Manhatten new words from definitions Flashcards
(301 cards)
undergird
strengthen
ascertain
find (something) out for certain; make sure of.
“an attempt to ascertain the cause of the accident”
perspicacity
the quality of having a ready insight into things; shrewdness.
“the perspicacity of her remarks”
facile
shallow or superficial, too easy
flagrant
(of something considered wrong or immoral) conspicuously or obviously offensive. “his flagrant bad taste” synonym for blatantly
corroborate
confirm or give support to (a statement, theory, or finding).
“the witness had corroborated the boy’s account of the attack”
bravado
a bold manner or a show of boldness intended to impress or intimidate, behavior by a scared person that shows courage.
aggrandize
increase the power, status, or wealth of. “an action intended to aggrandize the Frankish dynasty” enhance the reputation of (someone) beyond what is justified by the facts. “he hoped to aggrandize himself by dying a hero’s death”
slight
small, not very important, slender or delicate, treat as though not very important, snub, ignore, an act of treating in this way, a discourtesy. “She was very sensitive, always holding a grudge against her coworkers for a variety of slights, both real and imagined. Natalie has always been slight, she became even thinner to portray a ballerina in the movie swan. I felt slighted when my husband told you about his promotion before he told me.”
propensity
an inclination or natural tendency to behave in a particular way.
“a propensity for violence”
proclivity
a tendency to choose or do something regularly; an inclination or predisposition toward a particular thing “a proclivity for hard work”
watershed moment
is the point of a very important decision, watershed is literally a division between two water drainage areas
corpulent
(of a person) fat.
incarnate
embody or represent (a deity or spirit) in human form.
“the idea that God incarnates himself in man”
inducement
a thing that persuades or influences someone to do something.
“companies were prepared to build only in return for massive inducements”
liturgy
a form or formulary according to which public religious worship, especially Christian worship, is conducted.
panoply
a complete or impressive collection of things. a splendid display. “all the panoply of Western religious liturgy”
tare
a deduction from the gross weight of a substance and its container made in allowance for the weight of the container; also : the weight of the container (the tare will be deducted from the weight of the salad )
assay
to judge the worth of : estimate
assay the results of the new changes
plumb
measure (the depth of a body of water). To test and upright surface, to determine vertical, vertical, “ensure the baseboard is straight and plumb”, synonym for sounding the depths
static tableau
French for ‘living picture’, is a static scene containing one or more actors or models.
paltry
(of an amount) small or meager.
“she would earn a paltry $33 more each month”
blather
talk long-windedly without making very much sense.
“she began blathering on about spirituality and life after death”
parse
analyze (a sentence) into its parts and describe their syntactic roles. “The philosopher’s work was difficult to parse”