Vocab Flashcards
(250 cards)
1
Q
Advance
A
to put forward a claim
2
Q
Assert
A
to put forward an argument or state that something is true
3
Q
Conjecture
A
n., hypothesis; v., hypothesize
4
Q
(Pre)supposition
A
an idea assumed beforehand about a subject
5
Q
Surmise
A
to assume; draw a conclusion without strong evidence
6
Q
Bolster
A
to provide support for an argument
7
Q
Buttress
A
to provide support for an argument
8
Q
Substantiate
A
to provide evidence to support or prove a claim
9
Q
Corroborate
A
to confirm or support a claim
10
Q
Validate
A
to prove the accuracy of a claim
11
Q
Concede
A
to admit that an opposing claim is true or valid
12
Q
Acknowledge
A
to accept or admit the validity of a claim
13
Q
Rebut
A
to offer an argument against a claim believed to be false
14
Q
Refute
A
to prove that a claim is false
15
Q
Grapple with
A
to try to deal with or understand a difficult problem
16
Q
Ruminate about
A
to think deeply about; turn something over in one’s mind
17
Q
Infer
A
to deduce or conclude from evidence and reasoning
18
Q
Proponent
A
person who supports a claim or course of action
19
Q
Detractor
A
person who criticizes a claim or course of action
20
Q
Skeptic
A
person who questions or doubts a claim
21
Q
Abrupt
A
sudden or unexpected
22
Q
Adamant
A
extremely stubborn; fixed in one’s viewpoint
23
Q
Abundant
A
plentiful
24
Q
Accentuate
A
to make more noticeable or prominent
25
Acclaim
enthusiastic and public praise
26
Adaptation
a change made to accommodate new circumstances
27
Advantageous
creating favorable circumstances
28
Aesthetic
related to the study or appreciation of beauty
29
Affecting
touching the emotions; moving
30
Affinity
a strong attraction or liking
31
Ambiguous
unclear; open to more than one interpretation
32
Ambivalence
having mixed feelings
33
Ameliorate
to make better; improve
34
Amorphous
shapeless; synonym for “nebulous”
35
Analogy
a comparison intended to provide clarification
36
Animosity
strong feelings of dislike or hatred
37
Annotate
to make notes to help explain or clarify
38
Anomaly
deviation from the norm; atypical
39
Antithetical
characterized by extreme contrast
40
Appease
to make peace by giving into demands
41
Appraise
to assess the value or quality of something
42
Approximate
close but not completely accurate
43
Augment
to increase
44
Austere
very plain, without decoration
45
Catalyze
to cause or speed up a reaction
46
Catastrophic
utterly disastrous
47
Cease
to stop, halt
48
Circumvent
to find a way around; avoid
49
Cite
to quote or reference from a work to support an argument
50
Coalesce
to come together to form a single mass
51
Coarseness
roughness, harshness
52
Collaboration
the act of working with another person or people
53
Commonplace
common, ordinary
54
Comprise
to include, contain
55
Confine
to restrict within a limited area
56
Confound
to utterly confuse, baffle
57
Consensus
general agreement
58
Conspicuous
clearly visible; noticeable
59
Consumption
the process of eating or using up
60
Contingent
dependent upon; subject to
61
Contrive
to think up
62
Copious
abundant; plentiful
63
Credible
believable
64
Credulous
easily fooled
65
Debacle
a complete failure; fiasco
66
Deplete
to diminish
67
Despondent
feeling depressed
68
Deviation
departure from what is normal
69
Dextrous
physically skilled, especially with one’s hands
70
Discernible
visible; detectable
71
Discord
general disagreement
72
Disparate
very different
73
Disperse
to scatter
74
Disposition
inherent personality or character trait
75
Diverge
to move apart
76
Domestication
the process of taming an animal or cultivating a wild plant
77
Draconian
excessively harsh laws, rules, and punishments
78
Eccentric
highly odd and unconventional (person)
79
Eclipse
to overshadow or block
80
Elicit
to draw out, usually a response
81
Elusive
difficult to find, catch, or achieve
82
Engender
to cause or give rise to
83
Engulf
to overwhelm; surround completely
84
Enhance
to improve or intensify
85
Ephemeral
very brief; short-lived
86
Equitable
fair
87
Erratic
unpredictable; not regular
88
Evade
to escape or avoid
89
Evince
to reveal or show one’s feelings
90
Exacerbate
to make worse
91
Excavation
the process of digging up, usually a historic site
92
Exorbitant
extreme and excessive
93
Explicit
stated directly and with complete clarity
94
Exploit
to take advantage of
95
Exposure
contact with someone or something (noun form of “expose”)
96
Fabricate
to invent or make up, typically with the intent to deceive
97
Façade
(false) exterior
98
Foster
to encourage or promote something typically seen to be good
99
Fruitful/fruitless
productive/unproductive
100
Galvanize
to energize, spur into action
101
Haphazard
random and disorganized
102
Heterogeneous
varied, diverse; synonym for “multifaceted”
103
Hinder
to block, prevent; synonym for “impede”
104
Idealize
to imagine something as better than it is in reality
105
Idiosyncratic
highly particular, unique to an individual
106
Illusory
not real; based on an illusion
107
Imminent
about to happen
108
Impede
to delay or prevent
109
Impeccable
faultless, spotless
110
Impenetrable
impossible to pass through
111
Imperative
of vital importance; crucial
112
Imperceptible
cannot be seen or perceived
113
Imposing
very large and impressive in appearance
114
Impoverished
very poor
115
Incongruous
out of place; something that contrasts with its surroundings
116
Indecipherable
unable to be read or understood
117
Indelible
memorable; impossible to forget
118
Indifferent
without interest or concern; apathetic
119
Indigenous
native
120
Indoctrinate
to teach a person/people to uncritically accept beliefs
121
Induce
to persuade or influence someone to do something
122
Indulgent
overly generous; too lenient
123
Ineluctable
inescapable; inevitable
124
Infallible
incapable of making mistakes
125
Infinitesimal
extremely small; approaching zero
126
Ingenious
very clever and cunning
127
Innocuous
harmless; the synonym “benign” may also be used
128
Innovative
featuring new materials and ideas
129
Insight
deep understanding
130
Installation
art exhibit consisting of large objects placed in a public space
131
Insuperable
incapable of being overcome
132
Insurmountable
too great to overcome
133
Intermediate
coming between two things
134
Intricate
very complex
135
Intriguing
arousing curiosity or interest
136
Intuition
the ability to understand from an instinctive feeling
137
Invasive
spreading in a harmful manner (noun form of “invade”)
138
Irate
angry
139
Irreproachable
beyond criticism; faultless
140
Irrevocable
permanent
141
Juxtaposition
placement of two things next to each other for contrast
142
Laconic
using few words; brief and to-the point
143
Latent
existing but in hidden or dormant form
144
Legacy
a long-lasting impact
145
Lineage
descent from a common ancestor or predecessor
146
Lucrative
very profitable
147
Manifestation
visible appearance of an object, trend, or idea
148
Mercurial
unpredictable; constantly shifting moods
149
Meticulous
very careful and precise; the synonym “punctilious” may also be used
150
Migration
the movement of a person or group from one area to another
151
Misconstrue
to misunderstand
152
Mitigate
to make a problem less severe
153
Mobilize
to prepare a person or group for action
154
Momentous
having great significance (a decision or event)
155
Monetize
to make money from
156
Moribund
approaching death; on the verge of becoming obsolete
157
Multifaceted
having many aspects
158
Mundane
dull; uninteresting
159
Myriad
many
160
Nebulous
vague; undefined; synonym for “amorphous”
161
Nefarious
wicked and evil
162
Nuance
a subtle shade of difference or meaning
163
Nurture
to care for and encourage growth and development
164
Obscure
rare; understood by few people
165
Offhand
done casually, without prior thought
166
Ominous
threatening; giving the impression that something bad will happen
167
Orientation
a preference or liking for
168
Orthodox
conforming to a standard theory or belief
169
Overload
excessive burden or stress
170
Overshadow
to dominate; make someone or something seem unimportant
171
Outmoded
no longer fashionable; out of date
172
Outsized
disproportionately large
173
Palpable
literally, touchable; often used to describe a very intense feeling
174
Paucity
a small or limited amount
175
Peripheral
of secondary importance; not central
176
Pervasive
widespread
177
Polar
very different; opposite
178
Pragmatic
practical
179
Precipitate
to cause to happen especially suddenly and unexpectedly
180
Preclude
prevent or block; synonym for “impede”
181
Precursor
a person or thing that precedes; a forerunner
182
Predatory
preying upon others
183
Prescient
showing great foresight
184
Prescribe
to lay down a rule; dictate
185
Pretentious
affecting greater importance than one actually has
186
Pretext
false excuse given to justify a course of action
187
Prevail
to triumph over great odds
188
Prioritize
to list or rate in order of importance
189
Prodigious
enormous; impressively large
190
Profound
intellectually deep; extremely insightful
191
Profusion
large amount; synonym for “myriad”; antonym for “paucity”
192
Prohibitive
so high (a difficulty or price) that it prevents something from occurring
193
Prolific
very productive
194
Provocative
causing a reaction, often annoyance or anger
195
Recant
to take back; withdraw; renounce
196
Reciprocate
to respond to an action by doing the same thing back to someone
197
Reconcile
to bring opposing people or things back together
198
Register
(n.) official list or record; (v.) to become aware of or record
199
Relevant/irrelevant
connected/unconnected to the topic at hand
200
Renounce
to give up
201
Replenish
to refill; resupply
202
Replicate
to copy
203
Resilient
capable of quickly recovering from difficulty
204
Resurgence
the act of rising again into life or activity
205
Retrospect
hindsight; looking back
206
Revelation
something that is revealed and thus made known
207
Rudimentary
limited to basic principles; elementary
208
Sabotage
to deliberately destroy or damage
209
Satiate
to fully satisfy
210
Scheme
a clever and often devious plan
211
Scrupulous
extremely attentive to details
212
Scrutinize
(n. Scrutiny) – to examine very closely and carefully
213
Speculate
to form an explanation or theory; synonym for “conjecture”
214
Spurious
false or fake; the synonym “specious” may also be used
215
Stipulate
to demand or specify as part of an agreement
216
Strenuous
requiring great physical exertion
217
Subjective
influenced by personal tastes, opinions, or feelings
218
Substantial
of considerable importance, size, or worth
219
Superficial
shallow; lacking depth
220
Superfluous
more than enough; unnecessary
221
Supplant
to replace; supersede
222
Supplement
(n.) an addition or reinforcement; (v.) to add on
223
Surpass
to exceed; go beyond
224
Sway
to persuade to follow a course of action
225
Synchronize
to cause multiple events to occur at the same time
226
Synopsis
a brief summary
227
Tally
(n.) a recorded account; a total; (v.) to count
228
Thwart
to block or get in the way of something negative
229
Transcend
to rise above normal limitations
230
Tedious
boring; dull and tiresome
231
Tenuous
very weak; connected only slightly
232
Trivial
unimportant
233
Ubiquitous
everywhere; synonym for “universal”
234
Unattainable
cannot be reached or achieved
235
Uncanny
strange or slightly supernatural; beyond what is ordinary
236
Unclassifiable
unable to be assigned to a category
237
Unconventional
not conforming to what is generally done or believed
238
Undermine
to weaken; erode
239
Underscore
to emphasize by drawing attention to a fact, idea, or situation
240
Unequivocal
leaving no doubt; certain
241
Unobtrusive
inconspicuous; not attracting attention
242
Unresolvable
unable to be resolved or settled
243
Untenable
unable to be defended or supported
244
Vacillate
to go back and forth between two options; synonym for “waver”
245
Validate
to confirm the truth of a claim
246
Verisimilitude
the quality of seeming to be true
247
Vindicate
to free from blame; prove correct
248
Waive
to voluntarily give up the right to do something
249
Waver
to go back and forth between two options; synonym for “vacillate”
250
Watershed
a turning point
