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GSCE English > Vocabulary - Adjectives > Flashcards

Vocabulary - Adjectives Flashcards

1
Q

placid

A

calm, peaceful

e.g. his usually placid manner was tested by his argumentative child

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2
Q

phlegmatic

A

calm; not easily emotional or angry

e.g. despite the chaotic situation, Mark remained phlegmatic and calmly assessed the problem before taking decisive action

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3
Q

pulchritudinous

A

physically beautiful or attractive

e.g. the model’s pulchritudinous features made her stand out on the runway

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4
Q

mereticious

A

attractive on the surface but having in reality no value or substance

e.g. with her meretricious style of dressing, everyone noticed as soon as we walked into the party

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5
Q

ineffable

A

too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words

e.g. the ineffable beauty of the sunset left them speechless

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6
Q

sagacious

A

intelligent; showing good judgement

e.g. a sagacious teacher knows that struggling students need individualised help to succeed in school

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7
Q

lovelorn

A

feeling sad and lonely because of unrequited love

e.g. she has been lovelorn ever since her crush started dating someone else

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8
Q

petulant

A

easily annoyed or irritated, especially when things don’t go your way

e.g. the petulant child threw a tantrum when he didn’t get what he wanted

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9
Q

reticent

A

keeping to yourself; not likely to draw attention to yourself; uncommunicative

e.g. the discussion was so lively that even my more reticent friends participated in it

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10
Q

impetuous

A

acting or done quickly without thought or care

e.g. his impetuous decision to quit his job without having another one lined up resulted in financial difficulties

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11
Q

enamoured

A

infatuated, captivated

e.g. he was enamoured with the beautiful sunset

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12
Q

heartbroken

A

deeply distressed or saddened; devastated

e.g. the heartbroken mother mourned the loss of her child

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13
Q

perspicacious

A

able to judge quickly and correctly what people and situations are really like

e.g. the perspicacious salesman earned a great living because he knew how to read his customers

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14
Q

indolent

A

lazy; showing no effort

e.g. the indolent employee expected his coworkers to complete his unfinished project

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15
Q

seraphic

A

angelic, sweet

e.g. the child’s seraphic voice matched her innocent appearance

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16
Q

garrulous

A

talking a lot, especially about things that are not important

e.g. their garrulous grandfather shared interesting family stories with the fascinated kids

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17
Q

solipsistic

A

believing that oneself is all that exists

e.g. young adults are often seen as solipsistic when in reality many of them volunteer at local charities

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18
Q

pusillanimous

A

lacking courage and resolution

e.g. he should defend himself, but he’s too pusillanimous to confront his detractors

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19
Q

fastidious

A

very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail

e.g. he is fastidious about his appearance and hates wrinkled or torn clothing

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20
Q

pernicious

A

extremely destructive or harmful

e.g. not being able to communicate can be pernicious to any relationship

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21
Q

halcyon

A

calm, peaceful, and happy; prosperous, golden

e.g. the halcyon days of summer were spent lazing on the beach with friends

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22
Q

assiduous

A

hard working, diligent

e.g. an assiduous student is likely to finish college in less than four years

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23
Q

fervent

A

having intense feeling or passion for something

e.g. the young poet wrote fervent love letters to her crush

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24
Q

stoic

A

showing no emotion or reaction, especially in response to pain or hardship

e.g. the stoic soldier remained calm and composed during the battle

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25
Q

insentient

A

unable to feel or perceive

e.g. rocks are insentient objects

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26
Q

diffident

A

shy, quiet, modest

e.g. the most diffident student surprised her classmates by getting the highest grades

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27
Q

somnlent

A

sleepy, drowsy

e.g. the grey, rainy day made everyone feel somnolent

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28
Q

surreptitious

A

kept secret, especially because it would not be approved of

e.g. the surreptitious nature of their relationship made it even more exciting

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29
Q

congenial

A

pleasantly agreeable

e.g. his congenial manner made him popular wherever he went

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30
Q

loquacious

A

talkative or chatty

e.g. the loquacious diners took so much of the waiter’s time that the other tables grew impatient

31
Q

clandestine

A

done secretly or in a concealed manner

e.g. they met in a clandestine location to discuss their top secret mission

32
Q

ribald

A

referring to sexual matters in a humorous or irreverent way; vulgar or bawdy in language or content

e.g. in the great hall, ladies and gentlemen drank until their talk became ribald

33
Q

puerile

A

childish, immature, or silly in a way that is not appropriate for an adult

e.g. the judge demanded order after the lawyer’s puerile attempt to object by stomping his feet on the courtroom floor

34
Q

sanguine

A

optimistic or positive, especially in a difficult or uncertain situation

e.g. despite losing the first set, she remained sanguine and focused on winning the match

35
Q

hackneyed

A

unoriginal, trite

e.g. after writing so many hackneyed articles, it was no wonder the blogger had no audience left

36
Q

quotidian

A

daily

e.g. bored with his quotidian gym routine, he started trying new workout formats

37
Q

maudlin

A

weakly sentimental

e.g. although many people enjoy romantic comedies, I usually find them maudlin and sentimental

38
Q

perfidious

A

disloyal, unfaithful

e.g. his perfidious nature belied his true intentions

39
Q

mendacious

A

dishonest or untruthful in speech or conduct

e.g. the mendacious politician made impossible promises

40
Q

enigmatic

A

mysterious, difficult to understand

e.g. the enigmatic artist left many questions about his work unanswered

41
Q

irascible

A

easily angered

e.g. the irascible man would often yell at the kids playing across the street

42
Q

cloying

A

sickeningly sweet

e.g. though Ronald was physically attractive, Maud found his constant compliments and solicitous remarks cloying

43
Q

wanton

A

undisciplined, lewd, lustful

e.g. Vicky’s wanton demeanor often made the frat guys next door very excited

44
Q

vengeful

A

seeking revenge or payback

e.g. the vengeful ex-partner posted embarrassing photos of their former lover online

45
Q

prurient

A

eliciating or possessing an extraordinary interest in sex

e.g. the prurient nature of that movie makes it unsuitable for younger children

46
Q

amorous

A

showing sexual desire

e.g. her amorous husband set up a candlelit dinner for their anniversary

47
Q

convival

A

friendly, sociable

e.g. the convival atmosphere at the party made everyone feel welcome

48
Q

tactiturn

A

silent; not talkative

e.g. his tactiturn nature made him seem mysterious, but really he was just shy

49
Q

derivative

A

taken directly from a source, unoriginal

e.g. she was bored by his music because she felt that it was derivative and that she had heard it before

50
Q

zealot

A

someone passionately devoted to a cause

e.g. the political zealot walked over a thousand miles to get people to sign his petition

51
Q

impecunious

A

poor

e.g. the impecunious family was grateful to the food bank for stocking their pantry

52
Q

saccharine

A

sickeningly sweet

e.g.Tom’s saccharine manner, although intended to make him popular, actually repelled his classmates

53
Q

picayune

A

not important or of little value

e.g. he argue over picayune detail

54
Q

fatuous

A

silly, foolish

e.g. he makes so many fatuous remarks that it’s impossible to take him seriously

55
Q

onerous

A

burdensome

e.g. my parents lamented that the pleasures of living in a beautiful country estate no longer outweighed the onerous mortgage payments

56
Q

curt

A

abruptly and rudely short

e.g. his curt reply to my question made me realise that she was upset at me

57
Q

pecuniary

A

related to or involving money

e.g. his faced pecuniary difficulties after losing his job

58
Q

recalcitrant

A

defiant, unapologetic

e.g. no amount of treats could convince the recalcitrant puppy to stop chewing on the furniture

59
Q

agnostic

A

believing that the existence of God cannot be proven or disproven

e.g. Joey’s parents are very religious, but he is agnostic

60
Q

prudential

A

being careful and thoughtful in decisions

e.g. his prudential choice saved the company money

61
Q

ersatz

A

being a usually artificial and inferior substitute or imitation

e.g. like everything else the restaurant served, the whipped cream on the dessert was ersatz

62
Q

myriad

A

consisting of a very great number

e.g. it was difficult to decide what to do Friday night because the city presented us with myriad possibilities for fun

63
Q

sedulous

A

working hard and never giving up

e.g. her sedulous study habits paid off

64
Q

cattywampus

A

askew or out of alignment

e.g. after the earthquake, everything in the room was cattywampus

65
Q

extemporaneous

A

made up or done on the spot

e.g. he gave an extemporaneous speech at the meeting

66
Q

crestfallen

A

sad or disappointed because of a failure or disappointment

e.g. she was crestfallen when she didn’t get the job

67
Q

despondent

A

feeling depressed, discouraged, hopeless

e.g. the despondent traveler feared her luggage would never be found

68
Q

genial

A

friendly, affable

e.g. although he’s been known to behave like a real jerk, I would say that my brother is an overall genial guy

69
Q

irascible

A

easily provoked to anger, irritable

e.g. he is so irascible that I try not to say anything that might upset him

70
Q

quixotic

A

idealistic, impractical

e.g. her quixotic desire to travel the world ignored the fact that she had little savings

71
Q

inexorable

A

incapable of being persuaded or placated

e.g. after experiencing yet another loss, the coach was inexorable in his insistence that the team train harder

72
Q

omniscient

A

knowing everything

e.g. in stories, wizards are often omniscient

73
Q

heterodox

A

having unusual or different beliefs

e.g. her ideas were heterodox but intriguing

74
Q

egregious

A

extremely bad

e.g. the football player paid a hefty fine for his egregious behaviour on the field

GSCE English (27 decks)

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