vocab 13-15
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Created by:
yourxoxeyes on January 2, 2011
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60 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 abstruse | extremely difficult to understand |
| affront | an open or intentional insult; a slight; to insult to one's face; to face in defiance, confront |
| canard | a false rumor, fabricated story |
| captious | excessively ready to find fault; given to petty criticism; intended to trap, confuse, or show up |
| cognizant | aware, knowledgeable, informed; having jurisdiction |
| contrite | regretful for some misdeed or sin; plagued by a sense of guilt; thoroughly penitent |
| cynosure | the center of attraction, attention, or interest; something that serves to guide or direct |
| decorous | well behaved, dignified, socially proper |
| deign | to think it appropriate or suitable to one's dignity to do something; to condescend |
| desiccated | thoroughly dried out; divested of spirit or vitality; arid and uninteresting |
| efficacy | the power to produce a desired result |
| engender | to bring into existence, give rise to, produce; to come into existence, assume form |
| ethereal | light, airy, delicate; highly refined; suggesting what is heavenly (rather than earthbound) |
| facade | the front or face of a building; a surface appearance (as opposed to what may lie behind) |
| ghoulish | revolting in an unnatural or morbid way; suggestive of someone who robs graves or otherwise preys on the dead |
| incongruous | not in keeping, unsuitable, incompatible |
| machination | a crafty, scheming, or underhanded action designed to accomplish some (usually evil) end |
| mesmerize | to hypnotize, entrance; to fascinate, enthrall, bewitch |
| opprobrium | disgrace arising from shameful conduct; contempt, reproach |
| putative | generally regarded as such; reputed; hypothesized, inferred |
| beatific | blissful; rendering or making blessed |
| behemoth | a creature of enormous size, power, or appearance |
| blandishment | anything designed to flatter or coax; sweet talk, apple-polishing |
| cacophonous | harsh-sounding, raucous, discordant, dissonant |
| chicanery | trickery, deceptive practices or tactics, double-dealing |
| consign | to give over to another's care, charge, or control; to entrust, deliver; to set apart for a special use |
| coup | a highly successful stroke, masterstroke, tour de force, act, plan, or stratagem; a sudden takeover of power or leadership |
| euphemism | a mild or inoffensive expression used in place of a harsh or unpleasant one; a substitute |
| febrile | feverish; pertaining to or marked by fever; frenetic |
| gainsay | to deny, contradict, controvert; to dispute, oppose |
| imminent | about to happen, threatening |
| innate | natural, inborn, inherent; built-in |
| loath | unwilling, reluctant, disinclined |
| manifest | (adj.) clear, evident to the eyes or mind; (v.) to show plainly, exhibit, evince; (n.) a list of cargo and/or passengers |
| minutiae | small or trivial details, trifling matters |
| moratorium | a suspension of activity; an official waiting period; an authorized period of delay |
| nostrum | an alleged cure-all; a remedy or scheme of questionable effectiveness |
| pariah | one who is rejected by a social group or organization |
| visionary | (adj.) not practical, lacking in realism; having the nature of a fantasy or dream; (n.) one given to far fetched ideas; a dreamer or seer characterized by vision or foresight |
| wizened | dry, shrunken, wrinkled |
| amenity | (n.) that which is pleasant or agreeable; (pl.) attractive features, customs, etc. |
| aperture | an opening, gap, hole; orifice |
| dissidence | a difference of opinion, discontent |
| epicurean | (adj.) devoted to the pursuit of pleasure; fond of good food;comfort and ease; (n.) a person with discriminating taste |
| improvident | not thrifty; failing to plan ahead |
| iniquity | wickedness, sin; a grossly immoral act |
| inviolable | sacred; of such a character that it must not be broken, injured, or profaned |
| mutable | open to or capable of change; fickle |
| nascent | just beginning to exist or develop; having just come into existence |
| obeisance | a deep bow or other body movement indicating respect or submission; deference, homage |
| panegyric | formal or elaborate praise; a tribute |
| pillory | (n.) a device for publicly punishing offenders; a means for exposing one to public contempt or ridicule; (v.) to expose to public contempt or ridicule |
| pittance | a woefully meager allowance, wage, or portion |
| presage | to foreshadow or point to a future event; to predict; a warning or indication of the future |
| progeny | descendants, offspring, children, followers, disciples |
| promulgate | to proclaim or issue officially; to make known far and wide |
| rectitude | uprightness, righteousness; correctness |
| restive | restless, hard to manage, balky |
| seraphic | angelic, heavenly, celestial |
| subsist | to have existence; to remain alive, manage to make a living or maintain life; to persist or continue |
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