English Vocabulary Flashcards
Alacrity (n)
Eagerness, speed.
Arcane (adj)
Obscure, secret, known only by a few.
Avarice (n)
Excessive greed.
Brusque (adj)
Short, abrupt, dismissive.
Erudite (adj)
Learned.
Fractious (adj)
Troublesome, irritable.
Furtive (adj)
Secretive, sly.
Inveterate (adj)
Stubbornly established by habit.
Lithe (adj) Lithely (adv)
Graceful, flexible, supple.
Lurid (adj)
Ghastly, sensational.
Modicum (n)
A small amount of something.
Obsequious (adj)
Excessively compliant or submissive.
Panace (n)
A remedy for all ills or difficulties.
Predilection (n)
A preference or inclination for something.
Salient (adj)
Significant, conspicuous.
Staid (adj)
Sedate, serious, self-restrained.
Taciturn (adj)
Not inclined to talk.
Truculent (adj)
Ready to fight, cruel.
Umbrage (n.)
Resentment, offence.
Aberration (n)
A state or condition markedly different from the norm.
Equivocation (n)
The use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing oneself; prevarication.
Feckless (adj)
Lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible.
Mereticious
Apparently attractive but having in reality no value or integrity.
Imperturbable (adj)
Very calm, very hard to disturb or upset.
Augury (n)
A sign of what will happen in the future; an omen.
Glib (adj)
Of words or the person speaking them, fluent and voluble but insincere and shallow.
Rarefy (v)
To become less thin or less dense, or to make or become more refined.
Repine (v)
To feel or express discontent; fret.
Abject (adj)
Describes a situation or condition: extremely bad, unpleasant, and degrading.
Abjure (v)
To formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief.
Abnegate (v)
The act or an instance of abnegating, or denying oneself some rights, conveniences, etc.
Abscond (v)
To depart in a sudden and secret manner, especially to avoid capture and legal prosecution.
Abstruse (adj)
Hard to understand.
Accede (v)
To yield to another's wish or opinion.
Accretion (n)
An increase by natural growth or addition.
Adumbrate (v)
To describe roughly or give the main points or summary of or outline.
Anachronistic (adj)
Chronologically misplaced.
Amorphous (adj)
Having no definite form or distinct shape.
Antediluvian (adj)
Of or relating to the period before the biblical flood.
Apocryphal (adj)
Being of questionable authenticity, approbation.
Approbation (n)
Official approval.
Arboreal (adj)
Of or relating to or formed by trees.
Arrogate (v)
Seize and take control without authority.
Ascetic (adj)
Someone who practices self denial as a spiritual discipline.
Assiduous (adj)
Persistent, attentive, diligent.
Atrophy (v)
A decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse.
Beguile (v)
Influence by slyness.
Blandishment (n)
Flattery intended to persuade.
Bilk (v)
To obtain or withhold money from (someone) by deceit or without justification; cheat or defraud.
Deleterious (adj)
Harmful to living things
Demagogue (n)
A leader who seeks support by appealing to popular passions.
Enervating (adj)
Causing weakness or debilitation
Ephemeral (adj)
Anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day.
Evanescent (adj)
Tending to vanish like vapor.
Florid (adj)
Elaborately or excessively ornamented.
Hackneyed (adj)
Repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse.
Hedonist (n)
Someone motivated by desires for sensual pleasures.
Impetuous (adj)
Characterized by undue haste and lack of thought.
Impute (v)
Attribute or credit.
Carouse (v)
Engage in boisterous, drunken merry making.
Cavort (v)
Jump or dance around excitedly. Informal; apply oneself enthusiastically to sexual or disreputable pursuits.
Commensurate (adj)
Corresponding in size or degree; in proportion.
Compunction (n)
A feeling of guilt or moral scruple that follows the doing of something bad.
Concomitant (adj)
Naturally accompanying or associated.
Convivial (adj)
Friendly, lively, and enjoyable.(of a person) cheerful and friendly; jovial.
Corpulence (n)
Bulkiness or largeness of body; fatness; portliness.
Cupidity (n)
Greed for money or possessions.
Dearth (n)
Scarcity or lack of something.
Denigrate (v)
To criticize unfairly; disparage.
Diaphanous (adj)
Especially of fabric. Light, delicate, and translucent.
Didactic (adj)
Intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive.
Dirge (n)
A lament for the dead, especially one forming part of a funeral rite.
Discomfit (n)
A feeling of unease or embarrassment; awkwardness.
Disparate (adj)
Essentially different in kind; not allowing comparison.
Disrepute (n)
The state of being held in low esteem by the public.
Eclectic (adj)
Selecting or choosing from various sources.
Ebullient (adj)
Overflowing with fervor, enthusiasm, or excitement; high-spirited
Egregious (adj)
Extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant.
Emend (v)
To free from faults or errors; correct.
Emollient (adj)
Having the power of softening or relaxing, as a medicinal substance; soothing, especially to the skin:
Epistolary
contained in or carried on by letters:
Espouse
to make one's own; adopt or embrace, as a cause.
Evince
to show clearly; make evident or manifest; prove.
exigent
requiring immediate action or aid; urgent; pressing.
Expiate
to atone for; make amends or reparation for:
Extraneous
introduced or coming from without; not belonging or proper to a thing; external; foreign:
Extant
in existence; still existing; not destroyed or lost:
Expurgate
to amend by removing words, passages, etc., deemed offensive or objectionable.
Forbearance
the act of forbearing; a refraining from something.
Garrulous
excessively talkative in a rambling, roundabout manner, especially about trivial matters.
Gourmand
a person who is fond of good eating, often indiscriminatingly and to excess.
Grandiloquent
Grandiloquent
Hapless
Unlucky; luckless; unfortunate.
Idiosyncratic
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Impinge
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Inane
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Inchoate
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Inimical
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Inure
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Intimation
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Invective
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Intransigent
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Irreverence
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Laconic
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largesse
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legerdemain
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maudlin
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mawkish
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mendacious
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morass
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mores
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munificent
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multifarious
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noisome
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obdurate
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obfuscate
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obstreperous
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ostensible
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officious
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palliate
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Paucity
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pejorative
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pellucid
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penurious
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pert
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pernicious
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Pertinacious
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phlegmatic
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pithy
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plaudit
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portent
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potentate
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preclude
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Preponderance (n)
The fact or quality of being preponderant; superiority in weight, power, numbers, etc.
Proclivity
A tendency to choose or do something regularly; an inclination or predisposition toward a particular thing.
Probity
The quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency.
Profligate
Corrupt; wasteful; degenerate
protean
adjectivetending or able to change frequently or easily.
Prurient (adj)
Having or encouraging an excessive interest in sexual matters.
Puerile (adj)
Childishly, silly and trivial.
Pugnacious (adj)
Eager or quick to argue, quarrel, or fight.
Pulchritude (n)
Physical beauty; comeliness.
Punctilious (adj)
Strict or exact in the observance of the formalities or amenities of conduct or actions.
Quixotic (adj)
Exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical.
Recalcitrant (adj)
Having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline.
Relegate (v)
Consign or dismiss to an inferior rank or position.
Sanctimonious (adj)
Making a show of being morally superior to other people.
Solicitous (adj)
Characterized by or showing interest or concern.
Solipsism (n)
The view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist.
Spurious (adj)
Not being what it purports to be; false or fake.
Stolid (adj)
Calm, dependable, and showing little emotion or animation.
Surreptitious (adj)
Kept secret, especially because it would not be approved of.
Swarthy (adj)
Dark-skinned.
Tome (n)
A book, especially a large, heavy, scholarly one.
Toady
An obsequious flatterer; sycophant
Torpid (adj)
Inactive or sluggish
Trenchant (adj)
Vigorous or incisive in expression or style. Having a sharp edge (of a weapon or tool).
Trite (adj)
Overused and consequently of little import (of a remark, opinion, or idea); lacking originality or freshness.
Turpitude (n)
Depravity; wickedness.
Upbraid (v)
To find fault with (someone); scold.
Veracity (n)
Conformity to facts; accuracy.
Vicissitude (n)
A change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant.
Virtuoso (n)
A person highly skilled in music or another artistic pursuit.
Vituperate (v)
To blame or insult (someone) in strong or violent language.
Winsome (adj)
Attractive or appealing in appearance or character.
Zephyr (n)
A soft gentle breeze.
Tirade (n)
A long, angry speech of criticism or accusation
Facetious (adj)
Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humour; flippant.
Deign (v)
To do something that one considers to be beneath one's dignity.
Diatribe (n)
A forceful and bitter verbal attack against someone or something.
Nefarious (adj)
Typically of an action or activity, wicked or criminal.
Oeuvre (n)
The works of a painter, composer, or author regarded collectively.
Curmudgeon (n)
A bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.
Sordid
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Forlorn
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Sanguine
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Surfeit
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presage
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Kitsch
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Reprobate
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Brummagem (adj)
Showy but inferior and worthless.
Pat
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Semaphore
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Ignominious
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Lark
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Scurrilous
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Gambol
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Genial
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Cogenial (adj)
Agreeable, suitable, or pleasing in nature or character.
Gregarious
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Paunchy
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Hanker
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Infomalmoney
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Rapacity
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Mammonism
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Covetousness
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Chiffon (n)
A sheer fabric of silk, nylon, or rayon in plain weave.
Gossamer
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Polemic
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Edify (v)
To instruct or benefit, especially morally or spiritually; uplift.
Threnody
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Gruff
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Surly
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Austere (adj)
Severe in manner or appearance; uncompromising; strict; forbidding.
Sullen
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Stony
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Flippant
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Sardonic
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Jocular
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Augur (n)
Soothsayer; prophet.
Fulmination
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Harangue
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Doyen (n)
The senior member, as in age, rank, or experience, of a group, class, profession, etc.
Revile
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Iniquitous
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Inculcate
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Fest
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Esoteric
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Opines
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Blotto (adj)
Very drunk; so drunk as to be unconscious or not know what one is doing.
Armamentarium (n)
The aggregate of equipment, methods, and techniques available to one for carrying out one's duties:
Pejorative
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Cacophony (n)
Harsh discordance of sound; dissonance.
Ostentatious
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Iridescent
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Precocious
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Amalgam (n)
An alloy of mercury with another metal or metals.
Sacrosant
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Tenebrous
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Venality
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Exigencies
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Irreverent
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Eviscerate
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Abutment (n)
The place where projecting parts meet; junction.
Parvenu
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Eponymous
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Fracas
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Preening
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Strafing
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Demarcation (n)
The determining and marking off of the boundaries of something.
Acerbic (adj)
Sour or astringent in taste.
Contrite (adj)
Caused by or showing sincere remorse.
Anodyne (n)
A medicine that relieves or allays pain.
Asinine (adj)
Foolish, unintelligent, or silly; stupid:
Inculcating
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Inflect
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Petulant
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Sentinent
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Meteoric
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Assuage (v)
To make milder or less severe; relieve; ease; mitigate.
Immure (v)
To enclose within walls.
Desiccate (v)
To dry thoroughly; dry up.
Crampon (n)
A spiked iron plate worn on boots or shoes for aid in climbing or to prevent slipping on ice, snow, etc.
Efficacious (adj)
Capable of having the desired result or effect; effective as a means, measure, remedy, etc.
Oligopolistic (n)
A market situation in which control over the supply of a commodity is held by a small number of producers each of whom is able to influence prices and thus directly affect the position of competitors.
Recondite (adj)
Dealing with very profound, difficult, or abstruse subject matter;beyond ordinary knowledge or understanding.
Tryst
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imbroglio
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Despondent (adj)
Feeling or showing profound hopelessness, dejection, discouragement, or gloom.
tenebrous
dark; gloomy; obscure.
Autochthonous (adj)
Pertaining to autochthons; aboriginal; indigenous (opposed to heterochthonous ).
succedaneum
a substitute.
laodicean
lukewarm or indifferent, especially in religion, as were the early Christians of Laodicea.
Antediluvian (adj)
Very old, old-fashioned, or out of date; antiquated; primitive.
Reverie (n)
A state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing.
Reticent (adj)
Disposed to be silent or not to speak freely; reserved.
Purloined (v)
To take dishonestly; steal; filch; pilfer.
Desiccated (adj)
Dehydrated or powdered.
Pillory (n)
A wooden framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used to expose an offender to public derision
Eponymous (adj)
Giving one's name to a tribe, place, etc.:
Enceinte (adj)
Pregnant
Derision (n)
Ridicule; mockery.
Sumptuary (adj)
Pertaining to, dealing with, or regulating expense or expenditure.
Modicum
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Enamored
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Amaneunsis
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Obstinacy
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Circumlocutory
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Burgeon
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Tinny
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Acuity
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Wending
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Foisted
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Contretemps
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Legatees
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Ferret
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Malfeasance
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Pieties
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Platitudes
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Verities
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Foible
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Venal
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Verboten
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Bluenoses
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Obfuscate
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Capacious
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Demurring
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Derision
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Gnomic
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Interregnum
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Unbridled
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Capricious
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Nonplussed
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Valenance
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Denizens
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Inveterately
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Deaden
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Ogling
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Impetuously
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Precipice
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Allocution
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Androgynous
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Animus
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Ascetic
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Boffins
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Bete noire
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Cantankerous
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Convalesce
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Corroborate
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Coterminous
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Cri de coeur
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Deigned
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Denouement
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Emolument
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Eschatological
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Fatuitious
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Fetid
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Fractious
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Frenetic
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Frenetic
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Furtive
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Gentrification
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Harlot
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Ignominious
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Incipient
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Indelible
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Ingratiate
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Intimated
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Inveterate
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Jibe
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Largesse
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Lascivious
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Lithe
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Magnanimous
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Milieu
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Militate
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Misandry
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Mordant
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Nascent
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Obsequious
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Odious
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Ostensible
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Paltry
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Pantomine
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Parlance
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Parochialism
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Penultimate
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Penury
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Perigee
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Pernicious
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Plenipotentiary
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Portent
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Portmanteau
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Potentate
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Prescient
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Propensity
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Pugilist
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Rapacity
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Rappel
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Rectitude
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Rumination
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Sanguine
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Sedition
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Strafe
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Surcease
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Syncretism
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Tautological
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Tenets
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Totemic
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Ubique
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Vacillate
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