SAT 250 10/2 Flashcards
(25 cards)
cogent
cogency (n.)
When you make a cogent argument, it means your argument is clear and persuasive.
Concomitant
Concomitant means accompanying.
If you start training really hard at the gym, the main effect is that you become stronger, but there are concomitant effects, like better circulation, or a rosy glow, or getting happy from all those endorphins you’re releasing.
conflagration
conflagrant (adj.)
A conflagration isn’t just a few flames; it’s an especially large and destructive fire that causes devastation.
contrite
contrition(n.)
We are sorry to inform you that the adjective contrite means to feel regret, remorse, or even guilt.
Blake’s contrite behavior made it impossible to stay angry at him.
conundrum
The tricky word conundrum is used to describe a riddle or puzzle, sometimes including a play on words or pun.
credulity
credulous (adj.)
Did you know that if you say credulity ten times fast it starts to sound like orange? If you believe that, then you have a lot of credulity. Credulity means gullibility, or a willingness to believe anything.
cupidity
Remember the saying “Greed is good”? It could just as easily be “Cupidity is good,” though admittedly it doesn’t roll off the tongue quite the same way. Cupidity means a burning desire to have more wealth than you need.
cursory
cursoriness (n.)
No reason to get excited — cursory has nothing to do with bad language. Instead, it means not paying attention to details, like friends who are so busy studying for a test that they only give your new haircut a cursory glance.
decry
When you dye your hair pink and orange, your mother decries your act as a horror and bursts into tears. She criticizes your choice of colors, stating that pink and purple would have looked better.
defile
When you defile something, you make it dirty or make it lose its purity. Think of fresh new snow covered in cigarette butts. The butts defile the winter wonderland.
deleterious deleteriousness (n.)
If something is deleterious, it does harm or makes things worse. Smoking has obvious deleterious effects on your health, not to mention your social life.
demure
A demure woman or girl can be described as polite and a little shy.
‘Though everyone else at the party was dancing
and going crazy, she remained demure.’
deprecate
deprecation (v.)
To deprecate is to show disapproval or to make someone feel unimportant by speaking to them disrespectfully, like seniors who deprecate younger students just for fun.
deride
derision (n.);
derisive (adj.)
To “ride” people is to get on their case or give them a hard time, and to deride is to do the same with insulting language or poor treatment
Also criticizing something with words is a common way to deride, and politicians often deride each other in their speeches during election campaigns.
desecrate
desecrated (adj.);
desecration (n.)
The word consecrate from the Latin consecrare means “to make sacred.” Substituting the prefix con- with de- reverses the meaning. When preparing for a foreign occupation, the military instructs troops not to desecrate sacred sites and risk offending the local population. You can also desecrate someone’s memory if you spread malicious lies about him after his death.
desiccated
desiccate (v.)
desiccation (n.)
To be desiccated is to be dried out. If you like desiccated fruit, you like dried fruit — such as raisins or dried apricots.
diaphanous
If a dress is so see-through that light shines through it revealing the goods beneath, it’s diaphanous. Also known as “sheer,” “transparent,” or just plain “sexy,” but diaphanous is so much classier.
diffident
The adjective diffident describes someone who is shy and lacking in self-confidence.
Diffident can describe someone who is reserved and restrained.
discursive
If people accuse you of rambling from topic to topic in your speech or writing, they may say you have a discursive style — with changes in subject that are hard to follow. But it’s okay because unicorns are shiny.
dissemble
dissemblance (n.)
To dissemble is to hide under a false appearance, to deceive. “When confronted about their human rights record, the Chinese government typically dissembles.”
dither
to be indecisive
ebullient
ebullience (n.)
More than chipper, more than happy, more than delighted is ebullient — meaning bubbling over with joy and delight.
effrontery
If you rudely behave as if you have a right to something that you have no right to, you’re committing effrontery. When a couple stroll into a crowded restaurant, demand the best table, and threaten the staff unless they’re seated right away, that’s effrontery.
effulgent
effulgence (n.)
Something effulgent radiates light. On a clear day the sun can be quite effulgent.
