Term
ameliorate
ex:the medicine should ameliorate the pain |
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Definition
| to make better or more tolerable |
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Term
avail
ex: the dark fire shall not avail you! |
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Definition
| to be of use or advantage |
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Term
bumptious
ex: I hate bumptious kids because their family is rich |
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Definition
| presumptuously, obtusely, and often noisily self-assertive |
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Term
phlegmatic
ex: after receiving his birthday present, he looked unusually phlegmatic |
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Definition
| having or showing a slow and stolid temperament |
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Term
collateral
ex: the collateral costs of the operation were accounted for |
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Definition
accompanying as secondary or subordinate;
parallel, coordinate, or corresponding in position, order, time, or significanc |
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Term
bouts
ex: a bout of swine flu has swept the nation of Mexico |
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Definition
| a spell of activity; outbreak |
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Term
insipid
ex: the tofu was insipid as ever |
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Definition
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Term
atavism
ex: the architectural atavism seen in the cathedral resembles that of the late Gothic period |
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Definition
| recurrence of or reversion to a past style, manner, outlook, approach, or activity |
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Term
quixotic
ex: they had quixotic dreams |
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Definition
| foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals; |
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Term
auspices
ex: traveling to India with auspices from the Oken Fellowship Committee |
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Definition
| kindly patronage and guidance |
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Term
tenuous
ex: idealists who have a tenuous grip on reality can become quixotic |
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Definition
| not dense; not thick; having little substance or strength |
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Term
rudimentary
ex: to read the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy report, you must have a rudimentary understanding of banking |
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Definition
| fundamental; very imperfectly developed or represented only by a vestige |
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Term
simulacrum
ex: the song was a suitable simulacrum to the movie |
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Definition
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Term
prate
ex: the commentator would prate through the presentation when suddenly he woke us up with a bang |
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Definition
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Term
paltry
ex: the hotel's shabby, outdated exercise room was its paltry attempt at a health spa |
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Definition
inferior, trashy
mean, despicable
trivial
meager, measly |
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Term
assuage
ex: the doctor, in order to assuage the pain, knocked him unconscious |
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Definition
to lessen the intensity of
to put to an end by satisfying, appease |
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Term
facsimile
ex: the museum exhibited a facsimile of the emperor's carriage |
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Definition
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Term
genial
ex: at that time, looking after the tennis courts was a very genial character |
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Definition
marked by or diffusing sympathy or friendliness
favorable to growth or comfort |
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Term
condescension
ex: his condescension towards his boss earned him a severance package |
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Definition
| patronizing attitude or behavior |
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Term
curt
ex: the teacher would either provide a curt answer to a question or just not respond at all |
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Definition
sparing of words : terse
marked by rude or peremptory shortness |
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Term
rigmarole
ex: the conversation was filled with rigmarole and accomplished nothing |
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Definition
confused or meaningless talk
a complex and sometimes ritualistic procedure |
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Term
magnate
ex: the studio magnate, who had all the Hollywood stars at his command, graduated from my school |
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Definition
| a person of rank, power, influence, or distinction often in a specified area |
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Term
inertia
ex: growing up, he never was in a state of inertia |
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Definition
| indisposition to motion, exertion, or change |
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Term
espionage
ex: he was acquitted of 7 charges of espionage |
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Definition
| the practice of spying or using spies to obtain information about the plans and activities especially of a foreign government or a competing company |
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Term
farcical
ex: the farcical routine that a person has to go through to get a refund from that company |
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Definition
ludicrous
laughingly inept |
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Term
ersatz
ex: like everything else the restaurant served, the whipped cream on the dessert was ersatz> |
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Definition
| being a usually artificial and inferior substitute or imitation |
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Term
meticulously
ex: the main reason for the serial killer recurrent escape was his meticulous and cautionary planning |
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Definition
| marked by extreme or excessive care in the consideration or treatment of details |
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Term
fallacious
ex: her fallacious lies towards the police ended up putting her in jail for 4 years |
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Definition
| tending to deceive or mislead : delusive ; deceiving ; misleading |
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Term
edifice
ex: a magnificent edifice with a domed ceiling |
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Definition
| a large or massive structure |
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Term
vicissitude
ex: the vicissitudes of daily life |
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Definition
a favorable or unfavorable event or situation that occurs by chance
the quality or state of being changeable : mutability |
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Term
exigencies
ex: exceptionally quick in responding to the exigencies of modern warfare |
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Definition
that which is required in a particular situation
a state of affairs that makes urgent demands |
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Term
haphazard
ex: his haphazard trip turned out to be very boring |
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Definition
| marked by lack of plan, order, or direction |
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Term
prehensile
ex: an elephant has a prehensile trunk |
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Definition
| gifted with mental grasp or moral or aesthetic perception |
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Term
disconcert
ex: we were disconcerted by the unexpected changes in the program |
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Definition
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Term
centrifugal
ex: the centrifugal society rejected the idea of a capital city |
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Definition
| tending away from centralization : separatist |
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Term
multitudinous
ex: multitudinous oppurtunities |
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Definition
| existing in a great multitude |
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Term
recrudescence
ex: a recrudescence of symptoms |
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Definition
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Term
embitter
ex: Hitler was embittered by the Treaty of Versailles |
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Definition
| to excite bitter feelings in |
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Term
insular
ex: the insular, archaic, sheltered community at the Girls' School was unhealthy |
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Definition
dwelling or situated on an island
characteristic of an isolated people |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
cavil
ex: the lawyer, as a habit of work, would cavil at his daughter |
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Definition
| to raise trivial objections to |
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Term
brusque
ex: because he was angry at the man, he was brusque and curt |
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Definition
| blunt in manner or speech often to the point of ungracious harshness |
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Term
eidetic
ex: eidetic memory is very useful |
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Definition
| marked by or involving extraordinarily accurate and vivid recall especially of visual images |
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Term
unctuous
ex: an unctuous appraisal of the musical talent shown by the boss's daughte |
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Definition
fatty, oily
plastic
marked by a smug, ingratiating, and false earnestness or spirituality |
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Term
proboscis
ex: the man's proboscis stretched farther than an elephant's |
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Definition
| the human nose especially when prominent |
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