0525 Flashcards
(10 cards)
mesmerize
if you are mesmerized by someone or something, you cannot stop watching them or listening to them because they are so attractive or have such a powerful effect SYN captivate
The first time I saw Diana I was mesmerized by her beauty.
stoicism
I wanted my students to read James Baldwin, who wrote about the heroic stoicism of children who walked to school through a jeering mob.
patience and calmness when bad things happen to you
jeer
to laugh at someone or shout unkind things at them in a way that shows you do not respect them
unabashed
It was unabashedly romantic. I was twenty-two.
not ashamed or embarrassed, especially when doing something unusual or rude
She stared at him with unabashed curiosity.
prosaic
My own origins, I believe, were prosaic.
boring or ordinary
a prosaic writing style
The reality, however, is probably more prosaic.
cautionary
They told me cautionary tales about Asians in America being cowed, killed, and then forgotten.
giving a warning about what not to do
cow verb.
to frighten someone in order to make them do something
be cowed into something
The protesters had been cowed into submission by the police.
bludgeon
There was Vincent Chin, in Detroit, who in 1982 was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat, a week before his wedding.
1 to hit someone several times with something heavy
He was bludgeoned to death with a hammer.
2 to force someone to do something by making threats or arguing with them
bludgeon into
I won’t let myself be bludgeoned into marriage.
3 → bludgeon your way through/to/past etc somebody/something
grits
He claimed at court that the kid moved in a strange way’ his lawyer told the jury that the killer was protecting his property and that he was an “average Joe,” “one of your neighbors,” someone who liked “sugar in his grits.”
Grits are a porridge made from boiled cornmeal. Hominy grits are a type of grits made from hominy – corn that has been treated with an alkali in a process called nixtamalization, with the pericarp removed. Grits are often served with other flavorings as a breakfast dish.
ignorant
It only took one ignorant guy with a gun or a baseball bat.
1 not knowing facts or information that you ought to know
an ignorant and uneducated man
2 caused by a lack of knowledge and understanding
an ignorant remark
ignorant opinions
3 British English spoken rude or impolite
ignorant behaviour
