Advanced Vocab Words - Set 3 Flashcards Preview

v. to polish or make shine
n. a shiny appearance

The store owner's son's only job was to burnish the statues in the window every day.

n. a supporting structure
v. to support or encourage

The parents decided to buttress the after-school programs that were in danger of ending by making donations.

v. to make vague, unclear statements

The mayor equivocated when confronted about his use of public funds.

n. a model of excellence

The man was a paragon of virtue who had never stolen so much as a loaf of bread in his life.

n. unpleasant, discordant sounds

The orchestra's first attempt to play together was a cacophony of jarring notes.

adj. overly sentimental to a sickening point

The group of graduating seniors was a mawkish sight, crying and taking hundreds of pictures.

v. to make someone do something with flattery or promises

Mother cajoled her into driving the other children to school, promising to make her favorite dinner.

adj. rigidly fixed in opinion or expression in an arrogant manner

The dogmatic theorist refused to listen to any other possibilities.

v. to check or balance the scale of a measuring device with a standard scale

The new thermometer needed to be calibrated before it could be used.

n. a state of final spiritual ruin, loss of soul, damnation
n. hell

Poor moral choices led Johnny down the road to perdition.

v. to request urgently

The dying man beseeched his family to visit him.

adj. careful; shrewd

John was a canny negotiator; no matter how bad his bargaining position, he would always come out on top.

adj. original and influential

The seminal works of the artist developed into a new style of interpretation.

adj. difficult to handle; ill-tempered

The worst part about working in customer service was having to deal with irate, cantankerous callers.

adj. related to the meaning of words

Susan felt that the abortion debate had become too focused on semantic arguments.

adj. having toothed edges ("serrated" is an alternate form of the adj.)

Kate used the serrate edge of the knife to cut through the tough meat.

v. to cut off

Unfortunately, to prevent the infection from spreading, the doctors had to sever the infected parts of the hand.

adj. twisting and winding
adj. not direct

The sinuous path through the mountains was probably the most dangerous route to take.

n. caring about others' well being

Though she claims not to have any feelings for Julio, she showed a great deal of solicitude when she learned of his illness.

n. a feeling of camaraderie with others due to shared goals

Several townspeople expressed solidarity with the union members by protesting with them.

burnish
(bur-nish)

synonyms: polish, brighten

buttress
(but-riss)

synonyms: prop, support; bolster, reinforce

equivocate
(i-kwiv-uh-keyt)

synonyms: evade, sidestep

paragon
(par-uh-gon)

synonyms: archetype, ideal

cacophony
(kuh-kof-uh-nee)

synonyms: noise, clamor

mawkish
(maw-kish)

synonyms: emotional, mushy

cajole
(kuh-djohl)

synonyms: coax, persuade, wheedle

dogmatic
(dawg-matt-ik)

synonyms: arrogant, bullheaded, authoritarian

calibrate
(kal-ih-brehyt)

synonyms: align, balance, fix

perdition
(per-dish-uhn)

synonyms: hell, damnation, corruption, underworld