Set 8 Flashcards
(12 cards)
belie
To belie means to contradict. If you are 93 but look like you are 53, then your young looks belie your age.We get belie from the Old English beleogan, which meant “to deceive by lying.” It suggests characteristics or behavior that inadvertently or deliberately hide the truth. To remember it, just think “be lying.” Snow White’s decision to barge into the Seven Dwarfs’ home without invitation belied her gentle nature.
bumptious
Someone bumptious is cocky, aggressive, and loud. Bumptious people jump ahead of everyone in line at the ice cream truck and steal subway seats from pregnant women.It’s good to speak your mind and stand up for yourself, but it’s not good to be bumptious. When you’re bumptious, you’re obnoxious. Someone who dominates a conversation without listening to others is bumptious. Someone who takes more than their fair share of something is bumptious. To be bumptious is to be selfish and annoying. Bumptious people are often arrogant and usually thoughtless, and bumptious behavior shows no concern for other people.
casuistry
Casuistry is argumentation that is suspect and sneaky. Politicians, lawyers, and car salesmen who make dubious arguments full of holes are guilty of casuistry.Save this word for when you want to put down somebody else’s line of reasoning: it refers to subtle but specious argumentation. It was formed from casuist (along the lines of sophistry and foolery), which can mean one who engages in such reasoning, though it originally meant someone who resolves doubtful cases by the application of principles. Casuistry is used to bamboozle people, so steer clear of those who practice it!
circuitous
Circuitous means indirect or roundabout. If you’re in a hurry to get to the hospital where your wife is having a baby, you want to take the straightest, fastest way, not a circuitous one!Circuitous comes from the Latin word circuitus meaning basically “a going around.” If you’re being circuitous it’s like you’re going around and around in circles. It can also refer to someone’s manner or speech, if they are not being direct. For example, if you want someone to get you another piece of cake but just you sit there looking longingly at your empty plate, saying “More cake sure would be nice,” then you’re being circuitous. And annoying.
egalitarian
An egalitarian is a person who believes in the equality of all people, and an egalitarian society gives everyone equal rights.This is a word that means something close to equality and has to do with fairness. If you believe that everyone deserves a chance to vote, go to school, get good jobs, and participate in society, then you are an egalitarian. When laws make life fairer, the law is getting more egalitarian. The opposite of an egalitarian system could be a fascist society or dictatorship. Monarchies are not egalitarian. When you see this word, think about equality and freedom.
elicit
When you elicit, you’re bringing out a response of some sort. A good comedian elicits a lot of laughs.Elicit has to do with creating or provoking a response. A great speech will elicit cheers — a bad speech will elicit boos. Teachers try to elicit responses from students. If a friend smiles at you, it will probably elicit a smile of your own. In court, a lawyer might try to elicit mistakes and inconsistencies in the testimony of a witness. In all cases, whatever is elicited is some kind of response.
extenuate
To extenuate is to make less of something or try to minimize its importance. The fact that you walked your little sister to school because she missed the bus might extenuate your teacher’s response when you show up late.Extenuate goes back to the Latin verb extenuāre, meaning “to thin” or “make thin.” Someone might have a strong case against you for doing something wrong, but an added consideration can make less serious, or extenuate, the circumstances that led to it. If you give an excuse that doesn’t really relate to what was done, it won’t extenuate the punishment. If something has a real bearing on what went wrong, it will extenuate the response, and you’ll get in less trouble.
fetish
A fetish is an extremely strong devotion to something. There are sexual fetishes and nonsexual fetishes: both are obsessive interests.The most common use of the word fetish is probably the sexual meaning. Someone with a foot fetish is abnormally interested in feet and gets sexual pleasure from seeing, being around, and even thinking about feet. There are probably thousands of sexual fetishes, most of which are too inappropriate to write about here. A non-sexual fetish is just an excessive interest in something, like a football fan who lives and breathes everything NFL.
four-flusher
a person who tries to bluff other people
nihilism
If you’re one of those people who believe there’s nothing worth believing in, your doctrine is nihilism. In philosophy, nihilism is the complete rejection of moral values and religious beliefs.It is such a negative outlook that it denies any meaning or purpose in life. In political theory, nihilism is carried to an even greater extreme, arguing for the destruction of all existing political and social institutions. The term nihilism was borrowed from German Nihilismus, since the doctrine was developed by the German philosopher Friedrich Jacobi. The German word is formed from Latin nihil “nothing” plus the suffix –ismus “a doctrine or theory.”
nostrum
Though you try many medicines that claim to cure your cold, none of them work. They turn out to be nostrums, or ineffective drugs.Nostrum refers to a cure-all, a drug, or a medicine that is ineffectual. Before drugs were regulated by the government, there were many nostrums sold to the public. “Snake oil” is one of the most well-known. Said to cure any ailment from achy joints to hair loss, snake oil concoctions could contain a number of ingredients — including camphor, red pepper, and turpentine.
vacuous
Reserved for the harmlessly stupid and truly meaningless, vacuous is a smart-sounding way to describe something dumb. Celebrity gossip and reality TV is usually pretty vacuous, even if it’s fun.If someone smiles at you in a way that seems fake or empty, you could describe the smile as vacuous. An example of a vacuous comment would be a politician promising to make things better without explaining how. If something is vacuous, it’s like a vacuum — hollow, empty, devoid of substance.
