Sunday, February 7, 2010
Review Items No. 1-50
lorn: desolate; forsaken
idiographic: relating to or concerned with concrete or unique
facts or events
cade: left by its mother and reared by hand (e.g. a cade lamb)
zoolatry: animal worship
baksheesh: munificence (baksheesh is originally a Persian word)
kabbalah (variant of cabala):
- a medieval and modern system of Jewish theosophy, mysticism and thaumaturgy marked by belief in creation through emanation and a cipher method of interpreting Scripture
- a traditional esoteric matter
- esoteric doctrine or mysterious art
cabala:
- a medieval and modern system of Jewish theosophy, mysticism and thaumaturgy marked by belief in creation through emanation and a cipher method of interpreting Scripture
- a traditional esoteric matter
- esoteric doctrine or mysterious art
iconoclast:
- someone who destroys religious images or opposes their veneration
- someone who attacks settled beliefs or institutions
amulet: a small object worn to ward off evil, harm, or illness or to bring
good fortune
balk: to refuse abruptly
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Detailed Definition:
noun
- a ridge of land left unplowed as a dividing line or through carelessness
- a hindrance
- a ridge between furrows
- a wooden beam or rafter
- failure of a player to complete a motion, especially an illegal motion of the pitcher
in baseball while in position
intransitive verb
- to refuse abruptly [is used with 'at'] (e.g. He balked at putting up the promised
money)
- to stop and refuse to proceed
- to commit a balk in sports
transitive verb
- to check or stop by or as if by an obstacle
artiodactyl: having an even number of toes on each foot (as
camel or pig)
neuston: minute organisms that float in the surface film of water
vatic:
- of or related to a prophet or a prophecy
- prophetic
gelid: extremely cold, icy
litany:
- a liturgical prayer consisting of a series of petitions recited by a leader alternating
with fixed responses by the congregation
- a repetitive or incantatory recital
rorqual: any of a family of large baleen whales having the skin of
the throat marked with deep longitudinal furrows
endocarp: the inner, usually woody, layer of the pericarp of a
fruit, such as the stone of a cherry or peach
pedantic:
- like a pedant, overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning
- being showy of one’s knowledge, often in a boring manner
- being finicky or picky with language
euphemism: the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive
expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant
derision:
- the use of ridicule or scorn to show contempt
- an object of ridicule or scorn
doppelganger (Doppelgänger): the ghostly double of a living
person
subintelligitur:
- something that is implied even though not expressed
- something that is not stated but understood
endemic: native to a particular region
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Detailed Definition:
adjective
- constantly present in a particular region
- native to a particular country, nation, or region
noun
- an endemic organism
pneuma: - soul - spirit
interdigitate: to become interlocked like the fingers of folded
hands
nanocephalous: having abnormally small head
firmament: - the arch of the sky - the heavens
magniloquent: bombastic in style or expression
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Detailed Definition:
adjective
- speaking by a bombastic style or manner
- characterized by a bombastic style or manner
- inflated in style or expression
- pompous in style or expression
sapid: - having a strong pleasant flavor - pleasing to the mind
lumpen: one cut off from his/her normal socioeconomic class
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Detailed Definition:
adjective
- relating to displaced people who have been cut off from the socioeconomic class
with which they would ordinarily be identified (e.g. lumpen intellectuals unable to
find jobs in their fields)
- plebeian
- stupid
- unthinking
noun
- a member of the uneducated lowest class of society
socioeconomic: relating to, or involving both economic and
social factors
gadabout: one roaming about in search of amusement or social
activity
languor: mental or physical weariness or fatigue
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Detailed Definition:
noun
- mental or physical weariness or fatigue
- physical or mental laziness or weariness
- weakness or weariness of body or mind
- listless indolence
- indolence of one satiated by a luxury life
obtrude: to impose oneself or one's idea on others without
request
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Detailed Definition:
transitive verb
- to impose oneself or one's idea without request
- to force oneself or one's idea without warrant or invitation
- to thrust out
intransitive verb
- to become unduly prominent
- to interfere unduly
- to intrude
exemplar: one that serves as a model or example
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Detailed Definition:
noun
- one that serves as a model or example
- a copy of a book or writing
- a model to be copied
- a model to be imitated
- a pattern to be copied
- a pattern to be imitated
- a typical or standard specimen
- an ideal model or type
penchant: - a strong liking - a strong inclination
incongruous: - not harmonious - inconsistent
precarious: dependent on circumstances beyond one's control
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Detailed Definition:
adjective
- depending on the will or pleasure of another
- dependent on uncertain premises
- dubious
- having insufficient foundation (a precarious belief)
esoteric: intended only for a particular group
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Detailed Definition:
adjective
- limited to a small circle
- private
- confidential (an esoteric target)
- of rare interest (esoteric construction materials)
vexatious: distressing
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Detailed Definition:
adjective
- full of stress
- full of disorder
- full of annoyance
- causing vexation
- annoying
- intended to vex
- intended to annoy
pecuniary: monetary
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Detailed Definition:
adjective
- relating to money
- consisting of or measured in money
- requiring payment of money (e.g. a pecuniary offense)
propitious: presenting favorable conditions
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Detailed Definition:
adjective
- favorable
- being a good omen
- auspicious
- benevolent
chicanery: deception by trickery or sophistry
jocund: merry
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Detailed Definition:
adjective
- full of high-spirited merriment
- marked by high spirits
- marked by lively mirthfulness
- of a humorous temperament
- showing high-spirited merriment
languish: to be or become feeble
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Detailed Definition:
intransitive verb
- to be or become feeble
- to be or become weak
- to be or become enervated
- to be or live in a state of depression
- to be or live in a state of decreasing vitality
- to lose strength or vigor
machination: a crafty action intended to accomplish a sinister
end
surcease: to desist from action
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Detailed Definition:
1. intransitive verb
- to desist from action
- to come to an end
- to cease
- to stop
2. transitive verb
- to put an end to
- to discontinue
3. noun
- cessation
- a temporary respite or end
- intermission
chapfallen: cast down in spirit
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Detailed Definition:
adjective
- dejected
- downhearted
- crestfallen
- depressed
heliolatry: worship of the sun
wrangle: to dispute something angrily
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Detailed Definition:
1. intransitive verb
- to dispute angrily, noisily or peevishly
- to engage in argument or controversy
- to quarrel noisily or angrily
2. transitive verb
- to win or obtain by argument
- to herd livestock, especially horses
3. noun
- the act of wrangling
- an angry, noisy dispute or argument