Set 5 Flashcards
(12 cards)
abjure
Abjure means to swear off, and it applies to something you once believed. You can abjure a religious faith, you can abjure your love of another person, and you can abjure the practice of using excessive force in interrogation.Abjure is a more dramatic way to declare your rejection of something you once felt or believed. When you see its Latin roots, it makes sense: from ab- (meaning “away”) and jurare (“to swear”). When you abjure something, you swear it away and dissociate yourself with it. You might abjure the field of astrology after receiving a bad fortune, or you might abjure marriage after a bitter divorce.
confute
to disprove an argument or assertion; to prove it wrong, invalid or mistaken
dialectic
Dialectic is a formal system of reasoning that arrives at the truth through the exchange of logical arguments.Dialectic is a process of examining an issue using very careful steps. A “thesis,” or argument, is offered, followed by the “antithesis,” or counterargument. The goal is to extract the best points from each of these to form a “synthesis.” This in turn is used as a new argument, followed by counterargument, and the process continues, hopefully getting closer and closer to the truth, or at least something everyone can agree upon.
éclat
brilliance of success, reputation, etc.: the xxx of a great achievement.
fait accompli
A fait accompli is something that’s already done. If your dad warns you not to play an April Fool’s Day trick on your sister, but you’ve already put a giant inflatable Godzilla in the shower, that’s a fait accompli.The noun fait accompli, pronounced “fate uh-COM-plee,” describes something that has already happened. It often refers to a change or decision made by some authority on behalf of the people who will actually be affected. If workers continue to strike after a change in their working conditions has taken effect, they’re protesting a fait accompli. The phrase fait accompli is French, and it literally means “an accomplished fact.”
ipso facto
Use the term ipso facto when the very fact that something exists or occurs means that something else is true. For example, if you’re born in the United States these days, ipso facto you have a Social Security number.Ipso facto literally means “by that very fact” in Latin, and it’s often used in legal documents, although writers, philosophers, and scientists use it too. The writer Norman Mailer once said, “If you grow up in Brooklyn, you’re a New Yorker ipso facto.” In other words, the fact that you live in a borough of New York automatically means you’re a citizen of that city.
irreducible
incapable of being made smaller or simpler; not reducible; incapable of being reduced or of being diminished or simplified further
mot juste
the appropriate word or expression
philippic
A philippic is a bitter rant against someone or something. Unfortunately your impassioned philippic condemning your parents’ midnight curfew rule only resulted in you being grounded for a week.The word philippic originates from the Greek word philippikos, the name given to the speeches of the famous Greek orator Demosthenes, who warned the Athenians against Philip II of Macedon. The Greeks didn’t listen to Demosthenes, however, and then Philip and his son Alexander the Great ended up bringing all of Greece under Macedonian control. Too bad for the Athenians!
protean
When Picasso is described as a protean genius, it means that not only was he brilliant, but he changed the way he worked many times. Protean means able to change shape.Proteus was a Greek god who could tell the future, but when he was asked a question he didn’t want to answer, he would change shapes. With someone or something protean, you get all the power of shape-shifting, plus some of the menace of a god you cannot control.
salacious
Something salacious is full of juicy details — but they’re the kind of raunchy, lusty, dirty details you probably don’t want to hear.Implying a certain kind of moral looseness, salacious is often used to describe nasty gossip, obscene reports and steamy tales. Salacious things are usually not fit for general public consumption and probably need some kind of parental guidance warning. Think of the tawdry accounts of some politician’s affair with a staffer, or a particularly sex-filled reality show on TV.
serried
closely and firmly united or packed together; (especially of rows as of troops or mountains) pressed together
