English 11 vocab 4 Flashcards
(20 cards)
Buffoon
noun
1 : a ludicrous figure : clown
2 : a gross and usually ill-educated or stupid person
Examples
the children at the birthday party giggled at the buffoon’s silly tricks
Synonyms: buffo, clown, harlequin, zany
Bucolic
adjective
1 : of or relating to shepherds or herdsmen : pastoral
2 a : relating to or typical of rural life
Examples
a bucolic region where farms are still common
Synonyms: rural, country, pastoral, rustic (also rustical)
Antonyms: urban
Bulwark
Something preventing
noun
1 a : a solid wall-like structure raised for defense : rampart
b : breakwater, seawall
2 : a strong support or protection
3 : the side of a ship above the upper deck — usually used in plural
bulwark
transitive verb
: to fortify or safeguard with a bulwark
Bumptious
adjective
: presumptuously, obtusely, and often noisily self-assertive : obtrusive
Examples
a bumptious young man whose family wealth gave him a sense of entitlement
Synonyms: assumptive, arrogant, cavalier, chesty, haughty, highfalutin (also hifalutin), high-and-mighty, high-handed, high-hat, huffish, huffy, imperious, important, lofty, lordly, masterful, overweening, peremptory, pompous, presuming, presumptuous, pretentious, self-asserting, self-assertive, sniffy, stiff-necked, supercilious, superior, toplofty (also toploftical), uppish, uppity
Antonyms: humble, lowly, modest, unarrogant, unpretentious
Cabal
noun
1 : the artifices and intrigues of a group of persons secretly united in a plot (as to overturn a government); also : a group engaged in such artifices and intrigues
2 : club, group <a>
synonyms see plot
Synonyms: 1ring, conspiracy, crew, gang, Mafia, mob, syndicate</a>
cabal
intransitive verb
: to unite in or form a cabal
Cacophonous
(Fingernails on a chalkboard)
adjective
: marked by cacophony : harsh-sounding
Examples
the cacophonous chaos on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
Synonyms: dissonant, discordant, inharmonious, unmelodious, unmusical, unvocal
Antonyms: harmonious, harmonizing, melodious, musical
Cadaverous
adjective
1 a : of or relating to a corpse
b : suggestive of corpses or tombs
2 a : pallid, livid
b : gaunt, emaciated
Examples
everyone always looks cadaverous in the winter
a cadaverous cancer patient living out his final days with dignity and courage
Synonyms: ashen, ashy, blanched, pale, doughy, livid, lurid, mealy, paled, pallid, pasty, peaked, wan
Antonyms: blooming, florid, flush, full-blooded, glowing, red, rosy, rubicund, ruddy, sanguine
Callow
adjective
: lacking adult sophistication : immature <callow>
Examples
a story about a callow youth who learns the value of hard work and self-reliance
Synonyms: adolescent, green, immature, inexperienced, juvenile, puerile, raw, unfledged, unformed, unripe, unripened, wet behind the ears
Antonyms: adult, experienced, grown-up, mature, ripe</callow>
Calumniate
transitive verb
1 : to utter maliciously false statements, charges, or imputations about
2 : to injure the reputation of by calumny
synonyms see malign
Examples
the short-lived Sedition Act of 1798 made it illegal to calumniate the President of the United States
Cantankerous
adjective
: difficult or irritating to deal with <a>
Examples
a cantankerous old woman who insisted that nothing should ever be allowed to change
Synonyms: acid, bearish, bilious, bloody-minded [chiefly British], ill–tempered, disagreeable, dyspeptic, ill-humored, ill-natured, ornery, splenetic, surly
Antonyms: amiable, good-humored, good-natured, good-tempered</a>
Captious
adjective
1 : marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections <captious>
2 : calculated to confuse, entrap, or entangle in argument <a>
synonyms see critical
Examples
a captious and cranky eater who's never met a vegetable he didn't hate
Synonyms: critical, carping, caviling (or cavilling), faultfinding, hypercritical, judgmental, overcritical, rejective
Antonyms: uncritical</a></captious>
Caricature
noun
1 : exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics
2 : a representation especially in literature or art that has the qualities of caricature
3 : a distortion so gross as to seem like caricature
Synonyms: mockery, cartoon, farce, joke, parody, sham, travesty
Antonyms: meiosis, understatement
Synonym discussion: caricature burlesque parody travesty mean a comic or grotesque imitation. caricature implies ludicrous exaggeration of the characteristic features of a subject <caricatures>. burlesque implies mockery especially through giving a serious or lofty subject a frivolous treatment <a>. parody applies especially to treatment of a trivial or ludicrous subject in the exactly imitated style of a well-known author or work <a>. travesty implies that the subject remains unchanged but that the style is extravagant or absurd <this>.</this></a></a></caricatures>
transitive verb
: to make or draw a caricature of : represent in caricature <the>
Examples
The press caricatured him as clumsy and forgetful.
caricatured the supervisor's distinctive walk</the>
Celestial
adjective
1 : of, relating to, or suggesting heaven or divinity <celestial>
2 : of or relating to the sky or visible heavens <the sun, moon, and stars are celestial bodies>
3 a : ethereal, otherworldly <celestial>
b : olympian, supreme
4 capitalized [Celestial Empire, old name for China] : of or relating to China or the Chinese
Synonyms: elysian, empyreal, empyrean, ethereal, heavenly, supernal
Antonyms: chthonic (also chthonian), hellish, infernal, plutonian, sulfurous, Tartarean</celestial></celestial>
noun
1 : a heavenly or mythical being
2 capitalized : chinese 1a
Chauvinist
Almost always describes a man. Example: “oh a women could never run a marathon”
noun
1 : an attitude of superiority toward members of the opposite sex; also : behavior expressive of such an attitude
Examples
their ingrained chauvinism has blinded them to their country’s faults
Synonyms: jingoism, nationalism, superpatriotism
Chicanery
noun
1 : deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry : trickery
2 : a piece of sharp practice (as at law) : trick
Examples
that candidate only won the election through chicanery
Synonyms: artifice, chicane, trickery, gamesmanship, hanky-panky, jiggery-pokery, jugglery, legerdemain, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, wile
Circumspect
adjective
: careful to consider all circumstances and possible consequences : prudent <diplomacy>
synonyms see cautious
Examples
she has a reputation for being quiet and circumspect in investigating charges of child abuse
Synonyms: alert, cautious, chary, careful, conservative, considerate, gingerly, guarded, heedful, safe, wary
Antonyms: careless, heedless, incautious, unguarded, unmindful, unsafe, unwary</diplomacy>
Circumvent
transitive verb
1 a : to hem in
b : to make a circuit around
2 : to manage to get around especially by ingenuity or stratagem <the setup circumvented the red tape — Lynne McTaggart>
Examples
employees who try to circumvent the company’s dress code
circumvented the traffic jam by taking an alternate route
most casual joggers will be able to circumvent the reservoir without too much of a strain
Clamorous
Almost always indicates a group
adjective
1 : marked by confused din or outcry : tumultuous
2 : noisily insistent
synonyms see vociferous
Examples
a clamorous objection to the play that the students have chosen to put on this year
a clamorous kindergarten classroom that would try the patience of any sane adult
a rock band whose clamorous concerts will rattle your bones
Synonyms: blatant, caterwauling, clamant, vociferous, obstreperous, squawking, vociferant, vociferating, yawping (or yauping), yowling
Antonyms: hushed, noiseless, quiet, silent, soundless, stilled, stilly
Clandestine
adjective
: marked by, held in, or conducted with secrecy : surreptitious <a>
synonyms see secret
Examples
I took a clandestine peek at the price tag on the diamond necklace
Synonyms: backstairs, behind-the-scenes, secret, covert, furtive, hole-and-corner, hugger-mugger, hush-hush, private, privy, sneak, sneaking, sneaky, stealth, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover, underground, underhand, underhanded
Antonyms: open, overt, public</a>
Clement
adjective
1 : inclined to be merciful : lenient <a>
2 : mild <clement>
Examples
Hawaii is known for its delightfully clement climate
his clement application of authority was a welcome change after years of managerial heavy-handedness
Synonyms: balmy, equable, genial, gentle, mild, moderate, soft, temperate
Antonyms: harsh, inclement, intemperate, severe</clement></a>
