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New Vocab
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| abortive | failing to accomplish intended aim; miscarried, premature |
| adjunct | helper; addition, associate |
| aegis | protection, under the sponsorship of; auspices |
| affinity | natural attraction for thing, person; penchant |
| aficionado | follower or fan; enthusiast |
| ancillary | subordinate, supplementary; adjunct |
| apprise | to inform; notify |
| bellwether | ringleader; initiator |
| bibulous | fond of the drink; alcoholic |
| bilious | sickeningly unpleasant; choleric, irascible |
| bowdlerize | edit, censor; purge |
| browbeat | intimidate by overbearing manner; coerce |
| bruit | spread news, unsubstantiated rumors; gossiped, blazon |
| caterwaul | shrieking singing; whine, wail |
| chimerical | wildly fantastic; fanciful |
| claque | paid to clap; fan club |
| cognate | closely related in origin; affiliated, relative |
| commensurate | equal in size; comparable |
| condescend | patronize; deign |
| contumelious | insolent or rude behavior; insultingly abusive |
| corollary | natural result or consequence; deduction, conclusion |
| cozen | to trick, cheat; dupe, beguile |
| cul-de-sac | dead end street; impasse |
| deracinate | pull up by the roots; expunge |
| berring-do | valor or heroism; bravado |
| diaphanous | very sheer and light, transparent; translucent |
| dictum | short saying; precept |
| divination | predicting the future; prophecy |
| effete | enfeebled, out of date, sterile; decadent, outmoded |
| eleemosynary | philanthropic; charitable |
| elixir | medicine to cure all ills; nostrum |
| emolument | fee or salary; pay, wages |
| enclave | enclosed district or region; island, subgroup |
| ensconce | settle in and firmly in position; nestle, entrench |
| fait accompli | accomplished fact |
| folderol | foolish talk, nonsense; gibberish |
| foray | quick raid, especially for plunder; sortie |
| forte | strong point; aptitude, specialty |
| gamut | entire range or series; compass |
| genre | type or class; species, sort |
| gratis | free; without price |
| hierarchy | chain of command; pecking order |
| hidebound | narrow-minded, intolerant; unthinkingly conservative |
| hoi polloi | common people; masses, rank and file |
| homily | sermons on moral principles; lec ture or discourse |
| icon | sacred image; emblem, idol |
| iconoclastic | attacking or seeking to overthrow ideas, heretical |
| immure | enclose or imprison; incarcerate |
| in media res | in the middle of a plot; midpoint |
| indigenous | native; domestic |
| ineffable | to great or sacred to be uttered; inexpressible |
| insouciant | unconcerned, indifferent; nonchalant, blase' |
| internecine | mutually destructive with bloodshed; murderous, ruinous |
| interstice | narrow space between things; slit, crevice |
| lachrymose | mournful; doleful |
| lexicon | dictionary of specialized terms; wordbook |
| liturgy | ceremony; observance |
| lubcubration | laborious study; burning the midnight oil |
| macrocosm | universe; entirety |
| maladroit | lacking skill, tact, perception or judgment; inept, gauche |
| matrix | mold, pattern; model |
| maudlin | excessively sentimental; mushy |
| melee | voilent struggle; brawl, donnybrook |
| microcosm | miniature world; epitome |
| minuscule | tiny, lowercase letter; infinitesimal |
| mirage | optical illusion; illusion |
| mnemonic | device to aid the memory; reminder, cue |
| modulate | change - temper or soften, adjust; adapt |
| morass | bog - confusing situation; quagmire |
| mountebank | swindler; imposter |
| noisome | vile - loathsome; noxious |
| obfuscate | confuse or bewilder; muddy the waters |
| oblivious | unaware; insensible |
| obloquy | public abuse, strong censure; discredit, dishonor |
| obsequies | funeral rites or ceremonies; last rights |
| paean | song of praise; hymn, ode |
| panache | confident or stylish manner; flamboyance |
| parameter | limit, boundary; shapes the outcome |
| paternalism | manner of a father; benevolence |
| persiflage | light hearted joking; raillery |
| persona | character in a novel or play; personality, image |
| philippic | bitter verbal attack; harangue, diatribe |
| plethora | over fullness; surplus, surfeit, glut |
| polarize | contrasting positions; split, divide |
| poltroon | coward; chicken, dastard |
| portentous | foreshadowing, pompous; pretentious, foreboding |
| pragmatic | practical; down-to-earth |
| prescience | foresight, knowledge before it happens; foreknowledge |
| proselyte | disciple, novice, convert; neophyte |
| prurient | having lustful desires; salacious, lewd |
| pundit | one who gives authoritative opinions; authority, savant |
| purview | scope or limit; jurisdiction |
| quasi | semi; kind of |
| quid pro quo | something given in exchange for something; swap, trade |
| quizzical | puzzled; perplexed, mystified |
| raillery | banter - good natured; persiflage |
| rapacity | inordinate greed; avarice, extortion |
| ribald | bawdy - risque'; coarse or vulgar |
| risible | laughable; ludicrous |
| sacrosanct | very sacred or holy, immune from attack; holy, inviolabe |
| salubrious | conducive to health or wellbeing; beneficial, healthy |
| sanguine | cheerful, ruddy; optimistic |
| saturnalian | riotous behavior; debauchery |
| schism | formal split; rift, breach |
| solecism | breech of etiquette, grammatical error; blunder, faux pas |
| supine | lethargic - lying on the back; prone, prostrate |
| symptomatic | typical or characteristic; indicative |
| systemic | pertaining to the entire body; comprehensive |
| tendentious | intended to promote a particular point of view; partial |
| therapeutic | power to heal; salubrious, beneficial |
| touchstone | means of testing worthiness; yardstick, benchmark |
| traumatic | so shocking to cause emotional damage, jolting |
| vassal | servants; minion |
| verisimilitude | life like; realism |
| vicissitude | successive or changing phases; fluctuation, variation |
| vignette | thumbnail sketch; anecdote |
| virtuoso | master of a skill; expert, prodigy |
| vitiate | to weaken, debase or impair the quality of; degrade, undermine |
| volte-face | complete reversal; turnabout |
| waggish | characteristic of a joker; whimiscal |
Created by:
DonnaT
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