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50 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back

abscission


(noun)


ab-SIZZ-zhun

Def: Cutting off; sudden termination; the separation of leaves, petals, or other parts from a plant or animal




Usage: The abscission of leaves from the trees is normal in the fall./An inflamed appendix calls for an immediate surgical abscission.

burnish


(verb)


BUR-nish

Def: Polish, make smooth and lustrous




Usage: Mr. Hoffenstotter replaced all of the rustic wood doorknobs with newer models made of burnished steel. "So shiny," said his delighted wife.

distaff


(adj, noun)


DISS-taff

Def: Female, esp. relating to the maternal side of the family; women or women's work; a staff that holds will or flax spinning




Usage: In completing your medical history, please try to remember which illnesses occurred on the distaff side of your family./Medical studies using all male study groups may produce results that cannot be replicated in distaff subjects.

grievous


(adj)


GREE-vuss

Def: Causing grief or suffering; very serious, grave; flagrant, outrageous




Usage: While people certainly do injure themselves on hot stoves, such burns rarely compare to the grievous injuries sustained by people who do not observe safety procedures with twelve-gallon deep fryers.

inexorable


(adj)


in-ECK-ser-uh-bull

Def: Relentless, unyielding; not moved by pleading




Usage: Many people fled Europe in the face of Hitler's inexorable march across the continent.

leery


(adj)


LEER-ee

Def: Suspicious or wary




Usage: You should be leery of any business opportunity that requires a startup fee and a "sponsor" -- you might find yourself sucked into a scam.

palatial


(adj)


puh-LAY-shull

Def: Suitable for or resembling a palace, magnificent




Usage: After a career spent in budget hotels. she was thrilled when the client put her up in a palatial room at a five-star hotel. She raided the minibar and then promptly fell asleep on the 600-thread-count duvet.

querulous


(adj)


KWAIR-ull-uss

Def: Given to complaining, grumbling




Usage: Norma had been happy to be a grandmother, but was somewhat less happy when a querulous child was dropped off on her doorstep--"I don't want to come inside," "I don't like sandwiches," "It's too cold in the bathroom." Would the whining and moaning ever stop?

stratum


(noun)


STRAY-tum or STRAT-um




Also strata (noun, plural of stratum)

Def: One of may layers (such as in a rock formation or in the classes of a society)




Usage: From overhearing his rich and powerful passengers' conversations, the chauffeur grew to dispose the upper stratum of society./I love this dish -- it's like a lasagna, but with strata made of bread, eggs, and pancetta! Oh, look at the menu -- it's actually called a strata! That makes perfect sense.

wizened


(adj)


WIZZ-end

Def: Withered, shriveled




Usage: Fortunately, the wizened heads for sale at the Ecuadorian market weren't really shrunken heads -- just souvenirs for tourists./ The wizened old man still possessed a remarkably sharp mind.

perfunctory


(adj)


per-FUNK-tuh-ree

Def: Done superficially, without much care, or merely as routine




Usage: She did a really perfunctory job on this Powerpoint. Sure, it has a dozen slides, but most of them just say things like "Sales--Ways to Improve" in Times New Roman on a white background. Maybe she's planning to fill in the details later.

mannered


(adj)


MAN-erd

Def: Having a particular manner, esp. an artificial one




Usage: Although he grew up in rural Ohio, sometime before he got his own makeover show on television he adopted a mannered way of speaking, as though he had grown up in some very odd corner of Victorian England.

legerdemain


(noun)


led-jer-deh-MAYN

Def: Slight-of-hand (magic as performed by a magician); trickery or deception




Usage: The child was astounded when her uncle pulled out a quarter from behind her ear. Of course, she hadn't actually lost a quarter there; it was just a bit of legerdemain from an amateur magician.

insensible


(adj)


in-SEN-sih-bull

Def: Incapable of feeling; unconscious, unaware




Usage: Very intoxicated people can be insensible to pain, leading to serious problems as they injure themselves and don't realize it./ I cannot believe that, while I was insensible after the operation, you put funny hats on me and took pictures! You are insensible to shame!

impassive


(adj)


im-PASS-iv

Def: Not having or not showing physical feeling or emotion




Usage: Having been in and out of hospitals all his life, he accepted this latest diagnosis impassively-- "Whatever happens, happens," he said.

gambol


(verb)


GAM-bull

Def: Frolic; skip or leap playfully




Usage: Watching the children gambol in the park like frisky little lambs, she wondered how they could have so much energy.

effrontery


(noun)


eft-run-ter-ee

Def: Shameless boldness




Usage: Mr. Jackson though his daughter's boyfriend guilty of the worst effrontery when he asked for her and in marriage -- and, as soon as Mr. Jackson gave his blessing, followed up by asking for a job at Mr. Jackson's company.

dilatory


(adj)


DILL-uh-tor-ee

Def: Slow, late; procrastinating or stalling for time




Usage: Jack was supposed to start his presentation ten minutes ago and he isn't even here? I'm not surprised -- he's a dilatory fellow.

apostle


(noun)


uh-PAH-sull

Def: Pioneer of a reform movement (originally, an early follower of Jesus)




Usage: In the 1980's, when low-fat diets were all the rage, Dr. Rubens became an apostle of the Mediterranean diet, high in healthy fats, and traveled the world proselytizing to groups of physicians and nutritionists.

abscond


(verb)


ab-SCOND

Def: Depart suddenly and secretively




Usage: A robber absconds with stolen goods. People who eat in a restaurant and run without paying -- or criminals who jump bail -- could also be said to be absconding.

abyss


(noun)


uh-BISS

Def: A deep and vast space or cavity; anything profound or infinite




Usage: Walking a tightrope over an active volcano, the acrobat was terrified of falling into the abyss./ Now recovering, the patient remembered her experience with clinical depression as an abyss of hopelessness.

balloon


(verb)


buh-LOON

Def: Swell or puff out; increase rapidly




Usage: During the dot-com bubble, the university's investments ballooned to three times their former value.

dictum


(noun)


DICT-um

Def: Formal or authoritative pronouncement; saying or proverb




Usage: "A stitch in time saves nine" is an old dictum meaning that it's easier to solve a problem before it gets too big./ The king's dictum stated that each feudal lord must provide a certain number of soldiers within three week's time.

fractious


(adj)


FRACK-chuss

Def: Unruly, troublemaking; irritable




Usage: The Students for Progressive Action were a fractious bunch, always fighting with one another over exactly which progressive action should take priority.

insurrection


(noun)


in-ser-ECK-shun

Def: Rebellion or revolt against a government or similarly established authority




Usage: Due to frequent insurrections, the nation has had six governments in just five years./ The principal prepared for insurrection as she announced that all teachers were to spend the rest of the year exclusively preparing for standardized tests.

lethargic


(adj)


leth-AR-jick

Def: Lazy, drowsy, or sluggish




Usage: I do love the Golden Corral's reasonably priced buffet, but I feel so lethargic after I eat my weight in mac-and-cheese and hand-carved turkey.

panache


(noun)


puh-NASH

Def: Flair, style, swagger; a flamboyant or grand way of acting



Usage: Not only did he quit, but he did so with panache, actually delivering a Powerpoint presentation that we thought would be about the budget, but which turned out to be quite obscene. He then pulled out a flask, guzzled its contents, and walked out. That guy's kind of a legend.



recondite


(adj)


RECK-un-dite or rih-CAHN-dite

Def: Not easily understood, hidden, dealing with an obscure topic




Usage: Professor Ryan's office is full of books, every single one of which is more than 400 years old, and many of them in ancient Greek. He deals in some seriously recondite information.

stint


(noun, verb)


STINT

Def: Period of time spent doing something, or a specific, limited amount of work (noun); to be frugal, to get by on a little (verb)




Usage: After a stint in combat, Jared was used to eating whatever he was given, and being sparing with the few condiments available. After watching him stint on ketchup, his wife said, "Honey, seriously, here you can use all you want!"

vestige


(noun)


VEST-idge

Def: Trace or sign of something that once existed




Usage: They hadn't officially broken up, but she felt their relationship was running on fumes -- than only vestiges of their former affection remained.

accede


(verb)


ack-SEED




Also accedence (noun)

Def: Agree, give consent; assume power (usually as "accede to")




Usage: While the Englishman was a strong believer in democracy, he had to accede that watching Prince Charles someday accede to the throne would indeed be exciting.

approbation


(noun)


app-roh-BAY-shun

Def: Praise or approval, especially formal approval




Usage: In her speech for class president, she won the approbation of her peers by promising not only to save the prom, but to raise enough money to make it free for everyone.

canard


(noun)


cuh-NARD

Def: Rumor, a false or baseless story




Usage: The idea that we only use 10% of our brains is tired, old canard; actually, even the dumbest people use all of their brains.

discrete


(adj)


diss-CREET

Def: Separate, distinct, detached, existing as individual parts




Usage: Be sure to use quotation marks and citations as appropriate in your paper in order to keep your ideas discrete from those of experts you are quoting./ The advertising agency pitched us not on one campaign, but on three discrete ideas.

garner


(verb)


GAR-ner

Def: Gather and store; amass, collect




Usage: The publisher sent copies of the soon-to-be published manuscript to reviewers, hoping to garner acclaim and publicity for the book.

infallible


(adj)


in-FAL-ih-bull




Also fallible (adj), fallacious (adj)

Def: Incapable of error; certain




Usage: No good scientist things he or she is infallible -- it is fundamental to the scientific method that every theory is open to revision based on new evidence.

licentious


(adj)


lie-SENT-shuss

Def: Sexually unrestrained; immoral; ignoring the rules




Usage: The licentious behavior Joe was accustomed to practicing at the local strip club was enough to get him thrown out of a nice restaurant and fired from his new job.

mar


(verb)


MAR

Def: Damage, spoil, ruin




Usage: The interior designer's secret was to buy furnishings and fixtures that had been marred on the shop floor and therefore were sold at steep discounts; she would then fix the defects herself or add additional aging effects to the pieces.

recalcitrant


(adj)


rih-CAL-sih-truhnt

Def: Not obedient, resisting authority, hard to manage




Usage: As an aspiring kindergarten teacher, she had imagined days filled with giggles and singing songs about friendship -- she was not prepared for a roomful of twenty recalcitrant children who wouldn't even sit down, much less learn the words to "Holding Hands Around the World."

umbrage


(noun)


UM-bridge

Def: Offense or annoyance (usually as take umbrage, meaning become offended or annoyed)




Usage: With thirty years' experience in the field and quite recent successes on a variety of projects, the executive understandably took umbrage when a coworker suggested that he was good to have around to remind other of the "ancient history."

prolix


(adj)


proh-LICKS or PROH-licks




Also prolixity (noun)

Def: Excessively long and wordy (of a person, piece of writing, etc.)




Usage: My mother is incredibly verbose. She'll tell a boring, prolix story for five whole minutes, and at the end, it turns out that the point was that she got a fifty cent discount on a box of spaghetti at the store.

overwrought


(adj)


oh-ver-RAHT

Def: Overly nervous, agitated, or excited; too ornate, elaborate, or fussy; overdone




Usage: By the time her boyfriend met her in the park, she was overwrought, thinking he must have chosen a public place so he could beak up with her -- turned out, he had just invited her to a picnic./ Accustomed to more spare American churches, Father Smith found the churches of South America a bit overwrought, with enormous, flowery, gold alters and gold-plating on everything imaginable.

limpid


(adj)


LIMP-id

Def: Clear, transparent; completely thin




Usage: Hawaii was amazing! The water was crystal clear -- so limpid that when you were scuba diving, you could see ahead for what seemed like miles!/ After two years mediating in religious seclusion, he had a totally limpid attitude, affected by nothing from the outside world.

inordinate


(adj)


in-OR-din-it

Def: Excessive, not within proper limits, unrestrained




Usage: Students taking online GRE practices tests at home often take an inordinate number of breaks -- remember, on the real thing, you can't stop just because you're tired or hungry.

effigy


(noun)


EFF-ih-jee

Def: Representation or image of a person, esp. a crude facsimile used to make a hated person






Usage: The dictator was disturbed to look out the palace window and see himself being burned in effigy. "That paper ache dummy doesn't even look like me!" he said.

bucolic


(adj)


byoo-CALL-ick

Def: Pertaining to shepherds; suggesting a peaceful and pleasant view of rural life




Usage: The play was set in a bucolic wonderland -- while getting some shepherd's robes for the lead actor was not problem, the stagehands had a hard time bringing in a flock of sheep.

accretion


(noun)


uh-CREE-shun




Also accrue (verb)

Def: Gradual increase; an added part or addition




Usage: He was pleased by the accretion of money in his portfolio./ Some charitable funds keep the principal in their accounts untouched and use only the accretion for philanthropic purposes.

penumbra


(noun)


pen-UM-bruh

Def: Outer part of a shadow from an eclipse; any surrounding region, fringe, periphery; any area where something "sort of" exists




Usage: The Constitution doesn't specifically mention a right to privacy, but some experts consider this to exist in the penumbra of the Constitution, as a guarantee of privacy is need in order to exercise the rights that are enumerated./ The rent in Chicago was too high, so they moved to a suburb in the penumbra of the city.

rarefied


(adj)


RARE-if-ide

Def: Lofty, very high up or elevated (in a metaphorical way); exclusive, select; thin, pure, or less dense (as air at the top of the mountain)




Usage: Among the rarefied ranks of conference attendees, she counted two Nobel Prize Winners, a MacArthur Genius Grant winner, and Bill Gates -- and that was just at one lunch table!

winsome


(adj)


WIN-sum

Def: Charming, engaging, esp. in a sweet and innocent way




Usage: It's hard for some to believe that Lindsay Lohan was once the winsome young starlet in Freaky Friday.