Word List 2 Flashcards

1
Q

Adversity (n)

A

poverty; misfortune

We must learn to meet adversity gracefully

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2
Q

Advocacy (n)

A

support; active pleading on behalf of someone or something

No threats could dissuade Bishop Desmond Tutu from his advocacy of the human rights of black South Africans

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3
Q

Aesthetic (adj)

A

artistic; dealing with or capable of appreciating the beautiful
The beauty of Tiffany’s stained glass appealed to Alice’s aesthetic sense (aesthete n)

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4
Q

Affable (adj)

A

easily approachable; warmly friendly

Accustomed to cold, aloof supervisors, Nick was amazed at how affable his new employer was (affability n)

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5
Q

Affected (adj)

A

artificial; pretended; assumed in order to impress
His affected mannerisms - his “Harvard” accent, his air of boredom - bugged us: he acted as if he thought he was too good for hissed high school friends (affectation n)

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6
Q

Affiliation (n)

A

joining; associating with
Our hospital’s affiliation with top medical facilities has enabled us to expand the expert care we provide to residents of North Shore

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7
Q

Affinity (n)

A

kinship

She felt an affinity with all who suffered; their pains were her pains

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8
Q

Affirmation (n)

A

positive assertion; solemn pledge by one who refuses to take an oath
Despite Tom’s affirmations of innocence, Aunt Polly still suspected he had eaten the pie

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9
Q

Affliction (n)

A

state of distress; cause of suffering

Even in the midst of her affliction, Elizabeth tried to keep up the spirits of those around her

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10
Q

Affluence (n)

A

abundance; wealth

Foreigners are amazed by the affluence and luxury of the American way of life

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11
Q

Affront (n)

A

insult; offense; intentional act of disrespect
When Mrs Proudie was not seated beside the Archdeacon at the head table, she took it as a personal affront and refused to speak to her hosts for a week

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12
Q

Agenda (n)

A

items of business at a meeting

We had so much difficulty agreeing upon an agenda that there was very little time for the meeting

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13
Q

Agglomeration (n)

A

collection; heap

It took weeks to assort the agglomeration of miscellaneous items she had collected on her trip

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14
Q

Aggrandise (v)

A

increase or intensify; raise in power, wealth, rank or honor
The history of the past quarter century illustrates how a President mat aggrandise his power to act aggressively in international affairs without considering the wishes of Congress

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15
Q

Aggregate (v)

A

gather; accumulate
Before the Wall Street scandals, dealers in so-called junk bonds managed to aggregate great wealth in short periods of time (aggregation n)

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16
Q

Aggressor (n)

A

attacker

Before you punish both boys for fighting, see whether you can determine which one was the aggressor

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17
Q

Aghast (adj)

A

horrified; dumbfounded

Miss Manners was aghast at the crude behaviour of the fraternity brothers at the annual toga party

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18
Q

Agility (n)

A

nimbleness

The agility of the acrobat amazed and thrilled the audience

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19
Q

Agitate (v)

A

stir up; disturb

Her fiery remarks agitated the already angry mob

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20
Q

Agnostic (n)

A

one who is skeptical of the existence of a god or an ultimate reality
Agnostics say we can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God; we simply have no way to know

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21
Q

Alacrity (n)

A

cheerful promptness; eagerness
Phil and Dave was raring to get off to the mountains; they packed up their ski gears and climbed into the van with alacrity

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22
Q

Alienate (v)

A

make hostile; separate

Her attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith in each other

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23
Q

Allay (v)

A

calm; pacify

The crew tried to allay the fears of the passengers by announcing that the fire had been controlled

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24
Q

Allege (v)

A

state without proof
Although it is alleged that she worked for the enemy, she denies the allegation and, legally, we take no action against her without proof (allegation n)

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25
Q

Allegiance (n)

A

loyalty

Not even a term in prison could shake Wales’s allegiance to Solidarity, the Polish trade union he had helped to found

26
Q

Alleviate (v)

A

relieve

This should alleviate the pain; if it does not we shall have to use stronger drugs

27
Q

Allocate (v)

A

assign

Even though the Red Cross had allocated some sum for the relief of the sufferers of the disaster

28
Q

Alloy (n)

A

mixture as of metals

Alloys of gold are used more frequently than the pure metal

29
Q

Alloy (v)

A

mix; make less pure; lessen or moderate
Our delight at our baseball team’s victory was alloyed by our concern for our pitcher Tim, who injured his pitching arm in the game

30
Q

Allude (v)

A

refer indirectly

Try not to mention divorce in front of him because he will think you are alluding to his marital history with Jill

31
Q

Allure (v)

A

entice; attract

Allured by the song of the sirens, the man steered the ship toward the reef

32
Q

Allusion (n)

A

indirect reference
When amanda said to the ticket scalper “One hundred bucks? What do you want, a pound of flesh?” she was making an allusion to Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice

33
Q

Aloof (adj)

A

apart; reserved

Shy by nature, she remained aloof while all the rest conversed

34
Q

Altercation (n)

A

noisy quarrel; heated dispute
In that hot-tempered household, no meal ever came to a peaceful conclusion; the inevitable altercation sometimes even ended in blows

35
Q

Altruistic (adj)

A

unselfishly generous concerned for others
In providing tutorial assistance and college scholarships for hundreds of economically disadvantaged youth, Eugene Lang performed a truly altruistic deed (altruism n)

36
Q

Amalgamate (v)

A

combine; unite in one body

The unions will attempt to amalgamate their groups into one national body

37
Q

Amass (v)

A

collect

The miser’s aim is to amass and hoard as much gold as possible

38
Q

Ambience (n)

A

environment; atmosphere

She went to the restaurant not for the food by for the ambience

39
Q

Ambiguos (adj)

A

unclear or doubtful in meaning

His ambiguous instructions misled us; we did not know which road to take (ambiguity n)

40
Q

Ambivalence (n)

A

the state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes
Torn between loving her parents one minute and hating them the next, she was confused by the ambivalence of her feelings (ambivalent adj)

41
Q

Ambulatory (adj)

A

able to walk; not bedridden
Calvin was a highly ambulatory patient; not only did he refuse to be confined to bed, but also he insisted in riding his skateboard up and down the halls

42
Q

Ameliorate (v)

A

improve

Many social workers have attempted to ameliorate the condition of people living in the slums

43
Q

Amenable (adj)

A

readily managed or willing to be led; answerable or accountable legally
Although the ambassador was usually amenable to friendly suggestions, he balked when he hinted he should pay his parking tickets. As a foreign diplomat, he claimed he was not amenable to minor local laws

44
Q

Amend (v)

A

correct; change; generally for the better

Hoping to amend his condition, he left Vietnam for the United States

45
Q

Amenities (n)

A

convenient features; courtesies
In addition to the customary amenities for the business traveler - fax machines, modems, a health club - the hotel offers the services of a butler versed in the social amenities

46
Q

Amiable (adj)

A

agreeable; lovable; warmly friendly

In Little Women, Beth is the amiable daughter while loving disposition endears her to all who knows her

47
Q

Amicable (adj)

A

politely friendly; not quarrelsome
Beth’s sister Jo is the hot-tempered tomboy who has a hard time maintaining amicable relationships with those around her. Jo’s quarrel with her friend Laurie finally reaches an amicable settlement, but not because Jo turns amiable overnight

48
Q

Amiss (adj)

A

wrong; faulty

Seeing her frown, he wondered if anything were amiss

49
Q

Amity (n)

A

friendship

Student exchange programs such as the Experiment in International Living were established to promote international amity

50
Q

Amnesty (n)

A

pardon

When his first child was born, the king granted amnesty to all in prison

51
Q

Amoral (adj)

A

non-moral
The amoral individual lacks a code of ethics; he cannot tell right from wrong. The immoral person can tell right from wrong; he chooses to do something he knows is wrong

52
Q

Amorous (adj)

A

moved by sexual love; loving

“Love them and leave the” was the motto of the amorous Don Fariq

53
Q

Amorphous (adj)

A

formless; lacking shape or definition

As soon we have decided on our itinerary, we shall send you a copy; right now, our plans are still amorphous

54
Q

Ample (adj)

A

abundant

Bond had ample opportunity to escape. Why then, did he let us capture him?

55
Q

Amplify (v)

A

broaden or clarify by expanding; intensify; make stronger
Charlie Brown tried to amplify his remarks, but he was drowned out by jeers from the audience. Lucy was smarter, she used a loudspeaker to amplify her voice

56
Q

Amputate (v)

A

cut off part of body; prune
When the doctors had to amputate Ted Kennedy leg’s to prevent the spread of cancer, he did not let the loss of his leg end his life

57
Q

Anachronism (n)

A

something or someone misplaced in time
Shakespeare’s reference to clocks in Julius Caesar is an anachronism, no clocks existed in Caesar’s time (anachronistic adj)

58
Q

Analogous (adj)

A

comparable

Actors exploring a classic text often improvise, working through an analogous situation closer to their own experience

59
Q

Analogy (n)

A

similarity; parallelism
A well known analogy compares the body’s immune system with an army whose defending troops are the lymphocytes or white blood cells

60
Q

Anarchy (n)

A

absence of governing body; state of disorder

The assassination of the leaders led to a period of anarchy