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Vocab #1
Transcendentalism
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| absolve | (v.) set or declare [someone] free from blame, guilt, or responsibility: The last-minute pardon from the governor absolved the bank-robber of his crimes and freed him from prison. |
| suffrage | (n.) the right to vote in political elections: Women gained suffrage in the United States in the 1920s and could finally participate in elections. |
| importune | (v.) cease to resist an opponent or an unwelcome demand; surrender: Even though the toddler screamed and stomped his feet, we refused to capitulate and let him eat cookies for dinner. |
| titular | (adj.) holding or constituting a purely formal position or title without any real authority: The king’s power was titular, as the legislature made the laws. |
| malice | (n.) the intention or desire to do evil; ill will: Though the student claimed no malice, the gym teacher kept her after class for tripping him during warm-ups. |
| philanthropy | (n.) the desire to promote the welfare of others: Celebrities who donate to causes are often recognized for their philanthropy. |
| affinity | (n.) a spontaneous or natural liking or sympathy for someone or something; a similarity of characteristics suggesting a relationship: He had a great affinity for numbers and took all the math classes that he could. |
| churlish | (adj.) rude in a mean-spirited and surly way: It seems churlish to complain about the lack of dessert when the entire meal was free. |
| affectation | (n.) behavior, speech, or writing that is artificial and designed to impress; a studied display of real or pretended feeling: His English accent was merely an affectation; he really grew up in Boston. |
| centrifugal | (adj.) moving or tending to move away from a center: Tornadoes operate using centrifugal force; they spin and move objects outward. |
| spurious | (adj.) not being what it purports to be; false or fake; apparently but not actually valid: The commercial contained a lot of spurious information that made the product seem better than in was. |
| sufficing | (adj.) enough, adequate: Because it was a hot summer night, he found one blanket to be sufficing. |
| Spartan | (adj.) showing the indifference to comfort or luxury traditionally associated with ancient Sparta: The man lead a Spartan life style, only eating one meal a day. |
| rout | (n.) a decisive defeat; verb to clear: The election was considered a rout; the ruling party lost twenty-three seats in the general assembly. |
| Pygmies | (n.) a member of certain peoples of very short stature in equatorial Africa and parts of Southeast Asia (often used as a derogatory term): He regarded his opponents as intellectual pygmies; they couldn’t even spell intellectual! |
| clout | (n.) a heavy blow with the hand or a hard object; influence or power, esp. in politics or business: As the commander in chief, the president has a lot of clout. |
| superfluous | (adj.) unnecessary, esp. through being more than enough: The application form asked for superfluous information, including the name of his third grade teacher. |
| assiduous | (adj.) showing great care and perseverance: The assiduous student studied for two hours a day in preparation for the SAT. |
| piety | (n.) the quality of being religious, reverent, or dutiful: The cloister of monks was known for its devotion and piety. |
| pertinacity | (n.) the act of holding firmly to an opinion or a course of action: His pertinacity was obvious when he overcame the ten obstacles in the way. |
| perennial | (adj.) lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring; recurring: His perennial distrust of the police was always on display when the blue and red lights went by. |
| hoary | (adj.) having gray or white hair; aged: The old man had a hoary white beard. |
| ferule | (n.) a flat ruler with a widened end, formerly used for punishing children: Schoolmasters used to discipline students with a ferule, leaving red marks on their knuckles. |
| scintillation | (n.) a flash or sparkle of light; the process of emitting light: When the sun shined, the scintillation of the diamond made little dots appear on the wall. |
| dissipation | (n.) scattering or dispersal: Most teachers would welcome the dissipation of cell phone use in the student body. |
| obsequious | (adj.) obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree: The obsequious butler followed all of the cook’s orders, punctuating every sentence with “Yes, sir!” |
| influx | (n.) addition; an arrival or entry of large numbers of people or things: There was an influx of shoppers at the store due to the sale. |
| scrupulous | (adj.) very concerned to avoid doing wrong; thorough, and extremely attentive to detail: The scrupulous man always followed the rules. |
Created by:
Elijher
Popular English Vocabulary sets