Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
37 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
calumny |
noun: making of a false statement meant to injure a person’s reputation With the presidential primaries well under way, the air is thick with calumny, and the mud already waist-high. |
|
prodigal |
adjective: rashly or wastefully extravagant Successful professional athletes who do not fall prey to prodigality seem to be the exception—most live decadent lives. |
|
venerate |
verb: to respect deeply The professor, despite his sleep-inducing lectures, was venerated amongst his colleagues, publishing more papers yearly than all of his peers combined. |
|
parochial |
adjective: narrowly restricted in scope or outlook Jasmine was sad to admit it, but her fledgling relationship with Jacob did not work out because his culinary tastes were simply too parochial; "After all," she quipped on her blog, "he considered Chef Boyardee ethnic food." |
|
anomalous |
adjective: not normal According to those who do not believe in climate change, the extreme weather over the last five years is simply anomalous—daily temperatures should return to their old averages, they believe. |
|
aberration |
noun: a deviation from what is normal or expected Aberrations in climate have become the norm: rarely a week goes by without some meteorological phenomenon making headlines. |
|
iconoclast |
noun: somebody who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions Lady Gaga, in challenging what it means to be clothed, is an iconoclast for wearing a "meat dress" to a prominent awards show. |
|
veracious |
adjective: truthful While we elect our leaders in the hope that every word they speak will be veracious, history has shown that such a hope is naive. |
|
demur |
verb: to object or show reluctance Wallace disliked the cold, so he demurred when his friends suggested they go skiing in the Alps. |
|
venality |
noun: the condition of being susceptible to bribes or corruption Even some of the most sacred sporting events are not immune to venality, as many of the officials have received substantial bribes to make biased calls. |
|
ambivalent |
adjective: mixed or conflicting emotions about something Sam was ambivalent about studying for the exam because doing so ate up a lot of his time, yet he was able to improve his analytical skills. |
|
egregious |
adjective: standing out in a negative way; shockingly bad The dictator’s abuse of human rights was so egregious that many world leaders demanded that he be tried in an international court for genocide. |
|
gregarious |
adjective: to be likely to socialize with others Often we think that great leaders are those who are gregarious, always in the middle of a large group of people; yet, as Mahatma Gandhi and many others have shown us, leaders can also be introverted. |
|
ingenuous |
adjective: to be naïve and innocent Two-years in Manhattan had changed Jenna from an ingenuous girl from the suburbs to a jaded urbanite, unlikely to fall for any ruse, regardless of how elaborate. |
|
preclude |
verb: keep from happening or arising; make impossible The manager specified that all other gates be locked, to preclude the possibility of persons without tickets entering the arena undetected. |
|
didactic |
adjective: instructive (especially excessively) Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich is a didactic novel, instructing the reader on how to live a good life. |
|
torpor |
noun: inactivity resulting from lethargy and lack of vigor or energy After work, I was expecting my colleagues to be enthusiastic about the outing, but I found them in a state of complete torpor. |
|
dogmatic |
adjective: highly opinionated, not accepting that your belief may not be correct Bryan is dogmatic in his belief that the earth is flat, claiming that all pictures of a spherical earth are computer generated. |
|
volubility |
noun: the quality of talking or writing easily and continuously The professor's volubility knows no bounds; he could talk through a hurricane and elaborate a point from one St. Patrick's Day to the next. |
|
engender |
verb: give rise to The restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles were so severe that they engendered deep hatred and resentment in the German people. |
|
eschew |
verb: avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of Politicians are the masters of eschewing morals; academics are the masters of eschewingclarity. |
|
conspicuous |
adjective: without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious American basketball players are always conspicuous when they go abroad--not only are they American, but some are over seven feet tall. |
|
reticent |
adjective: disinclined to talk, not revealing one's thoughts When asked about her father, Helen lost her outward enthusiasm and became rather reticent. |
|
bucolic |
adjective: relating to the pleasant aspects of the country The noble families of England once owned vast expanses of beautiful, bucolic land. |
|
germane |
adjective: relevant and appropriate The professor wanted to tell the jury in detail about his new book, but the lawyer said it wasn'tgermane to the charges in the cases. |
|
impudent |
adjective: improperly forward or bold In an impudent move, the defendant spoke out of order to say terribly insulting things to the judge. |
|
recondite |
adjective: difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge I found Ulysses recondite and never finished the book, waiting instead to read it with someone else so we could penetrate its meaning together. |
|
gossamer |
adjective: characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy The gossamer wings of a butterfly, which allow it to fly, are also a curse, so delicate that they are often damaged. |
|
perfidy |
noun: an act of deliberate betrayal; a breach of a trust Sure, he was the best salesman in the company; but Michael had abused the trust of the firm, sharing product secrets with a competitor, and for such perfidy he was terminated. |
|
obscure |
verb: make unclear On the Smith's drive through the Grand Canyon, Mr. Smith's big head obscured much of Mrs. Robinson's view, so that she only saw momentary patches of red rock. |
|
gall |
noun: the trait of being rude and impertinent The speeding car had the gall to switch five lanes at once, run through a red light, and then cut off a police car before finally coming to a stop in front of a sea of flashing red lights. |
|
platitude |
noun: a trite or obvious remark The professor argued that many statements regarded as wise in previous times, such as the Golden Rule, are now regarded as mere platitudes. |
|
banal |
adjective: repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse The professor used such banal expression that many students in the class either fell asleep from boredom or stayed awake to complete his sentences and humor friends. |
|
aesthete |
noun: one who professes great sensitivity to the beauty of art and nature A true aesthete, Marty would spend hours at the Guggenheim Museum, staring at the same Picasso. |
|
diffident |
adjective: showing modest reserve; lacking self-confidence As a young girl she was diffident and reserved, but now as an adult, she is confident and assertive. |
|
deferential |
adjective: showing respect If you ever have the chance to meet the president, stand up straight and be deferential. |
|
didactic |
adjective: instructive (especially excessively) Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich is a didactic novel, instructing the reader on how to live a good life. |