Flashcards: Academic Vocabulary
All 145 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 spectrum | We laughed and cried a lot during the movie, and there were so many scary scenes. By the time the lights came on, we felt like we'd been through the whole _______ of human emotion. concurrent methodical sphere spectrum fluctuate |
| sphere | I once found an egg that was so round that it was more like a _______ than an oval. concurrent methodical sphere spectrum fluctuate |
| concurrent | Only one person can access my online account at any one time. However, I've seen other memberships that allow an unlimited number of _______ users. concurrent methodical sphere spectrum fluctuate |
| methodical | Justine was very _______ when it came to organizing her research. She had her whole project divided into "phase 1," "phase 2," and so on. In addition, all her source material was neatly categorized by both author and topic. concurrent methodical sphere spectrum fluctuate |
| fluctuate | Gas prices continued to _______ due to the uncertainty about the availability of oil from the Middle East. concurrent methodical sphere spectrum fluctuate |
| compile | For homework, Ronald had to _______ a list of short-term goals that he planned to achieve by the end of the semester. a. plethora b. infer c. compile d. coarse e. skewed |
| plethora | During his "Blue Period," painter Pablo Picasso only used gloomy hues like gray, white, blue, and black. Conversely, one of his famous paintings, "Guernica," uses a _______ of colors. a. plethora b. infer c. compile d. coarse e. skewed |
| skewed | Jocelyn was hoping for consistent data, but the findings of her research ended up _______ due to the unusual age group she chose. plethora infer compile coarse skewed |
| coarse | The difference between a healthy and unhealthy liver is the way they feel and look. A healthy liver is smooth, while a liver scarred by cirrhosis tends to be rather _______. plethora infer compile coarse skewed |
| infer | It would be wrong of us to _______ that a student who is quiet in the classroom will have poor grades. He or she might be both shy and smart or might understand the material so well that there is no need to ask questions. plethora infer compile coarse skewed |
| stagnant | The drought caused the river to withdraw from the land, leaving many small bodies of water cut off from the natural flow. Mosquitos bred quickly in these _______ ponds, eventually leading to a rise in the incidents of malaria. dynamic irrelevant vestigial coalesce stagnant |
| irrelevant | The professor answered Mayra's question about how the final exam was going to be graded, even though it was _______ to a class discussion about the life of Albert Einstein. dynamic irrelevant vestigial coalesce stagnant |
| dynamic | Mario suddenly realized that the _______ of his relationship to Gina had changed. The two of them used to do whatever Mario decided, but now Gina was making all the decisions, and he was always so anxious to please her. dynamic irrelevant vestigial coalesce stagnant |
| vestigial | In 2006, Japanese scientists captured a dolphin that had what appear to be _______ hind legs. These "remnants of legs" provided further evidence for an evolutionary theory: Distant ancestors of the dolphin and the whale, according to the fossil records, once crawled on land, and they are not-so-distant relatives of the hippopotamus. dynamic irrelevant vestigial coalesce stagnant |
| coalesce | The smoke from the bottle began to _______ into a ghostly human form. Could the legends be true? Had the archeologist released a genie? dynamic irrelevant vestigial coalesce stagnant |
| oscillate | The high-pitched strings on a guitar _______ faster than the low-pitched strings. summit inquiry propel oscillate intrinsic |
| summit | When Karen reached the _______ of Black Mountain, she took a video of herself and the amazing view, and she posted it immediately on YouTube. summit inquiry propel oscillate intrinsic |
| inquiry | The security guard's careful _______ into the death of his brother yielded more results than that of the detective assigned to the case. summit inquiry propel oscillate intrinsic |
| propel | Rose couldn't figure out what could possibly _______ this yacht. There was no sail, no visible engine, and no sound of a motor. summit inquiry propel oscillate intrinsic |
| intrinsic | Some people believe that your personality is mostly learned, that it is developed from your life experiences. Others point out, however, that many personality traits appear to be _______. summit inquiry propel oscillate intrinsic |
| horizontal | Vertical tanning booths give customers a much more even tan because people must stand up in them. On the other hand, _______ tanning beds are much more comfortable because customers can lie down. horizontal petrified absorb transcend constrict |
| constrict | Yellow anacondas, indigenous to the Amazon Rainforest, are known for their deadly feeding technique: the serpent tightly coils its muscular body to _______ its prey's breathing, thereby suffocating it to death before swallowing it whole. horizontal petrified absorb transcend constrict |
| transcend | The Harry Potter and X-men movies appeal to international audiences because they _______ cultural boundaries. horizontal petrified absorb transcend constrict |
| petrified | The beautiful, decorative rocks were full of ancient, _______ tree bark and leaves. horizontal petrified absorb transcend constrict |
| absorb | After a desert rainstorm, the dry ground is very quick to _______ the standing water. horizontal petrified absorb transcend constrict |
| clockwise | If you draw a line in a ________ motion at a 90-degree angle, you will eventually make a circle. fruition emit velocity clockwise prevalent |
| prevalent | It's puzzling that autism appears to be a more ________ condition in children of professional football quarterbacks. For instance, the sons of Doug Flutie, Rodney Peete, and Jim Kelly all have this condition. fruition emit velocity clockwise prevalent |
| fruition | Greg never thought he would become a college graduate, but as he shook the college president's hand and received his diploma, he realized that his dream had come to ________. fruition emit velocity clockwise prevalent |
| velocity | The ________ of the passing car caused Martin's hat to fly off his head. fruition emit velocity clockwise prevalent |
| emit | Nicole's diamond earrings ________ a glare so bright that people turn their heads when she passed by. fruition emit velocity clockwise prevalent |
| subterranean | Not all termites are ________. Dry wood termites, for example, live above ground, often in the attics of homes. adhere meager subterranean diurnal ubiquitous |
| diurnal | ________ flowers are usually colorful because most colors, even dark blues and reds, are clearly visible in sunlight. Nocturnal flowers, on the other hand, are usually large and white because other colors would be barely discernible in moonlight. adhere meager subterranean diurnal ubiquitous |
| adhere | I abhor walking on the beach while I'm sweaty because the sand tends to ________ to my entire body, even my eyelids. a. adhere b. meager c. subterranean d. diurnal e. ubiquitous |
| ubiquitous | In the Appalachian Mountains, drivers must be aware of spontaneous ________ fog. In a moment's time, it will appear everywhere and cause dangerous accidents. a. adhere b. meager c. subterranean d. diurnal e. ubiquitous |
| meager | The ________ grade that Jean received on his term paper did not give him a sense of accomplishment. adhere meager subterranean diurnal ubiquitous |
| invasive | Many people view undergoing a colonoscopy as a(n) ________ procedure both physically and emotionally. synthesis notation convection invasive buoyant |
| buoyant | The life jacket proved to be quite ________. I was able to hold Jasmine and her friend and still stay afloat. synthesis notation convection invasive buoyant |
| synthesis | Some critics praise the movie Fright Night, the original 1985 version, as a perfect ________ of comedy and horror. synthesis notation convection invasive buoyant |
| notation | Scientists sometimes invent their own form of ________. As a personal set of abbreviations and symbols, it helps them write comments more quickly and easily. synthesis notation convection invasive buoyant |
| convection | The use of ________ is an effective way of cooking food because it circulates hot air and cooks food evenly. synthesis notation convection invasive buoyant |
| hazards | Smoking presents many health ________ to both the smoker and to those around them. stimulate wane augment hazards deduce |
| augment | The heavy rains will ________ the community's water supply. stimulate wane augment hazards deduce |
| wane | The scandal caused the senator's popularity to ________. stimulate wane augment hazards deduce |
| deduce | Samuel could easily ________ what his drunken father was going to do with the baseball bat. He'd been threatening to destroy that old television for years. stimulate wane augment hazards deduce |
| stimulate | A rise in employee rewards, if they are appropriate and meaningful, may ________ productivity. stimulate wane subdue hazards deduce |
| dilute | Sports drinks are normally much too sweet for Jake, so he decided to ________ them with bottled water before heading to the gym each day. dilute schematic replicate intrusive adjacent |
| intrusive | Sarah's new mother-in-law is way too nosy and ________. She actually dropped by the hotel to visit the newlyweds on their honeymoon. dilute schematic replicate intrusive adjacent |
| replicate | When Simon's computer crashed, he lost almost all of his banking records. Fortunately, he had his receipts and deposit slips from the last month, so he was able to ________ the lost records for the last 30 days. dilute schematic replicate intrusive adjacent |
| schematic | You told me that your new cloning procedure was simple, but we have been unable to duplicate your results. If you could put your complex lab procedures into some kind of ________ for us, perhaps the team could follow it step-by-step and succeed. dilute schematic replicate intrusive adjacent |
| adjacent | My roommate has a bedroom next to mine. Normally that isn't a problem unless his girlfriend stays the night. The walls are so thin that I can hear anything in a(n) ________ room. dilute schematic replicate intrusive adjacent |
| perpendicular | This town is so easy to navigate through. Everything exists in a grid pattern, so all streets are either parallel or ________ to each other. pinnacle deficient stipulate camouflage perpendicular |
| camouflage | One advantage chameleons have is that they are able to change colors and ________ themselves in their surroundings. This makes them more difficult for predators to find. pinnacle deficient stipulate camouflage perpendicular |
| pinnacle | For a professional athlete, the ________ of success is winning a world championship. pinnacle deficient stipulate camouflage perpendicular |
| stipulate | Our laws ________ that, in order to find a person guilty of a crime, the jury must believe "beyond a reasonable doubt" that he or she committed it. pinnacle deficient stipulate camouflage perpendicular |
| deficient | Many people who possess weak bones have diets that are ________ in calcium or vitamin D. pinnacle deficient stipulate camouflage perpendicular |
| coagulate | When I put liquid gelatin mixture in the fridge, the temperature makes it ________ into a semi-solid form. extrapolate ooze oncentric deplete coagulate |
| extrapolate | After looking at the extensive data, Dr. Brommer was able to ________ a pattern that demonstrated his theory. extrapolate ooze concentric deplete coagulate |
| ooze | The physician stated in his report that the accident victim's brain matter began to ________ out of her skull because of the extraordinary swelling that resulted from her injuries. extrapolate ooze concentric deplete coagulate |
| concentric | The earthquake's vibrations rippled across the landscape in ________ circles, very much like the ripples formed by a rock thrown into a pond. extrapolate ooze concentric deplete coagulate |
| deplete | Why is spring water so beautiful and healthy? One reason is that a lack of oxygen dissolved in the water tends to ________ it of germs and other microscopic materials, making it crystal clear. extrapolate ooze concentric deplete coagulate |
| depression | A meteor is capable of leaving a significant ________ if it impacts the Earth's surface. principle principal suspension depression focus |
| focus | Many companies often experiment with ________ groups before introducing a new product to worldwide markets. If a small group doesn't like something about a product, the company can make changes before going into widespread production. principle principal suspension depression focus |
| principle | Fasting during Ramadan is one ________ in the Quran that devout Muslims must follow. principle principal suspension depression focus |
| principal | Though there were eight members on the committee, Mr. Robinson was the ________ director. All decisions needed his final approval. principle principal suspension depression focus |
| suspension | Sometimes in a glacier, there are many fossils held in _______ in its layers of ice. principle principal suspension depression focus |
| counterclockwise | When the pitcher could not move his arm in a ________ motion, the doctor knew that he had more than likely torn his rotator cuff. sedentary internal counterclockwise inductive indigenous |
| sedentary | During her day at the office, Aliyah is required to remain ________ for most of the day, which tends to make her terribly sleepy in the early afternoon. sedentary internal counterclockwise inductive indigenous |
| inductive | One effective way of recognizing the "big picture" beyond the details is by using ________ reasoning. This involves using smaller details and make larger generalizations from them. sedentary internal counterclockwise inductive indigenous |
| indigenous | Many of the ________ people of Hawaii have difficulty metabolizing the standard American diet. They all-too-easily become overweight. sedentary internal counterclockwise inductive indigenous |
| internal | Special x-ray, magnetic resonance imaging or ultrasound equipment is used to see a patient's ________ organs. sedentary internal counterclockwise inductive indigenous |
| chamber | Each ________ of a honeycomb in a beehive has a specific purpose such as food storage or egg incubation. ration degenerate chamber opaque volume |
| degenerate | The elderly are encouraged to continually learn new skills, so that their brain functioning does not ________ with age. ration degenerate chamber opaque volume |
| ration | Janice gave each chimp an equal ________ of food so that the pack would be less confrontational during feeding times. ration degenerate chamber opaque deprivation |
| volume | In chemistry lab, Herman misread the professor's directions and filled the beaker with the wrong ________ of acid. ration degenerate chamber opaque volume |
| opaque | Linda did not clean her pool this summer because she was saving money to fix the pool pump. Unfortunately, the water quickly became ________ with algae, and she was afraid of what else might be living in it. ration degenerate chamber opaque volume |
| communal | In small towns, a wedding is often a ________ event. In big cities, however, weddings tend to be private gatherings. decompose stasis communal abate culminate |
| stasis | The space voyage of the Starship Exeter would take 62 years, but the crew members were kept in ________. Upon arrival, they would be the same biological age as when they left. decompose stasis communal abate culminate |
| decompose | Manure has to ________ before farmers can use it as fertilizer. decompose stasis communal abate culminate |
| culminate | The musicians didn't want their concert to ________ in a fireworks display. They wanted the audience to leave thinking about the music, not about their theatrical tricks. decompose stasis communal abate culminate |
| abate | Whenever tourists passed by on the bridge, the shy, young couple would momentarily ________ their passionate exchange. decompose stasis communal abate culminate |
| concrete | Mario didn't understand what "mass hysteria" was until his professor provided some ________ examples of it. proximal concrete falsify latent vigilance |
| falsify | Even though the scientific method has strict procedures that prevent dishonesty, it is still possible for researchers to ________ their experimental data. proximal concrete falsify latent vigilance |
| latent | Chronic kidney disease sometimes stays ________ for a long time. By the time symptoms begin to show, the damage is often to severe to correct. proximal concrete falsify latent vigilance |
| vigilance | The guardsmen at Fort Jackson are known for their ________. Even under cover of darkness, we'll have a hard time sneaking in. proximal concrete falsify latent vigilance |
| proximal | The reconnaissance report indicated that the terrorist's bomb blast was "________ to Blanchard Falls High School." Fortunately, none of the children or teachers were injured. proximal concrete falsify latent vigilance |
| trait | In a literary work, dynamic characters display more than one personality ________. Simple characters, on the other hand, tend to stay the same throughout the story. precipitate microbial trait serendipitous gaseous |
| gaseous | The most dangerous chemical weapons are often ________, affecting the victim though the lungs. precipitate microbial trait serendipitous gaseous |
| microbial | It seems ironic that the blue whale, the largest animal on the planet, feeds on miniscule ________ life such as plankton. precipitate microbial trait serendipitous gaseous |
| precipitate | You're talking mostly theory, aren't you? We have yet to see the real-world actions that will ________ from your policies. precipitate microbial trait serendipitous gaseous |
| serendipitous | It is said that the manner in which the wheel was discovered was completely ________. Cavemen were simply chiseling rock and stumbled upon a beautiful yet practical shape. precipitate microbial trait serendipitous gaseous |
| verification | In order to unlock your account, many online websites ask for ________ of your password. vertical magnitude innovate verification latitude |
| vertical | The Leaning Tower of Pisa was initially erected in a ________ position, but it started to lean during its lengthy construction. vertical magnitude innovate verification latitude |
| magnitude | If people understood the ________ of some of their decisions, they would probably think twice before they acted. vertical magnitude innovate verification latitude |
| latitude | The city to which Sharon was moving was at the same _______ as Chicago, so she knew that her winters would likely be just as chilly. vertical magnitude innovate verification latitude |
| innovate | One goal of the college's "Quality Enhancement Plan" is to ________ lesson plans to help students further develop their critical thinking skills. vertical magnitude innovate verification latitude |
| volatile | The ________ nature of some hazardous materials makes it necessary for us to follow directions carefully. sparse recede volatile err simulate |
| recede | The crowd at Wal-Mart on black Friday began to ________ when the manager announced that the store was out of iPads. sparse recede volatile err simulate |
| simulate | The actions in many video games are created by having real people ________ the characters' movements while being recorded on camera. sparse recede volatile err simulate |
| sparse | The concert promoters had to cancel the show because the ticket sales were so ________. sparse recede volatile err simulate |
| err | To ________ is forgivable because no one is perfect. sparse recede volatile err simulate |
| revitalize | After a rainstorm, the desert flowers seemed to ________ the barren scenery of the park. variable inhabit adverse revitalize solidify |
| solidify | When making bricks, one needs to bake the clay and straw in order to ________ the mixture. variable inhabit adverse revitalize solidify |
| inhabit | The Death's Head Hawk Moth, made famous by the movie The Silence of the Lambs, is known to ________ both Europe and Asia. variable inhabit adverse revitalize solidify |
| adverse | Tommy took some penicillin to combat his infection; however, his roommate had to rush him to the hospital because he had a(n) ________ reaction. variable inhabit adverse revitalize solidify |
| variable | Rattlesnakes are known to live in ________ environments, from sparse deserts to lush forests. variable inhabit adverse revitalize solidify |
| comprehensive | When Dr. Blake did a(n) ________ set of x-rays on his car accident patient, he checked all of the major bones for fractures. lava flux habitat comprehensive retrograde |
| lava | The super-hot rivers of ________ that flow in Hawaii have sometimes come dangerously close to people's homes. lava flux habitat comprehensive retrograde |
| retrograde | Chris found it very interesting that the planet Uranus has moons that orbit in a ________ motion. He thought that all moons orbit in the same direction as the planets they accompany. lava flux abitat comprehensive retrograde |
| flux | In port towns where the water in the harbor is exceptionally shallow, boaters have to become familiar with the ________ of the tides. Many boats are too large to leave the harbor unless the tide is at its highest. lava flux habitat comprehensive retrograde |
| habitat | One could argue that humans no longer have a "natural" ________, since we live in artificially constructed landscapes, buildings, and communities. lava flux habitat comprehensive retrograde |
| celestial | Not all of the ________ objects in the sky are stars. detract solemn celestial inverse nutrients |
| nutrients | Most doctors recommend that you get most of your essential ________ from food, rather than from capsules or tablets. detract solemn celestial inverse nutrients |
| detract | All this talk of the high school principal's alleged sex scandal tends to ________ from the primary issue: the quality of classes at her school. detract solemn celestial inverse nutrients |
| solemn | Before becoming a physician, medical students must take a Hippocratic oath, which is a ________ promise to "do no harm" to human life in their medical practice. detract solemn celestial inverse nutrients |
| inverse | Inductive reasoning, which creates big ideas from little details, is the ________ of deductive reasoning which creates little details from big ideas. detract solemn celestial inverse nutrients |
| precursor | The sound of thunder is a commonly known ________ of rain. replenish perilous precursor transient ellipse |
| ellipse | The earth does not orbit the sun in a perfect circle, but rather in a(n) ________. replenish perilous precursor transient ellipse |
| replenish | In medieval Europe, when an army laid siege to a castle, the castle had almost no way to ________ its food supply. The inhabitants sometimes even ate their own horses. replenish perilous precursor transient ellipse |
| perilous | The winter climate in the Antarctic is so ________ that researchers must live in heated underground bunkers, almost never venturing outside until the return of spring. replenish perilous precursor transient ellipse |
| transient | My authority here is merely ________. Once our boss returns from vacation, you will once again answer to her. replenish perilous precursor transient ellipse |
| plateaued | As he trained, Joe's strength increased quickly, but eventually his performance ________. At that point, his regular workouts only served to maintain the strength he had. demographic plateaued implicit coerce cognitive |
| demographic | Since my parents are from different cultures and different races, I'm not sure what ________ I fall under. demographic plateaued implicit coerce cognitive |
| implicit | In the 1600s, Isaac Newton was hesitant to publish his theory of gravity because he was afraid he would be accused of studying black magic. ________ to his theory was the idea of "action at a distance," which states that one object appears to exert a "magical" force over other objects without touching them. demographic plateaued implicit coerce cognitive |
| coerce | Nicole tried to ________ her professor to give her a better grade by threatening to reveal her unethical sexual relationship with him. demographic plateaued implicit coerce cognitive |
| cognitive | Some students who have difficulty in their early schooling become super-achievers later in life. This is because their struggles have forced them to become more aware of their own ________ processes than most people. demographic plateaued implicit coerce cognitive |
| mitigate | To ________ her worry--and because her paper showed so much promise--Roxanne's professor offered her an extra week to complete her work. juxtapose underlying polarize mitigate inhibit |
| underlying | I think that Jenna and Lamont are having a tough time. They seemed pleasant enough at their son's birthday party, but the ________ tension was unmistakable. juxtapose underlying polarize mitigate inhibit |
| polarize | The discussion of gay marriage only seemed to ________ the liberal and conservative viewpoints at last night's debate. juxtapose underlying polarize mitigate inhibit |
| juxtapose | In horror novels, author's often ________ contradictory images to produce frightening moods: the "black flames of Hell," the "chilling lullaby", the "warm embrace of death," or the serial killer with the knife who calmly consoles his victim: "The only way to redemption is through me." juxtapose underlying polarize mitigate inhibit |
| inhibit | Noise tends to ________ my ability to study, unless it's a soothing background noise like a fountain of the bustle of the crowd at a library. juxtapose underlying polarize mitigate inhibit |
| affect | The alcohol began to ________ Jill much more than she had anticipated. affect effect |
| effect | The only personal ________ of mine that the police failed to return was my wristwatch. It had somehow gotten lost in the evidence room. affect effect |
| effect | How astonishing that this ugly caterpillar will eventually ________ such a startling transformation. affect effect |
| effect | The most common ________ of hypothyroidism is fatigue. affect effect |
| affect | There are many emotions experienced when one goes to a funeral, such as grief, anger, indifference, and despair. One lesser known psychological ________ that sometimes accompanies the death of a loved one--for which people sometimes feel ashamed--is a profound sense of relief. affect effect |
| benign | Jamie was frightened by the fact that her date knew exactly where she lived, even though she never told him. But she was pretty sure his intentions were ________ once she found out he was her UPS delivery man. benign disposition optimal component reflexive |
| optimal | Because of the impurities in our fuel supply, the performance of our engines has been less than ________. benign disposition optimal component reflexive |
| disposition | This planet, I'd say, almost seems to have a hostile ________, at least in regard to humans. So far, our tent has been struck by lightening, our starship has had to land twice because it kept sinking into the soil, and our entire crew has contracted an untreatable rash from the native plant life. benign disposition optimal component reflexive |
| component | The most controversial ________ in our training plan is a safety rule that prohibits our emploees from using a fire extinguisher, even in the event of a fire! benign disposition optimal component reflexive |
| reflexive | When she pretended to punch him in the stomach, he blocked her arm and spilled soda all over her. Though his reaction was merely ________, he still felt guilty over it. benign disposition optimal component reflexive |
| undertake | Before you _______ your long canoe trip across the Everglades, I recommend you read a wilderness survival guide--at the very least--and a couple of travel logs of people who have gone on that adventure before. preposterous conclude aromatic undertake cobblestone |
| cobblestone | Godrick is so romantic. He brought me to Prague on his business trip, and we took a carriage ride through the _______ streets. The ride was not nearly as bumpy as I thought it would be. preposterous conclude aromatic undertake cobblestone |
| preposterous | There are a number of reasons why most scientists think that it's _______ to teach Creationism as fact. One is that it is basically an ethnocentric practice: it chooses the creation myth of one particular culture (in this case the Judeo-Christian story of the creation of the universe) and promotes it as the "one true" story of the creation--which automatically condemns the myths of other cultures as factually "wrong." preposterous conclude aromatic undertake cobblestone |
| aromatic | Jasmine is one of the most _______ flowers. In New Orleans it blooms in many gardens, and its smell is so thick in the night air that many people are reminded of their trip to that city whenever they smell the flower. preposterous conclude aromatic undertake cobblestone |
| conclude | _______ what you will; contrary to what the circumstantial evidence suggests, I know I am innocent. preposterous conclude aromatic undertake cobblestone |