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58 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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acrid
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sharp, pungent (as in smell/taste)
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Think acid...smelly..
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boorish
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rude, ill-mannered
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The boar was boorish..it bit her in the butt.
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cynical
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believing that people act only out of selfish motives
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you know this word.
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epistle
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letter
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in church, they always read "a letter from the apostles..." so it's like an "epistle from the apostles." ha.
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heresy
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against orthodox opinion
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Galileo's beliefs went against the gov't, so they threw him in jail for being a heretic.
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lance
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spear, javelin, spike
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Lance Armstrong rides bicycles but if he did track and field, he'd totally throw the lance.
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obscure
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difficult to understand, partially hidden
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The natives were speaking in an obscure language he could not understand.
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poignant
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deeply moving
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Her poignant speech had the entire audience applauding on their feet, they were so deeply moved.
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respite
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break, intermission
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sounds like "rest"
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terse
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short, concise, to the point
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Terk: So, how was your date with Julie last night?!
J.D.:] Good. Terk:.....that's it? Terk was dying to hear all the details, but only got a terse reply from his best friend. |
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acrophobia
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fear of heights
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If you're an acrobat with acrophobia, you're screwed.
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bourgeois
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middle class
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spelled like burgers...poor people can't afford them, rich people eat fancier gourmet food. which leaves burgers to be eaten by the ______ ______.
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debility
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weakness
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think debil. in spanish....it means weak.
or, it sounds like disability, which is like a weakness. |
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epistolary
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concerning letters
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an epistle is a.....
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hiatus
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interruption, pause
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any conversation that starts with "hiya..." will always be followed by an awkward pause. so hiatus....which starts with "hiya"...is a..
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languid
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tired, slow
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rhymes with squid. which kind of move slow through the water with their little tentacle things. so languid means...
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obscured
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buried, hidden, covered
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the stupid truck in front of her on the road obscured her vision of the road ahead.
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poised
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calm, collected
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the ballerina was poised and graceful as she danced across the stage.
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resplendent
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shining, glowing
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has the word "splendid" in it, kind of...and you think of bright, shiny, glorious things when you think splendid, right?
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therapeutic
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medicinal, curative
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duh.
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acuity
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sharpness (mental/visual)
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acute angle is very pointy and sharp...so acuity means
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braggart
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one who is boastful
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someone who's BRAGgart...likes to brag...
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debunking
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exposing false claims or myths
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Brendan Kelly fell off his bunk bed in the middle of the night at the Odyssey and had a serious debunking when he realized falling off wouldn't crack his skull like Tim told him.
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epitomized
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characterized
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The mountains in the distance epitomized the beauty of the whole lake.
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hidebound
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rigid in opinion
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the skin, or hide of a pig is tough and rigid..
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languish
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decay, fade away, get weaker
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rhymes with anguish, if you're in anguish, you're in pain, getting weaker, fading away..
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obsequious
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servile, submissive
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the word "sequin" is in it...think of cinderella in her sequin gown and she was a servant to her stepmother...so to be obsequious means to be...
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polemical
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causing debate or argument
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starts with the word "poll"..think of the election---there are lots of debates, everything causes arguments
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restorative
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a tonic
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it has "restore" in it..something that helps you recover..
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thwart
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prevent, frustrate
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has "wart" in it. warts are REALLY frustrating and you want to prevent them from coming back when they finally go. so to thwart is to____
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adamant
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forceful, inflexible
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Despite many employee requests to allow jeans to be worn on Friday, the boss remained adamant about his rules for the office
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brawny
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muscular, strong
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think of those really tough, durable paper towels..the brand is brawny
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decathlon
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athletic competition w/ 10 events
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duh.
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equivocate
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avoid telling the truth; speak ambiguously (ambiguously=vaguely)
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has the word "vocal" in it, kind of...which involves speaking...
She didn't want her mom to know she had watched PG-13 movies, so when her mom asked her what she did over at Jenna's house, she equivocated. |
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larceny
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robbery
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sounds like felony, a little bit, and someone who has conducted a larceny has definitely committed a felony, and will go to jail
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ponderous
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weighty, slow, heavy
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Ponderosa was one of my favorite restaurants in Indiana, but it was all-you-can-eat-buffet so I would always feel SO stuffed and heavy after eating there. I felt ponderous.
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retention
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preservation
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His retention time for memorizing the definitions was incredibly fast.
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timorous
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cowardly
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Timorous sounds like "timid"
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adroit
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skillful
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sounds like "droid" which are the robots in Star Wars (I think) and robots do everything perfectly, they're successful in whatever skill they attempt. So, robots are adroit.
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brevity
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briefness
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comes from "brief", it's just the noun form of it.
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decorum
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correct behavior
adj form : decorous |
Celebrities must show proper decorum when in public, because paparazzi will tear them apart if they don't.
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err
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make a mistake
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comes from "error"
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hinder
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obstruct
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When the lead guitarist of Hinder broke his arm, the cast hindered his ability to play guitar.
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largess
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generosity
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if someone has a large heart, they are very kind and giving, so largess is just another word for _______
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obsolete
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outdated, no longer in use
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My dad has a shelf full of obsolete records of some of the same music I have on CD's. No one uses records anymore.
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pontificate
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speak pompously
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starts with pon...like "pawn" in chess. people who play chess are generally stuck up and pompous. so to pontificate it to speak in a _______ way.
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reticent
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restrained, holding back
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Jack and Jill are a mismatched pair; he's shy and reticent and she never stops talking.
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tirade
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angry ramble
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a tyrant will often go off on a tirade
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adulation
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strong admiration, worship (in an annoying way)
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The valedictorian receives adulation for being an exceptional student.
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bristle
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to show irritation
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the bristle of a brush will scratch you, and irritate the skin. so to bristle is to show ______.
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decoy
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trap, trick
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you know this.
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erratic
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wandering, irregular
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Lutz is an erratic driver--he goes over into the other side of the road, he speeds and then goes too slow...he's definitely going to lose his license.
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histrionic
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overly dramatic
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huck finn vocab word.
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laud
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praise
adj: laudable (praiseworthy) |
He received an award because all of his charity work was laudable.
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obstreperous
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noisy, loud, boistrous
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has "strep" in it. which is really obnoxious. a person who's obnoxious is probably loud and annoying. so obstreperous means....
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portend
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to foretell
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a lot of fortune tellers claim they can portend the future, but most are just pretending.
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retraction
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withdrawal/cancellation of a statement
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Realizing he had insulted his wife when he said the dress made her look fat, he retracted his previous statement.
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titter
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giggle quietly
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reminds me of teeter-totter, and I think of Brendan in 4th grade, giggling to himself like it's some kind of roller coaster ride.
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