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"completely honest, straight-forward"
e.g. - Candace's candidness overwhelmed her business colleagues, who were not used to such honesty. |
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"inference, guesswork"
e.g. - At this point, Kimaya's hypothesis about single-cell biorththms is still conjecture: She doesn't have conclusive evidence. |
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"instructive"
The tapes were entertaining and didactic; they both amused and instructed children. |
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"a mild, indirect, or vague term substituting for a harsh, blunt, or offensive term"
e.g. - 'to pass away' is a common euphemism for dying |
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"to infer or estimate by extending or projecting known information"
e.g. - Seeing the wrecked bike and his daughter's skinned knees, Heath extrapolated that she had had a biking accident. |
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"lacking cohesion or connection"
e.g. - Maury's sentences were so incoherent that nobody understood a word. |
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"to imply or communicate stealthily"
e.g. - Sean insinuated that Grace stole the arsenic, but he never came out and said it. |
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"easily understood, clear"
e.g. - Our teacher provides lucid explanations of even the most difficult concepts so that we can all understand them. |
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"the art of using language effectively and persuasively"
e.g. - Since they are expected to make speeches, most politicians and lawyers are well-versed in the art of rhetoric. |
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"quickness, accuracy, and keenness of judgment or insight"
e.g. - Judge Ackerman's legal acumen was so well regarded that he was nicknamed the 'Solomon of the South.' |
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"dexterous, deft"
e.g. - An adroit balloon-animal maker, Adrianna became popular at children's parties. |
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"to find out, as though investigation or experimentation"
e.g. - The private investigator had long suspected my dog; before long, he ascertained that Tota was indeed the murderer. |
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"shrewd, clever"
e.g. - Stewart is financially astute; he invests wisely and never falls for scams. |
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"careful, prudent, discreet"
e.g. - Ned's circumspect manner makes him a wise appointment to the diplmatic corps. |
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"to scatter wisely, as in sowing seed"
The news about Dave's embarassing moment at the party disseminated quickly through the school; by the end of the day, everyone knew what had happened. |
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"deep, extensive learning"
e.g. - Professor Rudy's erudition was such that she could answer any question her students put to her. |
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"the application of scientific principles to agriculture, specially to animal breeding"
e.g. - After years of practicing animal husbandry, Marsha's husband was able to create a breed of dog that actually walked itself. |
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"excessively concerned with book learning and formal rules"
e.g. - Pedro's pendantic tendencis prompted him to remind us constantly of all the grammatical rules we were breaking. |
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"shrewd, clear-sighed"
Persephone's perspicacious mind had solved so many cases that the popular private investigator was able to retire. |
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"practical"
e.g. - Never one for wild and unrealistic schemes, Matt took a pragmatic approach to research. |
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"exhibiting unusally early intellectual aptitude or maturity"
e.g. - Bobby Fisher's precocious intellect made him one of the world's best chess players before he could even drive. |
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"formal proposal"
e.g. - Before writing my thesis, I had to submit a detailed prospectus to the department for approval. |
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"basic; elementary; in the earlist stages of development"
e.g. - Josh's rudimentary golf skills were easily overpowered by Tiger Woods' amazing performance on the green. |
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"difficult to understand"
e.g. - Abby found her professor's lecture on non-Euclidian geometry abstruse; she doubted anyone else in class understood it either. |
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"emotionally hardened; unfeeling"
e.g. - Callie's callous remarka bout her friend's cluttered room really hurt his feelings. |
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"intriciate; complex"
e.g. - The directions were so convoluted that we became hopelessly lost. |
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"a puzzle, mystery, or riddle"
e.g. - The emu was an enigma; you could never tell what it was thinking. |
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"difficult to fathom or understand; impenetrable"
e.g. - The ancient poet's handwriting was so inscrutable, that even the most prominent Latin scholars could not read the manuscript. |
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"inclined to keep silent; reserved"
e.g. - Rosanna's reticent behavior caused the interviewer to think her incapable of conserving with other students. |
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"unemotional; serious"
e.g. - Mr. Estado was well-known for his staid demeanor; he stayed calm even when everyone else celebrated the team's amazing victory. |
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"known or understood by only a few"
e.g. - The dusty archive includes an arcane treasure trove of nautical charts from the Age of Discovery. |
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"to absorb or become absorbed; to make or become similar"
e.g. - Keisha assimiliated so quickly at her new school that she was named head of the social committee a month after enrolling. |
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"independence; self-determination"
e.g. - Candice gained autonomy upon moving out of her parents' house into her own apartment. |
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"worldly; wisely sophisticated"
e.g. - Inga was surprisingly cosmopolitan considering that she had never left her tiny hometown in Norway. |
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"something that comes from another source"
e.g. - 'Special Victims Unit' and 'Criminal Intent' are derivatives of the original 'Law and Order' drama series. |
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"a group of attendants or associates; a retinue"
e.g. - Top celebrities travel with extensive entourages, which often include security guards, assistants, sylists, managers, and publicists. |
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"intended for or understood by only a small group"
e.g. - Esme's play is extremely esoteric; someone not raised in Estonia would find it difficult to follow. |
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"a clumsy social error; a faux pas"
e.g. - Geof committed the gaffe of telling his date that he'd gone out with her sister the night before. |
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"charcteristic peculiar to an individual or group"
e.g. - She had many idiosyncrasies, one of which was washing her socks in the dishwasher. |
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"isolated; narrow or provincial"
e.g. - The family was so insular that no one else could get near them. |
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"adhering to the traditional and established, especially in religion"
e.g. - My father held an orthodox view of baseball; he believed that the field should be outside and made of real grass. |
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"one who has the power and position to rule over others; monarch"
e.g. - An omnipotent potentate is a person to be reckoned with; great power in the hands of a great leader is a powerful combination. |
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"to scold, rebuke, or harshly criticize"
e.g. - Mr. Castile preferred not to castigate student misbehavior publicly; instead, he would quietly send the troublemaker to the principal's office. |
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"to issue official blame"
e.g. - In recent years the FCC has censured networks for the provocative antics of Super Bowl halftime acts; what goes on during the game, however, usually escapes the organization's notice. |
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"to condemn openly"
e.g. - In many powerful speeches throughout his lifetime, Martin Luther King, Jr. denounced racism as immoral. |
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"seeking or preferring seclusion or isolation"
e.g. - Our neighbors were quite reclusive, hardly ever emerging from behind the closed doors of their home. |
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"to retire from; give up or abandon"
e.g. - Ricky relinquished his career in order to search for the source of the world's best relish. |
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"to give up (a title, for example), especially by formal announcement"
e.g. - Nancy renounced her given name and began selling records under the moniker "Boedicia" |
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"marked by harshly abusive condemntation"
e.g. - The vituperative speech was so cruel that the members left feeling completely abused. |
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"to draw a circle around; to restrict"
e.g. - The archeologist circumscribed the excavation area on the map. |
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"sharing an edge or boundary; touching"
e.g. - The continental United States consists of 48 contiguous states. |
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