Words 0002 Flashcards
Expostulate
to express disagreement or complaint
Walter expostulated with the waiter about the size of the bill.
Pawnbroker
a person who lends money in exchange for things which they can sell if the person leaving them does not pay an agreed amount of money in an agreed time
Sidle
to walk towards or away from someone, trying not to be noticed
- Tim sidled up/over to the girl sitting at the bar and asked if he could buy her a drink.
- She sidled past him, pretending that she had not seen him.
Sexton
a person whose job is to take care of a church building and its graveyard, and sometimes to ring the church bells
Abject
- abject misery/poverty/terror, etc.
when someone is extremely unhappy, poor, frightened, etc - They live in abject poverty.
- This policy has turned out to be an abject failure.
- showing no pride or respect for yourself
• an abject apology
• He is almost abject in his respect for his boss.
Collusion
agreement between people to act together secretly or illegally in order to deceive or cheat someone
(It is thought that they worked in collusion with the terrorist network.)
(The report concluded that there was no evidence of collusive behaviour between the banks.)
Malinger
to pretend to be ill in order to avoid having to work
- And is he really ill or just malingering?
- I’m sure she thinks I’m a malingerer.
Crevice
- a small narrow crack or space, especially in the surface of rock
- a deep line in an old person’s face, or a deep fold in someone’s body
- The harsh light revealed every crevice and wrinkle in his face.
- Sweat poured out of every crevice of the fat man’s body.
Decorum
behaviour that is controlled, calm and polite
- As young ladies we were expected to act/behave with proper decorum
- His manner, as ever, was decorous.
- decorously
Neuter
relating to a group of nouns in a particular language which have the same grammatical behaviour and which do not usually include words that refer to females or males
•The German word for ‘book’, ‘das Buch’, is neuter.
-> Compare: masculine; feminine
/ˈnjuː.tər/
Murmur
to speak or say very quietly
• “I love you,” she murmured.
• He was murmuring to himself.
-> He murmured sweet nothings (= romantic talk) in her ear.
Covetous
wanting to have something too much, especially something that belongs to someone else
- Western companies are casting covetous eyes on the bargain-priced companies of eastern Europe.
- The boys looked covetously at the shiny new motorcycles.
- covetousness
Meek
quiet, gentle and not willing to argue or state your opinions in a forceful way
- She seemed so very meek and mild.
- meekly, meekness
Conspicuous
very noticeable or attracting attention, often in a way that is not wanted
- In China, her blonde hair was conspicuous.
- He tried not to look conspicuous and moved slowly along the back of the room.
- The temple’s grand white arches rose conspicuously over the dirty decaying city.
- conspicuousness
Conspicuous consumption
when people spend a lot of money intentionally so that other people notice and admire them for their wealth
