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(adj.) extremely difficult to understand
-The physicist tried to explain her ------ research in the field of quantum mechanics. |
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(n.) an open or intentional insult; a slight; offense
-The prisoner felt that being referred to by number rather than by name was an ------ toher dignity.
(v.) to insult to one's face; to face in defiance, confront; offend.
-In the nineteenth century, Irish immigrants to the United States were ------ affronted by signs reading: No Irish Need Apply. |
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(n.) a false rumor, fabricated story; hoax.
-The tabloid journalist was responsible for spreading the ------ about the candidate's mental health. |
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(adj.) excessively ready to find fault; fiven to petty criticism; intended to trap, confuse, or show up; faultfinding; nitpicking, carping.
-She's an invariably ------ critic. |
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(adj.) aware, knowledgeable, informed; having jurisdiction; conscious, acquainted.
-Police officers must make sure that crime suspects are made ------ of their rights before they are questioned. |
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(adj.) regretful for some miseed or sin; plagued by a sense of guilt; thoroughtly penitent. remorseful; rueful.
-The convicted felon had the look of someone who was truly ------ and ready to pay for his crimes. |
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(n.) the center of attraction, attention, or interest; something that serves to guide or direct.
-For over a century, the Statue of Liberty has been the ------ for millions of immigrants entering New York Harbor. |
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(adj.) well-behaved, dignified, socially proper.
-On formal occasions, like weddings and graduations, participants are expected to behave in a ------ manner. |
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(adj., part) thoroughly dried out; divested of spirit or vitality; arid and uninteresting.
-The cornfield was ------ by the scorching sun after the long, hot summer without rain. |
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(v.) to bring into existence, give rise to, produce; to come into existence, assume form
-The university has made and appealing videotape in order to ------- student interest in studying abroad. |
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(adj.) light, airy, delicate; highly refined; suggesting what is heavenly (rather than earthbound, mundane)
-The Renaissance painter Fra Angelico captured the ------ beauty of angels with his famous frescoes. |
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(adj.) not in keeping, unsuitable, incompatible. discordant, jarring.
-Abraham Lincoln, the backwoods lawyer, and Mary Todd, the rich socialite, seemed an ------ couple. |
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(n.) a crafty, scheming, or underhanded action designed to accomplish some (usually evil) end.
-Shakespeare;s Othello was the victim not only of lago's evil ------ but also of his own jealous nature. |
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(n.) disgrace arising from shameful conduct; contempt, reproach. shame, odium, dishonor.
-Despite the passage of centuries, ------ is still attached to the name of the traitor Benedict Arnold. |
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(adj.) generally regarded as such; reputed; hypothesize, inferred, supposed, presumed.
-Ancient Celtic rituals and ceremonies are the ------ origins of some of our modern Halloween customs. |
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(n.) that which is pleasant or agreeable; (pl.) attractive features, customs, etc.
-When I backpack there are certain basic ------ such as clean sheets and a dry tent, that I will not go without. |
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(n.) a difference of opinion; discontent; dissent, disagreement.
-When the commanding officer announced that all leave was cancelled, there was widespread ------ in the ranks. |
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(adj.) devoted to the pursuit of pleasure; fond of good food, comfort, and ease; with discriminating tastes; hedonistic.
-The chef took and epicurean delight in presenting the most delicious dishes to his demanding clientele.
(n.) a person with discriminating tastes.
-Even the most fervent ------ should not expect the fine dining in a poor, war-torn country. |
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(adj.) not thrifty; failing to plan ahead.
-Some people are so ------ that despite high incomes they struggle to make ends meet. |
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(n.) wickedness, sin; a grossly immoral act; evil, crime.
-English Puritans looked upon the court that surrounded King Charles I as a den of ------. |
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(adj.) sacred; of such a character that is must not be broken, injured, or profaned.
-Safeguarding the retirement income of millions of Americans is an ------ trust of the federal gov't. |
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(adj.) open to or capable of change, fickle. changeable, variable.
-Most people would agree that one's principles and moral values should not be as ------ as fashion. |
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(adj.) just beginning to exist or develop; having just come into existence
-Recent public opinion polls registered ---- opposition to the proposed tax increase. |
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(n.) a deep bow or other body movement indicating respect or submission; deference, homage
-Upon entering the throne room, each courtier made a respectful ------ before the king and queen. |
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(n.) formal or elaborate praise; a tribute; encomium.
-The speaker delivered a ------ in honor of the award-winning author. |
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(n.) a device for publicly punishing offenders; a means for exposing one to public contempt or ridicule
-The ----- was placed in the center of town so that everyone could view the outlaws and their shame.
(v.) to expose to public contempt or ridicule
-The candidate tried to ------ her political opponent by suggesting that he had ties to organized crime. |
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(n.) a woefully meager allowance, wage, or portion.
-In comparison to the overwhelming need for food and medicine, the shipment was a mere -----. |
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(v.) to foreshadow or point to a future event; to predict.
-The skirmishes at the border ------ a war.
(n.) a warning or indication of the future.
-The fall in stock prices and retail sales may be a ------ of hard economic times to come. |
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(v.) to proclaim or issue officially; to make known far and wide. announce.
-The School Board ------ a new approach to education that emphasized phonics. |
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(n.) uprightness, righteousness; correctness; integrity
-The mayor is a person of unquestionable -----. |
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(adj.) restless, hard to manage, balky, uneasy, fidgety.
-The ------ horse had not been taken out of the stable for five days. |
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(adj.) angelic, heavenly, celestial.
-The artist painter the children with ------ smiles to suggest their innocence. |
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(v.) to have existence; to remain alive, manage to make a living or maintain life; to persist or continue; last, survive, sustain.
-Peasants in nineteenth-century Ireland were able to ------ almost exclusively on potatoes. |
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(adj.) blissful; rendering or making blessed.
-During the awards ceremony, the Gold Medal winner has a positively ------ expression on her face. |
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(n.) a creature of enormous size, power, or appearance.
-The Loch Ness monster is a famous -----. |
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(n., often plural) anything designed to flatter or coax; sweet talk, apple-polishing.
-The king was often influence by subtle ------. |
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(adj.) harsh-sounding, racous, discordant, dissonant.
-The scene opened with ------ laughter coming from three witches gathered around a steaming cauldron. |
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(n.) trickery, deceptive practices or tactics, double-dealing.
-The accountants used legal ------ to cover up the company's shaky financial position. |
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(v.) to give over to another's care, charge, or control; to entrust, deliver; to set apart for special use.
-The ship's captain ----- many duties to her trusted first mate. |
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(n.) a highly successful stroke, masterstroke, tour de force, act, plan or stratagem; a sudden takeover of power or leadership
-The surprise ----- by high-ranking military officers toppled the weak government in a matter of hours. |
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(adj.) feverish; pertaining to or marked by fever; frenetic.
-The journalist wrote with ----- intensity. |
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(v.) to deny, contradict, controvert; to dispute, oppose.
-Some wished to ------ the conclusions of the US Supreme Court in the matter of the 2000 presidential election. |
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(adj.) unwilling, reluctant, disinclined.
-My hard-working grandfather was ------ to retire. |
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(adj.) clear, evident to the eyes or mind;
-It was ------ to many nineteenth-century Americans that the nation was destined to extend to the Pacific Ocean.
(v.) to show plainly, exhibit, evince;
-When the man began to ----- signs of hearing loss, he went to a specialist.
(n.) a list of cargo and/or passengers
-The passenger ------ helps investigators find out who is on a board a plane. |
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(pl. n.) small or trivial details, trifling matters
-Because the researcher was too concerned with ------, she was unlikely to make an original discovery. |
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(n.) a suspension of activity; an official waiting period; an authorized period of delay. postponement, stoppage
-The conference was held to try to negotiate a ------ on arms sales to both sides of the conflict. |
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(n.) an alleged cure-all; a remedy or scheme of questionably effectiveness. panacea, elixir.
-The federal Food and Drug Administration was created in part to keep unsavory characters from peddling ------ to the public. |
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(n.) one who is rejected by a social group or organization.
-In most of the world today, those who are suffering from the disease of leprosy are no longer treated as ------. |
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(adj.) not practical, lacking in realism; having the nature of a fantasy of dream
-Ideas that once were considered -------- often become widely accepted over time.
(n.) one given to far-fetched ideas; a dreamer or seer characterized by vision or foresight.
-The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., was a ------ whose dreams inspired the American civil rights movement. |
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(adj., part.) dry, shrunken, and wrinkled (often as the result of aging). withered, shriveled.
-The ------ old woman walked with the aid of a cane. |
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