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Word Power Made Easy > Difficult Words -A > Flashcards

Difficult Words -A Flashcards

1
Q

Abash

A

make (someone) feel embarrassed, disconcerted, or ashamed.
Her elder cousins abashed her by commenting on her shyness

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2
Q

Abate

A

to become less strong; to make something less strong

The storm showed no signs of abating

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3
Q

Abdicate

A

To step down from a position of power
To give up responsibility

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4
Q

Aberration

A

a fact, an action or a way of behaving that is not typical, and that may be unacceptable. Deviation from standard
Snowstorm in July is aberration

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5
Q

Abhor

A

to hate something very much

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6
Q

Abject

A

terrible and without hope
They live in abject misery.

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7
Q

Abnegate

A

To deny oneself things
Saman abnegated desserts for one month after on the scale .

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8
Q

Abortive

A

Unsuccessful

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9
Q

Abridge

A

To shorten ,condense

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10
Q

Absolute

A

Total ,unlimited and perfect

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11
Q

Absolve

A

To forgive or free from blame,sin or obligation .

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12
Q

Abstinent

A

Abstaining ,voluntarily not doing something especially something pleasant that is bad for you and has a bad reputation

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13
Q

Abstract

A

existing only as an idea, not as a physical thing

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14
Q

Abstruse

A

Hard to understand

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15
Q

Abysmal

A

Very bad ,hopeless
Abysmal despair is so deep that there seems no possible solution to it

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16
Q

Abyss

A

Bottomless pit

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17
Q

Accolade

A

a comment, prize, etc. that you receive that shows people’s high opinion of something that you have done

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18
Q

Accost

A

To approach and speak to someone.
He was accosted by three gang members on the subway.
She was so famous that people would accost her on the street and ask for an autograph.

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19
Q

Acerbic ,acerb

A

Bitter sour and severe

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20
Q

Acquiesce

A

To comply passively , to accept,to assent and to agree

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21
Q

Acrid

A

Harsh
Acrid smell ,taste ,personality or comment

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22
Q

Acrimonious

A

Full of spite,bitter ,nasty

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23
Q

Acumen

A

Keenness to judgement ,mental sharpness

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24
Q

Acute

A

Sharp and shrewd

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25
Q

Adage

A

Old saying

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26
Q

Adamant

A

Stubborn,completely inflexible

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27
Q

Address

A

To give speech
To direct one’s attention to
She addressed the problem of addressing the convention by preparing the speech

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28
Q

Adherent

A

Follower ,supporter
King’s adherents threw him a party
To adhere to it means to stick to it

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29
Q

Admonish

A

To scold gently ,to warn

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30
Q

Adulterate

A

To contaminate,to make impure

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31
Q

Adverse

A

Unfavorable,antagonistic

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32
Q

Averse

A

against or not in favour of something
He is not averse to trying out new ideas

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33
Q

Aesthetic

A

Having to do with artistic beauty

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34
Q

Affable

A

Easy to talk to,friendly

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35
Q

Affectation

A

Unnatural or artificial behaviour,usually intended to impress

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36
Q

Affinity

A

alikingorsympathyfor someone or something,especiallybecause ofsharedcharacteristics:

Sheseemsto have anaturalaffinityfor/withwater.

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37
Q

Affluent

A

Rich ,prosperous

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38
Q

Agenda

A

Program ,things to be done

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39
Q

Agrarian

A

Relating to land or farming

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40
Q

Aggregate

A

A sum total ,collection of seperate things mixed together

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41
Q

Agnostic

A

One who believes that the existence of a god can neither be proven nor disproven

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42
Q

Alacrity

A

great willingness, eagerness or enthusiasm
She accepted the assignment with alacrity.

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43
Q

Allege

A

to say that somebody has done something wrong, but without having any proof that this is true

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44
Q

Alleviate

A

To relieve,to lessen

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45
Q

Allocate

A

To allot ,assign ,to distribute

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46
Q

Alloy

A

A combination of two or more things ,usually metals .

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47
Q

Allusion

A

animpliedor indirect reference especially in literature

48
Q

Aloof

A

not friendly to other people; distant
Her shyness made her seem aloof.

49
Q

Altruism

A

Selflessness,generosity,devotion to the interests of others

50
Q

Ambience

A

Atmosphere,mood ,feeling

51
Q

Ambiguous

A

Unclear and vague in meaning

52
Q

Ambivalent

A

Undecided,neutral
having or showing a mixture of feelings or opinions about something or somebody

53
Q

Ameliorate

A

to make something better
Steps have been taken to ameliorate the situation

54
Q

Amenable

A

Willing to give in to the wishes of another ,agreeable

I’m amenable to any suggestions you may have

55
Q

Amenity

A

something that makes a place pleasant or easy to live in

Among the town’s amenities are two cinemas and a sports centre.

56
Q

Amiable

A

Friendly , agreeable

57
Q

Amnesty

A

Official pardon for a group of people who have violated a law or policy

58
Q

Amoral

A

Lacking a sense of right or wrong ,neither good nor bad,
An amoral CEO fires employees so he can make more money, unconcerned about how losing their jobs might affect them.

59
Q

Amorous

A

Feeling loving ,especially in a sexual sense in love

60
Q

Amorphous

A

Shapeless,without a regular or stable shape

61
Q

Anachronism

A

Something out of place in time or history
In this day of impersonal hospitals ,a family doctor who will visit you at home seems like an anachronism .

62
Q

Analogy

A

A comparison of one thing to another ,similarity

63
Q

Anarchy

A

Absence of government ,lawlessness or disorder

64
Q

Anecdote

A

Short account of a humorous or revealing incident .

65
Q

Anguish

A

great mental pain or suffering

66
Q

Animosity

A

Resentment,hostility,ill will

67
Q

Anomaly

A

A deviation ,irregularity,aberration
A snowy July is an anomaly

68
Q

Antecedent

A

a thing or an event that exists or comes before another, and may have influenced it

the people in somebody’s family who lived a long time ago

69
Q

Antipathy

A

Firm dislike

70
Q

Antithesis

A

Direct opposite

71
Q

Apartheid

A

the former official government policy in South Africa of separating people of different races and making them live apart

72
Q

Apathy

A

the feeling of not being interested in or enthusiastic about anything

73
Q

Aphorism

A

Witty saying ,proverb

74
Q

Apocalypse

A

Theapocalypseis thetotaldestructionand end of the world.

75
Q

Apocryphal

A

ofdoubtfulauthenticity, although widelycirculatedas being true.

“there is an apocryphal story about a disgraced rock star who ended up in bankruptcy court”

76
Q

Apotheosis

A

the elevation of a person to the rank of a god,perfect example of something

77
Q

Appease

A

To soothe or to pacify
Larry appraised his angry mother by promising to make his bed every morning

78
Q

Appreciate

A

to enjoy something or to understand the value of somebody/something

to understand a problem, situation, etc.

79
Q

Apprehensive

A

Worried and anxious about future

80
Q

Misapprehension

A

to have the wrong idea about something or to believe something is true when it is not,misunderstanding

81
Q

Approbation

A

Approval,praise
The council has finally indicated its approbation of the plans

82
Q

Disapprobation

A

Disapproval

83
Q

Appropriate

A

suitable or right for a particular situation, person
to take something to use for yourself, usually without permission

84
Q

Expropriates

A

take (property) from its owner for public use or benefit.

“their assets were expropriated by the government”

85
Q

Misappropriate

A

dishonestlyorunfairlytake (something, especially money, belonging to another) for one’s own use.

86
Q

Aptitude

A

Capacity for learning ,natural ability

87
Q

Ineptitude

A

lack of skill

88
Q

Arbiter

A

One who decides ,a judge
a person with power to decide a dispute:

89
Q

Arbitrary

A

Random ,capricious
I don’t know why I chose that one; it was a completely arbitrary decision.

90
Q

Arcane

A

known to very few people and therefore difficult to understand

91
Q

Archaic

A

Extremely old,ancient,outdated

92
Q

Archetype

A

the most typical example of a particular kind of person or thing,orignal model
Archetypal or archetypical

93
Q

Ardent

A

Passionate,showing strong feelings, especially a strong liking for somebody/something

94
Q

Arduous

A

Hard ,difficult
Climbing the mountain was arduous .

95
Q

Aristocratic

A

Noble birth ,snobbish
Prince Charles is aristocratic .

96
Q

Artful

A

Crafty,clever at getting what you want, perhaps by not telling the truth

97
Q

Artless

A

Simple and honest

98
Q

Artifice

A

the use of clever methods to trick somebody
The whole story was just an artifice to win our sympathy.

99
Q

Ascendancy

A

Supremacy ,domination
The ascendancy of the new regime had been a great boon .
Small computers have been in ascendancy for the last few years .

100
Q

Ascetic

A

Hermitlike

101
Q

Assiduous

A

Hardworking ,quite diligent ,busy

102
Q

Assimilate

A

to become or allow somebody/something to become part of a country, a social group, etc.

to learn and understand something

103
Q

Assuage

A

to make an unpleasant feeling less strong

104
Q

Astute

A

very clever; good at judging people or situations

105
Q

Attrition

A

Gradually wearing a way ,weakening ,natural or expected decrease in numbers or size.

106
Q

Audacity

A

Boldness ,reckless daring

107
Q

Augment

A

To make bigger ,to add ,to increase
The army augmented it’s attack by sending more soldiers .

108
Q

Auspicious

A

Favorable ,pointing to good result .

109
Q

Austere

A

Unadorned very simple; without decoration
very strict and serious

110
Q

Autocratic

A

Ruling with absolute authority ,extremely bossy .

111
Q

Autonomous

A

Acting independently
An autonomous nation is one that is independent ,it governs itself

112
Q

Avarice

A

Greed ,excess love of riches

113
Q

Avow

A

To declare boldly , to claim ,to admit
An avowed criminal is the one who admits he is the criminal.

114
Q

Avuncular

A

Like an uncle ,kind helpful

115
Q

Awry

A

wrong, not in the way that was planned; untidy
Then your plans are almost certain to go awry.

116
Q

Axiom

A

Widely accepted saying

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