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Magoosh Common Words VI

Terms in this set (50)

antipathy
noun: an intense feeling of dislike or aversion


Maria had an antipathy for tour groups, often bolting to the other side of the museum as soon as she saw a chaperone leading a group of wide-eyed tourists.
maladroit
adjective: clumsy


As a child she was quite maladroit, but as an adult, she has become an adept dancer.
maverick
noun: someone who exhibits great independence in thought and action


Officer Kelly was a maverick, rarely following police protocols or adopting the conventions for speech common among his fellow officers.
placate
verb: cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of


I was able to placate the angry mob of students by promising to bring cookies on Monday.
dilatory
adjective: wasting time


Lawyers use dilatory tactics so that it takes years before the case is actually decided.
banality
noun: a trite or obvious remark


Herbert regarded the minister's remark as a mere banality until Sharon pointed out profound implications to the seemingly obvious words.
specious
adjective: based on pretense; deceptively pleasing


Almost every image on TV is specious and not to be trusted.


adjective: plausible but false


He made a career out of specious arguments and fictional lab results, but lost his job and reputation when his lies were exposed by an article in The New York Times.
reproach
verb: to express criticism towards


At first, Sarah was going to yell at the boy, but she didn't want to reproach him for telling the truth about the situation.
posit
verb: assume as fact


Initially, Einstein posited a repulsive force to balance Gravity, but then rejected that idea as a blunder.
ignominious
adjective: (used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame


Since the politician preached ethics and morality, his texting of revealing photographs was ignominious, bringing shame on both himself and his party.
capricious
adjective: determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason


Nearly every month our capricious CEO had a new plan to turn the company around, and none of them worked because we never gave them the time they needed to succeed.
opulence
noun: wealth as evidenced by sumptuous living


Russian oligarchs are famous for their opulence, living in fancy homes and dining on expensive cavier.
truncate
verb: reduce the length of something


The soccer game was truncated when the monsoon rain began to fall.
disseminate
verb: cause to become widely known


Before the effects of anaethesia were disseminated, patients had to experience the full pain of a surgery.
timorous
adjective: timid by nature or revealing fear and nervousness


Since this was her first time debating on stage and before an audience, Di's voice was timorous and quiet for the first 10 minutes.
mundane
adjective: repetitive and boring; not spiritual


Nancy found doing dishes a thorougly mundane task, although Peter found a kind of Zen pleasure in the chore.


adjective: relating to the ordinary world


Though we think of the pope as someone always dealing in holy matters, he is also concerned with mundane events, such as deciding when to set his alarm each morning.
dispassionate
adjective: unaffected by strong emotion or prejudice


A good scientist should be dispassionate, focusing purely on what the evidence says, without personal attachment.
craven
adjective: pathetically cowardly


Though the man could have at least alerted the police, he crouched cravenly in the corner as the old woman was mugged.
rebuke
verb: criticize severely or angrily; censure


The police chief rebuked the two officers whose irresponsible decisions almost led to the deaths of seven innocent by-standers.
nuance
noun: a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude


Because of the nuances involved in this case, I hired an outside consultant to advice us and help.
duress
noun: compulsory force or threat


The witness said he signed the contract under duress and argued that the court should cancel the agreement.
efficacious
adjective: producing the intended result


Since Maggie's cough syrup, which had expired five years back, was no longer efficacious, she coughed through the night.
indecorous
adjective: not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society


Eating with elbows on the table is considered indecorous in refined circles.
imprudent
adjective: not wise


Hitler, like Napoleon, made the imprudent move of invading Russia in winter, suffering even more casualties than Napoleon had.
flux
noun: a state of uncertainty about what should be done (usually following some important event)


Ever since Elvira resigned as the head of marketing, everything about our sales strategy has been in a state of flux.
mendacity
noun: the tendency to be untruthful


I can forgive her for her mendacity but only because she is a child and is seeing what she can get away with.
elicit
verb: call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)


Just smiling--even if you are depressed--can elicit feelings of pleasure and happiness.
stringent
adjective: demanding strict attention to rules and procedures


Most of the students disliked the teacher because of his stringent homework policy, but many students would later thank him for demanding so much from them.
askance
adverb: with a look of suspicion or disapproval


The old couple looked askance on the teenagers seated next to them, whispering to each other, "They've got rings through their noses and purple hair!"
nonplussed
verb: unsure how to act or respond


Shirley was totally nonplussed when the angry motorist cut her off and then stuck his finger out the window.
impartial
adjective: free from undue bias or preconceived opinions


The judge was not impartial since he had been bribed by the witness's family.
sullen
adjective: showing a brooding ill humor


Herbert took board games too seriously, often appearing sullen after losing.
edifying
adjective: enlightening or uplifting so as to encourage intellectual or moral improvement


I recently read an article in the Times about whether good literature is edifying or not; specifically, does reading more make a person more moral.
furtive
adjective: marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed


While at work, George and his boss Regina felt the need to be as furtive as possible about their romantic relationship.
esoteric
adjective: confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle


Map collecting is an esoteric hobby to most, but to geography geeks it is a highly enjoyable pasttime.
transient
adjective: lasting a very short time


The unpredictable and transient nature of deja vu makes it a very difficult phenomenon to study properly.
jovial
adjective: full of or showing high-spirited merriment


The political candidate and his supporters were jovial once it was clear that she had won.
appease
verb: pacify by acceding to the demands of


Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister during WWII, tried to appease Hitler and in doing so sent a clear message: you can walk all over us.
arduous
adjective: demanding considerable mental effort and skill; testing powers of endurance


In order to deal with the arduous cross-country journey, truck drivers often survive on a string of caffeinated drinks, staying awake for up to 30 hours at a time.
pejorative
adjective: expressing disapproval (usu. refers to a term)


Most psychologists object to the pejorative term "shrink", believing that they expand the human mind, not limit it.
anomaly
noun: something that is not normal, standard, or expected


After finding an anomaly in the data, she knew that she would have to conduct her experiment again.
misconstrue
verb: interpret in the wrong way


The politician never trusted journalists because he though that they misconstrue his words and misrepresent his positions.
bolster
verb: support and strengthen


The case for the suspect's innocence was bolstered considerably by the fact that neither fingerprints nor DNA were found at the scene.
economical
adjective: avoiding waste, efficient


Journalists favor an economical style of writing, in which no unnecessary words are used and every sentence is as short as possible.
deleterious
adjective: harmful to living things


The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was deleterious to the fishing industry in the southern states.
harried
adjective: troubled persistently especially with petty annoyances


With a team of new hires to train, Martha was constantly harried with little questions and could not focus on her projects.
contrition
noun: the feeling of remorse or guilt that comes from doing something bad


Those who show contrition during their prison terms--especially when under review by a parole board--often get shortened sentences.
fastidious
adjective: overly concerned with details; fussy


Whitney is fastidious about her shoes, arranging them on a shelf in a specific order, each pair evenly spaced.
polemic
noun: a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.


The professor launched into a polemic, claiming that Freudian theory was a pack of lies that absolutely destroyed European literary theory.
erudite
adjective: having or showing profound knowledge


Before the Internet, the library was typically were you would find erudite readers.
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