VA Level 2 Flashcards
Word 1: ADVOCATE (AD-vuh-kayt)
To support, plead for, be in favor of, defend by argument; especially, to speak or write in favor or in defense of a person or cause. Synonyms include champion, endorse, and espouse (e-SPOWZ).
Advocate comes from the Latin ad-, to, and vocare, to call, summon. You can hear the Latin vocare in the English words vocation (voh-KAY-shin), a calling, profession; avocation, a hobby, sideline, subordinate occupation; and vocational, pertaining to an occupation or trade.
An advocate is a vocal supporter or defender of a cause, a champion: “He is an outspoken advocate of handgun control.” An advocate may also be a person who speaks for another, for example, a lawyer who pleads a case before a court. To advocate means to support, plead for, defend by argument: “Their organization advocates educational reform.”
Word 2: DELEGATE (DEL-uh-gayt)
To entrust with authority or power, deliver to another’s care or management, hand over to an agent or representative: “The executive director delegated various managerial duties to her assistant”; “Our department chief has trouble letting go of the reins and delegating responsibility.”
Word 3: UNPRECEDENTED (uhn-PRES-i-den-tid)
Unheard-of, novel, new, having no precedent or parallel, having no prior example.
A precedent is an authoritative example, something done or said that may serve as a reason to justify a later act or statement. Precedent is often used specifically of a legal decision or case used as an example or as authorization in a subsequent decision or case. Unprecedented means without a precedent, without prior example or justification, and so unheard-of, novel, new.
Word 4: POIGNANT (POYN-yint)
Piercing, sharp, biting, penetrating, keen.
Poignant is used to mean piercing, sharp, or penetrating in three ways. First, it may mean keenly affecting the senses: a poignant odor, poignant beauty, a poignant look. Second, it may mean piercing or penetrating to the feelings, emotionally touching, painfully moving: a poignant drama, a poignant family reunion. Third, it may mean biting, cutting, acute, piercingly effective: poignant wit, poignant delight, a poignant critique.
The odd spelling of poignant, with its silent g, comes from French; the word ultimately comes from the Latin pungere, to pierce or prick. Pungere is also the source of puncture, to pierce; pungent (PUHN-jint), piercing to the smell or taste; and expunge (ek-SPUHNJ), to punch out, erase, delete: “The editor expunged all potentially offensive and derogatory material from the book.”
Poignant means piercing or penetrating to the senses, to the emotions, or to the intellect.
Word 5: NEBULOUS (NEB-yuh-lus)
Unclear, vague, obscure, hazy, indefinite, indistinct.
In astronomy the word nebula (NEB-yuh-luh) refers to a cloudy mass of dust or gas visible between stars in space. The plural is nebulae (NEB-yuh-lee).
The adjectives nebular and nebulous both come from a Latin word meaning cloudy, misty, foggy, like a nebula, and according to dictionaries both words may still be used in this sense. It is probably best, however, to let nebular take over the meaning cloudy, misty, vaporous, and to use nebulous in its more popular sense of vague, indefinite, hazy, unclear, as in nebulous writing, a nebulous idea, a nebulous purpose or goal.
Word 6: CLANDESTINE (klan-DES-tin)
Kept secret, done in secrecy, especially for an evil, immoral, or illegal purpose: a clandestine affair; a clandestine business deal; a clandestine intelligence operation.
Synonyms include private, concealed, covert (properly KUH-vurt but now often KOH-vurt), underhand, sly, stealthy, furtive (FUR-tiv), and surreptitious (SUR-up-TISH-us).
Clandestine is sometimes pronounced klan-DES-tyn, klan-DES-teen, KLAN-des-tyn, or KLAN-des-teen. You should avoid all these recent variants. The traditional and preferred pronunciation is klan-DES-tin (DES-tin as in destiny).
Word 7: TIRADE (TY-rayd)
A long-drawn-out speech, especially a vehement and abusive one: “After suffering through yet another one of his boss’s frequent tirades, Joe decided it was time to quit and move on.”
Tirades have three characteristics: they are protracted (proh-TRAK-tid), drawn out to great length; they are vituperative (vy-T(Y)OO-pur-uh-tiv), full of harsh, abusive language; and they are censorious, meaning that they tend to censure (SEN-shur), to blame or condemn.
Tirade may also be pronounced with the accent on the second syllable: ty-RAYD.
Word 8: RECUR (ri-KUR)
To happen again, occur again, especially at intervals or after some lapse of time.
In The Careful Writer, Theodore M. Bernstein explains the difference between the words recur and reoccur: Both mean to happen again, he says, but reoccur “suggests a one-time repetition,” whereas recur “suggests repetition more than once.” Thus you would say “the revolt is not likely to reoccur,” but “as long as these skirmishes recur, the revolt will continue.”
Here’s another example: If economists predict that a recession will reoccur in this decade, that means they’re predicting it will happen only one more time. If economists predict that recession recurs on average every ten years, then they’re predicting it happens again and again at intervals.
“It is the ability to feel a fine distinction such as this,” writes Bernstein, “and to choose the word that precisely expresses the thought that marks the writer of competence and taste.”
Word 9: TACIT (TAS-it)
Unspoken, silent, implied or understood without words.
Tacit is most often used to mean done or made in silence, not expressed or declared openly. Tacit consent is approval given without words, perhaps with a look or a nod. A tacit agreement is an unspoken understanding, one arrived at in silence. Tacit comes from the Latin tacere, to be silent, hold one’s tongue, the source also of the word taciturn, reserved, uncommunicative, inclined to hold one’s tongue.
Word 10: ALLEGATION (AL-uh-GAY-shin)
An assertion or declaration, especially one made without proof.
In law, an allegation is an assertion of what one intends to prove. Often the word implies an unsupportable assertion: “The judge dismissed the allegations, citing lack of evidence to support them.” “A spokesperson for the company today denied the allegations of wrongdoing regarding the firm’s hiring practices.”
Word 11: GULLIBLE (GUHL-uh-bul)
Easily deceived, fooled, or cheated.
A more difficult synonym of gullible is credulous (KREJ-uh-lus). Credulous comes from the Latin credere, to believe, and means inclined to believe, willing to accept something as true without questioning.
To gull is to take advantage of someone who is foolish, unwary, or inexperienced. The gullible person is easily gulled, fooled, cheated. To dupe and to gull both mean to take advantage of. Dupe suggests unwariness on the part of the victim; gull suggests a willingness or readiness to be deceived.
Word 12: BENIGN (bi-NYN, rhymes with resign)
Kindly, good-natured, gracious, mild, having or showing a gentle disposition, as a benign old man, a benign smile, a benign intention, a benign government.
That is the first meaning of benign listed in dictionaries, and probably the most common. The word is also used in several other ways. It may mean favorable, positive, propitious: a benign omen; a benign view. It may be used of the weather or climate to mean healthful, wholesome, salubrious. And in medicine benign means mild, not deadly or severe, as a benign tumor or disease.
Word 13: PERIPHERAL (puh-RIF-uh-rul)
External, outer, lying at or forming the outside or boundary of something; hence, not essential, irrelevant.
The noun periphery means the boundary, the external surface or area. It may be used literally, as in “exploring the periphery of the polar icecap,” “situated on the periphery of the combat zone”; or it may be used figuratively, as in “the periphery of consciousness,” “the periphery of one’s sphere of influence.”
Peripheral may mean external in the literal sense of lying at the edge or on the boundary, or external in the figurative sense of irrelevant, nonessential, as peripheral issues, a peripheral point, or peripheral considerations.
Word 14: REBUFF (ri-BUHF)
To refuse bluntly, reject sharply, turn down abruptly, snub, spurn.
In colloquial terms—that is, in informal, conversational language—rebuff means to give the cold shoulder to, slam the door on, nix. A rebuff is an abrupt refusal or rejection, especially of a request, an offer to help, or a person making advances. To rebuff means to refuse or reject bluntly.
Word 15: ANIMOSITY (AN-i-MAHS-i-tee)
Ill will, hostility, antagonism, strong dislike or hatred: “There was long-standing animosity between the two families.” “After her coworker apologized for his rude remarks, she resolved not to harbor any animosity toward him.”
More difficult synonyms of animosity include malice (MAL-is), aversion (uh-VER-zhun), malevolence (muh-LEV-uh-lints), antipathy (an-TIP-uh-thee), rancor (RANG-kur), and enmity (EN-mi-tee).
