Absolute mess is a total mess. An absolute rule has no exception.

Front 11

absolve

Back 11

to forgive or free from blame; to free from sin; to free from an obligation. Pardon, vindicate

Hint 11

The priest absolved the sinner. Tom's admission of guilt absolved Dick.

Jake absolved Cara of her obligation.

Front 12

ameliorate

Back 12

v. to make better or more tolerable.

Hint 12

the mood of the prisoners of ameliorated when the warden gave them color televisions.

Front 13

amenable (uh MEE nuh bul)

Back 13

adj. obedient; willing to give in to the wished of another; agreeable

Hint 13

I suggested that Bert pay for my lunch as well, and to my surprise he was amenable.

Front 14

amenity

Back 14

n. pleasantness; attractive or comfortable feature

Hint 14

The amenities at the club include a swimming pool and a golf course. Little bars of soap and shampoo in hotels are amenities.

Front 15

amiable

Back 15

adj. friendly; agreeable

Hint 15

Our amiable guide made us feel at home.

Front 16

amicable

Back 16

adj. politely friendly; not hostile

Hint 16

Julio and Clarissa remained friends after a surprisingly amicable divorce.

Front 17

amnesty

Back 17

n. an official pardon for a group of people who have violated a law or policy.

Hint 17

an amnesty is an official forgetting.

Front 18

amoral

Back 18

adj. lacking a sense of right and wrong; neither good nor bad, neither moral nor immoral; without moral feelings

Hint 18

very young children are amoral; when they cry; they aren't moral or immoral

Moral person does right; an immoral person does wrong; an amoral person dimply does

Front 19

amorous

Back 19

adj. feeling loving, especially in a sexual sense; in love; relating to love

Hint 19

the amorous couple made a quite a scene at a movie.

Front 20

amorphous

Back 20

adj. shapeless; without a regular or stable shape; bloblike

Hint 20

Ed's teacher said that his term paper was amorphous; it was as shapeless and disorganized as a cloud.

Front 21

anachronism

Back 21

n. something out of place in time or history; an incongruity

Hint 21

in this day of impersonal hospitals, a family doctor who will visit you at home seems like an anachronism.

Front 22

incongruity

Back 22

not in harmony; or keeping with the surroundings

Front 23

analogy

Back 23

n. a comparison of one thing to another; similarity

Hint 23

to say an allergy feels like being bitten by an alligator would be to make or draw an analogy between an allergy and an alligator bite.

Front 24

anarchy

Back 24

n. absence of government or control; lawlessness; disorder

Hint 24

the country fell into a state of anarchy after the rebels kidnapped the president.

Front 25

monarchy

Back 25

a government headed by a king or queen, one leader

Front 26

anecdote

Back 26

n. a short account of a humorous or revealing incident

Hint 26

the old lady kept the motorcycle gang amused with anecdote after anecdote.

Front 27

anguish

Back 27

n. agonizing physical or mental pain

Hint 27

Theresa had been a nurse for twenty but still has not gotten used to the anguish of accident victims.

Front 28

animosity

Back 28

n. resentment; hostility; ill will

Hint 28

the rivals for the state championship felt great animosity toward each other.

Front 29

anomaly

Back 29

n. an aberration; an irregularity; a deviation

Hint 29

a snowy winter day is not an anomaly; but a snowy July day is. A roofless house is anomalous.

Front 30

antecedent

Back 30

n. someone or something that went before; something that provides a model for something that came after it. precedent

Hint 30

your parents and grandfathers could be your antecedents. the oil lamp was antecedent to the oil lamp.

Front 31

antipathy

Back 31

n. a firm dislike; a dislike

Hint 31

I feel antipathy to bananas wrapped in ham.

Front 32

antithesis (an TITH uh sis)

Back 32

n. the direct oppsite

Hint 32

Erin is the antithesis of Aaron: erin is bright, aaron is dull.

Front 33

apartheid

Back 33

n. the former policy of racial segregation and oppression in the Republic of South Africa.

Hint 33

related to "apart"