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78 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
abjure
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(v) to renounce or reject solemnly; to recant; to avoid
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adumbrate
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(v) to foreshadow vaguely or intimate; to suggest or outline sketchily; to obscure or overshadow
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anathema
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(n) a solemn or ecclesiastical (religious) curse; accursed or thoroughly loathed person or thing
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anodyne
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(adj/n) soothing, something that assuages allays pain or comforts
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apogee
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(n) farthest or highest point; culmination; zenith
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apostate
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(n) one who abandons long-held religious or political convictions
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apotheosis
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(n) deification, glorification to godliness, an exalted example, a model of excellence or perfection
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asperity
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(n) severity, rigor; roughness, harshness; acrimony; irritability
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asseverate
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(v) to aver, allege, assert
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assiduous
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(adj) diligent, hard-working, sedulous
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augury
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(n) omen, portent
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bellicose
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(adj) belligerent, pugnacious, warlike
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calumniate
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(v) to slander, make a false accusation; calumny means slander, aspersion
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captious
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(adj) disposed to point out trivial faults, calculated to confuse of entrap in argument
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cavil
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(v) to find fault without good reason
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celerity
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(n) speed, alacrity; think accelerate
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chimera
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(n) an illusion
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contumacious
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(adj) insubordinate, rebellious; contumely means insult, scorn, aspersion
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debacle
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(n) rout, fiasco, complete failure
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denouement
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(n) an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot
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descry
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(v) to discriminate or discern
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desuetude
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(n) disuse: "After years of desuetude, my French skills were finally put to use."
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desultory
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(adj) random; aimless; marked by a lack of plan or purpose: "Her desultory performance impressed no one."
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diaphanous
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(adj) transparent, gauzy
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diffident
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(adj) reserved, shy, unassuming; lacking in self-confidence
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dirge
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(n) a song of grief or lamentation
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encomium
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(n) glowing and enthusiastic praise; panegyric, tribute, eulogy
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eschew
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(v) to shun or avoid
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excoriate
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(v) to censure scathingly, to upbraid
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execrate
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(v) denounce, feel loathing for, curse, declare to be evil
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exegesis
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(n) critical examination, explication
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expiate
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(v) to atone or make amends for
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extirpate
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(v) to destroy, exterminate, cut out, exscind
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fatuous (adj)
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silly, inanely foolish
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fractious
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(adj) quarrelsome, rebellious, unruly, refractory, irritable
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gainsay
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(v) to deny, dispute, contradict, oppose
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heterodox
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(adj) unorthodox, heretical, iconoclastic
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imbroglio
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(n) difficult or embarrassing situation
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indefatigable
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(adj) not easily exhaustible; tireless, dogged
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ineluctable
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(adj) certain, inevitable
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inimitable
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(adj) one of a kind, peerless
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insouciant
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(adj) unconcerned, carefree, heedless
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inveterate
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(adj) deep rooted, ingrained, habitual
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jejune
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(adj) vapid, uninteresting, nugatory, childish, immature, puerile
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lubricious
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(adj) lewd, wanton, greasy, slippery
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mendicant
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(n) a beggar, supplicant
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meretricious
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(adj) cheap, gaudy, tawdry, flashy, showy, attracting by false show
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minatory
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(adj) menacing, threatening (reminds you of the Minotaur, a threatening creature indeed)
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nadir
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(n) low point, perigee
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nonplussed
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(adj) baffled, bewildered, at a loss for what to do or think
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obstreperous
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(adj) noisily and stubbornly defiant, aggressively boisterous
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ossified
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(adj) tending to become more rigid, conventional, sterile, and reactionary with age; literally, turned into bone
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palliate
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(v) to make something seem less serious, to gloss over, to make less severe or intense
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panegyric
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(n) formal praise, eulogy, encomium; panegyrical means expressing elaborate praise
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parsimonious
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(adj) cheap, miserly
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pellucid
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(adj) transparent, easy to understand, limpid
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peroration
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(n) the concluding part of a speech; flowery, rhetorical speech
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plangent
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(adj) pounding, thundering, resounding
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prolix
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(adj) long-winded, verbose; prolixity means verbosity
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propitiate
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(v) to appease; to conciliate; propitious means auspicious, favorable
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puerile
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(adj) childish, immature, jejune, nugatory
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puissance
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(n) power, strength; puissant means powerful, strong
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pusillanimous
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(adj) cowardly, craven
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remonstrate
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(v) to protest, object
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sagacious
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(adj) having sound judgment; perceptive, wise; like a sage
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salacious
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(adj) lustful, lascivious, bawdy
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salutary
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(adj) remedial, wholesome, causing improvement
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sanguine
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(adj) cheerful, confident, optimistic
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saturnine
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(adj) gloomy, dark, sullen, morose
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sententious
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(adj) aphoristic or moralistic; epigrammatic; tending to moralize excessively
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stentorian
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(adj) extremely loud and powerful
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stygian
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(adj) gloomy, dark
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sycophant
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(n) toady, servile, self-seeking flatterer; parasite
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tendentious
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(adj) biased; showing marked tendencies
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timorous
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(adj) timid, fearful, diffident
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tyro
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(n) novice, greenhorn, rank amateur
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vitiate
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(v) to corrupt, debase, spoil, make ineffective
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voluble
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(adj) fluent, verbal, having easy use of spoken language
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