Vocabulary Flashcards
(146 cards)
1
Q
Ambivalent
A
(Adj) Having contradictory feelings; Ambivalent college freshmen are both excited and sad to leave home.
2
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Auspicious
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(Adj) Favorable; Walsh-Jennings and Ross’ run for gold in Rio started auspiciously with an unbeaten record.
3
Q
Belligerent
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(Adj) Inclined to fighting; After drinking too much and becoming belligerent, Jack usually gets in a bar fight.
4
Q
Capricious
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(Adj) Unpredictable, whimsical; Because of Sam’s capricious nature, his friends did not find him reliable.
5
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Contentious
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(Adj) Likely to argue; I tend to avoid contentious topics of conversation which might lead to arguments.
6
Q
Corroborate
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(Verb) To confirm or make stronger; Multiple witnesses corroborated Suzy’s alibi at the time of the murder.
7
Q
Enervate
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(Verb) To weaken or drain energy from; In 30 minutes I was enervated sitting in a humid, windowless room.
8
Q
Ephemeral
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(Adj) Short-lived; YouTube has made fame ephemeral, just look at people like Rebecca Black.
9
Q
Erudite
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(Adj) Scholarly; Trudy’s erudite nature helped her to be a formidable opponent on Jeopardy.
10
Q
Esoteric
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(Adj) Known to a select few; Now that “retro” is cool, previously esoteric musicians have become popular.
11
Q
Extant
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(Adj) In existence; Few documents preceding the advent of papyrus are extant today.
12
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Fastidious
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(Adj) Nitpicky, very careful and attentive; It is common for toddlers to have fastidious eating habits; my son won’t eat anything orange.
13
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Feckless
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(Adj) Lazy, irresponsible; They were able to make an arrest as the feckless robber left his ID at the scene.
14
Q
Histrionic
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(Adj) To be overly dramatic; During one of her histrionic fits over losing Checkers, Joan knocked over a table.
15
Q
Inculpate
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(Verb) To accuse; Even though she had an alibi, Lou continues to inculpate Mary of murder.
16
Q
Limpid
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(Adj) Clear, simple in style; Her limpid prose made even the most difficult subjects accessible to all.
17
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Loquacious
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(Adj) Talkative; Max’s friends didn’t like watching movies with him as he is always very loquacious.
18
Q
Magnanimous
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(Adj) Big-hearted, generous; After winning an Oscar Harry magnanimously bought his mom a car and house.
19
Q
Mercurial
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(Adj) Animated, sprightly; unpredictably changing often; With his mercurial nature, I can’t predict his actions.
20
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Pragmatic
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(Adj) Practical; Tom loves the pragmatic world of business where every action has an intended outcome.
21
Q
Prolific
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(Adj) Producing abundantly; Irving Berlin was a prolific song writer with over a hundred tunes.
22
Q
Propitiate
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(Verb) Placate, appease; They profusely apologized to their angry father, but were unable to propitiate him.
23
Q
Remiss
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(Adj) Negligent, careless; I would be seriously remiss if I suggested that any test went perfectly.
24
Q
Reticent
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(Adj) Tightlipped, reluctant; Jane was reticent and preferred observing others mannerisms.
25
Sanguine
(Adj) Cheerful, optimistic; A Yale graduate with a 4.0, Jenni was sanguine about finding a job.
26
Sententious
(Adj) Pithy, uses proverbs pompously; The old man sententiously stated “Youth is wasted on the young.”
27
Soporific
(Adj) Inducing sleep; Turkey at Thanksgiving always seems to have a strong soporific effect.
28
Tendentious
(Adj) Biased, typically controversial; As a supporter of the cause, his reports were very tendentious.
29
Anomaly
(Noun) something that is unusual or unexpected; The student’s poor performance on the latest test was an anomaly since she had previously earned excellent grades.
30
Equivocal
(Adj) not easily understood or explained; Politicians have been known to provide equivocal answers to reporters’ questions.
31
Lucid
(Adj) very clear and easy to understand; The lecture was lucid and straightforward, allowing the students to fully grasp the concepts presented.
32
Precipitate
(Verb) to cause (something) to happen quickly or suddenly; Unforeseen costs can precipitate a budget crisis.
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Assuage
(Verb) to make (an unpleasant feeling) less intense; A massage can assuage the soreness in your muscles.
34
Opaque
(Adj) not able to be seen through, not easily understood; Medical jargon includes many opaque terms like macrosomic, which describes a newborn who weighs more than 4,000 grams.
35
Prodigal
(Adj) wastefully extravagant; The prodigal prince bought lavish gifts and planned expensive events.
36
Enigma
(Noun) a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand; Scientists continue to research cancer to solve the enigma of its primary cause, which will hopefully lead to a cure.
37
Fervid
(Adj) intensely enthusiastic or passionate; The child showed a fervid fascination for superheroes, pouring over comic books for hours.
38
Placate
(Verb) to make (someone) less angry or hostile; A parent may decide to placate a baby with a pacifier.
39
Zeal
(Noun) a strong feel of interest and enthusiasm that makes someone very eager or determined to do something; The great emperor’s crusading zeal led him to conquer many lands.
40
Abstain
(Verb) to restrain oneself for doing or enjoying something; Doctors encourage their patients to abstain from smoking cigarettes.
41
Audacious
(Adj) a willingness to take bold risks, showing a lack of respect; The new CEO pursued audacious initiatives to save the company from bankruptcy. / The student’s audacious remark earned her a seat in afternoon detention.
42
Desiccate
(Verb) remove the moisture from (something); The heat and energy from the sun can desiccate even the most hearty plants.
43
Gullible
(Adj) easily persuaded to believe something; The gullible little boy gave his older sister all of his allowance because she told him she would buy a pony for him.
44
Laudable
(Adj) deserving praise and commendation; Providing affordable healthcare for all citizens is a laudable goal.
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Pedant
(Noun) a person who makes an excessive display of learning; Professor Blackwell, a well-known pedant, required his pre-med students to speak in Latin throughout the entire semester.
46
Vacillate
(Verb) to waver between different opinions or actions; Undergraduate students often vacillate among various majors before deciding which degree to pursue.
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Adulterate
(Verb) to make something impure or weaker by adding something of inferior quality; Many chefs use fresh produce and refuse to adulterate their dishes with canned ingredients.
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Engender
(Verb) to produce, cause, or give rise to (something); Political debates can engender controversy regarding the subjects discussed.
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Homogenous
(Adj) of the same or similar kind; There are very few truly homogenous cultures since social diversity is increasingly widespread.
50
Volatile
(Adj) likely to change rapidly and unpredictably; It is possible for a country’s political climate to remain volatile for decades.
51
Apathy
(Noun) lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern; Political parties try to engage young voters who are more prone to apathy than older citizens.
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Laconic
(Adj) using few words; The student’s laconic response suggested that she did not know very much about the topic the professor was discussing.
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Mitigate
(Verb) make less severe, serious, or painful; We want to mitigate students’ GRE stress by offering helpful study tools.
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Propriety
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(Noun) the state or quality of being correct or proper;
The students were instructed to behave with the utmost propriety while on their class field trip.
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55
Advocate
(Verb) publicly recommend or support; The governor chose to advocate for a higher minimum wage rather than a tax incentive.
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Cacophony
(Noun) a harsh, unpleasant mixture of sounds; The cacophony of the middle school band warming up was nearly unbearable for the audience.
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Ingenuous
(Adj) innocent and unsuspecting; The scam artist preyed on ingenuous nursing home residents.
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Misanthrope
(Noun) a person who dislikes humankind; The neighborhood misanthrope surrounded his yard with barbed wire to keep people away.
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Paradox
(Noun) a statement that contradicts itself but might be true; The fact that the retired teacher claimed to hate all pets but adopted seven cats is an intriguing paradox.
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Venerate
(Verb) regard with great respect; To venerate the fire chief’s forty years of service, the department held a special banquet.
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Antipathy
(Noun) a strong feeling of dislike; The students voiced their antipathy for homework very loudly.
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Deride
(Verb) to express contempt for, ridicule; The unreasonable supervise was known to deride his employees on a daily basis.
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Eulogy
(Noun) a speech that praises someone, typically some who has recently died; The rabbi’s eulogy was both heartfelt and inspiring.
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Lethargic
(Adj) lacking energy; It’s not uncommon to feel lethargic for weeks or even months after major surgery.
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Obdurate
(Adj) stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion;
| The obdurate three-year-old refused to eat any vegetables, no matter how they were prepared.
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Philanthropic
(Adj) seeking to promote the welfare of others; The students were grateful to receive financial support from philanthropic organizations that promote education.
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Waver
(Verb) to go back and forth between choices or opinions; Some citizens vote solely along party lines and never waver in their political decisions.
68
Bolster
(Verb) to support or strengthen; The prosecutor worked to find evidence that would bolster her case against the defendant.
69
Dissonance
(Noun) a lack of harmony or agreement; The school board’s meeting lasted for hours due to the length debate fueled by dissonance among opinions.
70
Garrulous
(Adj) excessively talkative; The garrulous hair stylist talked to each customer for hours at a time.
71
Malleable
(Adj) easily influenced, pliable; Children’s moods are often malleable since children are greatly affected by their surroundings.
72
Ostentation
(Noun) excessive display of wealth; Owning a mansion doesn’t imply ostentation, but traveling exclusively by private jet certainly can.
73
Prevaricate
(Verb) deceive or stretch the truth; During the trial, the lead witness was willing to prevaricate in order to protect his friend.
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Obfuscate
(Verb) render obscure, unclear, or unintelligible; She was criticized for using arguments that obfuscated the main issue.
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Onerous
(Adj) involving an amount of effort and difficulty that is oppressively burdensome; His duties were thus rendered exceedingly onerous, and his labor became excessive.
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Arduous
(Adj) involving or requiring strenuous effort; The team had an arduous journey.
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Insipid
(Adj) lacking taste or flavor; Too much sugar tends to make this otherwise delightful fruit pie insipid.
78
Iconoclast
(Noun) someone who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions; Irrespective of his actuating motives, his deeds as an iconoclast will be treated harshly and is answerable in court.
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Profligate
(Adj) recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources; The senate is particularly perturbed over our profligate use of natural resources such as forest, oil, water, energy, land and minerals.
80
Prosaic
(Adj) not challenging, dull and lacking excitement; The project was full of prosaic ideas, such as using sand and stone to raise natural walls around monuments built in honor of the late president.
81
Ameliorate
(Verb) make/become better; Increase in penalties and effective awareness programs would ameliorate the growing pollution levels and there by global warming it may have generated.
82
Obsequious
(Adj) obedient or attentive to an excessive degree; It was evident that the manager was flattering – from his obsequious manner in receiving his boss.
83
Fortuitous
(Adj) happening by accident or chance; The alignment timing proved to be scientifically fortuitous for planetary astronomers, who already have a orbital satellite stationed around the moon.
84
Orthodox
(Adj) conforming to all the traditional beliefs; Alice describes her childhood in a conservative Orthodox community in Iraq, keeping to traditional religious beliefs.
85
Alacrity
(Noun) lively and cheerful readiness; After marriage, Jenny rushed off with excitement to visit her parents, but her father did not accept their marriage with equal alacrity.
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Pellucid
(Adj) translucently clear; The river water was so pellucid that Mary could see clearly that it swarmed with countless small fishes and loaves.
87
Scrupulous
(Adj) diligent, thorough, and extremely careful; The health inspector during his usual visit found pests in the restaurant’s kitchen and hence ordered the owner to observe scrupulous hygiene to stop spreading illness or would issue a immediate closure notice.
88
Dogmatic
(Adj) dictatorial, opinionated; Most Americans have less dogmatic, more open-ended views and would ignore such a request but Mr. John didn’t hesitate and removed his coat immediately.
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Exacerbate
(Verb) infuriate, make worse; Hummingbird declines have been connected to a lack of appropriate habitat so increasing the number of Washington’s hives could exacerbate the issue.
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Redundant
(Adj) not or no longer needed or useful, superfluous; Many of the old skills had become redundant in modern society.
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Hackneyed
(Adj) unoriginal and trite; Girls dreaming their way to a wonderland to marry a prince and live happily ever after was already a hackneyed notion by the time Alice in the Wonderland was written.
92
Prudent
(Adj) acting with or showing care and thought; When the food manufacturer discovered toxins in a product sample case of one of its containers, it made a prudent decision to destroy all the boxes from the shipment.
93
Belie
(Verb) disguise or contradict; Joe’s cheerful tone belies the grim nature of life in the Indian Countryside and her desperate desire to escape those suffocating circumstances.
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Impetuous
(Adj) acting or done quickly and without thought or care; Michael is methodical, barely the impetuous kind, and he has had ample time to come to a consolidated opinion of the university he wishes to apply for.
95
Idiosyncrasy
(Noun) a way of thought peculiar to an individual; Modern technologies are a lot more expensive than their existing alternatives and each has its own idiosyncrasies that be conquered.
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Obscure
(Adj) not discovered or known about, uncertain; Apple maps give such obscure directions that even after roaming around for hours, Derek couldn’t reach the new church that opened in the town.
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Didactic
(Adj) intended to teach, educational; Though more didactic, Rama’s story of the triumph over evil and of a king’s dharma and nobility is quite powerful and enchanting.
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Pithy
(Adj) brief, to the point; The professor was not known for talking much, but what he did say was always pithy.
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Copious
(Adj) abundant in supply or quantity; Mathew insisted that Sophie track all her household expenditures, including every penny spent for hair clips, in copious account books.
100
Vociferous
(Adj) loud and clamorous; The protesters were vociferous in their demands as they screamed outside of the mayor’s house.
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Taciturn
(Adj) reserved or uncommunicative in speech; Over the past 50 years, as a recruiter, Yuri has come across different types of candidates, some of them speak a lot while some stay taciturn.
102
Lionize
(Verb) treat someone as a celebrity; The retired lieutenant is being lionized as a paragon of integrity for standing up against corruption.
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Imminent
(Adj) about to happen; Some people thought it was outrageous when the media predicted the imminent death of the drug-addicted actress.
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Frivolous
(Adj) trivial, silly; Ram was passionate and serious about collecting coins but his friends thought it was a frivolous activity.
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Trivial
(Adj) of little value or importance; Huge fines were imposed for trivial offenses.
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Benign
(Adj) gentle, kindly; Even though the advertisements claim the energy drink is benign, customers may experience some unwanted side effects after consuming.
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Docile
(Adj) compliant, submissive; Although a trained lion appears docile during the circus acts, it is really a fierce animal when not controlled by a trainer.
108
Sporadic
(Adj) occurring at irregular intervals, scattered or isolated; The doctors are finding it difficult to identify the cause of Tom’s heartaches because of his sporadic heartbeat.
109
Chicanery
(Noun) deception, trickery; The judge has plenty of reason to suspect chicanery because the lawyer has a reputation of aggressively defending his clients and of getting verdicts of innocence on guilty Policemen.
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Gainsay
(Verb) deny or contradict; Some of the officers were about to reject the project, but it had come from them, they could not well gainsay it.
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Dispassionate
(Adj) unfeeling, impartial; The heart of the ruthless monarch seems dispassionate to the plight of those people suffering in his kingdom.
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Providential
(Adj) lucky, occurring at a favorable time; Sam’s dangerous and providential escape, made her tremble; and so pale did he still look, that she could scarcely believe he was uninjured.
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Diffidence
(Noun) hesitancy, lack of confidence; A lot of sportsmen attain prominence before they know what to do with it; others put across a diffidence to fame while secretly craving it; and some just don’t treasure their moments in the spotlight.
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Fractious
(Adj) irritable and quarrelsome; Third world powers are hesitant about sending arms to aid the war, partially due to the fractious politics of the hostile political group abroad.
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Malign
(Adj) hurtful, injurious; Often, people suffering psychological disorders are considered by their families to be under the influence of malign spirits, or showing sign of a physical confliction.
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Disparate
(Adj) essentially different in kind, not allowing comparison; Chief Puritan and songwriter James Rhodes has led his band through six very disparate albums united by their subtle indifference for listener accessibility.
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Plausible
(Adj) seeming reasonable or probable; Astronomers received data from the unexplored planet which indicates that the possibility of life, at least in the ancient past, is at least plausible.
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Trite
(Adj) lacking originality or freshness; Of these athletes, only Mr. Johnson delivered movements with any firmness; and even he was moving with such a professional awe that rendered everything trite.
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Succinct
(Adj) brief, to the point; Perhaps the most succinct equations of wave theory come closest in mathematics to defining probability, but chemistry can fairly lay claim to these equations.
120
Ingenious
(Adj) clever, original, and inventive; No matter how ingenious a thesis or an analysis may be, it will be quickly invalidated if appropriate field experts haven’t been engaged in the process for feedback.
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Meticulous
(Adj) very careful and precise; Queen Cleopatra did beautiful architectural drawings on monuments built around the pyramids, the result of years of obsessive and meticulous hard work by numerous artists and builders.
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Anachronism
(Noun) error in time placement; With the rate of economic growth in the western countries at its lowest rate in nearly a century, the power wielded by the United Nations can seem like an anachronism.
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Conspicuous
(Adj) obvious, easily seen; He was very thin, with a conspicuous Adam's apple.
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Innocuous
(Adj) harmless and inoffensive; Companies that track their visitor’s online behavior have long claimed that the data they collect is anonymous, and therefore innocuous.
125
Tumultuous
(Adj) confused or disorderly; During the recent riots, the crowd was tumultuous and went berserk as the police arrest their leader, washing away all that impeded it.
126
Equivocate
(Verb) to avoid giving a clear or direct answer to a question; When I asked Rachel if the suit looks good on me, she equivocated a response, avoiding the question by saying she needed it to be somewhere else.
127
Inimical
(Adj) tending to obstruct or harm; Though Sarah’s husband is an inimical person who often beats her for trivial reasons, she has always tried to be nice to him.
128
Superfluous
(Adj) extra, unnecessary; Massive marketing budgets may seem superfluous when revenues are hard to come by, but it’s indispensable to have them in place in order to get substantial funding and to stay capital efficient.
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Indispensable
(Adj) absolutely necessary; He made himself indispensable to the factory by rising the ranks.
130
Recalcitrant
(Adj) disobedient, uncontrollable; Recalcitrant politicians, in interviews on TV and newspaper, raised their concerns over the party’s national policies publicly and were consequently punished for their disobedience.
131
Pusillanimous
(Adj) lacking courage, fearful; Despite the opportunity for heroism, the captain led his soldiers into a pusillanimous retreat and since then the man has been rated as a coward.
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Euphoric
(Adj) intense excitement and happiness; The Australian cricket players were all euphoric when the Government declared a bonus pay to each of them as bring the world cup home.
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Profound
(Adj) very great or intense, thoughtful; The realities are forcing a profound reassessment of how the Nile, Africa’s only major river, can continue to slake the thirst of one of the continent’s fastest-growing regions.
134
Inchoate
(Adj) undeveloped, beginning; Just after the big bang explosion, before the universe expanded to the gigantic distances, it was an inchoate assemblage of elemental matter.
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Penchant
(Noun) a strong or habitual liking for something or tendency to do something; He has a penchant for adopting stray dogs.
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Eschew
(Verb) deliberately avoid using, abstain from.
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Cursory
(Adj) hasty and therefore not thorough or detailed.
138
Denigrate
(Verb) criticize unfairly; There is a tendency to denigrate the poor.
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Galvanize
(Verb) shock or excite someone into taking action; The urgency of his voice galvanized them into action.
140
Exculpate
(Verb) show or declare that (someone) is not guilty of wrongdoing.
141
Disingenuous
(Adj) not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does
142
Gregarious
(Adj) fond of company, sociable; He was a popular and gregarious man.
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Obviate
(Verb) remove (a need or difficulty); The Venetian blinds obviated the need for curtains.
144
Promulgate
(Verb) promote or make widely known (an idea or cause); These objectives have to be promulgated within the organization.
145
Fetid
(Adj) smelling extremely unpleasant
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Apocryphal
(Adj) of doubtful authenticity, although widely circulated as being true; An apocryphal story about a former president
