English Vocabilary Jan 2025 Flashcards
(25 cards)
define:
genius loci
GEE nee us LO sigh
In Latin, genius means both “wit, talent” and “spirit, deity,” and so a genius loci is basically a local spirit: a guiding spirit that watches over a particular place, or more loosely, the general spirit of some place.
You might talk about the genius loci of a specific place: “the genius loci of the deep south,” “the genius loci of east Hawaii.”
Or you might talk about a genius loci that charms you, reveals itself to you, influences you, or inspires you. You might embrace the genius loci, feel its presence, or feel drawn to it. And you might talk about the people, events, traditions, landscapes, landmarks, and so on that create or contribute to the genius loci. Or talk about the paintings, photos, writings, and music that capture or convey the genius loci.
define:
recherché (adj)
ruh share SHAY
We use it to mean “cool, exotic, rare, fancy, and/or elegant, maybe even pretentious, as if you really have to search far and wide to find it.”
e.g. The banquet was certainly a magnificent one. The guests did full justice to the costly wines, the rare and beautiful fruits, the recherché dishes prepared with so much skill and labor.
define:
eremition
eh-ruh-MIH-shun
The act of gradually fading from the lives of others, not out of malice but a desire for solitude or renewal.
e.g. Over the years, his eremition went unnoticed, until one day he was simply gone.
define:
to assent (intr)
uh SENT
We most often use it in the phrases “Somebody assents” or “Somebody assents to something,” meaning they agree to let it happen.
They assented.
They assented to the suggestion.
Also a noun, the uncountable kind:
They nodded their assent.
They gave their assent.
define:
de novo
duh NO vo
“De novo” is Latin for “from the beginning” or “since the beginning.”
We’ve used it for centuries in English to mean “from the start,” and more specifically to describe actions that must be done all over again, from scratch.
You might talk about inventions, adaptations, or developments that evolve de novo or arise de novo, or talk about people having to create or design things de novo.
Or you might use the phrase more loosely, like an adjective, and talk about de novo designs, inventions, adaptations, or developments.
define:
to genuflect (vi)
JEN you flekt
To genuflect is to bend down on one or both knees, often as a way of showing deep respect or even worship.
And in a more abstract sense, to genuflect to things or people is to obey them or worship them, as if you’re bowing down to them.
He genuflects to them.
She genuflected before them.
They all genuflect to their leader.
define:
dolorous
DOE luh russ
Dolorous things are sad or sorrowful, full of grief or pain.
You might talk about dolorous eyes and faces, dolorous sighs and voices, or dolorous moods or music.
define:
rattletrap
RAT ull trap
In English, the word “rattletrap” dates back to the 1700s. We first used it to describe worthless little objects: trinkets, or knickknacks, especially the broken or shabby kind. Over time, we applied “rattletrap” to other objects, especially vehicles.
So, today, when you call something rattletrap, it’s often a vehicle or other structure that’s old, broken, and falling apart.
Pick the rare, funny, whimsical word “rattletrap” when you want to emphasize how something’s pieces or elements are no longer holding together. It’s more fun and interesting than calling it “a piece of crap.”
We most often talk about rattletrap vehicles, like cars, submarines, and even space shuttles. But we can also talk about rattletrap devices, furniture, staircases, buildings and so on. If you like to get extra-abstract, you could talk about a rattletrap plan, argument, legislature, etc.
scrupulous / unscrupulous
A scruple, from the Latin word for “pebble,” is a bothersome little twinge of moral doubt that makes you hesitate before you act, wondering whether you’re doing the right thing. It’s a pebble in the shoe of your conscience.
If you have many scruples—many thoughts and worries about making sure you do the right thing—then you’re a scrupulous person, someone who’s careful to do every little thing in a correct way, especially morally.
And if you have zero scruples, then you’re unscrupulous: not at all bothered or influenced by pangs of guilt, and therefore, totally willing to break rules and hurt people in order to get what you want.
They paid scrupulous attention.
They’re known for being unscrupulous.
define:
unassailable
Unassailable people or things are too tough or too excellent for anyone to attack them or criticize them.
Her logic was unassailable.
She argued with unassailable logic.
define:
to vaccilate (intr)
To vacillate between two different things is to go back and forth between them.
And more generally, to vacillate is to move up and down or move back and forth, or to keep changing your mind or keep having doubts about what you should be thinking, feeling, or doing.
We talk about people vacillating between two feelings or desires or goals, or between two courses of action.
It doesn’t have to be people who vacillate; it can be things. Music can vacillate between two moods or sounds, for example, or an industry or economy can vacillate between periods of boom and bust.
define:
assiduous
uh SIDGE you us
Hardworking, diligent, effortful, sticking with the work constantly and doing it to the best of your ability.
You might talk about assiduous people, like an assiduous student, worker, reader, writer, historian, or researcher.
Or you might talk about the assiduous things people do or create, like assiduous notes, records, citations, research, processes, routines, studying, or bookkeeping.
Or you might say that someone is assiduous about or in something: “He’s assiduous about taking notes.” “She’s assiduous in her reporting.”
define:
to condescend (vi)
KON duh SEND
When you condescend to do something, you do it while acting high and mighty about it, as if it’s below you.
And when you condescend to someone below you—someone less intelligent, less mature, less powerful, or whatever—you climb down to their level in the sense that you lower yourself to talking with them or helping them, while acting high and mighty about it.
Say that someone condescends to someone else. For example, in the movie Mean Girls, one of the popular girls, Gretchen, condescends to Cady, a new student: “So this is, like, a really huge deal. We wanna invite you to have lunch with us… every day for the rest of the week!”
Or, say that someone condescends to do something. “Gretchen condescends to inviting Cady to lunch.”
Or, use “condescending” as an adjective, as in “Gretchen’s invitation was so condescending.” You might talk about people’s condescending looks, smiles, laughs, comments, offers, or attitudes.
germane
In English, we first used the word “germane” in the phrase “germane cousins,” meaning “first cousins: the ones with the same grandparents.” Over time, “germane” grew to mean “blood-related” more generally, and then “closely connected to the topic at hand.”
That last meaning is the one we use today. When something is germane to your topic or your discussion, it has a lot to do with it: it’s closely related and therefore important to focus on.
Compared to synonyms like “central,” “important,” “related,” “relevant,” “pressing” and so on, the word “germane” strikes an extra-formal tone and suggests a natural, familial, enduring kind of connection between things.
We most often say that one thing is (or isn’t) germane to another. For example, you might talk about a point or a fact being germane to an argument or a discussion, a question being germane to a presentation, a publication being germane to your field of work, an article being germane to your research project, or a notification in an app being germane to your needs.
define:
mordant
“Mordant” traces back through French to the Latin mordēre, “to bite or sting, or to cause pain.”
We’ve used it for centuries to mean “mean, cutting, or critical in an especially sharp or dark way.”
You might talk about people’s mordant wit, jokes, comments, observations, portrayals, smiles, and laughter.
define:
to predestine
To predestine someone to a certain fate is to decide ahead of time what that person’s fate will be, as if in a magical or godlike way.
You might talk about people predestined to do certain things (“She believes she’s predestined to become a great novelist”), or about people predestined for certain things in life (“She believes she’s predestined for fame”).
Notice how we pretty much never say who or what is doing the predestining. A more direct sentence structure would be like: “She believes God predestined her to become a great novelist.” But we just don’t typically say it like that; we leave the God part implied and stick with the passive voice: “She believes she’s predestined for greatness.”
define:
to spite smb
To spite someone is to annoy, thwart, or hurt them on purpose, often because you dislike them.
e.g. I naively left [my camera] on a counter, thinking my lazy cat wouldn’t leap up just to spite me. But he did.
define:
germinal
Today, outside of scientific contexts, something germinal is just beginning: just now starting to develop, and later on it’ll become something important or influential.
“Germinal” is a semi-common, scientific-sounding word. Pick it when you want to strike a positive tone as you describe something full of newness and the promise of growth.
Typically, we talk about a germinal stage or form, a germinal idea or concept, or some germinal creation: one that’s the first of its kind that leads to a blossoming of many others.
define:
prolix
pro LIX / PRO lix
Going on for too long: using too many words.
You might talk about prolix descriptions, comments, speeches, writing, signs, articles, lyrics, poems, novels, or plays. And though it’s less common, you could also say that a person is being prolix.
define:
scienter
sigh EN tur
Scienter is someone’s intent or knowledge of wrongdoing. In other words, when you prove scienter, you prove the fact that someone knew they were doing something wrong as they were doing it.
And, to do something wrong scienter is to do it knowingly.
terra firma
Used literally, it means “firm land, dry land, or solid ground: basically, land and not water,” as in “Cruises are rad, but if you were seasick the whole time, you’d be glad to return to terra firma.”
We also use it figuratively. When a person is on terra firma, they’re in a safe, familiar, comfortable situation. And when a thing is on terra firma, it’s got a basis that’s solid and substantial.
You might talk about a person standing on (or approaching, or slipping off, or departing from) terra firma while making an argument, making a case, advocating for a policy, or otherwise trying to persuade others.
Or, you might talk about a person seeking, finding, or staying on terra firma—or failing to—while trying to understand some complex topic or master some difficult skill.
Or, you might talk about some idea, proposal, or creative work (like a poem, a play, or a film) standing on some specific terra firma: “The poem stays on the terra firma of happy memory;” “The film frequently leaves the terra firma of reality.”
define:
to assuage smt
uh SWAIDGE
When you assuage people, or when you assuage people’s fears, pains, or worries, you calm them, soothe them, or make them feel more at ease.
Pick the formal, common word “assuage” to strike a serious tone as you emphasize someone’s attempt to ease someone’s stress or pain and therefore improve their mood or behavior.
Most often, we talk about assuaging people’s feelings or bad thoughts. That is, with words or actions (or snacks!), we assuage someone’s hunger, thirst, pain, grief, sorrow, misery, fears, doubts, worries, concerns, or anger.
define:
condign
kun DINE
Condign treatment or punishment is the kind that is well-deserved and appropriate for the person who committed the crime or other wrongdoing.
Pick the ultra-formal, somewhat rare word “condign” when you want to emphasize how certain punishments or natural consequences are especially appropriate.
And almost always, it’s punishment, specifically, that we call “condign.” But we can also talk about condign consequences, condign reprimands, or other condign things caused by bad behavior. Or to be sarcastic: condign rewards, or condign prizes.
define:
to abase smb
To abase yourself (or someone else) is to shame or humiliate yourself, bringing yourself to a lower level of respect or self-respect, often because you’re trying to make sure someone else likes you.
Pick the serious, formal, critical, semi-common word “abase” when you want to talk about people choosing to humiliate themselves, often for selfish purposes, like gaining power, money, or the approval of others.
People might abase themselves by
- publicly begging for their ex to come back,
- politely serving a customer who’s being verbally abusive to them,
or
- slathering praise on a powerful politician that they had previously criticized.
That’s the most typical way to use this word: to talk about people abasing themselves rather than other people, or things. Less commonly, though, we do talk about people and their actions abasing, say, the positions they hold, or the organizations they belong to: “It’s sad when a Supreme Court justice abases the court by accepting, and hiding, extravagant gifts from partisan donors.”
