Magoosh GRE Vocabulary Advance 2
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Transcript of Magoosh GRE Vocabulary Advance 2
Phantasmagorical:
Adjective: illusive; unreal
Those suffering from malaria fall into a feverish sleep, their
world a whirligig of phantasmagoria; if they recover, they are
unsure of what actually took place and what was simply a
product of their febrile imaginations.
adjcharacterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtapositions
Synonyms:
phantasmagoric, surreal, surrealistic
unrealistic
not realistic
TTREM: Sounds like Fanta (Drink) Magic Or Real
Curmudgeon:
Old, cranky, and more than a little stubborn, a
curmudgeon is the crusty grey haired neighbor who
refuses to hand out candy at Halloween and shoos
away holiday carolers with a "bah humbug!"
As fickle and stubborn as the type of person it describes,
curmudgeon comes to us without a history, its origins
undisclosed. It was originally believed to have come from
coeur mechant, the French phrase for ―evil heart,‖ but that
theory has been long discarded. Don't worry though, you’ll
know a curmudgeon when you see one: He’ll be ill-tempered
and miserly, eager to shake his fist and spout disagreeable
opinions.
na crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas
Type of:
golden ager, old person, oldster, senior citizen
an elderly person
Protean:
When Picasso is described as a protean genius, it
means that not only was he brilliant, but he changed
the way he worked many times. Protean means able
to change shape.
Proteus was a Greek god who could tell the future, but when
he was asked a question he didn't want to answer, he would
change shapes. With someone or something protean, you get
all the power of shape-shifting, plus some of the menace of a
god you cannot control.
adjtaking on different forms
“eyes...of that baffling protean grey which is never twice the same”
Synonyms:
variable
liable to or capable of change
TTREM: 'protean' -- > sounds like protein as sm1 above had already said and we all have
learnt in organic chemistry that this protiens "can take many forms".
Gerrymander:
Some politicians change the boundaries of their
voting districts in order to benefit themselves or their
political party. To manipulate the boundaries like this
— often viewed as unfair — is to gerrymander.
The verb gerrymander first appeared in 1812 when
Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry redrew district
boundaries, hoping it would help his party in an upcoming
senate election. Then somebody noticed that the new district
looked like a salamander, so they combined Gerry and -
mander to create the new word gerrymander. And then a
newspaper printed a cartoon with a giant salamander making
fun of Gerry, which is what happens to politicians who don’t
behave.
vdivide unfairly and to one's advantage; of voting districts
Type of:
divide, part, separate
come apart
nan act of gerrymandering (dividing a voting area so as to give your own party an
unfair advantage)
Type of:
cheat, cheating
a deception for profit to yourself
TTREM: Relate it with Jerry of 'Tom and Jerry' cartoon in which Jerry divided everything
partially with Tom and quarrels with him... so possessing a Jerry's mind - Gerrymander.
Expurgate:
To expurgate is to censor. Usually, people talk about
expurgating bad words from something written or on
TV.
On TV, if you hear some words bleeped out, those words have
been expurgated. In print, we can expurgate by using dashes (
— — ) or random characters like %&$#. Sometimes we can
expurgate just by rewriting something so that the entire
sentence with the naughty parts is gone, or by putting it into
mild words. When it comes to things children read or watch,
there's often the difficult question of what to expurgate and
what to leave alone.
vedit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
Synonyms:
bowdlerise, bowdlerize, castrate, shorten
Type of:
abbreviate, abridge, contract, cut, foreshorten,reduce, shorten
reduce in scope while retaining essential elements
TTREM: Expurgate - divide this word into (expel+ur+gate), you always expel the waste
from your gate to make your home 'clean' and 'purified'.
Parvenu:
A parvenu is an upstart, somebody who's suddenly
rich but doesn't fit into his new social status. If you're
a parvenu, people might also describe you as
"nouveau-riche" or an "arriviste." Maybe it's not quite
so insulting in French.
The Beverly Hillbillies, a sitcom from the 1960s, featured the
Clampetts, classic parvenus, who struck oil on their
backwoods West Virginia swampland. They arrive at their
mansion in Beverly Hills, dressed in overalls, in their pick-up
truck, with their shabby furniture strapped on top. As
parvenus, they don’t fit in — to say the least. Parvenu is from
French, and it's the past participle of parvenir, "arrived."
na person who has suddenly risen to a higher economic status but has not gained
social acceptance of others in that class
Synonyms:
arriviste, nouveau-riche, upstart
Types:
climber, social climber
someone seeking social prominence by obsequious behavior
junior
term of address for a disrespectful and annoying male
lion-hunter
someone who tries to attract social lions as guests
Type of:
disagreeable person, unpleasant person
a person who is not pleasant or agreeable
adjcharacteristic of someone who has risen economically or socially but lacks the
social skills appropriate for this new position
Synonyms:
nouveau-riche, parvenue, upstart
pretentious
making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction
adjof or characteristic of a parvenu
Synonyms:
parvenue
new
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired
or discovered
TTREM: par(paar) means dur in hindi and venur means place.the one who has moves 'dur'
from his place to a high level is parvenue
Sybarite:
If you know someone who's totally addicted to
luxurious things and all of life's pleasures, call her a
sybarite. Unless she's inviting you over for
champagne brunches and showering you with gifts —
in which case you should keep your mouth shut.
Sybarite was first recorded in the 1600s, meaning a ―person
devoted to pleasure.‖ The literal translation of this noun is
―inhabitant of Sybaris,‖ which was an ancient Greek town full
of citizens who loved nice things. Today, the word still has the
same two meanings: it's either a person who could be
described as addicted to pleasures and luxury (like a hedonist),
or an actual person who lives in Sybaris.
na person addicted to luxury and pleasures of the senses
Synonyms:
voluptuary
Type of:
sensualist
a person who enjoys sensuality
TTREM: who go bar every rite(night) is sybarite
Quisling:
A quisling is a traitor, especially one who
collaborates with an enemy occupying force for
personal gain.
The term arose because in World War II, Vidkun Quisling, a
Norwegian politician, volunteered to help the occupying Nazis
rule Norway for Germany. Quisling was tried for treason and
executed at the end of the war, and his name became
synonymous with traitor and collaborator. The word quisling
is not commonly used in the United States, however, probably
because the American term for a traitor is "Benedict Arnold,"
the name of a Revolutionary War turncoat.
nsomeone who collaborates with an enemy occupying force
Synonyms:
collaborationist, collaborator
Type of:
traitor, treasonist
someone who betrays his country by committing treason
TTREM: Quisling; split like QUIT+LINK means a culprit quits and collaborate (link)with
enemy
Mettlesome:
Adjective: filled with courage or valor
adjhaving a proud and unbroken spirit
Synonyms:
spirited
displaying animation, vigor, or liveliness
adjwilling to face danger
Synonyms:
game, gamey, gamy, gritty, spirited, spunky
brave, courageous
possessing or displaying courage; able to face and deal with
danger or fear without flinching
For its raid on the Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Seal Team Six has become, for many
Americans, the embodiment of mettle.
TTREM: Those who win metals are courageous, proud & high-spirited.
Apotheosis:
If your teacher says the term paper you handed in last
week is a work of genius that sets a new gold standard
for the school, he's telling you your work is the
apotheosis of term papers. The epitome. Perfection.
Hidden in the middle of apotheosis you'll find the Greek theos,
meaning god. (Theology, the study of religion, has the same root.)
Combine theos with apo "from" and you get a person, place, or
thing that is so out-of-this-world amazing that it seems as if it's
"from God." It's divine. You could make the assertion that
Leonardo da Vinci was the apotheosis of genius and that the Mona
Lisa is the apotheosis of all his paintings.
nmodel of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal
Synonyms:
ideal, nonesuch, nonpareil, nonsuch, paragon, saint
Types:
crackerjack, jimdandy, jimhickey
someone excellent of their kind
class act
someone who shows impressive and stylish excellence
humdinger
someone of remarkable excellence
Type of:
model, role model
someone worthy of imitation
nthe elevation of a person (as to the status of a god)
Synonyms:
deification, exaltation
Type of:
worship
the activity of worshipping
TTREM: theo- theological, somthing related to god. theology elevates oneself to god hood.
Invective:
Invective is harsh, abusive language, like, "you dirty
rotten scoundrel." I'm sure you can think of harsher
and more obscene examples, but we won't get into
them here.
Invective comes from the Latin for "abusive." It kind of
sounds like a harsh word, actually, with those sharp, dagger-
like V's. People usually put a colorful verb or phrase before it.
Some examples: "She spewed invective," "She hurled
invective," "She burst forth into invective." You can follow it
with a phrase like, "picking up her plate and throwing it across
the room."
nabusive or venomous language used to express blame or censure or bitter deep-
seated ill will
Synonyms:
vitriol, vituperation
Type of:
abuse, contumely, insult, revilement, vilification
a rude expression intended to offend or hurt
TTREM: ENVY + ACTIVE or Active jealousy can cause you to ABUSE the other person.
Blinkered:
Adjective: to have a limited outlook or understanding
na light that flashes on and off; used as a signal or to send messages
Synonyms:
flasher
Type of:
light, light source
any device serving as a source of illumination
na blinking light on a motor vehicle that indicates the direction in which the vehicle is
about to turn
Synonyms:
trafficator, turn indicator, turn signal
Type of:
visual signal
a signal that involves visual communication
2 nblind consisting of a leather eyepatch sewn to the side of the halter that prevents a
horse from seeing something on either side
Synonyms:
blinder, winker
Type of:
blind, screen
a protective covering that keeps things out or hinders sight
vput blinders on (a horse)
Type of:
cover
provide with a covering or cause to be covered
In gambling, the addict is easily blinkered by past successes and/or past failures, forgetting that
the outcome of any one game is independent of the games that preceded it.
Mellifluous:
Use the adjective mellifluous to describe something
that sounds sweet and smooth, like the honeyed voice
of a late-night radio DJ.
You might think that that mell in mellifluous has something to
do with mellow. Actually, it's related to Melissa. In Greek
mythology, Melissa was a nymph who discovered that you
could eat the smooth, sweet stuff that bees make. Honeybees
were named after her, and their tasty product was called meli.
Mellifluous means to "flow as if with honey."
adjpleasing to the ear
Synonyms:
dulcet, honeyed, mellisonant, sweet
melodic, melodious, musical
containing or constituting or characterized by pleasing melody
TTREM: the music played by a 'Flute' is mellifluous.
Sangfroid:
If you have sang-froid, you can keep your cool, even
under stress. Your feathers aren't easily ruffled.
This foreign-sounding word is another way of saying "poise
under pressure." We borrowed it from French, where it
literally means "cold blood." Great athletes who do well in the
last two minutes of a game have sang-froid. James Bond
definitely has sang-froid. You better have sang-froid when
you're taking the SATs. If you're worried, nervous and starting
to crack, you've pretty much lost your sang-froid.
ngreat coolness and composure under strain
Synonyms:
aplomb, assuredness, cool, poise
Type of:
calm, calmness, composure, equanimity
steadiness of mind under stress
Juggernaut:
Juggernaut means a massive force. If the army
marching into your country is a juggernaut, you're
doomed. If you're trying to market a new Cola
product, you're up against corporate giant Coca-Cola,
a beverage juggernaut if ever there was one.
With its roots in Hindi, juggernaut originally referred to a
crude statue from which the Hindu god, Brahma, turned into
the living god, Krishna. There continues to be a festival in
honor of this miracle, in which a statue of Krishna is carted
through town. It is said that in times past, devotees would
throw themselves under the cart’s wheels.
na massive inexorable force that seems to crush everything in its way
Synonyms:
steamroller
Type of:
force, power
one possessing or exercising power or influence or authority
TTREM: remember indian god jagannath and his powers
Picayune:
The adjective picayune refers to those things that are
so small, trivial, and unimportant that they're not
worth getting into. Why focus on the picayune
details, when it's the larger ideas that are the real
problem?
There are several newspapers in America called the Picayune,
because they see it as their job to comb through even the
minor details of the story to get to the truth. Hear the word
"picky" in picayune (though they're not related)? That's one
way to remember it. A picky person is picayune. Airline
disaster investigators spend their lives rummaging through the
debris, knowing that it might be the most picayune detail that
leads them to understand the cause of a crash.
adj(informal) small and of little importance
“giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be
a picayune infraction”
Synonyms:
fiddling, footling, lilliputian, little, niggling, petty,piddling, piffling, trivial
unimportant
not important
TTREM: picayune: relate it to pico, which means small. so picayune->pico->small or petty
things
Benighted:
Being called benighted is much like being called
naive. It means lacking in knowledge or
understanding—the kind you might have if you were
older or more sophisticated.
Although it sounds a lot like "being knighted", benighted has
nothing to do with knights and, in fact, includes the word
"night" (as in the opposite of day) and not "knight" (as in "of
the Round Table"). One way to remember what benighted
means is to think of a person "being nighted" or, put into the
dark. A benighted person is in the dark about things: they don't
know because they can't see. The Dark Ages are thought to
have been a benighted time, full of primitive ideas.
adjovertaken by night or darkness
“benighted (or nighted) travelers hurrying toward home”
Synonyms:
nighted
unpunctual
not punctual; after the appointed time
adjlacking enlightenment or knowledge or culture
“this benighted country”
“benighted ages of barbarism and superstition”
Synonyms:
dark
unenlightened
not enlightened; ignorant
TTREM: NIGHT=DARK. The "Dark Ages" (a time period lacking in reason and progress)
was followed by the "Age of Enlightenment".
Peremptory:
Peremptory comments are like orders. If you say
something in a peremptory manner, you want people
to stop what they’re doing and do what you say.
Peremptory comments put an end to a discussion, and
that’s final!
The word peremptory comes from the Latin peremptorius for
―decisive, final.‖ Trace it further and find that peremptor
means "destroyer," from perimpere for "destroy, cut off.‖
Basically, peremptory commands destroy the conversation.
They are given with an air of authority, and they are often
barked. In the courtroom, peremptory orders are not open to
appeal; they’re final. Outside of the courtroom, a peremptory
manner is just plain rude.
adjputting an end to all debate or action
“a peremptory decree”
Synonyms:
decisive
determining or having the power to determine an outcome
adjnot allowing contradiction or refusal
“spoke in peremptory tones”
“peremptory commands”
Synonyms:
imperative
requiring attention or action
adjoffensively self-assured or given to exercising usually unwarranted power
“a swaggering peremptory manner”
Synonyms:
autocratic, bossy, dominating, high-and-mighty,magisterial
domineering
tending to domineer
TTREM: Remember it with pre-empty, i.e something which is already empty, needs to be
filled, it demands...
Arch:
An arch is a shape that resembles an upside down
"U." You may find this shape in a carefully tweezed
eyebrow or in the famous golden pair that make you
hunger for a Big Mac.
In architecture, an arch is an opening that is often found
supporting the weight of a something above it — like a bridge
or a wall. In downtown St. Louis, you can visit the Gateway
Arch — a freestanding catenary arch that is 630 feet tall and
630 feet wide. As a verb, arch means to make an arch-like
shape. "She stretched her back by arching it into a backbend."
As an adjective, arch can describe something mischievous or
sly: "He teased his friend with an arch comment about his
shyness around girls."
n(architecture) a masonry construction (usually curved) for spanning an opening and
supporting the weight above it
Types:
abutment arch
an arch supported by an abutment
broken arch
an arch with a gap at the apex; the gap is usually filled with some decoration
camber arch
an arch with a straight horizontal extrados and a slightly arched intrados
corbel arch
(architecture) an arch constructed of masonry courses that are corbelled until they meet
flat arch, straight arch
an arch with mutually supporting voussoirs that has a straight horizontal extrados and intrados
pier arch
an arch supported on piers
pointed arch
an arch with a pointed apex; characteristic of Gothic architecture
proscenium arch
the arch over the opening in the proscenium wall
rampant arch
an arch whose support is higher on one side than on the other
round arch
an arch formed in a continuous curve; characteristic of Roman architecture
rowlock arch
an arch that is formed with more than one concentric row of voussoirs
safety arch
an undecorated arch that is included in order to strengthen or support a construction
scoinson arch, sconcheon arch
an arch that supports part of the wall
segmental arch
a shallow arch; an arch that is less than a semicircle
shouldered arch
an arch consisting of a horizontal lintel supported at each end by corbels that project into the
aperture
diminished arch, scheme arch, skeen arch, skene arch
an arch whose height is less than half its width
skew arch
an arch whose jambs are not at right angles with the face
squinch
a small arch built across the interior angle of two walls (usually to support a spire)
trimmer arch
an arch built between trimmers in a floor (to support the weight of a hearth)
triumphal arch
a monumental archway; usually they are built to commemorate some notable victory
Tudor arch, four-centered arch
a low elliptical or pointed arch; usually drawn from four centers
bell arch
a round arch resting on corbels
drop arch
a blunt pointed arch drawn from two centers within the span
Gothic arch
a pointed arch; usually has a joint (instead of a keystone) at the apex
Moorish arch, horseshoe arch
a round arch that widens before rounding off
keel arch, ogee arch
a pointed arch having an S-shape on both sides
Roman arch, semicircular arch
a round arch drawn from a single center
basket-handle arch, three-centered arch
a round arch whose inner curve is drawn with circles having three centers
trefoil arch
a pointed arch having cusps in the intrados on either side of the apex
trumpet arch
a conical squinch
Type of:
construction, structure
a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts
na passageway under a curved masonry construction
“they built a triumphal arch to memorialize their victory”
Synonyms:
archway
Type of:
entrance, entranceway, entree, entry, entryway
something that provides access (to get in or get out)
na curved shape in the vertical plane that spans an opening
Type of:
curve, curved shape
the trace of a point whose direction of motion changes
na curved bony structure supporting or enclosing organs (especially the inner sides of
the feet)
Types:
metatarsal arch
the short lateral arch formed by the heads of the metatarsals
instep
the arch of the foot
pectoral arch, shoulder girdle
the bony arch formed by the collarbones and shoulder blades in humans
haemal arch, hemal arch
a structure arising ventrally from a vertebral centrum and enclosing the caudal blood vessels
neural arch, vertebral arch
a structure arising dorsally from a vertebral centrum and enclosing the spinal cord
fallen arch, sunken arch
an instep flattened so the entire sole rests on the ground
Type of:
skeletal structure
any structure created by the skeleton of an organism
vform an arch or curve
“her back arches”
Synonyms:
arc, curve
Types:
camber
curve upward in the middle
Type of:
bend, flex
form a curve
2 adj(used of behavior or attitude) characteristic of those who treat others with
condescension
Synonyms:
condescending, patronising, patronizing
superior
of or characteristic of high rank or importance
adjnaughtily or annoyingly playful
Synonyms:
impish, implike, mischievous, pixilated, prankish,puckish, wicked
playful
full of fun and high spirits
adjexpert in skulduggery
“an arch criminal”
Synonyms:
skilled
having or showing or requiring special skill
Excoriate:
When it comes to ―telling someone off,‖ excoriate is
reserved for the most severe cases. So, before you
excoriate your little sister for borrowing your favorite
jacket without permission, consider whether she truly
deserves such harsh treatment.
If you excoriate someone, you let that person know that you
really, really disagree with them. This verb goes beyond mere
criticism; it implies anger, a harsh and insulting tone, and even
a scathing attack. Synonyms of excoriate include denounce,
decry, and condemn. In a medical sense, excoriate means ―to
tear skin off by chafing.‖ A bad rug burn can excoriate your
skin. If someone excoriates you verbally, it might make you
feel like you’ve been physically excoriated.
vexpress strong disapproval of
Synonyms:
condemn, decry, objurgate, reprobate
Type of:
denounce
speak out against
vtear or wear off the skin or make sore by abrading
Synonyms:
chafe
Type of:
abrade, abrase, corrade, rub down, rub off
wear away
TTREM: If you excrete on somebody, you will get excoriated.
Hedge:
A hedge is a living fence made of closely planted
bushes, which, as they grow and get trimmed and
shaped, form a wall of green.
Hedge can also be used as a verb. If you someone asks you a
question and you hedge, you're avoiding a straight answer. If
you hedge your bets, you're trying to minimize risk or loss —
that is, you're trying to cover yourself no matter what happens.
If you're not sure, for instance, what your boss's political
views are, you can hedge your bets by not revealing yours.
na fence formed by a row of closely planted shrubs or bushes
Synonyms:
hedgerow
Types:
privet hedge
hedge of privet plants
shelterbelt, windbreak
hedge or fence of trees designed to lessen the force of the wind and reduce erosion
Type of:
fence, fencing
a barrier that serves to enclose an area
venclose or bound in with or as it with a hedge or hedges
“hedge the property”
Synonyms:
hedge in
Type of:
close in, enclose, inclose, shut in
surround completely
vhinder or restrict with or as if with a hedge
“The animals were hedged in”
Synonyms:
hedge in
enclose or bound in with or as it with a hedge or hedges
Type of:
hem in
surround in a restrictive manner
2 nany technique designed to reduce or eliminate financial risk; for example, taking two
positions that will offset each other if prices change
Synonyms:
hedging
Type of:
protection, security
defense against financial failure; financial independence
vminimize loss or risk
“diversify your financial portfolio to hedge price risks”
“hedge your bets”
Type of:
minimise, minimize
make small or insignificant
3 nan intentionally noncommittal or ambiguous statement
“when you say `maybe' you are just hedging”
Synonyms:
hedging
Type of:
equivocation, evasion
a statement that is not literally false but that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth
vavoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)
Synonyms:
circumvent, dodge, duck, elude, evade, fudge, parry,put off, sidestep, skirt
Types:
beg
dodge, avoid answering, or take for granted
quibble
evade the truth of a point or question by raising irrelevant objections
Type of:
avoid
stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something
TTREM: HEDGE,think of HEGDE,the politician who AVOIDS PERFORMING
DUTIES.No offence hegde supporters
Quixotic:
Use quixotic for someone or something that is
romantic and unrealistic, or possessed by almost
impossible hopes. Your quixotic task is easy to
understand, if difficult to achieve: establish world
peace.
What a wonderful word quixotic is! While it is most often
used to mean equally impractical and idealistic, it also has the
sense of romantic nobility. Its source is from the great Spanish
novel "Don Quixote," whose title character is given to
unrealistic schemes and great chivalry. In the middle of a
recession and high unemployment, it would be quixotic to
imagine that you could quit your job and find another easily.
adjnot sensible about practical matters; idealistic and unrealistic
“as quixotic as a restoration of medieval knighthood”
Synonyms:
romantic, wild-eyed
impractical
not practical; not workable or not given to practical matters
TTREM: quixotic== quick + exotic, if you desire something exotic to happen quickly in
your life it is just a daydream
Sartorial:
If it's the day before a big event and you have no idea
what to wear and nothing in your closet is going to
cut it, you are facing a sartorial dilemma — one that
pertains to clothing, fashion or dressing.
Sartorial comes from the Modern Latin word sartor which
means "tailor," literally "one who patches and mends." In
English the adjectives sartorial and sartorially are used to refer
to any matter pertaining to the consideration of clothing or
fashion. The root word sartor has also made its way into the
field of biology. The sartorius — a muscle in the leg and the
longest muscle in the human body — gets its name because it
is used when crossing the legs, also known as the ―tailor's
position."
Adjective: related to fashion or clothes
TTREM: sounds like sari tore and you need a tailor to fix it, thus sartorial pertains to
tailoring
Malapropism:
A malapropism occurs when you say one word but
you mean another, like instead of saying a certain
restaurant is prosperous, you say it is preposterous.
As you can tell, malapropisms are often humorous,
though sometimes the joke is on the speaker. The word malapropism, pronounced "mah-luh-PRAH-pih-
zum," comes from the French phrase mal à propos, which
means "ill-suited." Playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan must
have been thinking of the French phrase when he created his
character Mrs. Malaprop, who made audiences howl with
laughter when she used the wrong word. Examples include
saying "allegory" instead of "alligator," and "illiterate him
from your memory" instead of "obliterate."
nthe unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar
Synonyms:
malaprop
Type of:
misstatement
a statement that contains a mistake
TTREM: mal (negative) + prop (proper usage) .. improper usage of words
Vituperate:
To vituperate is to speak or write in an extremely
negative way about someone.
Just as vituperation consists of negative, explosive, malicious
outbursts, to vituperate is to communicate in this way.
Negative political ads vituperate against opponents. When you
insult someone and swear at them, you vituperate. People with
a short temper tend to vituperate often — it's similar to railing,
vilifying, and reviling. The root word is the Latin
vituperationem, "blame or censuring," from vitium, "fault or
defect."
vspread negative information about
Synonyms:
rail, revile, vilify
Type of:
abuse, blackguard, clapperclaw, shout
use foul or abusive language towards
vcensure severely or angrily
Synonyms:
bawl out, berate, call down, call on the carpet, chew out, chew up, chide, dress down, have words, jaw,lambast, lambaste, lecture, rag, rebuke, remonstrate,reprimand, reproof, scold, take to task, trounce
Types:
castigate, chasten, chastise, correct, objurgate
censure severely
brush down, tell off
reprimand
flame
criticize harshly, usually via an electronic medium
Type of:
criticise, criticize, knock, pick apart
find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws
TTREM: think of the word "berate" (to scold/rebuke)--- vitu(p)BERATE
Venial:
Some crimes are unforgivable. Others are venial —
venial crimes and sins are excusable. They're not a
big deal.
In school, there are so many things that are against the rules:
talking during class, tossing spitballs, pulling the fire alarm,
stealing a basketball, etc. Something venial would be
something against the rules but forgivable. For example, if you
were late for school because your parents were in the hospital,
that lateness is venial. If you burned the gym down, that could
never be considered venial. When you see venial, think
"forgivable," "excusable," and "no biggie."
adjwarranting only temporal punishment
“venial sin”
Synonyms:
minor
pardonable
admitting of being pardoned
adjeasily excused or forgiven
“a venial error”
Synonyms:
excusable, forgivable
pardonable
admitting of being pardoned
TTREM: key word is menial. We forgive someone for menial mistakes.
Pollyannaish:
Someone who is unfailingly cheerful — no matter
what — can be described as pollyannaish. If your
friend tells you some terribly bad news, it would be
pollyannaish to say, "Yes, but it's such a beautiful
day!" While the adjective pollyannaish describes an optimistic
outlook and a determined cheeriness, it also implies that this
attitude is taken too far. When you put a positive spin on
everything, even things that call for sadness or
discouragement, you're being pollyannaish. The word comes
from a 1913 children's book by Eleanor H. Porter, Pollyanna,
about a young girl who tries to find something positive in
every situation — a trick she calls "the Glad Game."
adjpleasantly (even unrealistically) optimistic
Synonyms:
cheerful, upbeat
optimistic
expecting the best in this best of all possible worlds
TTREM: pollyannaish= polly (polythene) + annaish (nash > end). We hope one day jute
product will take place over polythene.
Maudlin:
You can use maudlin to describe something that
brings tears to your eyes, or makes you feel very
emotional. Tearjerkers like "Forrest Gump" and
"Titanic" can be described as maudlin.
Maudlin was a form of the name Mary Magdalene, a character
from the Bible represented in paintings as a weeping sinner
asking forgiveness from Jesus. Maudlin is often paired with
sentimental, or even schlocky, to describe cry-fests, as in "I
can't watch another second of that overly-sentimental, maudlin
soap opera. Turn that schlock off."
adjeffusively or insincerely emotional
“maudlin expressions of sympathy”
Synonyms:
bathetic, drippy, hokey, kitschy, mawkish, mushy,schmaltzy, schmalzy, sentimental, slushy, soppy,soupy
emotional
of more than usual emotion
TTREM; when she received a call from the MODELLING company for her appointment,
she became EFFUSIVELY SENTIMENTAL and wept a lot.Her dream had come true.
Pyrrhic:
Use the adjective pyrrhic to describe a victory that is
won, but at too great a cost. In this use as an
adjective, the word is often capitalized.
The word pyrrhic comes from the Greek general, Pyrrhus, who
defeated the Romans at the Battle of Asculum but lost so
many troops that he couldn't defeat Rome itself. If you are the
winner in an argument with your brother, but the fight ends up
ruining your relationship with him, it's a Pyrrhic victory. An
ancient Greek war dance is also called a pyrrhic.
adjof or relating to or resembling Pyrrhus or his exploits (especially his sustaining
staggering losses in order to defeat the Romans)
“a Pyrrhic victory”
adjof or relating to a war dance of ancient Greece
“pyrrhic dance movements”
nan ancient Greek dance imitating the motions of warfare
Type of:
ceremonial dance, ritual dance, ritual dancing
a dance that is part of a religious ritual
2 adjof or relating to or containing a metrical foot of two unstressed syllables
“pyrrhic verses”
na metrical unit with unstressed-unstressed syllables
Synonyms:
dibrach
Type of:
foot, metrical foot, metrical unit
(prosody) a group of 2 or 3 syllables forming the basic unit of poetic rhythm
Limpid:
The adjective limpid describes something (often
liquid) that is clear, serene and bright. Nature
calendars often feature glamour shots of a limpid
stream or a limpid lake.
The adjective limpid may also describe language that is easily
understandable. Your teacher might ask you to give an answer
in a single limpid sentence. But he probably won't because
limpid is a word that's fallen out of use. Maybe because it
sounds too much like limp. Or maybe because it's associated
with the king of all clichés: "Her eyes were like limpid pools."
adjclear and bright
“limpid blue eyes”
Synonyms:
liquid
clear
allowing light to pass through
adjtransmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity
“could see the sand on the bottom of the limpid pool”
Synonyms:
crystal clear, crystalline, lucid, pellucid, transparent
clear
allowing light to pass through
adj(of language) transparently clear; easily understandable
“writes in a limpid style”
Synonyms:
crystal clear, lucid, luculent, pellucid, perspicuous
clear
readily apparent to the mind
TTREM: limpid ..liquid...transparent...
Jejune:
Use the adjective jejune to describe something that is
uninteresting or insignificant. Many people claim to
find celebrity gossip jejune, but ask them about a
recent movie star scandal and chances are they know
all about it.
Jejune can also describe something that’s immature or
simplistic. All that actress could say about her latest movie
was that it was ―Super fun‖? That’s a pretty jejune comment.
Basically jejune means lacking substance. It originally comes
from the Latin word jejunus, which means ―fasting,‖ so when
something is jejune, it’s figuratively empty — devoid of
intellectual nourishment.
adjlacking interest or significance or impact
“jejune novel”
Synonyms:
insipid
uninteresting
arousing no interest or attention or curiosity or excitement
adjdisplaying or suggesting a lack of maturity
“jejune responses to our problems”
Synonyms:
adolescent, juvenile, puerile
immature
characteristic of a lack of maturity
adjlacking in nutritive value
“the jejune diets of the very poor”
Synonyms:
insubstantial
unwholesome
detrimental to physical or moral well-being
TTREM: think of june.. students feel dull as their summer holidays are about to end
Execrate:
Just when you thought you knew every word in the
book for hate, here's a new one: execrate. The word
means to despise or also to curse.
Broken down to its Latin root, the word execrate means the
opposite of being sacred or devoted to. When you execrate
something you, are cursing it instead of making it holy. The
word is not used all that often. If you say to someone, "I
execrate you!" they might think you're casting an evil spell on
them. Which in a way, by cursing them, you are.
vcurse or declare to be evil or anathema or threaten with divine punishment
Synonyms:
accurse, anathematise, anathematize, anathemise,anathemize, comminate
Type of:
deplore
express strong disapproval of
vfind repugnant
Synonyms:
abhor, abominate, loathe
Type of:
detest, hate
dislike intensely; feel antipathy or aversion towards
TTREM: execrate = ex + secrate i.e say something non-sacred or curse.
Propitiate:
Verb: to placate or appease
The two sons, plying their angry father with cheesy neckties for Christmas, were hardly able to
propitiate him – the father already had a drawer full of ones he had never worn before or ever
planned to.
Factitious
Adjective: artificial; not natural
The defendant’s story was largely factitious and did not accord with eyewitness testimonies
Remonstrate:
Remonstrate means to call someone on something
that's wrong. If your mother yells at you in public,
you might call this getting chewed out. She might
call it remonstrating. Either way, it's embarrassing. Remonstrate has its roots in a Latin verb meaning "to show,"
and it used to mean "to make plain." Which is why
remonstrate is a word that puts the glow of respectability on
the action of yelling at someone or telling them that they're
wrong. The sense is that the person remonstrating is the victim
— they're just making the injustice plain.
vargue in protest or opposition
Type of:
object
express or raise an objection or protest or criticism or express dissent
vpresent and urge reasons in opposition
Synonyms:
point out
Types:
represent
point out or draw attention to in protest or remonstrance
Type of:
inform
impart knowledge of some fact, state or affairs, or event to
vcensure severely or angrily
Synonyms:
bawl out, berate, call down, call on the carpet, chew out, chew up, chide, dress down, have words, jaw,lambast, lambaste, lecture, rag, rebuke, reprimand,reproof, scold, take to task, trounce, vituperate
Types:
castigate, chasten, chastise, correct, objurgate
censure severely
brush down, tell off
reprimand
flame
criticize harshly, usually via an electronic medium
Type of:
criticise, criticize, knock, pick apart
find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws
TTREM: Think RE as in Real and MONSTRATE as in Monster. I would remonstrate
(object) a claim that monsters are real.
Imbroglio:
An imbroglio is a complicated or confusing personal
situation. To rephrase the J. Geils band song, "Love
Stinks," if you love her and she loves him and he
loves somebody else, you've got quite an imbroglio.
Although an imbroglio is a tangled situation or a messy
complicated misunderstanding, its history is just the opposite,
clear as a bell. Imbroglio is just a borrowed word from Italian
meaning "entanglement." If something embarrassing happens
at a public event, such as a mishap during the musical
performances at the Super Bowl, it is sometimes called an
imbroglio.
nan intricate and confusing interpersonal or political situation
Synonyms:
embroilment
Type of:
situation
a complex or critical or unusual difficulty
na very embarrassing misunderstanding
Type of:
misinterpretation, mistaking, misunderstanding
putting the wrong interpretation on
TTREM; Imbroglio = I+M+bro+gigolo = I am brother of a gigolo (male prostitute).. which
can be a very embarrassing or difficult situation.
Cupidity:
Remember the saying ―Greed is good‖? It could just
as easily be ―Cupidity is good,‖ though admittedly it
doesn’t roll off the tongue quite the same way.
Cupidity means a burning desire to have more wealth
than you need.
Though it sounds like it might have something to do with the
little winged figure who shoots arrows and makes folks fall in
love on Valentine’s Day, cupidity is all about the love of
money. It comes to us from Latin cupidus, which means
"desirous." It’s not a word that crops up a lot in conversation,
though you might run across it in newspapers and magazines,
particularly those blaming Wall Street’s unbridled cupidity for
America’s economic woes.
nextreme greed for material wealth
Synonyms:
avarice, avariciousness, covetousness
Type of:
greed
excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or
deserves
Bilious:
If an unpleasant meal has left you feeling grumpy and
looking green, you're bilious in several senses of the
word. This adjective can mean both "troubled by
indigestion" and "irritable," and it can also be used to
suggest a sickly green shade.
The wonderfully descriptive word bilious comes from the root
bile, which is a foul green fluid made in the liver and stored in
the gall bladder — a fact that helps us picture something
described as bilious as being really foul. Because of the
connection with bile, we often refer to something that's an
ugly shade of green as being bilious. Of course, the word can
also be more kindly applied to someone who has a liver or gall
bladder disorder.
adjrelating to or containing bile
Synonyms:
biliary
adjsuffering from or suggesting a liver disorder or gastric distress
Synonyms:
liverish, livery
ill, sick
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
adjirritable as if suffering from indigestion
Synonyms:
atrabilious, dyspeptic, liverish
ill-natured
having an irritable and unpleasant disposition
TTREM: don’t bil bil in front of me, its disgusting.
Impecunious:
If you are hard up, broke, penniless, or strapped for
cash, you could describe yourself as impecunious.
Then maybe you could make some money teaching
vocabulary words.
Impecunious comes from the old Latin word for money,
pecunia, combined with the prefix im, meaning not or without.
But impecunious doesn’t just mean having no money. It
means that you almost never have any money. If you go into
the arts, you are most likely facing an impecunious future. If
you gamble away your cash instead of saving it for rent, your
landlord might throw you out for being impecunious.
adjnot having enough money to pay for necessities
Synonyms:
hard up, in straitened circumstances, penniless,penurious, pinched
poor
having little money or few possessions
TTREM: im+pecunious: pecunious means rich, so impcunous memans without money
Jaundiced:
you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror. To your surprise, and horror,
instead of your usual rosy complexion, your skin is yellow and the whites of your
eyes are yellow, too! You, my friend, are jaundiced.
Jaundice is from the Greek, ikteros, which referred to both the disease and a rare, yellow bird. It
was thought that someone with jaundice could stare at this yellow bird, and the jaundice would
be magically transferred to the bird. Jaundiced can also refer to ideas or feelings being distorted
by negative views or qualities, since yellow has been associated with bitterness and envy. Too
bad there is no bird to get rid of that!
adjaffected by jaundice which causes yellowing of skin etc
Synonyms:
icteric, yellow
unhealthy
not in or exhibiting good health in body or mind
adjshowing or affected by prejudice or envy or distaste
“looked with a jaundiced eye on the growth of regimentation”
“takes a jaundiced view of societies and clubs”
Synonyms:
discriminatory, prejudiced
being biased or having a belief or attitude formed beforehand
Sententious:
If you speak in sententious phrases, your listeners are probably
falling asleep, as your speech is pompous and pretentious, and
full of moralistic babble.
When sententious first appeared in English — back in the late
Middle Ages — it meant "full of wisdom," but now it usually
has a negative sense, meaning heavy handed and self-
important. The sententious blowhard makes people laugh, and
you can probably think of at least three cartoon characters who
fit the bill — often a politician or minister who drones on and
on, oblivious to the fact that his audience is snickering or
trying to sneak out.
adjconcise and full of meaning
“"the peculiarly sardonic and sententious style in which Don Luis composed his
epigrams"- Hervey Allen”
Synonyms:
pithy
concise
expressing much in few words
adjabounding in or given to pompous or aphoristic moralizing
“"too often the significant episode deteriorates into sententiousconversation"-
Kathleen Barnes”
Synonyms:
pretentious
making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction
TTREM; Sentence+less - Someone who can concisely explain his views in just a few
sentences (less sentences used).
Fell:
Adjective: terribly evil
For fans of the Harry Potter series, the fell Lord Voldemort, who terrorized poor Harry for seven
lengthy installments, has finally been vanquished by the forces of good—unless, that is, JK
Rowling decides to come out of retirement.
TTREM: fell-hell;so cruel and deadly
Disabuse:
Disabuse means to free someone of a belief that is
not true. Many teachers of health find that when they
teach, they spend as much energy disabusing kids of
false beliefs as they do giving them the facts.
Disabuse is often connected to the word notion or idea. In
singing lessons, you must disabuse young singers of the idea
that they can sing better by singing louder. In the first year of
college, many people are disabused of the idea that the way
they are is "normal," by meeting so many people who
represent other ways to be.
vfree somebody (from an erroneous belief)
Type of:
inform
impart knowledge of some fact, state or affairs, or event to
Histrionic:
Anything that has to do with actors or acting can be called histrionic, like a
Broadway actor's histrionic voice projection that would sound strange in everyday
life but is perfect for the stage.
The adjective histrionic, pronounced "his-tree-ON-ic," comes from the Latin words histrionicus
and histrio which mean ―actor.‖ It can describe things that have to do with acting on the stage,
but it can also describe a person who in regular life is a little too dramatic and even over-acts,
like your friend whose histrionic rantings make a trip to the grocery store seem like a matter of
life and death.
djcharacteristic of acting or a stage performance; often affected
“histrionic gestures”
Synonyms:
melodramatic
theatrical
suited to or characteristic of the stage or theater
TTREM: histrionic-- sounds like history. We find that most of the plays performed on stage
in the theatre are from history, hence the name histrionic, theatrical.
Martinet:
Noun: a strict disciplinarian
The job seemed perfect to Rebecca, until she found out that her boss was a total martinet; after
each project the boss would come by to scrutinize—and inevitably criticize—every little detail of
the work Rebecca had done.
Mulct:
The meaning of mulct is as nasty as it sounds; it
means to fine someone or the money you collect as a
result of a fine. No one wants to pay an extra mulct to
the city, when it's the city who mismanaged the
budget.
Got mulct? Then somebody took your money. They "milked"
you by mulcting you. And the money that they took? That's
called mulct, too. Some people believe that there's no
difference between being mulcted by the state and being
shaken down by the mob. In fact, the word mulct is often used
to mean having your money taken unfairly or as a kind of
punishment or as extortion.
nmoney extracted as a penalty
Synonyms:
amercement, fine
Types:
library fine
fine imposed by a library on books that overdue when returned
Type of:
penalty
a payment required for not fulfilling a contract
vimpose a fine on
Type of:
impose, levy
impose and collect
vdeprive of by deceit
TTREM: mal+ act >>> -ve act...
Tendentious:
If you are writing a report on climate change, and ignore evidence that the earth is
warming, the paper might be called tendentious. Tendentious means promoting a
specific, and controversial, point of view.
When something is tendentious, it shows a bias towards a particular point of view, especially one
that people disagree about. It shares a root with the word, tendency, which means leaning
towards acting a certain way. If you have the tendency to talk in a tendentious manner about
politics, people might tend to avoid you at parties.
adjhaving or marked by a strong tendency especially a controversial one
“a tendentious account of recent elections”
“distinguishing between verifiable fact and tendentiousassertion”
Synonyms:
tendencious
partisan, partizan
devoted to a cause or party
TTREM: Rearrange the words to make - Tend or Tendency + ious or bias. So,
TENDENTIOUS is a TENDENcy towards one viewpoint over another.
Schadenfreude:
When another person's bad luck secretly makes you
feel good, that's Schadenfreude. Your brother's
rejection from a college that also rejected you might
give you a twinge of Schadenfreude.
If you're fired from your difficult job, no one can blame you
for a bit of Schadenfreude as you watch your replacement
struggle with your old tasks. This German word perfectly
captures that satisfied feeling everyone gets at times when
someone else runs into misfortune. In German, Schadenfreude
literally means "damage-joy," and it's always spelled with a
capital S. The word came into English use in the 1920's, and
you can spell it with a small s if you prefer.
noun: joy from watching the suffering of others
ndelight in another person's misfortune
Type of:
delectation, delight
a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction
From his warm apartment window, Stanley reveled in schadenfreude as he laughed at the figures
below, huddled together in the arctic chill.
Palimpsest:
If you are writing fast and hastily erase something not
quite all the way and continue writing right over the
smudgy bit, then you’ve created a palimpsest —
which means you can see traces of the earlier writing
mixed in with the new.
The noun palimpsest originally described a document, such as
a page from a manuscript written on parchment, that had been
rubbed smooth so it could be used again, with traces of the
original writing showing through. The word still carries that
meaning, but ancient manuscripts are rare these days, so
you’re more likely to hear palimpsest used to describe
something that has traces of early stages showing through, like
"the palimpsest of an urban neighborhood" — in which hints
of earlier styles and designs are still evident among the new
highrises.
na manuscript (usually written on papyrus or parchment) on which more than one
text has been written with the earlier writing incompletely erased and still visible
Type of:
holograph, manuscript
handwritten book or document
Arriviste:
Noun: a person who has recently reached a position of power; a social climber
The city center was aflutter with arrivistes who tried to outdo one another with their ostentatious
sports cars and chic evening dress.