Word Smart (1-20) Flashcards
(165 cards)
1
Q
abash
A
To make ashamed; to embarrass
2
Q
abate
A
To subside; to reduce
3
Q
abdicate
A
To step down from a position of power or responsibility
4
Q
aberration
A
Something not typical; a deviation from the standard
5
Q
abhor
A
To hate very very much; to detest
6
Q
abject
A
Hopeless; extremely sad and servile; defeated; utterly bummed out
7
Q
abnegate
A
To deny oneself things; to reject; to renounce
8
Q
abortive
A
Unsuccessful
9
Q
abridge
A
To shorten; to condense
10
Q
absolute
A
Total; unlimited; perfect
11
Q
absolve
A
To forgive or free from blame; to free from sin; to free from an obligation
12
Q
abstinent
A
Abstaining; voluntarily not doing something especially something pleasant that is bad for you or has a bad reputation
13
Q
abstract
A
Theoretical; impersonal
14
Q
abstruse
A
Hard to understand
15
Q
abysmal
A
Extremely hopeless or wretched; bottomless
16
Q
accolade
A
An award; an honor
17
Q
accost
A
To approach and speak to someone
18
Q
acerbic
A
Bitter; sour; severe
19
Q
acquiesce
A
To comply passively; to accept; to assent; to agree
20
Q
acrid
A
Harsh; like acid
21
Q
acrimonious
A
Full of spite; bitter; nasty
22
Q
acumen
A
Keenness of judgment; mental sharpness
23
Q
acute
A
Sharp; shrewd
24
Q
adamant
A
Stubborn; unyielding; completely inflexible
25
address
To speak to; to direct ones attention to
26
adherent
Follower; supporter; believer
27
admonish
To scold gently; to warn
28
adroit
Skillful; dexterous; clever; shrewd; socially at ease
29
adulation
Wild or excessive admiration; flattery
30
adulterate
To contaminate; to make impure
31
adverse
Unfavorable; antagonistic
32
aesthetic
Having to do with artistic beauty; artistic
33
affable
Easy to talk to; friendly
34
affectation
Unnatural or artificial behavior usually intended to impress
35
affinity
Sympathy; attraction; kinship; similarity
36
affluent
Rich; prosperous
37
agenda
Program; the things to be done
38
agrarian
Relating to land; relating to the management or farming of land
39
aggregate
Sum total; a collection of separate things mixed together
40
agnostic
One who believes that the existence of a god can be neither proven nor disproven
41
alacrity
Cheerful eagerness or readiness to respond
42
allege
To assert without proof
43
alleviate
To relieve usually temporarily or incompletely; to make bearable; to lessen
44
allocate
To distribute; to assign; to allot
45
alloy
A combination of two or more things usually metals
46
allusion
An indirect reference often to a literary work; a hint hint
47
aloof
Uninvolved; standing off; keeping ones distance
48
altruism
Selflessness; generosity; devotion to the interests of others
49
ambiance
Atmosphere; mood; feeling mood
50
ambiguous
Unclear in meaning; confusing; capable of being interpreted in different ways
51
ambivalent
Undecided; neutral; wishy-washy
52
ameliorate
To make better or more tolerable ;
53
amenable
Obedient; willing to give in to the wishes of another; agreeable
54
amenity
Pleasantness; attractive or comfortable feature
55
amiable
Friendly; agreeable
56
amnesty
An official pardon for a group of people who have violated a law or policy
57
amoral
Lacking a sense of right and wrong; neither good nor bad neither moral nor immoral; without moral feelings
58
amorous
Feeling loving especially in a sexual sense; in love relating to love
59
amorphous
Shapeless; without a regular or stable shape
60
anachronism
Something out of place in time or history; an incongruity
61
analogy
A comparison of one thing to another; similarity similarity
62
anarchy
Absence of government or control; lawlessness; disorder
63
anecdote
A short account of a humorous or revealing incident
64
anguish
Agonizing physical or mental pain
65
animosity
Resentment; hostility; ill will
66
anomaly
An aberration; an irregularity; a deviation ;
67
antecedent
Someone or something that went before; something that provides a model for something that came after it
68
antipathy
Firm dislike; a dislike _sympathy ;
69
antithesis
The direct opposite
70
apartheid
The abhorrent policy of racial segregation and oppression in the Repubic of South Africa
71
apathy
Lack of interest; lack of feeling
72
aphorism
A brief often witty saying; a proverb
73
apocalypse
A prophetic revelation especially one concerning the end of the world
74
apocryphal
Of dubious authenticity; fictitious; spurious
75
apotheosis
Elevation to divine status; the perfect example of something
76
appease
To soothe; to pacify by giving in to
77
appreciate
To increase in value
78
apprehensive
adj. Anxious or fearful about the future; uneasy.
“Margaret tells me that she was apprehensive from the start of the voyage -- and even before.”
79
approbation
Approval; praise
80
appropriate
To take without permission; to set aside for a particular use
81
aptitude
Capacity for learning; natural ability
82
arbiter
One who decides; a judge
83
arbitrary
Random; capricious random
84
arcane
Mysterious; known only to a select few mysterious
85
archaic
Extremely old; ancient; outdated
86
archetype
An original model or pattern
87
ardent
Passionate half-hearted
88
arduous
Hard; difficult
89
aristocratic
Of noble birth; snobbish
90
artful
Wily; sly ; crafty
91
artifice
A clever trick; cunning ;
92
ascendancy
Supremacy; domination
93
ascetic
Hermit like; practicing self-denial
94
assiduous
Hardworking; busy; quite diligent
95
assimilate
To take in; to absorb; to learn thoroughly
96
assuage
To soothe; to pacify; to ease the pain of; to relieve
97
astute
Shrewd; keen in judgment ;
98
attrition
Gradual wearing away weakening or loss; a natural or expected decrease in numbers of size
99
audacity
Boldness; reckless daring; impertinence ;
100
augment
To make bigger; to add to; to increase ;
101
auspicious
Favorable; promising; pointing to a good result
102
austere
Unadorned; stern; forbidding; without excess
103
autocratic
Ruling with absolute authority; extremely bossy
104
autonomous
Acting independently
105
avarice
Greed; excessive love of riches
106
avow
To claim; to declare boldly; to admit
107
avuncular
Like an uncle especially a nice uncle ;
108
awry
Off course; twisted to one side ;
109
axiom
Self-evident rule or truth; a widely accepted saying
110
banal
Unoriginal; ordinary
111
bane
Poison; torment; cause of harm
112
bastion
Stronghold; fortress; fortified place
113
beget
To give birth to; to create; to lead to; to cause
114
belabor
To go over repeatedly or to an absurd extent
115
beleaguer
To surround; to besiege; to harass
116
belie
To give a false impression of; to contradict
117
belittle
To make to seem little; to put someone down
118
belligerent
Combative; quarrelsome; waging war
119
bemused
Confused; bewildered
120
benefactor
One who provides help especially in the form of a gift or donation
121
benevolent
Generous; kind; doing good deeds
122
benign
Gentle; not harmful; kind; mild
123
bequest
Something left to someone in a will
124
bereaved
Deprived or left desolate especially through death
125
beset
Harass; to surround
126
blasphemy
Irreverence; an insult to something held sacred; profanity
127
blatant
Unpleasantly or offensively noisy; glaring
128
blight
Disease in plants; anything that injures or destroys
129
blithe
Carefree; cheerful
130
bourgeois
Middle class usually in a pejorative sense; boringly conventional
131
bovine
Cow related; cow like cf canine equine feline pis cine porcine ursine
132
brevity
Briefness
133
broach
To open up a subject for discussion often a delicate subject
134
bucolic
Charmingly rural; rustic; country like
135
bureaucracy
A system of government administration consisting of numerous bureaus or offices especially one run according to inflexible and inefficient rules; any large administrative system characterized by inefficiency lots of rules and red tape
136
burgeon
To expand; to flourish
137
burlesque
A ludicrous mocking or exaggerated imitation
138
cacophony
Harsh-sounding mixture of words voices or sounds
139
cadence
Rhythm the rise and fall of sounds
140
cajole
To persuade someone to do something he or she doesn't want to do
141
callow
inexperienced and immature: earnest and callow undergraduates.
142
candor
Truthfulness; sincere honesty
143
Capitalism
Free enterprise
144
capitulate
To surrender; to give up or give in
145
capricious
Unpredictable; like to change at any moment
146
caricature
A portrait or description that is purposely distorted or exaggerated often to prove some point about its subject
147
castigate
To criticize severely; to chastise
148
catalyst
In chemistry~; anyone or anything that makes something happen without being directly involved in it
149
categorical
Unconditional; absolute
150
catharsis
Purification that brings emotional relief or renewal
151
catholic
Universal; embracing everything
152
caustic
Like acid; corrosive
153
celibacy
Abstinence from sex
154
censure
To condemn severely for doing something bad
155
cerebral
Brainy; intellectually refined
156
chagrin
Humiliation; embarrassed disappointment
157
charisma
A magical-seeming ability to attract followers or inspire loyalty
158
charlatan
Fraud; quack; con man
159
chasm
A deep gaping hole; a gorge
160
chastise
To inflict punishment on; to discipline
161
chicanery
Trickery; deceitfulness; artifice; especially legal or political
162
chimera
An illusion; a foolish fancy
163
choleric
Hot-tempered; quick to anger
164
chronic
Constant; lasting a long time; inveterate
165
chronicle
A record of events in order of time; a history
