English Part 1 Flashcards
(25 cards)
amazing
causing a strong feeling of surprise or astonishment; so unusual or unlikely as to be unbelievable.
The emergency rescue team found it utterly amazing that the young children who were passengers of a car struck by a freight train not only survived, but sustained no injuries.
awesome
inspiring a mixed emotion of dread, respect, reverence, and wonder stimulated by authority, genius, great beauty, sublimity, or might.
Awesome is much closer in meaning to the English word awful.
The collapse of the twin World Trade Center towers in New York City as a result of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 is an example of one of the most truly awesome sights ever witnessed.
cool
neither warm nor very cold; moderately cold; giving or suggesting relief from heat; marked by calm self-control; marked by indifference, disdain, or dislike; unfriendly or unresponsive.
On glaringly hot California summer days, the cool breezes which can waft in from the coastline at night are a refreshing favorite of residents.
dude
a person from the eastern U. S. or city person who vacations on a ranch in the western U. S. A man who is very fancy or sharp in dress and demeanor.
City dwellers are sometimes surprised to find that their expectations of ‘authentic’ cowboy attire are more representative of the costumes of fringed and sequined dudes of 1950’s television.
dumb
incapable of using speech; mute; unintentional, haphazard.
Though left deaf, dumb and blind through an illness in infancy, Helen Keller rose far above the limitations those handicaps often place on people to become a role model for millions, and eventually learned to utter some degree of comprehensible speech.
hang out
to protrude downward; to display a flag or sign of some kind.
It was not unusual immediately following the September 11, 2001 terrorists attacks for many American families to hang out U. S. flags from their homes.
ignorant
lacking education, awareness, information or knowledge.
Most very young children are expected to be largely ignorant of sexual matters beyond a natural curiosity about their own bodies
incredible
unbelievable; absurd; improbable.
The politician made a series of largely incredible campaign promises in an effort to win the votes of the public.
kids
young goats, antelopes or similar animals.
Glove made of kids’ skin are often considered a mark of a well-dressed person and highly fashionable
mad
suffering from a disorder of the mind; insane; lacking restraint or reason; foolish.
In Shakespeare’s tragic play Hamlet, the emotionally fragile character of Ophelia is driven mad by Hamlet’s seeming rejection of her, and ultimately drowns
nice
pleasing, agreeable, delightful; amiably pleasant; kind; characterized by, showing, or requiring great accuracy, precision, skill, tact, care, or delicacy; minute, fine or subtle.
The golf pro exclaimed with enthusiasm to the beginning golfer, “Nice shot!”
smart
to cause a sharp, usually superficial, stinging pain.
Even a mild sunburn can smart sufficiently to interfere with a good night’s sleep.
stupid
lacking in intelligence or care; pointless, worthless; tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes; slow to learn, obtuse; dazed or stunned.
It is actually more desirable to be merely ignorant (lacking in information or experience in a particular regard) than to be truly stupid — since stupidity is based upon knowing better, but choosing to act or think otherwise.
A good example of stupidity is a rational adult who drinks alcohol and then chooses to drive a motor vehicle.
sucks
draws into the mouth by movements of the tongue and lips that create suction; to draw in by establishing a partial vacuum.
Sudden decompression of an aircraft (such as that occurring due to an explosion) can create a powerful vacuum which sucks passengers out of the plane, hurling them to their deaths.
cogent
convincing or believable by virtue of forcible, clear, or incisive presentation; telling; to the point; relevant; pertinent.
Those unfamiliar with Chekhov’s play are likely to be confused; this is more a dialogue with the play than a cogent telling of the story.
perturb
to disturb or disquiet greatly in mind; agitate; to throw into great disorder; derange.
The news that their beloved mother had died in a car crash at the age of 36 could not help but devastate and perturb the young Princes William and Harry.
genocide
The systematic, planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group.
In only 100 days, an estimated 800,000 people were massacred in the genocide of 1994 in the African nation of Rwanda; this event was the focus of the recent film Hotel Rwanda.
holocaust
A sacrificial offering that is consumed entirely by flames.
vacuous
empty; lacking in ideas or intelligence; purposeless and idle.
Detractors of TV reality star Kim Kardashian often point out her notably broad backside, and oddly vacuous facial expressions.
dubious
doubtful; of doubtful quality or propriety; questionable.
Lindsay Lohan has been dubbed “Teflon Lindsay” especially since, despite the dubious distinction of being arrested for at least four misdemeanor criminal offenses in a single six-month period, charges brought against her never “stick.”
Nazi
A member of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party [the shortened name is taken from the original German of Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterspartei], founded in Germany in 1919 and brought to power in 1933 under Adolf Hitler; an adherent or advocate of policies characteristic of Nazism; a fascist. (Note that fascism [Nazism is a type of fascism] is a government system marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
Hitler’s Nazi regime was infamous for carrying nationalist and racist policies to the extreme, resulting in the systematic murder of millions of innocent people throughout Europe during World War II.
nowadays
the period of time that is happening now; any continuous stretch of time including the moment of speech.
Though many people use the term nowadays in modern writing, the word is now considered archaic and old-fashioned. It is preferable simply to replace nowadays with the word “today.”
quintessence
the pure and concentrated essence of a substance; the most perfect embodiment of something.
The Parthenon in Greece was considered the quintessence of the perfectly proportioned building
uncanny
eerie, mysterious; being beyond what is normal or expected.
When Sherlock Holmes walks into a crime scene, he displays the uncanny ability to deduce how the crime unfolded: where the criminal entered, how the victim was murdered, what weapons were used, and so on.
