Confusing Words Flashcards
altar /ˈɔːltə(r)/
a holy table in a church or temple
“He placed the candles on the altar.”
“Helen and Tony kneeled at the altar.”
provident
careful in planning for the future, providing for future needs
SYNONYM prudent
“She might be proud, but she had learned to be provident!”
“The more provident of them had taken out insurance against flooding.”
OPPOSITE improvident
CPF: Central Provident Fund
allusion
An allusion is an indirect reference to someone or something.
The title is perhaps an allusion to the author’s childhood.
allusive [adj]: containing allusions (= indirect references)
allude to: to mention something in an indirect way
“The problem had been alluded to briefly in earlier discussions.”
intercede /ˌɪntəˈsiːd/
to speak to somebody in order to persuade them to be kind to somebody else or to help settle an argument
SYNONYM intervene
“They interceded with the authorities on behalf of the detainees.”
“He had occasionally tried to intercede for me.”
intercept: If you intercept someone or something that is travelling from one place to another, you stop them before they get to their destination.
“His letter was intercepted by the Secret Service. “
relegate [verb] /ˈrelɪɡeɪt/
to give somebody a lower or less important position, rank, etc. than before
“She was then relegated to the role of assistant.”
“He relegated the incident to the back of his mind.”
conduit [noun] /ˈkɒndjuɪt/
- a pipe, channel or tube through which liquid, gas or electrical wire can pass
- a person, an organization or a country that is used to pass things or information to other people or places
“The organization had acted as a conduit for money from the arms industry.”
“He was welcomed and used as a trusted conduit for information.”
hovel [noun] /ˈhɒvl/
(disapproving) a house or room that is not fit to live in because it is dirty or in very bad condition
“Your house is a miserable hovel compared with my palace.”
“They lived in a squalid hovel for the next five years.”
solder /ˈsəʊldə(r)/
[noun, uncountable] a mixture of metals that is heated and melted and then used to join metals, wires, etc. together
[verb] to join pieces of metal or wire with solder
“These wires must be soldered to the pins.”
discomfit, discomfiture
discomfit [verb] /dɪsˈkʌmfɪt/ to make somebody feel confused or embarrassed
“He was not noticeably discomfited by the request.”
“He was discomfited by her silence.’
discomfiture [noun] /dɪsˈkʌmfɪtʃə(r)/a feeling of being confused or embarrassed
“He was clearly taking delight in her discomfiture.”
inure to
/ɪˈnjʊə(r)/ (phrasal verb)
(formal) to make somebody/yourself get used to something unpleasant so that they/you are no longer strongly affected by it
“The prisoners quickly became inured to the harsh conditions.”
“He gradually inured himself to her absence.”
“Nurses soon become inured to the sight of suffering.”
“Michael has grown inured to the fast pace of vocabulary building”
confidante /ˈkɒnfədænt/
a female confidant (a person that you trust and who you talk to about private or secret things)
“Sally is her closest friend and confidante.”
guarantor /ˌɡærənˈtɔː(r)/
A guarantor is a person who gives a guarantee, who agrees to be responsible for somebody or for making sure that something happens or is done
“The United Nations will act as guarantor of the peace settlement.”
assuage [verb] /əˈsweɪdʒ/
to make an unpleasant feeling less painful or severe
SYN relieve
“His reply did little to assuage my suspicions.”
“Nothing could assuage his guilt.”
“Her mother’s presence alone would be assuaging to her.”
discrete /dɪˈskriːt/
clearly separate or different in shape or form; independent of other things of the same type
SYNONYM separate
“The organisms can be divided into discrete categories.”
“Manufacturing a car, bicycle, TV, mobile phones, etc., is discrete, whereas producing tomato ketchup, shampoos, paints, lubricants, juices, etc., is process manufacturing.”
creditable /ˈkredɪtəbl/
of a quite good standard and deserving praise or approval
SYNONYM praiseworthy
“It was a very creditable result for the team.”
“Although they struggled, they ended up coming a creditable second.”
“The chairman welcomed the company’s creditable performance in the previous year.”
balmy vs barmy
balmy /ˈbɑːmi/ [adj]: (of the air, weather, etc.) warm and pleasant. SYNONYM mild
“There was hardly any wind, just a balmy breeze.”
“They stepped off the plane into warm, balmy air.”
“We went walking in the balmy summer evenings.”
barmy /ˈbɑːrmi/ [adj]: behaving strangely, or slightly crazy:
“The music is driving me barmy.”
“Not another one of her barmy ideas!”
“We were going barmy trying to get everything finished on time.”
canon vs cannon
canon [1]: a generally accepted rule, standard or principle by which something is judged
“These pictures offended the canons of American good taste.”
canon [2]: a Christian priest with special duties in a cathedral
cannon: a gun, or an old type of large, heavy gun
incipient /ɪnˈsɪpiənt/
[adj] just beginning, starting to happen or exist
“signs of incipient unrest”
“At a young age, he has an incipient potbelly.”
canvass /ˈkænvəs/
[verb] 1. to ask people to support a particular person, political party
“He spent the whole month canvassing for votes.”
“He has been out canvassing for the PAP every evening this week.”
[verb] 2. to ask people about something in order to find out what they think about it
“People are being canvassed for their views on the proposed new road.”
[noun] 1. the process of going around an area and talking to people, especially to ask for support for a particular person, political party, etc.
[noun] 2. the process of asking people what they think about a particular subject
caste /kɑːst/
a system of dividing Hindu society into classes, or any of these classes
“He belongs to one of the highest castes.”
“low-caste families”
autonomy /ɔːˈtɒnəmi/
- the freedom for a country, a region or an organization to govern itself independently
“Demonstrators demanded immediate autonomy for their region.” - the ability to act and make decisions without being controlled by anyone else
“Schools have gained greater autonomy from government control.”
autonomous [adj]
“Head office is giving the regional offices more autonomy.”
horde vs hoard
horde /hɔːrd/ [noun]: a large crowd of people
“There are always hordes of tourists here in the summer.”
hoard /hɔːrd/ [noun]: a collection of money, food, valuable objects, etc., especially one that somebody keeps in a secret place so that other people will not find or steal it.
hoard [verb]: to collect and keep large amounts of food, money, etc., often secretly
“The prisoners used to hoard scraps of food in secret places.”
squalid
/ˈskwɒlɪd/
1. (of places and living conditions) very dirty and unpleasant
SYNONYM filthy
- (of situations or activities) involving low moral standards or dishonest behaviour
SYNONYM sordid
“It was a squalid affair involving prostitutes and drugs.”
pestle /ˈpesl/
a short rod with a thick round end. It is used for crushing things such as herbs, spices, or grain in a bowl called a mortar.
invoke [verb]
- to mention or use a law, rule, etc. as a reason for doing something
“Police can invoke the law to regulate access to these places.” - to mention a person, a theory, an example, etc. to support your opinions or ideas, or as a reason for something
“She invoked several eminent scholars to back up her argument.”
cue
a signal for someone to do something
“They started washing up, so that was our cue to leave the party.”
“This remark provided the cue for the crowd to start jeering.”
collude [verb] /kəˈluːd
to work together secretly or illegally in order to trick other people
“They colluded with terrorists to overthrow the government.”
“The president accused his opponents of colluding with foreigners.”
collusion [noun]
collusive [adj]
mannequin vs manikin
mannequin [noun] /ˈmænɪkɪn/ a model of a human body, used for displaying clothes in shops
manikin [noun] /ˈmænɪkɪn/ a model of the human body that is used for teaching art or medicine
vile
disgusting, wicked, unpleasant, immoral, and unacceptable
“There was a vile smell coming from the locked room.”
“He’s in a vile mood/temper today.”
“This vile policy of ethnic cleansing must be stopped.”
impudent /ˈɪmpjədənt/
rude; not showing respect for other people
SYNONYM impertinent (impolite, rude and not showing respect)
“an impudent young fellow”
“an impudent remark”
“Comments of that description are both intolerant and impudent.”
impudence [noun]
kennel
(US) doghouse (UK) kennels
a small, usually wooden, shelter for a dog to sleep in outside
“(UK) We put the dog in kennels when we go away”
“(US) We left our dog at the kennel when we went away.”
billiard
used for or connected with the game of billiards (a game)
“a billiard table”
“a billiard ball”
loon
- (also loony) (informal, offensive) a person who is crazy, silly, or strange
- a large North American bird that eats fish and makes a noise like a laugh
errant /ˈerənt/
[adj] doing something that is wrong; not behaving in an acceptable way
“Usually his cases involved errant husbands and wandering wives. “
“His errant son at Dartmouth ran up debts of £2250.”
compare errand (do an errand)
physique /fɪˈziːk/
[noun] the size and shape of a person’s body
SYNONYM build
“He has the physique of a rugby player.”
“She doesn’t have the physique to be a dancer.”
suite /swiːt/
a set of rooms, especially in a hotel
“Paragon Suites @ CIQ’
“They had a fabulous time during their week in a suite at the Paris Hilton.”
deliverance /dɪˈlɪvərəns/
[uncountable] deliverance (from something): the state of being rescued from danger, evil or pain
“The opening scene shows them celebrating their sudden deliverance from war. “
“She prayed to God for deliverance.”
“We pray for deliverance from our sins.”
elicit /ɪˈlɪsɪt/
to get information or a reaction from somebody, often with difficulty
“I could elicit no response from him.”
“Her tears elicited great sympathy from her audience.”
“He spoke for a long time, trying to elicit some comment or response from her.”
“The questionnaire was intended to elicit information on eating habits.”
“They were able to elicit the support of the public.”
serial
[noun] a story that is broadcast or published in several separate parts on television, on the radio, on the internet, in a magazine, etc.
“a classic drama serial”
“a new six-part drama serial”
[adj] done in the same way several times
“He is wanted for serial murder.”
“Such people can be described as serial monogamists (a person who advocates or practises monogamy).”
unfurl /ˌʌnˈfɜːl/
when something that is curled or rolled tightly unfurls, or you unfurl it, it opens
“The leaves slowly unfurled.”
“The protesters tried to unfurl a banner.”
“Once outside the inner breakwater, we began to unfurl all the sails.”
fowl
a bird, especially one that can be eaten as food, such as a duck or a chicken.
“a variety of domestic fowl”
“fowl such as turkeys and ducks”
“I now eat more fish and fowl and less red meat.”
implicit
- suggested without being directly expressed
“These assumptions are implicit in his writing.”
“He interpreted her comments as an implicit criticism of the government.” - forming part of something (although perhaps not directly expressed)
“The ability to listen is implicit in the teacher’s role.”
“The experiment was designed to measure implicit racial bias.” - complete and not doubted SYNONYM absolute
“She had the implicit trust of her staff.”
“All her life she had implicit faith in socialism.”
compare explicit
gait /ɡeɪt/
a particular way of walking or running
“Her gait was slow and stately.”
“I could always recognize her by the briskness of her gait.”
“He walked with a slow stiff gait.”
“His movements were clumsy, and his gait peculiarly awkward.”
gild
[verb] to make something look bright, or cover with a thin layer of gold or gold paint
“Sunlight gilded the children’s faces.’
“The golden light gilded the sea.”
“Carve the names and gild them.”
gilded [adjective] /ˈɡɪldɪd/ covered with a thin layer of gold or gold paint
eradicate
to destroy or get rid of something completely, especially something bad
SYNONYM wipe out
“Mosquitos are very difficult to eradicate.”
“We are determined to eradicate racism from our society.”
“Effective action is needed to eradicate terrorism, drug-trafficking and corruption.”
heckle
to interrupt a speaker at a public meeting by shouting out questions or rude remarks
SYNONYM barrack
“He was booed and heckled throughout his speech.”
heckler: a person who heckles
heckling [noun] the act of heckling SYNONYM barracking
hew (hewed, hewn)
(formal) to make or shape something large by cutting
“The statues were hewn out of solid rock.”
“They hewed a path through the forest.”
“The cave has been hewn out of the hillside.”
hale and hearty
(especially of an old person) strong and healthy
“Her grandfather was hale and hearty, walking five miles each day before breakfast.”
malign /məˈlaɪn/
[verb] to say bad things about somebody/something publicly
SYNONYM slander
“She feels she has been much maligned by the press.”
“Those who malign him in this way are simply being dishonest.”
[adj] causing harm COMPARE benign
“Foreign domination had a malign influence on local politics.”
“She describes pornography as “a malign industry”.”
detract from
/dɪˈtrækt/ to make something seem less good or fun
SYNONYM take away from
“All that make-up she wears actually detracts from her beauty, I think.”
“He was determined not to let anything detract from his enjoyment of the trip.”
“The publicity could detract from our election campaign.”
ingenuous
/ɪnˈdʒenjuəs/ (formal, sometimes disapproving)
honest, innocent and willing to trust people, sometimes in a way that seems silly
SYNONYM naive
“With ingenuous sincerity, he captivated his audience.”
“It was rather ingenuous of him to ask a complete stranger to take care of his luggage.”
“It is ingenuous to suppose that money did not play a part in his decision.”
[noun] ingenuity: the ability to invent things or solve problems in clever new ways. SYNONYM inventiveness
“The problem tested the ingenuity of even the most imaginative students.”
COMPARE disingenuous
disingenuous
/ˌdɪsɪnˈdʒenjuəs/ not sincere, especially when you pretend to know less about something than you really do
“It would be disingenuous of me to claim I had never seen it.”
“It would be disingenuous to claim that this is great art.”
“It was disingenuous of her to claim she had no financial interest in the case.”
COMPARE ingenuous
knotty
- complicated and difficult to solve
SYNONYM thorny
“The new management team faces some knotty problems.” - having parts that are hard and twisted together
“the knotty roots of the old oak tree”
gaol
/dʒeɪl/ = jail
diffident
not having much confidence in yourself; not wanting to talk about yourself
“He was modest and diffident about his own success.”
“You shouldn’t be so diffident about your achievements - you’ve done really well!”
loath vs loathe
loath adjective /ləʊθ/ not willing to do something
“He was loath to admit his mistake.”
“They were obviously loath to let her leave.”
loathe verb /ləʊð/ to dislike somebody/something very much
SYNONYM detest
“He loathed hypocrisy.”
“Many of the people fear and loathe the new government.”
“Whether you love or loathe their music, you can’t deny their talent.”
hatter
(old-fashioned) a person who makes and sells hats
Idioms: (as) mad as a hatter:
(of a person) with crazy ideas or behaviour; very silly
magnate
/ˈmæɡneɪt/ a person who is rich, powerful and successful, especially in business
“The company was owned by shipping magnate Fred Olsen.”
remonstrate
UK /ˈremənstreɪt/ US /rɪˈmɑːnstreɪt/
remonstrate (with somebody) (about something): to protest or complain about something/somebody
“I went to the boss to remonstrate against the new rules.”
“The editor remonstrated with him about the inaccuracies in the story.”
“They remonstrated with the official about the decision.”
pseudonym
/ˈsuːdənɪm/, /ˈsjuːdənɪm/
a name used by somebody, especially a writer, instead of their real name
“She writes under a pseudonym.”
“The rebel chief uses the pseudonym ‘Tigrillo’.”
pseudo-
not what somebody claims it is; false or pretended
pseudo-intellectual
pseudoscience
anomalous
different from what is normal or expected
“He is in an anomalous position as the only part-time worker in the firm.”
“They could find no explanation for the seemingly anomalous data.”
anomaly [noun]: thing, situation, etc. that is different from what is normal or expected
“The government does computer checks of tax returns to find anomalies that might indicate fraud.”
outlay /ˈaʊtleɪ/
money spent for a particular purpose, especially as a first investment in something
“The project would require little financial outlay.”
“The railway had made a considerable capital outlay on new rolling stock.”
abet [verb] /əˈbet/
to help or encourage someone to do something wrong or illegal
“He was abetted in the deception by his wife.”
“His accountant had aided and abetted him in the fraud.”
bail
[noun] money that somebody agrees to pay if a person accused of a crime does not appear at their trial. When bail has been arranged, the accused person is allowed to go free until the trial.
“He was released/remanded on bail (of $100,000).”
“Because of a previous conviction, the judge refused to grant bail (= allow the accused person to be released).”
[verb] to release somebody on bail
“He was bailed to appear in court on 15 March.”
officious /əˈfɪʃəs/
(disapproving)
too ready to tell people what to do or to use the power you have to give orders
“He’s an officious little man and widely disliked in the company.”
a hand plane
a tool used to make wooden surfaces and edges flat and smooth by removing small strips of the wood
deprecate /ˈdeprəkeɪt/
1) to feel and express strong disapproval of something
“We deprecate this use of company funds for political purposes.”
2) to say that you think something is of little value or importance:
“He always deprecates my achievements.”
“Self-deprecating humor” is a form of humor where you point out your own flaws, actions, or personality in a funny or sarcastic way
penance
(especially in particular religions) an act that you give yourself to do, or that a priest gives you to do, in order to show that you are sorry for something you have done wrong
“She kneeled at her mother’s feet in penance.”
“He decided to do public penance for his sins.”
“He devoted his life to helping the poor as a penance for his past crimes.”
pennant
a flag in the shape of a triangle, a long narrow pointed flag to show that a particular baseball team is the winner in its league
“Divisional winners meet in the final to decide the pennant.”
niggle [verb] [noun]
1) to annoy somebody slightly; to make somebody slightly worried
SYNONYM bother
“It niggled him that she had not phoned back.”
“One thought kept niggling at her.”
2) to argue about something unimportant; to criticize somebody for something that is unimportant
SYNONYM quibble
“I hate to niggle about little mistakes.”
“We needn’t niggle over whose turn it is.”
deference /ˈdefərəns/
behaviour that shows that you respect somebody/something
“The women wore veils in deference to the customs of the country.”
“The flags were lowered out of deference to the bereaved family.”
“Why do you treat your boss with such deference?”
stimulus
something that helps somebody/something to develop better or more quickly
“Foreign investment has been a stimulus to the industry.”
“The book will provide a stimulus to research in this very important area.”
fritter away
to waste time or money on things that are not important
“He frittered away the millions his father had left him.”
“If I’ve got money in my pocket, I tend to fritter it away.”
“She fritters so much money away on expensive make-up.”
fritter [noun]: a slice of fruit, vegetable, or meat covered with batter (= a mixture of flour, egg, and milk) and then fried. 古老肉，炸藕盒
appraise
to examine someone or something in order to judge their qualities, success, or needs
“Her eyes coolly appraised him.”
“She stepped back to appraise her workmanship.”
apprise someone of something
to tell or inform somebody of something
“He saw no reason to apprise the committee of what had happened.”
“We were fully apprised of the situation.”
“His representatives kept him fully apprised of important developments.”
“The look on my wife’s face apprised me of just how serious the situation had become.”
remediable vs remedial
remediable /rɪˈmiːdiəbl/ that can be solved or cured
SYNONYM curable
“remediable problems/diseases”
remedial /rɪˈmiːdiəl/ aimed at solving a problem, especially when this involves correcting or improving something that has been done wrong
“The building needs urgent remedial work to make it safe.”
remedy [noun] /ˈremədi/ a successful way of curing an illness or dealing with a problem or difficulty
“an effective herbal remedy for headaches”
“The best remedy for grief is hard work.”
temporal
- connected with the real physical world, not spiritual matters
“Although the spiritual leader of millions of people, the Pope has no temporal power.”
“Our physical bodies are just a temporal, passing reality.” - connected with or limited by time
“a universe which has spatial and temporal dimensions”
“The drug reduces spatial and temporal awareness.” - relating to the temple (= the side of the head behind the eyes) or the temporal bone of the skull beneath the temple
“the right temporal lobe of the brain”
gaffe
/ɡæf/ [noun]
a mistake that a person makes in public or in a social situation, especially something embarrassing
SYNONYM faux pas /ˌfəʊ ˈpɑː/
“I made a real gaffe - I called his new wife “Judy”, which is the name of his ex-wife.”
“You started eating before anyone else had been served? What a gaffe!”
“I made some remark about his wife’s family, and then realized I’d made a serious faux pas.”
gaffer
/ˈɡæfə(r)/ a person who is in charge of a group of people, for example, workers in a factory, a sports team, etc.
SYNONYM boss
refer to gaffe
appreciable
If an amount or change is appreciable, it is large or noticeable enough to have an important effect:
SYNONYM considerable
“The new regulations will not make an appreciable difference to most people.”
“The increase in salary will be appreciable.”
“There has been an appreciable increase in profits.”
impute /ɪmˈpjuːt/
- impute to:
to say, often unfairly, that somebody is responsible for something or has a particular quality
SYNONYM attribute
“I denied the motives that my employer was imputing to me.” - impute:
to calculate something when you do not have exact information, by comparing it to something similar
“No data, however, are imputed for opinions, such as ideology.”
“Quarterly imputed wages are almost perfectly collinear with the seasonal dummies and so are omitted.”
aural
connected with hearing and listening
“aural and visual images”
“aural comprehension tests”
“She doesn’t speak English well, but her aural comprehension is good.”
veracity vs voracity
veracity [noun] /vəˈræsəti/ the quality of being true; the habit of telling the truth
SYNONYM truth, truthfulness
“They questioned the veracity of her story.”
“They had no reason to doubt his veracity.”
voracity [noun] /vəˈræsəti/ the fact that an animal or a person wants to eat a large amount of food, or the state of being very eager to have a lot of something
“The young insects feed with astonishing voracity.”
“The scale and voracity of his betting was shocking.”
[adj] voracious /vəˈreɪʃəs/
pertain to
to be connected with a particular subject, event, or situation:
“We are only interested in the parts of the proposals that pertain to local issues.”
“regulations pertaining to high-tech industries”
flout vs flaunt
flout [verb] /flaʊt/ to intentionally not obey a rule, law, or custom
“Many motorcyclists flout the law by not wearing helmets.”
flaunt /flɔːnt/ to show something you are proud of to other people, in order to impress them
“He did not believe in flaunting his wealth.”
“She openly flaunted her affair with the senator.”
froth
a mass of small bubbles, especially on the surface of a liquid
SYNONYM foam
“a glass of beer with thick froth on top”
[adj] frothy. “frothy coffee”
seeming attractive and fun but having no real value, not serious
“Her first novel was a frothy romantic comedy.”
libellous /ˈlaɪbələs/
(US libelous) containing bad and false statements about a person
“Bloggers should take care to avoid making libellous remarks.”
“We reserve the right to remove anything potentially libellous.”
libel /ˈlaɪbl/ [verb] to publish a written statement about somebody that is not true
“He claimed he had been libelled in an article the magazine had published.”
COMPARE slander
libel [noun] /ˈlaɪbl/ a piece of writing that contains bad and false things about a person
