Set 6 Flashcards
pedant
- someone who shows of knowledge; someone who pays undue attention to rules
- stickler, precisian
Dominic is a pedant who annoys everyone in the class with long-winded questions and unnecessary quotes from the textbook.
penchant
- a strong or habitual liking or tendency to do something
- inclination, tendency, propensity, fondness
Kate had a penchant for interior decorating, so she took over the role of set designer for the play.
penury
- extreme poverty or destitution
- poverty, destitution, indigence, squalor
tangent
- a different topic
-
Halfway into her speech on global warming, she went on a tangent about materialism in modern society.
technocracy
- government or control of society by an elite of technical experts
-
In the movie, the future is a technocracy where programmers rule the entire world.
tedium
- dullness, the feeling of being bored
- boredom, monotony, ennui
The tedium of a fixed routine made John reconsider his plans to become a teacher.
tenacious
- sticking strongly to something
- persistent, stubborn, obstinate
Despite the sudden thunderstorm, the tenacious runners continued to move towards the finish line.
timorous
- showing or suffering from nervousness, fear, or a lack of confidence:
- timid, shy, fearful, sheepish
The timorous young man jumped at the even the slightest sound.
tirade
- long, angry rant; “a tirade of abuse”
- abuse, outburst
One student asked a simple question about the death penalty, causing the teacher launch into a tirade about the topic.
torpid
- lacking physical or mental energy
- sluggish, numb, inert
The student was torpid and generally uninvolved in the discussions, so the teacher had to speak with him about his participation.
torpor
- a state of low physical or mental energy
- torpidity, numbness stupor
The doctors discovered that her torpor was a symptom of a severe illness.
torrid
- very hot and dry, full of passionate or highly charged emotions arising from sexual love
- hot, fervent, ardent, sultry
The president was accused of carrying on a secret and torrid love affair with his aide.
totalitarianism
- absolute, dictatorial control by the government
After years of civil war, one party emerged triumphant and dominated the country in a return to totalitarianism.
tractable
- easy to control or influence, easy to deal with
- docile, obedient, manageable, amenable, pliable
After some training, the dog became tractable enough to be sold as a pet.
anomalous
- deviating from what is standard, normal or expected
- irregular, abnormal, aberrant
A granite plateau having any geometric shape at all is highly anomalous.
antipathy
- a deep seated feeling of dislike; aversion
- aversion, dislike, repugnance, repulsion
The couple tried to hide their antipathy toward the new neighbors so as not to seem unwelcoming.
approbate
- to approve formally
- approve, sanction, endorse, ratify
The judge approbated her right to keep the house.
appropriate
- take (something) for one’s own use, typically without the owner’s permissions
- assign, allocate
During the chaos following the president’s death, his wife appropriated the role of head of the organization.
arbiter
- a person chosen to solve a dispute
- arbitrator, referee, judge
One of her duties as babysitter was to act as arbiter when the children got into arguments.
archetype
- a typical example of something, the original on which something else is modelled
- prototype
Dante’s Divine Comedy was the archetype upon which many derivative works were based.
ardor
- feeling of great warmth or intensity
- zeal, fervour, enthusiasm
His sense of justice manifests itself in the ardor with which he throws himself into his legal work.
arduous
- requiring mental or physical strain; demanding
- hard, difficult, laborious, toilsome
The beach was practically empty, as reaching it entailed an arduous journey through a bramble thicket.
entail
- involve (something) as a necessary or inevitable part or consequence
- necessitate, require
What would the consequences be of imitating the process employed in the comparator, and what risks would it entail ?
aria
- a solo vocal piece in an opera
- air
During her aria, the opera singer expressed her character’s sorrow to the audience with great skill.
arid
- extremely dry; lacking spirit or vitality
- dry, barren, jejune, droughty
The arid climate of the desert is ideal for plants that do not require much water, such as cacti.
sundry
- of various kinds, several
- various , diverse, varied, different
The sundry items of the garage sale ranged from antique to almost brand new.
reprise
- (n) a repeated passage in music; (v) to repeat or resume
- repetition
The reprise of the song had the audience dancing in the aisles.
harrow
- (n) a tool that farmers use for ploughing land ;(v) to inflict great stress or torment on
- (v) torment, depredate
Any talk of layoffs would always leave the entire division harrowed and unable to focus on their work.
sardonic
- grimly mocking or cynical
- sarcastic
The class clown’s sardonic remark landed him in detention.
subterfuge
- a deliberate deception to avoid a consequence
- artifice, evasion, ruse, trick, dodge
Policemen who stop drunk drivers can see right through the subterfuge of hastily chewing a piece of gum.
artifice
- Subtle but base deception; trickery
- subterfuge, chicanery, sophistry
chicanery
- use of trickery to achieve a political, financial or legal purpose
- subterfuge, chicane, sophistry, artifice
This kind of chicanery is what gets you thrown in prison if a private business does it.
axiom
- a generally accepted truth
-
In math class, we learned about the different axioms we could use to develop geometric proofs.
controvert
- to deny the truth of
- contradict, gainsay, dispute
Recent experiments seem to controvert the predictions of previous theories.
progeny
- a descendant or the descendants of a person, animal, or plant; offspring
- offspring, posterity, brood
The family claims to be the progeny of the king of France, but they refuse to submit to a DNA test to prove their bloodline.
potentate
- one with absolute power to rule; a monarch
- sovereign, monarch, ruler, king
While the potentate sipped wine, the peasants toiled in the field.
cardinal
- of paramount importance
- principal, chief, primary
After the graduation speech, the valedictorian gave them cardinal rules to live by.
hidebound
- unwilling or unable to change because of tradition or convention
- narrow-minded, insular
The hidebound rules of organized religion have never appealed to me much.
chary
- cautious about the amount one gives or reveals; wary
- cautious, careful, prudent, discreet
Joe was chary of his praise for his daughters; but when he did congratulate them, they beamed.
arabesque
- an ornamental design of intertwined flowing lines
-
The kimono was trimmed with an arabesque of tiny yellow curlicues.