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151 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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abate
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to reduce in amount or severity
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abscond
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leave secretly
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aggrandize
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to increase in power, influence, reputation
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antipathy
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extreme dislike
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assuage
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to make something unpleasant less severe
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attenuate
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to reduce in force or degree; to weaken
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austere
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`severe or stern in appearance; undecorated
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bombastic
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pompous in speech and manner
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chicanery
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deception by means of craft or guile
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cogent
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convincing and well reasoned
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credulous
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too trusting; gullible
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decorum
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appropriateness of behavior or conduct; propriety
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deference
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respect;courtesy
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deride
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to speak of or treat with contempt; to mock
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desiccate
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to dry out thoroughly
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desultory
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jumping from one thing to another; disconnected
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diatribe
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an abusive condemnatory speech
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diffident
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lacking self-confidence
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dilatory
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intended to delay
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dilettante
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someone with an amateurish and supervicial interest in a topic
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disabuse
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to set right; to free from error
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disparate
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fundamentally different; entirely unlike
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dogmatic
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dictatorial in one's opinions
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enverate
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to reduce in strength
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equivocate
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to use expressions of double meaning in order to mislead
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estimable
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admirable
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exculpate
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to clear from blame; prove innocent
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exigent
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urgent; requiring immediate action
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fawn
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to grovel
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florid
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excessively decorated or embellished
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foment
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to arise or incite
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iconoclast
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one who opposes established beliefs, customs, and institutions
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imperturbable
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not capable of being disturbed
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impetuous
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quick to act without thinking
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inchoate
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not fully formed; disorganized
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ingenuous
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showing innocence or childlike simplicity
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inimical
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hostile, unfriendly
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insipid
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lacking interest or flavor
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laconic
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using few words
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malinger
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to evade responsibility by pretending to be ill
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obsequious
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overly submissive and eager to please
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obviate
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to prevent; to make unnecessary
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occlude
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to stop up; to prevent the passage of
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pedant
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someone who shows off learning
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perfidious
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willing to betray one's trust
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perfunctory
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done in a routine way
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precipitate
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to throw violently or bring about abruptly; lacking deliberation
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prevaricate
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to lie or deviate from the truth
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propitiate
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to conciliate; to appease; to win over
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quiescent
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motionless
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reticent
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silent, reserved
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specious
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deceptively attractive; seemingly plausible but fallacious
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stolid
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unemotional; lacking sensitivity
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tirade
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long, harsh speech or verbal attack
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vacillate
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to sway physically; to be indecisive
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phlegmatic
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having and unemotional and stolidly calm disposition
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engender
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to cause or bring about
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imprecation
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to curse
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rejoinder
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a response
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scintilla
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trace amount
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umbrage
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offense; "take umbrage"
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multifarious
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diverse or multifold
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maudlin
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overly sentimental
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cupidity
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greed or irresistible desire for material goods
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largess
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a generous giving or benevolence that carries a connotation of giving to the less fortunate or inferior
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intrepidity
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fearless, even reckless courage
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cosset
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pamper or treat with great care
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ossify
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to harden or set in a rigidly conventional pattern or to change into bone
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sardonic
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cynical or scornfully mocking
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salubrious
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healthful or therapeutic
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diaphanous
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delicate or gauzy and is often used to descibe fabric
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trenchant
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incisive, sharp, even caustic or cutting
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sanguine
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cheerfully optimistic
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burnish
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to polish
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slake
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calm down or moderate
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quash
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to suppress or put down
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hoary
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means very old, often with the connotation of white or gray from age
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monastic
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plain, even austere
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lachrymose
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tearful or weepy either literally or temperamentally
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perspicacious
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keen witted, astute, or shrewd
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munificent
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great generosity
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supercilious
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haughtily disdainful or contemptuous, as a person or a facial expression.
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abstruse
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hard to understand
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esuriency
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hungry; greedy
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virulent
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actively poinsonous
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repine
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fret, complain, be discontent
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inveterate
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settled or confirmed in habit
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aberrant
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deviating from normal or correct
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antediluvian
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ancient; outmoded
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aver
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to declare
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blandishment
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speech or action intended to coax someone into doing something
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cadge
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to get something by taking advantage of someone
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complaisant
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willingly compliant or accepting of the status quo (n:complaisance)
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conflagration
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a great fire
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craven
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cowardly; a coward
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depredation
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the act of preying upon or plundering
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descry
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to make clear, to say
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emollient
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softening; something that softens
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encomium
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a formal eulogy or speech or praise
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impecunious
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penniless; poor
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imperious
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commanding
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ineffable
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undescribable; inexpressible in words; unspeakable
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lugubrious
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weighty, mournful, or gloomy, especially to an excessive degree
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magnanimity
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generosity and nobility
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panegyric
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a writing or speech in praise of a person or thing
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peccadillo
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a small sin or fault
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petulant
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childishly irritable
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pulchritudinous
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beautiful
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pusillanimous
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cowardly, timid, or irreselute; petty
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reproof
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the act of censuring, scolding, or rebuking (v. reprove)
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sagacious
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having a sharp or powerful intellect or discernment
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saturnine
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having a gloomy or morose temperament
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sedulous
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diligent; persevering; persistent
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tractable
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ability to be easily managed or controlled
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turpitude
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depravity, baseness
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tyro
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beginner, person lacking experience
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vacuous
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empty without contents; without ideas or intelligence
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fecund
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capable of producing offspring
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stymie
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to hinder obstruct or block
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dulcet
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pleasant to the ear, melodious
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compunction
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remorse, a feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of the conscience caused by regret for doing wrong or causing pain; contrition;
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churl
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a rude boorish person
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hew
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to strike forcibly, cut, hack
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requite
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to make repayment
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refractory
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hard or impossible to manage, stubbornly disobedient
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venal
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open to bribery
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lucubrate
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to work, write, or study laboriously, especially at night.
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fulsome
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offensive to good taste, especially as being excessive; overdone or gross
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rapacious
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given to seizing for plunder or the satisfaction of greed.
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maladroit
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unskillful, awkward
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excoriation
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to strip the skin from an animal or severe criticism
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parsimonious
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frugal or stingy
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meretricious
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alluring by a show of flashy or vulgar attractions; tawdry.
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divestiture
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the act of dispossessing or depriving
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gainsay
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to oppose
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welter
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to roll, toss, or heave
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peripatetic
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walking or traveling about
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nadir
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lowest point, point of greatest adversity
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germane
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relevant
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recondite
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difficult to understand
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machination
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plot, crafty scheme
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apostate
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a person who forsakes his religion, cause, party, etc.
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lassitude
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weariness or tiredness
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mettlesome
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courageous, high-spirited
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probity
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integrity, uprightness; honesty
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sententious
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abounding in pithy aphorisms or maxims
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amortize
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to liquidate or extinguish (a mortgage, debt, or other obligation), especially by periodic payments to the creditor or to a sinking fund.
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argot
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jargon, slang
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extempore
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spur of the moment, without notes
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fulmination
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to make criticisms or denunciations
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gaucherie
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socially awkward, tactless behavior
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