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Words 101 > Set 6 > Flashcards

Set 6 Flashcards

1
Q

pedant

A
  • someone who shows of knowledge; someone who pays undue attention to rules
  • stickler, precisian

Dominic is a pedant who annoys everyone in the class with long-winded questions and unnecessary quotes from the textbook.

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1
Q

penchant

A
  • a strong or habitual liking or tendency to do something
  • inclination, tendency, propensity, fondness

Kate had a penchant for interior decorating, so she took over the role of set designer for the play.

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2
Q

penury

A
  • extreme poverty or destitution

  • poverty, destitution, indigence, squalor
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3
Q

tangent

A
  • a different topic

-

Halfway into her speech on global warming, she went on a tangent about materialism in modern society.

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4
Q

technocracy

A
  • government or control of society by an elite of technical experts

-

In the movie, the future is a technocracy where programmers rule the entire world.

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5
Q

tedium

A
  • dullness, the feeling of being bored
  • boredom, monotony, ennui

The tedium of a fixed routine made John reconsider his plans to become a teacher.

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6
Q

tenacious

A
  • sticking strongly to something
  • persistent, stubborn, obstinate

Despite the sudden thunderstorm, the tenacious runners continued to move towards the finish line.

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7
Q

timorous

A
  • showing or suffering from nervousness, fear, or a lack of confidence:
  • timid, shy, fearful, sheepish

The timorous young man jumped at the even the slightest sound.

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8
Q

tirade

A
  • long, angry rant; “a tirade of abuse”
  • abuse, outburst

One student asked a simple question about the death penalty, causing the teacher launch into a tirade about the topic.

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9
Q

torpid

A
  • lacking physical or mental energy
  • sluggish, numb, inert

The student was torpid and generally uninvolved in the discussions, so the teacher had to speak with him about his participation.

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10
Q

torpor

A
  • a state of low physical or mental energy
  • torpidity, numbness stupor

The doctors discovered that her torpor was a symptom of a severe illness.

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11
Q

torrid

A
  • very hot and dry, full of passionate or highly charged emotions arising from sexual love
  • hot, fervent, ardent, sultry

The president was accused of carrying on a secret and torrid love affair with his aide.

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12
Q

totalitarianism

A
  • absolute, dictatorial control by the government

After years of civil war, one party emerged triumphant and dominated the country in a return to totalitarianism.

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13
Q

tractable

A
  • easy to control or influence, easy to deal with
  • docile, obedient, manageable, amenable, pliable

After some training, the dog became tractable enough to be sold as a pet.

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14
Q

anomalous

A
  • deviating from what is standard, normal or expected
  • irregular, abnormal, aberrant

A granite plateau having any geometric shape at all is highly anomalous.

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15
Q

antipathy

A
  • a deep seated feeling of dislike; aversion
  • aversion, dislike, repugnance, repulsion

The couple tried to hide their antipathy toward the new neighbors so as not to seem unwelcoming.

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16
Q

approbate

A
  • to approve formally
  • approve, sanction, endorse, ratify

The judge approbated her right to keep the house.

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17
Q

appropriate

A
  • take (something) for one’s own use, typically without the owner’s permissions
  • assign, allocate

During the chaos following the president’s death, his wife appropriated the role of head of the organization.

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18
Q

arbiter

A
  • a person chosen to solve a dispute
  • arbitrator, referee, judge

One of her duties as babysitter was to act as arbiter when the children got into arguments.

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19
Q

archetype

A
  • a typical example of something, the original on which something else is modelled
  • prototype

Dante’s Divine Comedy was the archetype upon which many derivative works were based.

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20
Q

ardor

A
  • feeling of great warmth or intensity
  • zeal, fervour, enthusiasm

His sense of justice manifests itself in the ardor with which he throws himself into his legal work.

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21
Q

arduous

A
  • requiring mental or physical strain; demanding
  • hard, difficult, laborious, toilsome

The beach was practically empty, as reaching it entailed an arduous journey through a bramble thicket.

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22
Q

entail

A
  • involve (something) as a necessary or inevitable part or consequence
  • necessitate, require

What would the consequences be of imitating the process employed in the comparator, and what risks would it entail ?

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23
Q

aria

A
  • a solo vocal piece in an opera
  • air

During her aria, the opera singer expressed her character’s sorrow to the audience with great skill.

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24
Q

arid

A
  • extremely dry; lacking spirit or vitality
  • dry, barren, jejune, droughty

The arid climate of the desert is ideal for plants that do not require much water, such as cacti.

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25
Q

sundry

A
  • of various kinds, several
  • various , diverse, varied, different

The sundry items of the garage sale ranged from antique to almost brand new.

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26
Q

reprise

A
  • (n) a repeated passage in music; (v) to repeat or resume
  • repetition

The reprise of the song had the audience dancing in the aisles.

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27
Q

harrow

A
  • (n) a tool that farmers use for ploughing land ;(v) to inflict great stress or torment on
  • (v) torment, depredate

Any talk of layoffs would always leave the entire division harrowed and unable to focus on their work.

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28
Q

sardonic

A
  • grimly mocking or cynical
  • sarcastic

The class clown’s sardonic remark landed him in detention.

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29
Q

subterfuge

A
  • a deliberate deception to avoid a consequence
  • artifice, evasion, ruse, trick, dodge

Policemen who stop drunk drivers can see right through the subterfuge of hastily chewing a piece of gum.

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30
Q

artifice

A
  • Subtle but base deception; trickery

  • subterfuge, chicanery, sophistry
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31
Q

chicanery

A
  • use of trickery to achieve a political, financial or legal purpose
  • subterfuge, chicane, sophistry, artifice

This kind of chicanery is what gets you thrown in prison if a private business does it.

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32
Q

axiom

A
  • a generally accepted truth

-

In math class, we learned about the different axioms we could use to develop geometric proofs.

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33
Q

controvert

A
  • to deny the truth of
  • contradict, gainsay, dispute

Recent experiments seem to controvert the predictions of previous theories.

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34
Q

progeny

A
  • a descendant or the descendants of a person, animal, or plant; offspring
  • offspring, posterity, brood

The family claims to be the progeny of the king of France, but they refuse to submit to a DNA test to prove their bloodline.

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35
Q

potentate

A
  • one with absolute power to rule; a monarch
  • sovereign, monarch, ruler, king

While the potentate sipped wine, the peasants toiled in the field.

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36
Q

cardinal

A
  • of paramount importance
  • principal, chief, primary

After the graduation speech, the valedictorian gave them cardinal rules to live by.

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37
Q

hidebound

A
  • unwilling or unable to change because of tradition or convention
  • narrow-minded, insular

The hidebound rules of organized religion have never appealed to me much.

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38
Q

chary

A
  • cautious about the amount one gives or reveals; wary
  • cautious, careful, prudent, discreet

Joe was chary of his praise for his daughters; but when he did congratulate them, they beamed.

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39
Q

arabesque

A
  • an ornamental design of intertwined flowing lines

-

The kimono was trimmed with an arabesque of tiny yellow curlicues.

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40
Q

rapturous

A
  • expressing great pleasure or enthusiasm
  • rapt, ecstatic

The presidential decree was greeted with rapturous applause.

41
Q

amalgamate

A
  • to combine several elements into a whole; to blend
  • unite, merge, consolidate

Our country will amalgamate with the neighbouring country in order to cut adminstrative costs.

42
Q

prattle

A
  • to babble or speak foolishly
  • babble, chatter, prate, tattle

The confused student prattled for a few minutes before sitting back down.

43
Q

simian

A
  • relating to apes
  • apish

Humans have many simian characteristics.

44
Q

precipice

A
  • a steep rock or cliff face
  • abyss, cliff, chasm, gulf

The climber faced the largest precipice of his career.

45
Q

augury

A
  • a sign of what will happen in the future
  • omen, presage, prognostication

Augury is often performed by observing a crystal ball.

46
Q

picayune

A
  • petty, worthless, of little value
  • paltry, trifling

His craftsmanship wasn’t worth a picayune.

47
Q

anthropomorphic

A
  • having human characteristics

-

Many people believe that aliens will be anthropomorphic, but there is no evidence to support that.

48
Q

ramify

A
  • to be divided; to branch out
  • branch, fork

The dispute ramified as more factions got involved.

49
Q

upbraid

A
  • find fault with someone; scold
  • rebuke, reproach, reprove, berate, reprimand

He was upbraided for his slovenly appearance.

50
Q

banality

A
  • triviality; something overused and trite

The once-funny joke had become a banality in the camp.

51
Q

base

A
  • immoral; made of low quality materials
  • vile, low, ignoble, sordid

The young man was criticized by his parents for his base, degrading lifestyle.

52
Q

sodden

A
  • thoroughly soaked, saturated
  • soggy, soppy, saturated

My clothes were sodden from the rainstorm.

53
Q

stolid

A
  • calm, dependable and showing very little emotion
  • stoic, phlegmatic, dull, impassive, apathetic

People in old-time photographs tend to have stolid expressions.

54
Q

phthisis

A
  • a disease characterized by body-part atrophy esp. of the lung
  • tuberculosis

His phthisis was interfering with work more every day.

55
Q

vintner

A
  • one who makes or sells wine

In Italy there are a great number of vintners.

56
Q

salient

A
  • most noticeable or important
  • prominent

The cover of the study guide listed its salient features, such as diagnostic and practice exams.

57
Q

haughty

A
  • arrogantly superior and disdainful
  • arrogant, proud, supercilious

I prefer the company of one or two good friends to a party full of haughty, self-absorbed socialites.

58
Q

blanch

A
  • to whiten or turn pale
  • whiten, bleach, pale, blench

During the biology dissection, Jennifer blanched and ran out of the room.

59
Q

inimitable

A
  • incapable of being imitated or duplicated
  • unique, incomparable, matchless

The broadway debut was a spellbinding performance thanks mainly to the inimitable stamina of the female lead.

60
Q

accretion

A
  • growth; increase by successive or gradual addition
  • increase, increment, growth, augmentation

The accretion of dirt has changed the floor’s color.

61
Q

trenchant

A
  • vigorous or incisive in expression or style
  • sharp, keen, incisive, poignant

The experienced CEO offered trenchant criticisms of the young company.

62
Q

turgid

A
  • swollen and distended or congested
  • swollen, puffy, tumid, bloated

Marcy’s turgid leg was enough to concern her parents.

63
Q

belabor

A
  • to speak or worry about something at length
  • belabour, beat, drub

She was known to belabor the point when it came up to environmentalism, so we tried not to bring it up.

64
Q

belie

A
  • to give a false impression; to reveal as untrue
  • contradict

She greeted us with a smile, but the redness of her eyes belied her cheerful attitude.

65
Q

benign

A
  • pleasant, not harmful esp. to health
  • gentle, good, kind, genial

The doctor’s benign manner endeared him to patients.

66
Q

bent

A
  • a natural talent or inclination
  • inclination, propensity, leaning

Lisa had a true bent for working with animals, so people often told her to consider a career as a veterinarian.

67
Q

berate

A
  • to scold or criticize angrily
  • scold, upbraid, rebuke

Jane’s boss was so mean that he berated her for even the smallest mistakes.

68
Q

blithe

A
  • showing a casual and cheerful indifference considered to be callous or improper
  • merry, cheerful, jocund

When he lost his job, John struggled to maintain his blithe and optimistic attitude toward life.

69
Q

capacious

A
  • having a lot of room
  • spacious, commodious, wide, ample

The capacious living room often impressed their guests.

70
Q

capitulate

A
  • to surrender to give in
  • surrender, bow, concede

The Australian innings quickly capitulated with the two youngsters bowling at the end.

71
Q

caprice

A
  • a sudden and unaccountable change of mood or behavior
  • whim, vagary, fad, crotchet

Her decision to come along on the trip was a mere caprice; she never expressed a desire to come before then.

72
Q

carp

A
  • (n) a type of fish; (v) to raise trivial objections
  • criticize, cavil, nag, nibble

She hated when her co workers carped about the minimal work they had to do.

73
Q

cascade

A
  • something that falls or progresses like a waterfall

-

I knew the wire was badly damaged when a cascade of sparks fell the moment I touched it.

74
Q

castigate

A
  • to reprimand (someone) severely
  • punish, chastise, scourge, discipline

His parents castigated him for his bad grades by taking away his car keys.

75
Q

caustic

A
  • capable of corroding; harsh or sarcastic in tone
  • mordant, biting, acrid, acrimonious

The comedian was known for his caustic jokes about political scandals.

76
Q

censure

A
  • express severe disapproval of (someone or something), typically in a formal statement
  • criticize, condemn, blame, denounce, decry

The professor was censured by the administration for his controversial and politically incorrect lectures.

77
Q

chauvinism

A
  • excessive or prejudiced loyalty or support for one’s own cause, group, or gender
  • jingoism

My father’s chauvinism was characterized by a rather dim view of other races.

78
Q

chimera

A
  • any mythical animal with parts taken from various animals; fanciful mental illusion

The ability to make easy money is a chimera; it only works until the next economic downturn

79
Q

collusion

A
  • a conspiracy or secret plot
  • connivance

Acting in collusion with several high officials, the rebels completed the government takeover successfully.

80
Q

complacent

A
  • satisfied and thus not wanting to improve
  • self-satisfied, pleased, contented

Kate became complacent after years of success as a model and so was unprepared when younger women challenged her position at the top.

81
Q

complaisant

A
  • willing to please others
  • obliging, accommodating, affable

Although usually argumentative, Paul is surprisingly complaisant with his girlfriend.

82
Q

concise

A
  • giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words; brief but comprehensive
  • succinct, brief, terse, laconic, compendious

Before the show, the director gave a concise introduction that explained his reasons for getting involved in the production.

83
Q

conjecture

A
  • an opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information
  • guess, surmise, supposition, presumption, assumption

The scientist’s paper was conjectured by his peers for being based purely on conjecture.

84
Q

consternation

A
  • a state of confused terror or apprehension
  • dismay, terror, amazement

A feeling of consternation filled the room as the teacher began to hand back papers immediately after the students had handed them in.

85
Q

consummate

A
  • to make complete or perfect
  • perfect, complete, absolute, thorough

The team’s victory was consummated by a spontaneous celebration on the field.

86
Q

contrite

A
  • full of remorse
  • repentant, penitent, remorseful

The letter explained that he was truly contrite and wanted to apologize in person.

87
Q

convalesce

A
  • recover one’s health and strength over a period of time after an illness or operation
  • recover, recuperate

After the accident, Tom was told to convalesce for at least two weeks.

88
Q

deleterious

A
  • causing harm or damage
  • noisome, harmful, injurious, detrimental

It is now common knowledge that smoking is deleterious to one’s health.

89
Q

demagogue

A
  • a speaker who targets his or her audience’s emotions or prejudices
  • demagog

The candidate’s opponent accused him of being a demagogue and relying upon the public’s fear of change.

90
Q

denote

A
  • to mark or indicate
  • indicate, signify, designate

The red text on her report card denoted which classes she was failing.

91
Q

dessicate

A
  • to cause to lose moisture

-

Mary had her wart removed at the doctor’s office by desiccating it.

92
Q

despond

A
  • to become dejected and lose confidence
  • despair, droop

His campaign team desponded when they heard the official results of the election.

93
Q

desultory

A
  • having no plan or purpose; random
  • incoherent, disconnected, disjointed

The desultory thoughts running through Mick’s mind prevented him from concentrating on the essay he had to write.

94
Q

diatribe

A
  • a harsh rant or critical overview

-

After hours of waiting with me in the lobby, my mother began her usual diatribe on the various failings of airport management.

95
Q

discrete

A
  • distinctly separate
  • distinct

The U.S. government has three discrete branches; the judiciary, the legislature and the executive.

96
Q

disparate

A
  • completely different
  • different, dissimilar, unlike

The two had such disparate opinions on the topic that it seemed impossible for them to work together effectively.

97
Q

dispassionate

A
  • not influenced by strong emotion, and so able to be rational and impartial
  • impartial, cool, unbiased, composed, calm

A dispassionate judge will favor neither the prosecution nor the defense.

98
Q

disposed

A
  • having a tendency or partiality to
  • inclined, minded, apt

Kate was particularly stubborn when she was angry and was not disposed to listen to reason.

99
Q

tendentious

A
  • expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view, esp. a controversial one

-

Wendy’s tendentious assessment of the war mentions only its positive effects, glossing over the negative points.

Words 101 (6 decks)

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