Last Stack Flashcards
Fatuous
Foolish, silly
Probity
Honesty, integrity
Related words: scrupulous, principled
Stymie or stunt
To block, hinder.
Impeded, hamper, hold back
She feared that her learning disability would stymie her success.
Mired
Stuck, entangled in something like a swamp or muddy area; soiled
Mired in her predecessor’s mess the new CEO found it difficult to take take the company in a new direction.
Makeshift
A temporary, often improvise, improvised for temporary use.
Thrown together or slapped together. Making do with the resources at hand.
Doff
Take off(such as clothes), put aside, remove one’s hat as a gesture.
The opposite of doff is don, to out on.
Ex. It was considered polite to doff your hat when a lady entered the room.
Exacting
Very severe in making demands; requiring precise attention.
Ex. The boxing coach was exacting, analyzing John’s footwork down to the millimetre.
Related words: meticulous, fastidious - hard to please.
Hedge
Avoid commitment by leaving provisions for withdrawal or changing one’s mind; protect a bet by also betting on the other side.
Related words: equivocate, vacillate, tergiversate.
A hedge fund is an investment fund that hedges risk with a verity of methods.
Harrow
Farming tool that breaks up soil; painfully disturbed (verb).
Shakespeare was the first to use harrow in a metaphorical way. “I could a tale unfold whose lightest word would harrow up the soul”.
Grouse
Complaint; type of a bird.
Ex. Everyone was annoyed by her her grousing.
Precarious
Unstable, insecure, dangerous
Adúmbrate
Give a rough outline of; reveal only partially; obscure
Perspicatuous
Having penetrating insight
A good detective is perspicacious, judging when someone is lying, noticing things the rest of us would ignore.
Per - through Spec - look
Sybarite
A person devoted to pleasure and luxury
Hedonist and voluptuary - synonyms.
Preempt
Prevent, take the place of
The speaker attempted to permit long Q&A session by handing out a frequently asked questions packet.
Preempt can also mean to settle on public land in order to establish the right to purchase that land before anyone else.
Rend
To tear violently, especially one’s clothes or hair out of grief
Figures in the Bible rand their clothing from grief at a loved one’s death. It can rend one’s heart.
Primacy
The state of being first or most important
The very fabric of society depends on the primacy of the family.
Bent
Inclination or tendency
Related words: predilection, propensity.
To the top of one’s bent.
Faction
A group or clique within a large organisation
Related word: cabal - a conspirational group
