English 11 Midterm Vocab

Front 1

Exodus

Back 1

A departure, usually of large numbers of people.

Front 2

Exotic

Back 2

Foreign; charmingly unfamiliar or strikingly unusual.

Front 3

Expedient

Back 3

a. Advantageous to one's interest or purpose

b. An emergency course of action; a means to an end

Front 4

Exploit

Back 4

a. To use to the greatest possible advantage, often selfishly.

b. A brilliant or heroic deed.

Front 5

Expound

Back 5

To explain in detail

Front 6

Fabricate

Back 6

a. To assemble or construct from separate parts.

b. To make up with the intention of deceiving

Front 7

Facetious

Back 7

Not menat seriously; playful or humorous

Front 8

Facsimile

Back 8

a. An exact copy.

b. Reproduced exactly

Front 9

Fallacy

Back 9

a. Faulty reasoning; an error in logic

b. A false or mistaken notion

Front 10

Fathom

Back 10

a. A unit of length roughly equal to six feet and used primarily in the measurement of marine depths

b. To get to the bottom of, to understand

Front 11

Fatuous

Back 11

Unconsciously foolish, stupid, or absurd

Front 12

Feasible

Back 12

Possible; both doable and workable

Front 13

Feign

Back 13

To pretend or give a false appearance of

Front 14

Felicitous

Back 14

Agreeably suited to the purpose or occasion; aptly or gracefully expressed.

Front 15

Fetish

Back 15

a. An object believed among primitive peoples to have magical powers.

b. An object or unreasonably excessive attention or reverence.

Front 16

Fiasco

Back 16

A complete failure

Front 17

Fickle

Back 17

LIkely to change for no apparent reason; inconstant.

Front 18

Filch

Back 18

To steal slyly, especially small things.

Front 19

Finesse

Back 19

a. skill delicacy, or subtlety in doing something or handling a situation.

b. To accomplish by subtle or skillful maneuvering

Front 20

Flagrant

Back 20

Extremely and deliberately conspicuous, glaring

Front 21

Flaunt

Back 21

To show off in a conspicuous or offensive way.

Front 22

Flout

Back 22

To treat openly with scorn or contempt

Front 23

Fluctuate

Back 23

To change continually from one position to another.

Front 24

Foible

Back 24

A minor, often amusing, fault or weakness in character.

Front 25

Forestall

Back 25

To secure an advantage or prevent a loss by previous action

Front 26

Formidable

Back 26

a. Arousing fear or admiration because of the unusual size or superiority of the thing involved.

b. Difficult to do because of the size of the job involved.

Front 27

Fortuitous

Back 27

Occurring by chance or accident.

Front 28

Frugal

Back 28

a. Thrifty or economical in the use of money

b. Involving little expense; meager

Front 29

Fulsome

Back 29

Excessive and, for that reason, offensive to good taste and obviously insincere.

Front 30

Futile

Back 30

Incapable of producing the desired result; unsuccessful or ineffective.

Front 31

Garble

Back 31

To distort in such a way as to make unintelligible.

Front 32

Glout

Back 32

To regard with excessive or malicious satisfaction.

Front 33

Goad

Back 33

a. A long pointed stick used for driving animals; anything that spurs a person on.

b. To drive or urge on.

Front 34

Graphic

Back 34

a. Relating to a drawn or pictorial representation; visual.

b. Giving a clear and effective picture; vivid.

Front 35

Gratuitous

Back 35

a. Freely given; done without recompense

b. Uncalled-for; unjustified

Front 36

Gregarious

Back 36

a. Tending to form or move in a heard or other group; social

b. Enjoying the company of others; sociable

Front 37

Grimace

Back 37

a. A twisted facial expression indicating pain, disgust, or disapproval

b. To contort the features of the face in order to indicate pain, disgust, or disapproval.

Front 38

Grope

Back 38

To feel around for.

Front 39

Grueling

Back 39

Extremely demanding and exhausting

Front 40

Gruesome

Back 40

Causing great shock, horror, and repugnance

Front 41

Gullible

Back 41

Easily cheated or deceived

Front 42

Haggard

Back 42

Worn and exhausted from anxiety, disease, huger, or fatigue

Front 43

Harangue

Back 43

a. A long, emotional public address designed to arouse strong feelings or spur the audience on to action

b. To deliver a harangue

Front 44

Harbinger

Back 44

a. A forerunner

b. To herald the approach of

Front 45

Haughty

Back 45

Scornfully superior and aloof.

Front 46

Heinous

Back 46

Grossly wicked or vile

Front 47

Ignominy

Back 47

Dishonor or disgrace usually resulting from some sort of shameful conduct.

Front 48

Illicit

Back 48

Unlawful, illegal

Front 49

Immaculate

Back 49

Entirely free of stain, blemish, fault, or error; spotless

Front 50

Immunity

Back 50

Exemption from something, especially a disease.

Front 51

Immutable

Back 51

Not subject to change or modification

Front 52

Impasse

Back 52

A deadlock or dead end

Front 53

Impediment

Back 53

A hindrance or obstruction

Front 54

Impervious

Back 54

Incapable of being penetrated or affected.

Front 55

Implacable

Back 55

Incapable of being pacified or appeased; inflexible.

Front 56

Implicit

Back 56

a. Understood, implied.

b. Absolute, unquestioning

Front 57

Impugn

Back 57

To call into question; to cast doubt on

Front 58

Incarcerate

Back 58

To put in jail or otherwise confine

Front 59

Incense

Back 59

To make violently angry.

Front 60

Inception

Back 60

The beginning of something

Front 61

Indigent

Back 61

Impoverished; needy

Front 62

Ingenious

Back 62

Showing remarkable originality, imagination, inventiveness, or skill; clever

Front 63

Inherent

Back 63

Existing as a natural or essential part of.

Front 64

Innovation

Back 64

Something new; a change

Front 65

Instigate

Back 65

To stir up or urge on

Front 66

Insuperable

Back 66

Incapable of being overcome

Front 67

Intervene

Back 67

To come between; to involve oneself in

Front 68

Intrepid

Back 68

Fearless and bold.

Front 69

Inveigh

Back 69

To protest bitterly or vehemently

Front 70

Irony

Back 70

Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually happens.

Front 71

Jeopardize

Back 71

To endanger

Front 72

Jettison

Back 72

To throw overboard; to discard

Front 73

Judicious

Back 73

Having or exhibitng sound judgment

Front 74

Justify

Back 74

To show to be just, right, valid, or free of blame

Front 75

Lackadaisical

Back 75

Sorely lackign in spirit, energy, or purpose

Front 76

Legacy

Back 76

Something left to a person in a will; something handed down from the past

Front 77

Liability

Back 77

a. A debt or obligation, especially of a financial nature.

b. A hindrance or handicap

Front 78

Libel

Back 78

a. A public statement or picture that damages a person by falsely impugning his or her character, motives, or actions, or by unjustly exposing the person to public censure or ridicule.

b. To slander publicly

Front 79

Litigation

Back 79

Legal action; a lawsuit

Front 80

Lucid

Back 80

Clear and intelligible to the understanding; mentally competent

Front 81

Lucrative

Back 81

Profitable

Front 82

Lurk

Back 82

To sneak; to lie hidden or in wait.

Front 83

Lush

Back 83

a. Luxuriant, plentiful; luxurious, opulent

b. Overelaborate or overripe

Front 84

Malapropism

Back 84

An unconscious and usually ludicrous misuse of a word.

Front 85

Malice

Back 85

A desire to cause harm or suffering; deep-seated ill will.

Front 86

Mammoth

Back 86

a. An extinct form of elephant; a giant or colussus

b. Gigantic

Front 87

Mandatory

Back 87

Requried, obligatory

Front 88

Medium

Back 88

The means by which some goal is achieved or the person through hwom it is realized

Front 89

Mercenary

Back 89

a. A hirelin, especially a hired professional soldier

b. Motivated solely by a desire for material gain

Front 90

Moot

Back 90

a. Debatable and therefore unresolved

b. To bring up for discussion

Front 91

Morass

Back 91

A swamp or bog; a confused or degradign situation that is difficult to get out of.

Front 92

Motley

Back 92

a. A kind of multicolored cloth; a garment made from this cloth, especially the costume worn by a court jester or clown.

b. Multicolored; diverse or varied

Front 93

Mundane

Back 93

Worldly (as opposed to spiritual); humdrum or everyday

Front 94

Myriad

Back 94

Countless, innumerable

Front 95

Narcissistic

Back 95

Dominated by an excessive love or admiration of oneself.

Front 96

Nebulous

Back 96

Hazy, vague, or indistinct

Front 97

Negligible

Back 97

Too small to be significant

Front 98

Nepotism

Back 98

Unwarrented favoritism shown to relatives or friends by someone in high office

Front 99

Nomadic

Back 99

Wandering, roving

Front 100

Nominal

Back 100

a. Existing in name only

b. Insignificantly small

Front 101

Nostalgia

Back 101

A longign to retrun to a sentimentalized past; homesickness

Front 102

Novice

Back 102

a. A person who has just entered a religious order on a probationary basis

b. A beginning of any kind

Front 103

Nuance

Back 103

A slight or subtle variation in meaning, expression, tone, feeling, color, or the like.

Front 104

Obscene

Back 104

Offensive to accepted standards of decency; repulsive

Front 105

Obsequious

Back 105

Excessively submissive to another person's wishes or ideas, often for purely self-interested reasons

Front 106

Obsession

Back 106

An irrational preoccupation with an idea or feeling that usually results in severe anxiety

Front 107

Obsolete

Back 107

No longer in use; outmoded

Front 108

Officious

Back 108

Excessively forward in offering unwanted or unnecessary help or advice; meddlesome

Front 109

Ominous

Back 109

Foreshadowing evil; menacing or threatening

Front 110

Opportune

Back 110

Suitable, appropriate, or timely

Front 111

Ostensible

Back 111

Apparent or professed

Front 112

Ostracize

Back 112

To banish or exclude from a group; to shun

Front 113

Pandemonium

Back 113

General disorder, confusion, noise, and commotion

Front 114

Paradox

Back 114

a. A seemingly self-contradictory statement that, on closer examination, proves worthy of belief

b. Someone or something that is full of contradictions and inconcsistencies

Front 115

Paraphrase

Back 115

a. To restate in other words or another form, often in order to clarify meaning or avoid difficulties.

b. A restatement in other words or another form

Front 116

Parochial

Back 116

a. Located in, or supported by, a parish

b. Restricted in scope or range; narrow or limited

Front 117

Parody

Back 117

a. A comic imitation of the style, form, or content of a serious piece of work

b. A performance that is so bad as to constitute a mockery of the thing it is intended to represent

c. To imitate in a mocking or unworthy way

Front 118

Pensive

Back 118

Immersed in deep, often melancholy, thought