English Vocab 16

Front 1

huguenot

Back 1

noun

a member of the Reformed or Calvinistic communion of France in the 16th and 17th centuries; a French Protestant.

Front 2

epic

Back 2

adj


1. resembly to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style:
Homer's Iliad is an epic poem.
an epic novel on the founding of the country.

2. heroic; majestic; impressively great:
the epic events of the war.
a crime wave of epic proportions.

Front 3

coloratura

Back 3

–noun

1. runs, trills, and other florid decorations in vocal music.

2. a lyric soprano of high range who specializes in such music.

Front 4

rollicking

Back 4

–adjective

1. carefree and joyous:
They had a rollicking good time.

2. swaggering(); boisterous.

Hint 4

swaggering, verb

To walk or conduct oneself with an insolent or arrogant air; strut

Front 5

roman à clef

Back 5

raw-mah na "kler"

a novel that represents historical events and characters under the guise of fiction.

Front 6

newfangled

Back 6

adjective

1. too new to be considered reliable

2. New, esp. gratiutously new

3. Fond of novelty.

Front 7

hector

Back 7

n.

A bully.

Front 8

bedraggled

Back 8

verb

1. to make limp, dirty and wet, as if dragged through the mud

2. Being in a deteriorated condition; dilapidated:
a street of bedraggled tenements.

Front 9

mash-up

Back 9

noun.

An audio recording that is a composite of samples from other recordings, usually from different musical styles

Front 10

choleric

Back 10

adj

extremely irritable or easily angered; irascible:
a choleric disposition.

Front 11

gridiron

Back 11

noun

1. a football field.

2. a utensil consisting of parallel metal bars on which to broil meat or other food.

3. a structure above the stage of a theater, from which hung scenery and the like are manipulated.

Front 12

scamp

Back 12

–noun

1. an unscrupulous and mischievous person, especially a naughty young person (upstart)
rascal; rogue; scalawag.

2. a grouper, Mycteroperca phenax, of Florida:
so called from its habit of stealing bait.

Front 13

jive

Back 13

–noun

1. swing music or early jazz and associated jargon.

2. Slang. deceptive, exaggerated, or meaningless talk:
Don't give me any of that jive!

Front 14

shtetl

Back 14

"shtet"-l

(formerly) a Jewish village or small-town community in eastern Europe.

Front 15

tableaux

Back 15

noun

1. A vivid or graphic description:
The movie was a tableau of a soldier's life.

2 A striking incidental scene, as of a picturesque group of people:
"New public figures suddenly abound in the hitherto faceless totalitarian tableaux" (John McLaughlin).

3. An interlude during a scene when all the performers on stage freeze in position and then resume action as before.

Front 16

verisimilitude

Back 16

–noun

1. the appearance of truth; the quality of seeming to be true

2. something having merely the appearance of truth.

Front 17

potshot

Back 17

n.

1. A casual or easy shot.

2. criticism aimed at an easy target made without careful consideration
reporters taking potshots at the mayor.

Front 18

curmudgeon

Back 18

n.

a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.

Front 19

flack

Back 19

–noun Sometimes Disparaging.

1. press agent.

2. publicity.

Front 20

wistful

Back 20

–adjective

1. characterized by melancholy; longing; yearning.

2. pensive(), esp. in a melancholy way.

Hint 20

pensive, adj

1. Deeply, dreamily thoughtful.

2. Melancholic thoughtfulness.

Front 21

cheeky

Back 21

adj.

offensively bold; insulting

impudent (rude; disrespectful); insolent (arrogant; rude, disrespectful); impertinent (improperly forward, irrelevant); saucy (improperly forward); audacious (recklessly bold); pert (boldly forward; stylish; lively); brazen (shameless; made of brass)

cheeky fellow
cheeky behavior.

Front 22

bile

Back 22

–noun

1. Physiology. a bitter, alkaline, yellow or greenish liquid, secreted by the liver, that aids in absorption and digestion, esp. of fats.

2. ill temper; peevishness.

3. Old Physiology. either of two humors associated with anger and gloominess.

Front 23

canny

Back 23

–adjective

1. careful; cautious; prudent:
a canny reply.

2. astute; shrewd; knowing; sagacious():
a canny negotiator.

3. frugal; thrifty:
a canny housewife.

Hint 23

sagacious:
suh-"gey"-shuhs

Front 24

specious

Back 24

adjective

1. Having the ring of truth or plausibility but actually fallacious/lacking real merit;
specious arguments.

2. deceptively attractive

Front 25

consternation

Back 25

noun

paralyzing fear

Front 26

mountebank

Back 26

moun-tuh-bangk

noun

1. a flamboyant deceiver selling false medicines; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes

2. any charlatan() or quack

Hint 26

charatan: noun
one who makes fraudulent claims to skill or knowledge

Front 27

edict

Back 27

–noun

1. a decree issued by a sovereign or other authority.

2. any authoritative proclamation or command.

Front 28

deracinate

Back 28

verb

1. to pull up by the roots; uproot; extirpate(); eradicate.

2. to displace (a person) from a native or accustomed environment/culture.

Hint 28

extirpate: verb:
1. to remove or destroy totally; exterminate
2. to pull up by or as if by the roots.

Front 29

light

Back 29

verb

1. to get down or descend, as from a horse or a vehicle.

2. to come to rest, as on a spot or thing; fall or settle upon; land:
The bird lighted on the branch.
My eye lighted on some friends in the crowd.

3. to come by chance; happen; hit (usually fol. by on or upon):
to light on a clue;
to light on an ideal picnic spot.

4. to fall, as a stroke, weapon, vengeance, or choice, on a place or person:
The choice lighted upon our candidate.

Front 30

quarry

Back 30

noun

1. A surface excavation for extracting stone.

2. A rich or productive source:
found the book an indispensable quarry of information.

3. a hunted animal or bird.

4. any object of search, pursuit, or attack.

Front 31

stubble

Back 31

–noun

1. Usually, stubbles. the stumps of grain and other stalks left in the ground when the crop is cut.

2. such stumps collectively.

3. any short, rough growth, as of beard.

Front 32

gauntlet

Back 32

noun

1. a medieval glove, as of mail or plate, worn by a knight in armor to protect the hand.

2. a glove with an extended cuff for the wrist.

3. the cuff itself.

—Idioms
4. take up the gauntlet,

a. to accept a challenge to fight:
He was always willing to take up the gauntlet for a good cause.

b. to show one's defiance.

Also, take up the glove.

5. throw down the gauntlet,

a. to challenge.

b. to defy.
Also, throw down the glove.

Front 33

feint

Back 33

n.


1. A feigned attack designed to draw defensive action away from an intended target.

2. A deceptive action calculated to divert attention from one's real purpose. See Synonyms at wile.

Front 34

goshawk

Back 34

"gos"-hawk

–noun

any of several powerful, short-winged hawks, as Accipiter gentilis, of Europe and America, formerly much used in falconry.

Front 35

aerie

Back 35

–noun

1. a lofty nest of any large bird, esp a bird of prey

2. a house, fortress, or the like, located high on a hill or mountain.

Front 36

duly

Back 36

adverb

1. in a due manner; properly; fittingly.

2. in due season; punctually.

Front 37

scrum

Back 37

noun

A play in Rugby in which the two sets of forwards mass together around the ball and, with their heads down, struggle to gain possession of the ball.

Front 38

goad

Back 38

verb

To prod or urge with or as if with a long pointed stick.