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Flashcards in manhattan #4 essential Deck (50)
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1
Q

scant

A

not enough or barely enough “the new intern was scant help at the conference - he disappeared all day to smoke” “people complaining of scanty rations” a modicum, scintilla, iota, mite or tad is small amount of something. A paucity or dearth is a lack of something.

2
Q

turbid

A

water that is muddy and not clear because it has been stirred up dirt and mud. Metaphorically it can mean obscured or confused as in turbid feelings.

3
Q

futile

A

producing no useful result, ineffective, trivial or unimportant, related words include bootless (useless) and otiose (lazy idle or useless)

4
Q

remedial

A

providing a remedy, curative, correcting a deficient skill- something irremediable cannot be remediated

5
Q

eclectic

A

selecting the best of everything or form many diverse sources “eclectic taste is helpful in being a DJ- crowds love to hear hiphop, 80s, and other unexpected genres. Hodgepodge, medley, farrago, potpourri, pastiche and olio are all words for mixtures of diverse things.

6
Q

obsolete

A

out of date, no longer in use

7
Q

zeal

A

great fervor or enthusiasm for a cause, person, etc. tireless diligence in furthering that cause, passion, ardor

8
Q

deference

A

respectful submission, yielding to the authority or opinion or another “ in some cultures, young people are expected to show deference to older people at all times “

9
Q

din

A

loud confused noise, esp for a long period of time “the hotel was described as “near all the hot spots”, but I didn’t realize that I wouldn’t be able to sleep due to the all-night din from partygoers”. Related words include cacophony dissonance, clamor

10
Q

ambivalent

A

uncertain; unable to decide, or wanting to do two contradictory things at once. Prefix ambi means both

11
Q

precursor

A

something that comes before, esp. Something that also announced or suggests something on its way. “We cannot ignore this warning sign- it is clearly a precursor of larger problems to come.” cursors means run - so this word could men forerunner

12
Q

clamor

A

noisy uproar or protest, as from a crowd, a loud, continuous noise “ as soon a as a scent of scandal emerged, the pressed was clamoring for details.” comes from a french root meaning cry out.

13
Q

tenuous

A

flimsy, having little substance, long and thin, slender, very slight and weak “ your argument is quite tenuous - it depends on our accepting the results of a 1955 study published in an obscure medical journal not subject to peer review”

14
Q

meticulous

A

taking extreme care in regards to details, precise, fussy “as a surgeon, of course mom needs to be highly meticulous in her work”

15
Q

slew

A

a large number or quantity “ as soon as we switched software packages, we encountered a whole slew of problems” from the irish sluagh - a crow or army

16
Q

analogous

A

comparable, corresponding in some particular way (making a good analogy) “in the US, whenever opponents of a war want to suggest that the war is unwinnable, they point out all the ways in which the war is analogous to the Vietnam war.

17
Q

hardy

A

bold, brave, capable of withstanding hardship, fatigue, cold etc., robust “while the entire family enjoyed the trip to south america, only the hardier members even attempted to hike to the top of ecuador’s tallest volcano

18
Q

spearhead

A

be the leader of “lisa agreed to spearhead the healthy office initiative” could also mean the person at the front of the military attack (avante garde or vanguard) or a leader of anything

19
Q

homogeneous

A

of the same kind; uniform throughout “while Sweden seems to have solved many of its social ills, critics point out that its largely homogeneous population does not’ present the challenges that exist in a more diverse nation with many culture and languages”

20
Q

clinch

A

make final or settle conclusively “when their best player was benched the team fell behind, but once he was allowed back in the game, the team was able to clinch the win. These two pieces have been clinched together with a clamp while the glue dries.” in sports to clinch a win is to gain such a great advantage that it is impossible not to win. To clinch a contracts is to lock it down. To clinch a nail is to flatten the part that sticks out- to finish your work

21
Q

prudent

A

wise in practical matters, providing for the future

22
Q

precarious

A

unstable, insecure, dangerous “recognizing that his position at the company was precarious, he requested that his bonus structure be formally written down as a contract” parlous is a synonym

23
Q

augment

A

maker larger - share a root augere to increase. With august means majestic and inspiring reverence.

24
Q

unearth

A

dig up, uncover, expose

25
Q

eminent

A

prominent, distinguished, of high rank “ the undergraduate shocked everyone by asking the eminent old professor “Really? What makes you such an expert ? “” Eminent domain is the law allowing the government to appropriate private property such as forcing people to move so anew highway can be built.

26
Q

balk

A

refuse to proceed or do something “at the company retreat, he reluctantly agreed to participate in the ropes course, but balked at walking over hot coals as a trust exercise” occasionally balk is used as a noun for an impediment like a beam or a ridge or a defeat.

27
Q

cosmpolitan

A

belonging to the entire world, at home globally, free form local or national prejudices or attachments

28
Q

candid

A

open, sincere, honest “allow me to be candid, you do look rather portly in those pants” “we could use a little more candor in this relationship”

29
Q

deterrent

A

something that restrains or discourages, as military police, deterrence is building military strength or ability to retaliate (especially by stockpiling nu

30
Q

censure

A

strong disapproval or official reprimand, to issue such disapproval or reprimand “the senator was censured by the senate for campaign fund improprieties - in fact he narrowly avoided being expelled from office”

31
Q

fleeting

A

passing quickly, transitory “I had assumed our summer romance would be fleeting, so I was very surprised when you proposed marriage”, synonyms included ephemeral, evanescent, fugacious

32
Q

delineate

A

mark the outline of, sketch, describe in detail “I do need the cash, but I’m not signing up for this psychological experiment unless you delineate what’s going to happen.”

33
Q

discredit

A

injure the reputation of, destroy credibility of or confidence in, slander, traduce and defame all mean to speak maliciously of. Slander meaning lies about a person.

34
Q

construe

A

interpret or translate “I didn’t know how you construed my comment as an insult. All I said was “wow, I never knew you could sing!”

35
Q

equitable

A

fair, equal, just “ as the university president was heavily biased towards the sciences, faculty in the liberal arts felt they had to fight to get an equitable share of funding for their departments.”

36
Q

relegate

A

send or commit to an inferior place, rank condition, exile, banish, assign a task to someone else. “After the legal associate offended one of the partners, he found himself relegated to working on minor - even unwinnable cases” relegate shares a root “send” with legate, a deputy or emissary.

37
Q

lull

A

soothe or cause to fall asleep, quiet down, make to feel secure, sometimes falsely, a period of calm or quiet “tisha always tried to be polite. If she had to slip out of class to use the bathroom, she waited for a lull in the attention so as not to attract too much attention”

38
Q

refute

A

prove to be false, “she’s not a very valuable member of the debate team, actually - she loves making speeches, but she’s not very good at refuting opponent’s arguments’” gainsay and negate are synonyms. corroborate is opposite or refute (confirm).

39
Q

ascertain

A

find out with certainty “hopefully, the investigation will allow us to ascertain who is at fault here.”

40
Q

deflect

A

cause to curve, turn aside, esp from a straight course, avoid, “the purpose of a shield is to deflect arrows or bullets from an enemy “

41
Q

rustic

A

relating to country life, unsophisticated, primitive, made of rough wood, a rural or uncultured person

42
Q

succeeding

A

coming after or following “after the sale of the company, you will receive 5% of the profits from the current year and 1% in all succeeding years. Think of the word succedaneous.

43
Q

permeate

A

spread or penetrate throughout- “under emperor constantine, christianity began to permeate every sector of public life” pervade is a synonym , the root per means through

44
Q

denote

A

stand as a name or symbol for, indicate. This word contrasts with connote which describes what something implies or suggests beyond its literal meaning.

45
Q

eloquent

A

marked by forceful, fluid, apt speech, expressive, emotionally moving. “Wow he’s such an eloquent speaker, he could sell snow to antarcticans” the root loq means speech.

46
Q

sap

A

the inner fluid of a plant or any essential body fluid, energy, vitality, a person taken advantage of, undermine, weaken, tire out. “I really thought that if I clicked on that ad and entered all my info I would get a free ipad to test and keep. I feel like such a sap” synonyms - enervate, enfeeble

47
Q

overshadow

A

cast a shadow over, darken, dominate, make to seem less important. “She was a straight A student who excelled at field hockey, but she still felt overshadowed by her older sister, who won a national science competition for her work on cancer”

48
Q

disseminate

A

scatter spread about, broadcast

49
Q

erratic

A

inconsistent, wandering, having no fixed course -“When someone engage in erratic behavior, family members often suspect drug use or mental illness” root err- stray or wander

50
Q

nuance

A

A subtle difference in tone, meaning, expression, etc. “people with certain cognitive disabilities cannot understand the nuances on non literal speech. For instance, “you can come if you want to, but it’s really going to be mostly family” means that you shouldn’t’ try to come.”” comes from the word root for cloud- cloudy in a sense of being hard to discern, nubilous means cloudy.