147, 247 Flashcards
(40 cards)
abase (v.)
lower; humiliate.
Defeated, Queen Zanobia was forced to abase herself before the conquering Romans, who made her march in chains before the emperor in the procession celebrating his triumph.
Ex: deprive of
correct
abash (v.)
embarrass
He was not at all abashed by her open admiration.
Ex: ashamed
abate (v.)
subside; decrease, lessen.
Rather than leaving immediately, they waited for the storm to abate.
Ex: decline, decrease
abdicate (v.)
renounce; give up.
When Edward VIII abdicated the British throne to marry the woman he loved, he surprised the entire world.
Ex: abandon
aberrant (n.)
abnormal or deviant.
Given the aberrant nature of the data, we doubted validity of the entire experiment.
Ex: strange
unusual
abet (v.)
aid, usually in doing something wrong; encourage.
She was unwilling to abet him in the swindle he had planned.
Ex: assist
help in wrongdoer
abhor (v.)
detest; hate.
She abhorred all forms of bigotry.
Ex: regret
abject (adj.)
wretched; lacking pride.
On the streets of New York the homeless live in abject poverty, huddling in doorways to find shelter from the wind.
abjure (v.)
renounce upon oath.
He abjured his allegiance to the king.
abnegation (n.)
repudiation; self-sacrifice.
Though Rudolph and Duchess Flavia loved one another, their love was doomed, for she had to marry the kind; their act of abnegation was necessary to preserve the kingdom.
abominable (adj.)
detestable; extremely unpleasant; very bad.
Mary liked John until she learned he was dating Susan; then she called him an abominable young man, with abominable taste in woman.
aboriginal (adj, n)
being the first of its kind in a region; primitive; native.
Her studies of the primitive art forms of the aboriginal Indians were widely reported in the scientific journals.
abortive (adj.)
unsuccessful; fruitless.
Attack by armed troops, the Chinese students had to abandon their abortive attempt to democratize Beijing peacefully.
abrade (v.)
wear away by friction; scape; erode
Because the sharp rocks had abraded the skin on her legs, she dabbed iodine on the scrapes and abrasions.
abrasive (adj.)
rubbing away; tending to grind down. Just as abrasive cleaning powders can wear away a shiny finish, abrasive remarks ca wear away a listeners`1 patience.
abridge v.
condense or shorten.
Because the publishers felt the public wanted a shorter version of War and Peace, they proceeded to abridge the novel.
abscond v.
depart secretly and hide.
The teller who absconded with the bonds went uncaptured until someone recognized him from his photograph on “America’s Most wanted”
absolve v.
pardon (an offense)
The father confessor absolved him of his sins.
abstain v.
refrain; hold oneself back voluntarily from an action or practice
After considering the effect on alcohol on his athletic performance, he decided to abstain from drinking while he trained for the race.
abstemious adj.
sparing on eating and drinking; temperate
Concerned wheter her vegetarian son’s abstemios diet provided him with sufficent protein, the worried mother pressed food on him.
abstract adj.
theoretical, not concrete, nonrepresentational
To him, hunger was an abstract concept; he had never missed a meal.
abstruse adj.
obscure, profound; difficult to understand
Baffled by the abstruse philosophical texts assigned in class, Dave asked Lexy to explain Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason.
abundant adj.
plentiful; possessing riches or resources.
At his immigration interview, Ivan listed his abundant reasons for coming to America, the hope of religious freedom, the prospect of employment, the promise of a more abundant life.
mono
one
monarchy - government by one ruler
monotheism belief in one god
