D_19/08/20 --> Tc --> 5LB-->26- Flashcards
(44 cards)
invalidate
verb [ T ]
to officially stop a document, ticket, law, etc. being legally or officially acceptable
to prove that an opinion, argument, etc. is wrong
defer
verb [ T ]
to delay something until a later time:
My bank has agreed to defer the repayments on my loan.
[ + -ing verb ] Can we defer making a decision until next week?
presage
verb [ T ] formal
to show or suggest that something, often something unpleasant, will happen:
But still the economy is not showing signs of any of the excesses that normally presage a recession.
legume
noun [ C ] BIOLOGY specialized
a plant that has its seeds in a pod, such as the bean or pea
archaically
adverb
connected with a time in the past or an ancient period of history:
The pamphlets they publish are archaically called tracts.
DISAPPROVING
in a way that is extremely old-fashioned:
Attitudes at the company are archaically paternalistic.
deft
adjective
skilful, clever, or quick:
Her movements were deft and quick.
She answered the journalist’s questions with a deft touch.
He’s very deft at handling awkward situations.
unbeknownst
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
If something happens unbeknownst to you or unbeknown to you, you do not know about it.
Unbeknownst to her father, she began taking dancing lessons.
consanguineous
adjective
connected with the fact of people being blood relations (= related to someone by birth, not marriage):
Some Hindu groups prefer consanguineous marriages while others prohibit them.
tremulous
adjective literary
If a person’s voice or a part of their body is tremulous, it is shaking slightly:
He watched her tremulous hand reach for the teacup.
In a tremulous voice she whispered: “Who are you people?”
coltish
adjective
cult
A young person or animal that is coltish is full of energy but clumsy or awkward, because they lack physical skill or control.
- COUNTABLE NOUN [usually singular]
A cult is a fairly small religious group, especially one which is considered strange.
The teenager may have been abducted by a religious cult.
[Also + of]
Synonyms: sect, following, body, faction More Synonyms of cult - ADJECTIVE [ADJECTIVE noun]
Cult is used to describe things that are very popular or fashionable among a particular group of people.
Since her death, she has become a cult figure.
The film is destined to become a cult classic.
The Osaka-based group is popular home in Japan and has developed a cult following in the United States. - SINGULAR NOUN
Someone or something that is a cult has become very popular or fashionable among a particular group of people.
Ludlam was responsible for making Ridiculous Theatre something of a cult.
The bra has gone from being a fashion classic to a fashion cult. - COUNTABLE NOUN
The cult of something is a situation in which people regard that thing as very important or special.
[disapproval]
…the cult of youth that recently gripped publishing.
Society is entitled and bound to protect itself against a cult of violence.
Meanwhile, the personality cult around this campaigner grew.
repulse
Impulse
- VERB [usually passive]
If you are repulsed by something, you think that it is horrible and disgusting and you want to avoid it.
Evil has charisma. Though people are repulsed by it, they also are drawn to its power. [be VERB-ed] - VERB
If an army or other group repulses a group of people, they drive it back using force.
The armed forces were prepared to repulse any attacks. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: drive back, check, defeat, fight off - VARIABLE NOUN [oft NOUN to-infinitive]
An impulse is a sudden desire to do something.
Unable to resist the impulse, he glanced at the sea again.
He still couldn’t understand the impulse that had made him confide in Cassandra.
Wade resisted an impulse to smile.
Synonyms: urge, longing, desire, drive More Synonyms of impulse - COUNTABLE NOUN
An impulse is a short electrical signal that is sent along a wire or nerve or through the air, usually as one of a series. - ADJECTIVE [ADJECTIVE noun]
An impulse buy or impulse purchase is something that you decide to buy when you see it, although you had not planned to buy it.
The curtains were an impulse buy.
sterile
adjective
(of a living being) unable to produce young, or (of land) unable to produce plants or crops:
Mules are usually sterile.
One of the side effects of the drug could be to make men sterile.
having no imagination, new ideas, or energy:
a sterile argument
completely clean and free from dirt and bacteria:
The operation must be carried out under sterile conditions.
harbinger
noun [ C ] literary
a person or thing that shows that something is going to happen soon, especially something bad:
a harbinger of doom
forebear
COUNTABLE NOUN [usually with poss]
Your forebears are your ancestors.
[literary]
I’ll come back to the land of my forebears.
Synonyms: ancestor, father, predecessor, forerunner
recant
verb [ I or T ]
to announce in public that your past beliefs or statements were wrong and that you no longer agree with them:
After a year spent in solitary confinement, he publicly recanted (his views).
omnipotent
adjective formal
omnipresent
having unlimited power and able to do anything:
How can a loving, omnipotent God permit disease, war and suffering?
ADJECTIVE
Something that is omnipresent is present everywhere or seems to be always present.
[formal]
The sound of sirens was an omnipresent background noise in New York.
The obsessive thoughts became so omnipresent that her memory was affected.
Synonyms: ubiquitous, ever-present, pervasive
unobtrusive
obtrusive
ADJECTIVE
If you describe something or someone as unobtrusive, you mean that they are not easily noticed or do not draw attention to themselves.
[formal]
The coffee table is glass, to be as unobtrusive as possible.
He managed the factory with unobtrusive efficiency.
ADJECTIVE
If you say that someone or something is obtrusive, you think they are noticeable in an unpleasant way.
‘You are rude and obtrusive, Mr Galbraith,’ said Tommy.
These heaters are less obtrusive and are easy to store away in the summer.
Synonyms: noticeable, striking, obvious, prominent
stout
adjective
strong and determined:
He needed a stout heart and nerves of steel.
Stout objects are strongly made from thick, strong materials:
I bought myself a pair of good stout hiking boots.
(especially of older people) fat and solid-looking, especially around the waist:
Mrs Blower was the stout lady with the glasses.
vestigial
ADJECTIVE [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
Vestigial is used to describe the small amounts of something that still remain of a larger or more important thing.
[formal]
Vestigial remains of these plays are now seen in the Christmas pantomime.
antiquated
adjective
old-fashioned or unsuitable for modern society:
It will take many years to modernize these antiquated industries.
Compared with modern satellite dishes, ordinary TV aerials look positively antiquated.
antiquated ideas/attitudes/values
antiquated laws/machinery/technology
high-handed
adjective
using power or authority more forcefully than is needed, without thinking about the feelings or wishes of other people
peccadillo
noun [ C ]
a small fault or mistake, or something that someone does wrong that is not very serious:
a youthful peccadillo
He dismissed what had happened as a mere peccadillo.
menacing
adjective
making you think that someone is going to do something bad:
a menacing look/gesture
If someone or something looks menacing, they give you a feeling that they are likely to cause you harm or put you in danger.
The strong dark eyebrows give his face an oddly menacing look.
He moved his menacing bulk closer to the table.
The wide river looked less menacing when flanked by the warm yellow houses.
Synonyms: threatening, dangerous, alarming, frightening
unprovoked
adjective
provoke
ADJECTIVE
If someone makes an unprovoked attack, they attack someone who has not tried to harm them in any way.
If an unpleasant action or remark is unprovoked, it has not been caused by anything and is therefore unfair:
an unprovoked attack on her character
- VERB
If you provoke someone, you deliberately annoy them and try to make them behave aggressively.
He started shouting at me but I didn’t do anything to provoke him. [VERB noun]
I provoked him into doing something really stupid. [VERB noun + into]
Synonyms: anger, insult, annoy, offend More Synonyms of provoke - VERB
If something provokes a reaction, it causes it.
His election success has provoked a shocked reaction. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: rouse, cause, produce, lead to More Synonyms of provoke
