HFW Flashcards
(172 cards)
0
Q
Amalgamate
A
Blend
Two companies amalgamated into one company
1
Q
Whimsical
A
A WHIMSICAL SENSE OF HUMOUR, A WHIMSICAL CHILDREN’S STORY Capricious, fanciful, fantastical, playful, mischievous, waggish, quaint, unusual, curious, droll, eccentric, peculiar, queer, bizarre, weird, freakish
2
Q
Ambiguous
A
Vague, inconclusive
I hate to listen to people who have ambiguous ideas
3
Q
Ameliorate
A
Mitigate, Improve
The government seems to be doing nothing to ameliorate the situation
4
Q
Anachronism
A
Misdate
Her thoughts and behaviour seemed to be anachronistic for her contemporaries
5
Q
Analogous
A
Similar, akin, correspondent
Looking for an honest man in politics is analogous to looking for a virgin in a brothel
6
Q
Anomaly
A
Abnormality
I doubt whether I can correct anomaly in her behaviour
7
Q
Antagonise
A
Oppose
The lady antagonised the doctor by asking too many silly questions
8
Q
Antipathy
A
Aversion, distaste, dislike
I don’t have any antipathy to listening to your point of view
9
Q
Apathy
A
Aloofness, disregard
It is really disheartening when children show apathy towards their parents
10
Q
Arbitrate
A
Conciliate, step in
I failed to arbitrate between the warring groups
11
Q
Archaic
A
Very old
The archaic manuscript fell into pieces the moment I touched it
12
Q
Ardor
A
Enthusiasm
His cold response to my queries didn’t dampen my ardor to continue my search
13
Q
Articulate
A
Expressive, fluent
The judge praised the lawyer for his articulate argument
14
Q
Assuage
A
Relieve
Her father tried to assuage her but she wept inconsolably
15
Q
Attenuate
A
Abate, debilitate
The government tries to attenuate terrorist activities
16
Q
Audacious
A
Adventurous
The nation should remember the audacious acts of its soldiers while fighting against the enemies
17
Q
Austere
A
Strict
Austerity measures should be taken in ladies hostel for safety
18
Q
Banal
A
Ordinary, boring
Though songs were good in the movie, the screenplay was boring
19
Q
Bolster
A
Assist, boost
John’s friends bolstered his morale to come out of the turmoil
20
Q
Bombastic
A
Overblown, pompous
The minister’s bombastic claims fell apart when he failed to fulfil even simple things
21
Q
Cacophony
A
Discord, jarring noise
We expected symphony but were greeted by a cacophony of sound
22
Q
Candid
A
Genuine
His candid remarks on the failure of government policy were appreciated
23
Q
Capricious
A
Unstable, careless
His capricious nature fetched bad remarks among his coworkers
24
Castigate
Berate, chasten
| Parents are afraid to castigate their children
25
Catalyst
Impetus
| The material you found is a good catalyst and it will cause the expected reaction
26
Caustic
Hurtful, nasty
| I was shocked to hear the caustic remarks passed nu my principal as I always thought that he was polite
27
Chaos
Clutter, disorder
| Sigmund theories caused chaos in the society
28
Chauvinist
Fanatic
| He is considered to be a male chauvinist by all his female colleagues
29
Chicanery
Trickery, cheating
| After learning about my friend's chicanery, I refused to accept his help on face value
30
Cogent
Effective, convincing
| Oscar has the ability to say something cogent but unfortunately his brother Donald lacks it
31
Condone
Pardon, overlook
| Compassionate teachers often condone minor errors committed by their students
32
Convoluted
Serpentine, elaborate
| Her convoluted approach to solving the problem added to my irritation
33
Corroborate
Approve, certify
| Physical evidence corroborated the witness's testimony
34
Credulous
Simple, trustful
| Her credulous little daughter believes that spider man is going to help her
35
Crescendo
Apex, Ascension
| The crescendo of violence became unbearable and the police had no clue as to how to stop it
36
Decorum
Conduct, propriety, correctness
| The solider who was attending the formal dinner lacked decorum
37
Deference
Respect, courtesy
| These days youngsters lack deference to elders
38
Deride
Banter, to mock
| The politician was derided even by his more popular supporters
39
Desiccate
Dehydrated
| Desiccated coconut is used in this dish to make it tasty
40
Diatribe
Abuse, criticism
| The teacher's diatribe at the student was uncalled for
41
Desultory
Random, aimless
| As days passed by, John's output became more desultory
42
Diffident
Hesitant, un confident
| Observing the salesman's diffident manner, I guessed that the product he was trying to sell was dubious
43
Dilate
Stretch, widen
| Pupils dilate when one enters a dark room
44
Dilatory
Backward, delaying
| The cashier used dilatory means to stop the payment
45
Dilettante
Unaccomplished
| Unlike his ancestors, Rahul Gandhi is a dilettante in politics
46
Dirge
Elegy, death song
| Mike wrote a dirge for the funeral of his cherished grandfather
47
Disabuse
Set right. Persuade someone that a belief is mistaken.
| The president of the organization disabused critics who didn't understand his new proposal
48
Discern
Perceive, descry
| Viswa speaks so convincingly that it is not so easy to discern if he is lying
49
Disparate
At variance, discordant
| The details provided by the informer were so disparate that the police were not convinced
50
Dissemble
Disguise, pretend
| The president was trying to dissemble rather than present his ideas on the contentious issue
51
Dissonance
Disagreement, conflict
Although the pastor preached about the importance of marriage, his dissonance became obvious when he fell in love with a married woman
52
Dogma
Belief, principle
| A few managements still hold the dogma that satisfaction on the job is not an important criterion
53
Dupe
Cheat
| If people are successfully duped by a magician, then it is magic
54
Eclectic
Comprehensive, general, something made up of from various sources or styles
The theory is no longer eclectic, it is highly controversial
Henry wife’s music taste is more eclectic and includes everything from classical music to rock music.
55
Efficacy
Ability, productiveness
| The efficacy of the drug is reduced, if it is not taken regularly
56
Elegy
Plaint, dirge
| The author wrote an emotional elegy about his mother's death
57
Eloquent
Ardent, articulate
| The president gave an eloquent speech in honor of the soldiers who lost their lives defending the country
58
Emulate
Follow, mimic
| My son was fascinated by his football coach and tried to emulate him
59
Enervate
Debilitate, disable
| Exposure to extreme summer heat enervates one's energy
60
Engender
Arouse, beget, to cause a feeling or attitude to exist
| Although I do not like my ex-husband, I would never want my opinion to engender my children to dislike their father
61
Enigma
Bewilderment, a mystery, something or someone difficult to understand
For the determined medical researcher, the cure for cancer is an enigma which must be discovered.
62
Enumerate
To count, list, itemize
| The wife enumerated her husband's all faults during their bitter argument
63
Ephemeral
Brief, momentary, lasting for a shorter time
| Running after ephemeral things in life will cost you peace of mind
64
Equivocal
Vague, ambiguous
| The witness have such equivocal replies that the jury was confused
65
Erratic
Unpredictable, wandering
| Neshwa's erratic behaviour is a cause for concern
66
Erudite
Well educated, cultured
| Valekumar is the most erudite member of the organisation
67
Esoteric
Mysterious, obscure
| The trainer struggled to explain the esoteric financial terms to people have no finance background
68
Estimable
Honourable, worthy
| Davinci's estimable paintings speaks for itself
69
Eulogy
Praise, acclamation
| George's eulogy in his friend during fair well was very touching
70
Euphemism
Delicacy, pretense, a less direct word used instead of an offensive one
Sometimes euphemism is better than speaking the truth
71
Exacerbate
Aggravate, make something bad worse
| Cora chose to exacerbate the argument by throwing a lamp at Mark’s head
72
Exculpate
Forgive, acquit, to clear of or free from guilt, exonerate
Diane’s teenage son is constantly getting into some kind of mischief, but he knows how to charm his mother and exculpate himself
73
Exigent
Urgent need or demand, acute
| Anu decided to do MBA under such a exigent circumstances at home
74
Exonerate
Absolve, vindicate, declare free from blame
| The manager was declared exonerated after his secretary had confessed to stealing the important document
75
Explicit
Specific, unambiguous
| Her explicit instructions made it easy for me to complete the job on time
76
Fanatical
Over enthusiastic, immoderate, a person holding extreme political or religious opinions.
She was so fanatical in her beliefs that it was difficult to make her think out of the box
77
Fawn
Flatter, try to please by flattery and being very attentive
| Christiane fawned over the stage manager, hoping to gain a backstage pass for the concert
78
Fervid
Passionate, ardent
| Grace was fervid about releasing the book on her dad's birthday
79
Florid
Very elaborate, ornamental
| Jane's home is decorated in a florid style
80
Foment
Instigate, provoke
| The mob tried to foment sentiment against the minister by raising slogans against him
81
Frugality
Moderation, miserliness
| Due to Ramesh's frugality, he was able to save more than half of her take-home pay
82
Garrulous
Talkative, blabber mouth
| Garrulous women annoy me
83
Gregarious
Friendly, affable
| Her gregarious nature allowed her to gather many friends
84
Guile
Slyness, craftiness, clever but deceitful behaviour
| The desperate leader resorted to guile in an effort to win support
85
Gullible
Naive and trusting
| The culprit fooled gullible women into handing over their ornaments to him
86
Homogenous
Similar, comparable
| The members were faulty homogeneous in their thoughts, so consensus was not a problem
87
Iconoclast
Detractor, dissident
| The iconoclast in Harry makes him reject traditional beliefs
88
Imperturbable
Calm, collected
| The police seemed imperturbable even when faced with the wildest problems
89
Impervious
Immune, resistant
| A good roof is impervious to moisture
90
Impetuous
Abrupt, impulsive
| My father prefers to think through all the opinions thoroughly, rather than make an impetuous move
91
Implacable
Grim, merciless
| My anger at my subordinate's betrayal left me implacable for years
92
Inchoate
Undeveloped, beginning
David has spent a lot of time on his new project but surprisingly it is still inchoate
93
Ingenuous
Honest, truthful
She was ingenuous by nature, so people fooled her easily
94
Inimical
Hostile, unfriendly
Roger's inimical attitude earned him many enemies
95
Innocuous
Harmless, banal
Most of his ideas are innocuous and pose no danger to us
96
Insipid
Dull, uninteresting
Martin's insipid writing fails to generate interest in the readers
97
Intransigent
Uncompromising, inflexible
My children were intransigent on the idea of selling the property and moving to a new place
98
Inundate
To overwhelm, drown
After the accident, the helpline was inundated with Akka for assistance
99
Irascible
Angry, irritable
Paul's irritable nature makes it difficult for me to accept him as my colleague
100
Laconic
Brief, concise
People who know Sara will vouch that she is really not a laconic speaker
101
Lament
To mourn, to grieve
Katy continues to lament the death of her dog
102
Laud
Praise, acclaim
The president lauded the success of the space scientists in launching the space craft
103
Lavish
Profuse, abundant
Her lavish nature caused many problems to her family
104
Lethargic
Sluggish, lethargic
Mary felt so lethargic that she decided to skip work
105
Loquacious
Talkative, verbose
At times Lucy's loquacious nature was a problem to her family
106
Lucid
Evident, obvious
The scholar's explanation was so simple and lucid that we understood every word of it
107
Luminous
Bright, lighted
The tourists throng to the place as they are attracted by the fact that there is luminous sunshine through the summer
108
Malign
Slander, defame
No one can malign Hoffman because everyone knows how principles he is
109
Malinger
Shirk, evade
I believed all his excuses for not being regular to work but soon realised that he was a Malingerer
110
Malleable
Pliable, ductile
Some metals are malleable and can be easily molded
111
Meticulous
Detailed, exact
Michele's meticulous work was appreciated by her boss
112
Misanthrope
Cynic, skeptic
Scrooge is such a misanthrope that he cannot withstand even children
113
Mitigate
Abate, diminish
The storm mitigated after several hours
114
Mollify
Pacify, smoothen
The worker who was insulted was so angry that no compromise could mollify him
115
Monotony
Boredom, sameness
Music is played in assembly lines to reduce the monotony of repeating the same task
116
Naive
Childlike, gullible
Although Mary pretends to be naive, she is cunning to the core
117
Obdurate
Stubborn, unyielding
My parents were obdurate on the issue, and no amount of persuasion would change their mind
118
Obsequious
Complacent, obedient, submissive
119
Obstinate
Stubborn, unyielding
The obstinate student refused to obey rules in spite of several warnings from the headmaster
120
Obviate
Avert, block
Please obviate the danger of someone stealing the original document
121
Occlude
Hinder, prevent
During a solar eclipse, the light from the sun is occluded by the moon
122
Onerous
Arduous, burdensome
The onerous task was completed by the workers without any complaints
123
Opaque
Cloudy, muddy
The opaque car windows blurred his vision causing the accident
124
Opprobrium
Dishonour, disgrace
The home team left the field in opprobrium after losing such an easy match
125
Ostentation
Exhibitionism, pompousness
There was an ostentatious display of wrath in my friend's wedding
126
Paradox
Contradiction, dilemma
In a sad paradox, those most in need of medical attention are least able to obtain it
127
Paragon
Outstanding example
Miss America is the paragon of beauty, intelligence, talent, and fitness
128
Pedant
Dogmatist
The scientist is known to be a pedant
129
Perfidious
Betraying, deceptive
Amina's perfidious nature astonished her boyfriend as he had trusted her fully
130
Perfunctory
Automatic, unthinking
Sara's perfunctory smile brightened her face
131
Permeate
Filter, diffuse
The sweet smell of her perfume permeated through the entire room
132
Philanthropy
Altruism, love of mankind
133
Placate
Pacify, calm
My mother tried to placate my sister's anger by offering her food to eat
134
Plastic
Made of plastic
135
Plethora
Excess, plenty
136
Pragmatic
Sensible, practical
Pragmatic people oppose idealism
137
Precipitate
Hurry, speed
The governor's extramarital affair precipitated his ouster
138
Prevaricate
Distort, evade
The student prevaricated to avoid being punished by his teacher
139
Pristine
Clean, pure
Jane was awestruck when she saw the pristine mountains
140
Prodigal
Lavish, wasteful
The prodigal son wasted his inheritance on a decadent lifestyle
141
Proliferate
Breed, multiply
National security is on stake when the belligerent neighbor decides to proliferate nuclear weapons
142
Propitiate
Satisfy, pacify
The government propitiated the irate public by agreeing to step up safety measures
143
Propriety
Correct behavior, obedience to rules and customs
| My grandmother maintained a high level of propriety, adhering to dozens of social rules
144
Prudence
Care, caution, restraint
The widow's prudence helped her to carefully manage her finances
145
Pungent
Acidic, bitter
Her pungent remarks left me shocked
146
Quiescent
Motionless, inactive
This month seems to be relatively quiescent in terms of the agitation
147
Rarefy
Thin, decrease
To Rarefy the four air, spray some room freshner
148
Repudiate
Reject, abjure
The woman's paternity suit was repudiated when her accusations were proven wrong
149
Reticent
Silent, reserved
John finds it difficult to adjust in huge crowd because he is reticent
150
Rhetoric
Wordiness, verbosity
Clara's rhetoric left the gathering bored
151
Satiate
Satisfy, overdose
I realized that nothing could satiate James's greed for money
152
Soporific
Sleepy, drowsy
The soporific drug when consumed left most people sleepy
153
Specious
Misleading, deceptive
Jill's specious excuses didn't convince her teacher
154
Stigma
Shame, disgrace
As progressive as we seem, there is still stigma against single motherhood
155
Stolid
Unemotional, apathetic
Sally's boss remained stolid and unaffected in spite of her pathetic appeals not to penalize her
156
Sublime
Great, magnificent
The sublime surroundings complemented the peaceful mood of the visitors
157
Tacit
Allusive, implicit
The group made a tacit agreement about which course of action to take
158
Taciturn
Silent, not talkative
My neighbor is so taciturn that he rarely speaks to us
159
Tirade
Abuse, outburst
The man's nonstop tirade over such a minor issue irritated all of us
160
Torpor
Lethargy, sluggishness
After the accident, for many days I experienced torpor and my wife was worried about it
161
Transitory
Temporary, momentary
The student lived a transitory life, moving almost every semester
162
Vacillate
Hesitate, indecisive
I hate people who vacillate after announcing their decision
163
Venerate
Revere, admire
In China, the young venerate the elders
164
Veracity
Truth, accuracy
The paper's reputation for veracity made everyone trust its version of news
165
Verbose
Wordy, prolix
The manager's lecture was so verbose that the workers did not understand what he was trying to say
166
Vex
Distress, bother
The husband was vexed with his wife's cooking mishaps
167
Volatile
Changeable, mercurial
The metal's volatile feature makes it less effective
168
Waver
Fluctuate, oscillate
The government wavered between accepting and rejecting the mission
169
Whimsical
Playful, excitement
I don't like your whimsical attitude on such an important issue
170
Zeal
Passion, excitement
Her zeal for work is unimaginable
171
Zenith
Top, apex
The climax reached its zenith and the spectators were holding their breath in anticipation
