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252 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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abate
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to lessen in intensity or degree
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aberrant
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deviating form the norm
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abjure
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to renounce or reject solemnly; to recant; to avoid
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abrogate
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to abolish or annul by authority; put down
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abscission
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act of cutting off or removing
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abscond
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to depart clandestinely; to steal off and hide
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accolade
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an expression of praise; an award
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accretion
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growth, increase by successive addition, building up
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acerbic
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having a sour or bitter taste or character
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acumen
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quick, keen, or accurate knowledge or insight
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admonish
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to reprove; to express warning or disapproval
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adroit
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adept, dexterous
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adulation
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excessive praise; intense adoration
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adulterate
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to reduce purity by combining with inferior ingredients
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adumbrate
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to forshadow vaguely, intimate, suggest, or outline sketchily
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aesthetic
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dealing with, appreciative of, or responsive to art or the beautiful
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aggrandize
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to increase in intensity, power, or prestige; to make appear greater
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alacrity
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eager and enthusiastic willingness
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alchemy
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a medieval science aimed at the transmutation of metals, especially base metals into gold; any magical or wonderful transformation
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amalgamate
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to combine several elements into a whole
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ameliorate
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to make better or more tolerable
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amendable
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agreeable; responsive to suggestion
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anchronism
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something or someone out of place in terms of historical or chronological context
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anathema
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a solemn or ecclesiastical (religious) curse; accursed or thoroughly loathed person or thing
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anodyne
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soothing
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anomaly
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deviation from the normal order, form, or rule; abnormality
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antipathy
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aversion, dislike
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antithetical
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diametrically opposed, as in antithesis
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apocryphal
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of dubious authenticity or origin; spurious
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apogee
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farthest or highest point; culmination; zenith
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apostate
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one who abandons long-held religious or political convictions; a betrayer of a cause
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apotheosis
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deification, glorification to godliness, the perfect example
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apposite
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appropriate, pertinent, relevant, apropos
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apprise
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give notice to, inform
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approbation
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an expression of approval or praise
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appropriate
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to take for one's own use, confiscate
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arabesque
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complex, ornate design
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arcane
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mysterious, abtruse, esoteric, knowbale only to initiates
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archaic
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outdated; associated with an earlier, perhaps more primitive time
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ardouous
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strenuous, taxing, requiring significant effort
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arrant
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imprudent; in every way, being completely such, barefaced, utter
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arrest
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to suspend; to engage
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arresting
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holding one's attention
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artless
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completely without guile; natural, without artificiality
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perigee
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the lowest of closest point, or the nadir
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ascetic
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one who practices rigid self-denial, especially as an act of religious devotion
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asperity
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severity, rigor, roughness, harshnes; acrimony, irritability
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aspersion
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an act of defamation or maligning
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assiduous
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diligent, hard-working
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assuage
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to ease or lessen; to appease or pacify
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astringent
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having a tightening effect on living tissue; harsh; severe
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attenuate
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to rarefy, weaken or make thinner, lessen
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audacious
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daring and fearless; recklessly bold
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augury
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omen, portent, the reading of omens
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august
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majestic, venerable
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auspice
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protection or support; patronage
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auspicious
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favorable, propituous, successful, prosperous
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austere
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without adornment; bare; severely simple; ascetic
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avarice
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greed, especially for wealth
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aver
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to state as a fact; to confirm or support
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axiom
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a universally recognized principle; a generally accepted or common saying
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axiomatic
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taken as a given; possessing a self-evident truth
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miasma
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foul air, a corrupting influence spread as though carried through the air
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baleful
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sinister, pernicious, ominous
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bane
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cause of injury, source of harm; source of persistent frustration
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beatify
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to belss, make happy, or ascribe a virtue to; to regard as saintly
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bedizen
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to adorn, especially in a cheap, showy manner; festoon, caparison
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belie
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to give a false impression of, to misrepresent
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bellicose
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belligerent, pugnacious, warlike
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bent
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leaning, inclination, proclivity, tendency
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blandish
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to coax with flattery, toady or fawn
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blithe
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carefree, merry
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boisterous
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loud, noisy, rough, lacking restraint
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bolster
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to provide support or reinforcement
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bombastic
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pompous; grandiloquent
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grandiloquent
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a lofty, extravagantly colorful, pompous, or bombastic style, manner, or quality especially in language
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boor
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a rude or insensitive person; lout; yokel
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broach
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bring up, announce, begin to talk about
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brook
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to tolerate, endure, countenance
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bucolic
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rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants
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burgeon
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to grow rapidly or flourish
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burnish
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to polish, rub to a shine
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byzantine
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labrynthine, complex
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cacophony
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harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance
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cadge
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to sponge, beg, or mooch
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cajole
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to inveigle, coax, wheedle, sweet-talk
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caluminate
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to slander, make a false accusation
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canon
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an established set or principles or code of laws, often religious in nature
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calumny
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slander, aspersion
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canonical
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following or in agreement with accepted traditional standards
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capricious
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incline to change one's mind impulsively; erratic; unpredictable
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cardinal
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of basic importance or consequence; primary
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caret
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an insertion mark (^) used by editors and proofreaders
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castigation
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severe criticism or punishment
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catalyst
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a subtance that accelerates the rate of a chemical change without itself changing; a person or thing that causes change
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caustic
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burning or stinging; causing corrosion
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censure
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to criticize severely; to officially rebuke
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chary
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wary; cautious; sparing
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chasten
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to chastise or correct; subdue
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chauvinist
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one blindly devoted to a group of which one is a member
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chicanery
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trickery or subterfuge
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subterfuge
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something intended to misrepresent the true nature of an activity; deceptive device or strategem
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chimera
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an illusion; originally, an imaginary fire-breathing she-monster
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churlisih
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boorish, vulgar, loutish; difficult and intractable
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coalesce
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to come together; to fuse or unite
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coda
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concluding section to a musical or literary peice, something that concludes or completes
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cogent
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appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing
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color
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to change as if by dyeing, influence, distort, or gloss over
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commensurate
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matching, corresponding, or proportionate in degree, size, amount or other property
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complaisance
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the willingnes to comply with the wishes of others
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connoisseur
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an informed and astute judge in matters of taste; expert
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consequential
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pompous, self-important
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contemn
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to scorn or despise
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contentious
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argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement
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contiguous
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sharing a border; touching; adjacent
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contrite
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regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness
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convention
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a generally agreed-upon practice or attitude
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convoluted
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complex or complicated
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corrigible
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capable of being set right, correctable, reparable
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countenance
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to approve of or tolerate
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cozen
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to deceive, beguile, hoodwink
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craven
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contemptibly fainthearted, pusillanimous, lacking any courage
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credulous
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tending to believe too readily; gullible
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culpable
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deserving blame
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cynicism
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an attitude or quality of belief that all people are motivated by selfishness
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damp
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to diminish the intensity or check something, such as a sound or feeling
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daunt
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to intimidate or dismay
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dearth
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smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; lack
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debacle
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rout, fiasco, complete failure
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decorum
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politness or appropriateness of conduct or behavior
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demur
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to question or oppose
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denigrate
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blacken, belittle, sully, defame, disparage
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denouement
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an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot
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deprecate
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to disparage or belittle
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depredate
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to plunder, pillage, ravage or destroy; to exploit in a predatory manner
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derision
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scorn, ridicule, contemptuous treatment
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derivative
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unoriginal, obtained from another source
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dessiccate
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to dry out or dehydrate; to make dry or dull
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desuetude
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disuse
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desultory
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random; thoughtless; marked by a lack of plan or purpose
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detraction
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slandering, verbal attack, aspersion
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diaphanous
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transparent, gauzy
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diatribe
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a harsh denunciation
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didactic
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intended to teach or instruct
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die
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a tool used for shaping
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diffidwnt
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reserved, shy, unassuming; lacking in self-confidence
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digress
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to stray from the point; to off on a tagent
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dilatory
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causing delay, procrastinating
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dilettante
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one with an amateurish or superficial intrest in the arts or a branch of knowledge
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din
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loud sustained noise
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disabuse
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to undeceive; to set right
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discomfit
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to defeat, put down
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discordant
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conflicting; dissonant or harsh in sound
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discretion
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cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decision
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disinterested
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free from self-intrest; unbiased
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disparage
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to slight or belittle
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disparate
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fundamentally distinct or dissimilar
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dissemble
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to disguise or conceal; to mislead
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dissolution
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disintegration, looseness in morals
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distrait
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distracted; absent-minded, especially due to anxiety
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divulge
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to disclose something in secret
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doggrel
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trivial, poorly constructed verse
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dogmatic
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authoritatively and or arrogantly assertive of principles, which often cannot be proved; stubbornly opinionated
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dross
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slag, waste or foriegn matter, impurity, surface scum
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dulcet
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melodious, harmonious, mellifluous
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dynamo
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generator; forceful, energetic person
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ebullience
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the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings
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eccentric
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departing from norms or conventions
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eclectic
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composed of elements drawn from various sources
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edifying
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enlightening, informative
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effrontery
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extreme boldness; presumptuousness
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effusive
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gushing; excessively demonstrative
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egress
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exit
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elegy
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a mournful poem, especially one lamenting the deed; any mournful wrtting or peice of music
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eloquent
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well-spoken; expressive; articulant
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emollient
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soothing, especially to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying
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empirical
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based on observation or experiment
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encomium
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glowing and enthusiastic praise; panegyric, tribute, eulogy
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endemic
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characteristic of or often found in a particular locality, region, or people; restricted to or peculiar to that region; indigenous
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enervate
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to weaken; to reduce in vitality
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engender
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to cause, produce, give rise to
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enigmatic
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mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand
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ennui
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dissatisfaction and restlessness from boredom or apathy
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enormity
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excessive wickedness; evilness
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ephermeral
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brief, fleeting, short-lived
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epicure
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one devoted to sensual pleasure, particularly in food and drink; gourmand, sybarite
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episodic
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loosely connected, not flowing logically, occurring at intervals
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epithet
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disparaging word or phrase
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epitome
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enbodiment; quintessence
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equanimity
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composure, self-possession
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equivocate
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to use ambiguous language with a deceptive intent
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errant
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traveling; itinerant, peripatetic
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erudite
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very learned; scholarly
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eschew
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to shun or avoid
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esoteric
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intended for or understood by a small, specific group
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essay
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to test or try; attempt, experiment
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estimable
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worthy; formidable
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eulogy
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a speech honoring the dead
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evancescent
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tending to disappear like vapor; vanishing
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evince
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to show clearly, to indicate
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exacerbate
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to make worse or more severe
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exact
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to demand, call for, require, take
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excoriate
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to cesure scathingly, to upbraid
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exculpate
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to exonerate; to clear of blame
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exemplar
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typical or standard specimen; paradigm, model
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exhort
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to incite, to make urgent appeals
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exigent
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urgent; pressing; requiring immediate action or attention
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exonerate
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to remove blame
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expatiate
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discuss or write about at length; to range freely
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expiate
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to atone or make amends for
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expurgate
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to remove obscenity; purify, censor
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extant
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existing, not destroyed or lost
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extemporaneous
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improvised; done without preparation
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extirpate
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to destroy, exterminate, cut out, pull out by the roots
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facetious
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plyful; humorous; not serious
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fallacy
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an invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief
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fallow
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untilled, inactive, dormant
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fatuous
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silly, inanely foolish
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fawn
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to flatter or praise excessively
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feckless
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ineffectual; irresponsible
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felicitous
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apt; suitably expresses, well chosen, apropos; delightful
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fell
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a barren or stony hill; an animals hide
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fervent
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greatly emotional or zealous
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fetid
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stinking, having a heavy bad smell
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fetter
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to shackle, put in chains, restrain
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filibuster
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intentional obstruction, usually using prolonged speechmaking to delay legislative action
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filigree
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an ornamental work, especially of delicate lacelike patterns; resembling such a pattern
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flag
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to sag or droop, to become spiritless, to decline
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flip
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sarcastic, impertinent
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florid
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flushed with color, ruddy, ornate
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flout
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to demonstrate contempt for
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foment
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to stir up, iite, rouse
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forbearance
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patience, willingness to wait
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ford
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to wade accross the shallow part of a river or stream
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forestall
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to act in a way to hinder, exclude or prevent an action; to circumvent or thwart
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forswear
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to renounce, disallow, repudiate
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fortuitous
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happening by fortunate accident or chance
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fracas
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noisy fight or quarrel, brawl
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fractious
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quarrelsome, rebellious, unruly, cranky
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froward
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intractable, not willing to yield or comply, stubbornly disobediant
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fulminate
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to attack loudly or denounce
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furtive
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marked by stealth; covert; surreptitus
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gainsay
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to deny, dispute, contradict, oppose
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gambol
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to skip about playfully, frolic
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garner
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to gather and save, store up, acquire
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garrulous
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poinlessly talkative, talking too much
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gauche
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crude, ackward, tasteless
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germane
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relevant to the subject at hand; appropriate in subject matter
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glib
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marked by ease or informality; nonchalant; lacking in depth; superficial
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gossamer
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delicate,insubstantial or tenuous; insincere
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grandiloquence
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pompous speech or expression
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gregarious
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sociable; outgoing; enjoying the company of other people
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