MDCAT Essential Word Power Flashcards

This set of flashcards covers key vocabulary terms, definitions, and synonyms from the MDCAT English Word Power lecture notes to help students prepare for their exams.

Abandon

To leave someone or something behind, especially when there is a personal responsibility; or to stop an activity before it is finished due to danger or difficulty.

Abate

To gradually lessen or diminish in intensity; in a legal context, to suppress or end a nuisance or writ.

Abhor

To reject or disapprove of something very strongly; to detest or loathe.

Abjure

To formally renounce a previously held belief or to deny oneself something by abstaining.

Abnegation

The act of rejecting or renouncing something; self-denial or avoidance.

Abominate

To intensely dislike and disapprove of someone or something; to loathe.

Aboriginal

Relating to people or things that have existed in a place from the earliest known times; indigenous.

Abridge

To shorten a text by summarizing or cutting it; to reduce the scope or extent of something.

Abscond

To depart secretly and suddenly, typically to avoid legal prosecution or arrest.

Absolve

To officially declare someone free from guilt, responsibility, or sin.

Abstruse

Describing something that is obscure and difficult to understand or grasp.

Abysmal

Extremely bad, severe, or horrible; can also describe something very deep like an abyss.

Accede

To give consent or agreement to a request; to attain a position of power or sign a treaty.

Accession

The act of taking up a position of power; also refers to an addition to a collection or formal acceptance of a treaty.

Acclaim

To praise or welcome someone or something publicly and with great enthusiasm.

Accomplish

To successfully carry out or complete a task or mission.

Accredited

Officially recognized, authorized, or meeting specific standards, especially regarding investors.

Accumulate

To gather, collect, or increase in quantity over a period of time.

Acknowledge

To admit the truth or existence of something; to show appreciation or officially recognize help.

Acquaintance

A person known slightly rather than intimately; or a slight knowledge of a subject.

Acquittal

A formal judgment by a court stating that a person is not guilty of the charges against them.

Acrid

Unpleasantly pungent or bitter in smell or taste; or sharp and bitter in tone.

Acrimonious

Full of or displaying anger, resentment, and bitter feelings.

Addicted

Physiologically or psychologically dependent on a substance; or being very enthusiastic and devoted to an activity.

Adjacent

Situated near or next to something; sharing a common border or vertex.

Adjourn

To temporarily suspend proceedings, such as a court session or meeting, to a later time.

Adoration

A feeling of deep love, respect, and high regard; worship or extreme admiration.

Adulterate

To make a substance impure or inferior by adding unsuitable elements.

Affinity

A natural liking for or identification with someone; or a similarity in structure suggesting a common origin.

Affluent

Having an abundance of wealth and material possessions; prosperous.

Agility

The ability to move quickly and easily; nimbleness and mental alertness.

Alienation

The state of being isolated or estranged from a group; also a mortgage provision for full payment upon sale.

Allegiance

Loyalty or commitment of a subordinate to a superior or of an individual to a group or state.

Alleviate

To make something, such as physical pain or hardship, more bearable or less severe.

Altercation

A noisy, heated argument or disagreement, typically in public.

Ambiguous

Open to more than one interpretation; lacking a clear meaning or causing uncertainty.

Ameliorate

To make something better or to improve a situation.

Amiable

Friendly, pleasant, and easy to be with; having a good-natured temperament.

Anguish

Extreme mental or physical suffering, agony, or torment.

Annihilate

To destroy something completely so that it ceases to exist; to defeat an opponent decisively.

Antagonistic

Showing or feeling active opposition or hostility toward someone or something.

Anticipate

To expect or predict something will happen and take action to prepare for it.

Antipathy

A deep-seated feeling of dislike or strong hostility toward someone or something.

Antique

A collectible object valued for its age and quality; relating to ancient times, especially Greece and Rome.

Antithesis

A person or thing that is the direct or exact opposite of another.

Appease

To pacify someone by acceding to their demands; to satisfy a physical need like thirst.

Applaud

To express approval or appreciation by clapping hands; to praise an achievement.

Apposite

Highly appropriate or relevant to the circumstances at hand.

Apprehend

To arrest someone for a crime; to understand the significance of something; or to perceive through the senses.

Apprise

To inform or give notice to someone about a specific matter.

Approbation

An expression of warm approval; official sanction or authorization.

Arbitrary

Based on random choice or personal whim rather than on any reason or system.

Ardent

Feeling great passion, enthusiasm, or eagerness; shining or glowing with a fiery quality.

Arduous

Involving or requiring strenuous effort; difficult and tiring to complete.

Arraign

To call or bring someone before a court to answer a criminal charge.

Ascendancy

A position of dominant power or influence over others.

Assimilate

To integrate into a group or culture; to absorb and understand information; or to incorporate nutrients into the body.

Assuage

To provide relief from something distressing or painful; to soothe or mitigate.

Atonement

The act of making amends for a sin or mistake; in religion, the reconciliation of God and mankind.

Attenuate

To reduce the force, effect, or value of something; to make something thinner or weaker.

Audacious

Willing to take bold risks; showing a lack of respect in challenging conventions.

Augment

To make something greater by adding to it; to increase in size or intensity.

Auspicious

Conducive to success; favorable or characterized by lucky signs.

Aversion

A strong feeling of dislike or opposition toward something.

Avocation

An activity done for pleasure; a hobby or minor occupation.

Baffle

To totally bewilder or frustrate someone; a device used to control the flow of sound or fluid.

Balk

To hesitate or be unwilling to accept a situation or undertaking; in baseball, an illegal pitching motion.

Banal

So lacking in originality as to be obvious and boring; commonplace.

Banter

The playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks.

Barbaric

Savagely cruel or exceedingly brutal; unsophisticated or uncivilized.

Barricade

An improvised barrier created to prevent or delay the movement of opposing forces.

Bayou

A marshy outlet of a lake or river, common in the southern United States.

Beatific

Feeling or expressing blissful happiness; relating to heavenly peace.

Bedlam

A scene or state of wild uproar, noisy confusion, and chaos.

Beguile

To charm or enchant someone, often in a deceptive way; to pass time pleasantly.

Belie

To fail to give a true impression of something; to disguise or contradict.

Belittle

To make someone or something seem unimportant or insignificant.

Belligerent

Hostile and aggressive; engaged in a recognized war or conflict.

Benediction

An utterance of good wishes; a prayer for God's blessing, typically at the end of a religious service.

Benevolent

Well-meaning, kind, and charitable toward others.

Bequest

Legal property or wealth left to someone in a will.

Berate

To scold, criticize, or rebuke someone angrily and at length.

Bereft

Deprived of or lacking something, especially a non-physical asset; suffering the loss of a loved one.

Beset

To harass or trouble someone persistently; to surround or attack from all sides.

Bewilder

To cause someone to become perplexed and confused.

Bibliophile

A person who collects or has a great love of books.

Bigotry

Intolerance and prejudice toward those who hold different opinions.

Bizarre

Very strange or unusual, especially so as to cause interest or amusement.

Blandishment

A flattering or pleasing statement used to persuade someone gently to do something.

Blasphemy

The act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things.

Blatant

Done openly and unashamedly, even when involving negative behavior; offensively conspicuous.

Blithe

Showing a casual and cheerful indifference considered to be callous or improper.

Boggle

To hesitate due to fear or being overwhelmed; to bewilder the mind.

Boisterous

Noisy, energetic, and cheerful; rowdy or turbulent.

Bombastic

High-sounding but with little meaning; inflated and pompous speech.

Boorish

Rough and bad-mannered; coarse and uncouth.

Brandish

To wave or flourish something, especially a weapon, as a threat or in anger/excitement.

Brevity

Shortness of time; concise and exact use of words in writing or speech.

Brusque

Abrupt or offhand in speech or manner; blunt.

Bungle

To carry out a task clumsily or incompetently, leading to failure or a mistake.