AP lit flash cards

proscribe (v.)

to prohibit or put outside the law

Debauch, debauchery, and profligacy

to engage in wild and corruptive living immorality

licentious , prurient , salacious

inmoral lewd , corruptive

demagogue , demagoguery

political leader who seeks support by appealing to desires rather then by rational argument

umbrage

to take offense or annoyance

travail

suffering and hardship

veracity, veracious

truth

voracious , rapacious , rapacity

greedy, grasping

encomium

great praise

plaudits, accolades , laudation

loud praise

Banal, prosaic

ordinary and dull

dereliction

failure to preform an official duty or responsibility

derelict (adj)

in very poor condition as a result of disuse and neglect

derelict (n.)

a person without a job or property , failure to preform job

travesty

a farce, misinterpretation

anathema (n)

anything forbidden socially

perfidy (n) , perfidious(adj) , treachery(n) , treacherous(adj.)

treason or double dealing

ignominy, Ignominious (adj)

disgraceful

pyrrhic (adj)

some win or victory accomplished at too great a cost

surfeit

an excess or overabundance

dour

gloomy, solemn

slothful , sloth(n)

lazy, indolent

pithy, terse , laconic

brief to the point (in language )

nemesis

a long standing rival n, an archenemy

acquisitive

comes from acquire but has a pejorative or negative connotation , greedy / materialistic

pariah

an outcast

paradigm

an outstandingly clear or typical example or something

ebullient (adj) , ebullience (n)

buoyant, bubbly, enthusiastic, full of energy

culpable (adj), culpability

guilt

exculpate (v)

to free from blame

recondite (adj)

little known

peremptory

final, irrevocable

countermand

to go against

pertinacious

holding firmly to an option or a course of action from tenacious and persistent

lambert

glowing, gleaming, or flickering with a soft radiance

peccadillo

a small, relativity unimportant offense or sin

cupidity (n)

inordinate desire for wealth

tawdry and meretricious

cheap and gaudy in appearance or quality

internecine (adj.)

destructive for everyone involved

imbroglio

a confused, complicated mess or situation

impetus (n)

the force that makes something happen or happen more quickly

perspicacious

an acute mental vision or discernment, a ready insight and understanding or things

confluence

flowing together

effluence

literally means flowing out of.

simplistic

too simple

ablutions

literally a religious word meaning purifying water ( cleaning)

abstemious

comes from abstain , not self indulgent =, especially when eating and drinking

amulet , talisman

an ornament or small piece or jewelry thought to give protection against evil., danger, disease

mitigate, alleviate

make ( suffering or problem ) less severe

analogous

from analogy, comparable in certain aspects

apparition , specter, wraith

all mean ghost

parse, peruse

to read carefully, analyze, or examine

artifice , ruse, machination, stratagem, ploy, gambit

clever trick

atrophy (v)

wasting away or diminution, gradual decline in effectiveness due to underuse or neglect- OF THE BODY- usually muscles

Guile (n.)

sly or cunning intelligence , guileless-innocent or ingenius

bereft

grieving because of loss I am feeling bereft because all my pals have left for school.

Flaccid (adj.)

limp or flabby, as in soft- of the body His broken arm hung flaccidly.

Premonition (n.)

- a strong feeling that something is about to happen Synonyms: presentiment (an intuitive feeling, foreboding), prescience (foreknowledge of events), Pre- means before they happen

Gourmet (n.)

)- a connoisseur of good food; a person with a discerning palate Gourmand (n.)- a person who enjoys eating and often eats too much

Ubiquitous (adj.)

occurring everywhere Mosquitoes are ubiquitous in Amherst

Admonish (v.)

to express warning or disapproval to especially in a gentle, earnest, or solicitous manner Close synonyms: to exhort (exhortation)- to urge strongly- and to importune She exhorted the voters to do the right thing. She importuned her friends to help her with her homework.

Caveat (n.)-

- a warning or proviso of specific stipulations, conditions, or limitations Caveat emptor is a phrase that means, “Let the buyer beware.”

Derogate (v.)-

to blacken or defame someone Synonyms: denigrate, disparage, malign, impugn Adjective forms: derogatory, disparaging

Traduce, Pillory (v.)-

- both words mean to publicly ridicule someone The violators were placed in the pillory for public ridicule

Cosseted (adj.), Cosset (v.)

- to pamper someone or treat him as a pet She is spoiled; her parents have cosseted her by giving into her every whim.

Acquiesce (v.)

to give into Synonyms: capitulated, acceded Since the spoiled girl’s parents gave into her every whim, they acquiesced to her demands

Beleaguered (adj.

troubled, harassed, besieged (feelings ) I am feeling beleaguered by all of these words.

. Machiavellian (adj.)-

ruthless and scheming, usually politically- negative connotation His Machiavellian machinations lost him the election because his constituents realized his cunning way

Draconian (adj.)

unduly harsh A curfew is a draconian measure to stop violence in the city of Buffalo

Extirpate, Eradicate, Annihilate (v.)-

to wipe out, root out and destroy completely The plague eradicated a whole culture. Decimate means to partially eradicate.

Attrition (n.)

the process of gradually reducing the strength of something, the act of weakening or exhausting, ex. A war of attrition. (not physical) The attrition at the end of freshmen year is usually about 2% of the class.

Tangential or peripheral (adj.)

- both mean around the outside or something, peripheral not germane or relevant to the issue at hand His arguments were all tangential. If we focus too much on peripheral issues, we will lose sight of the goal

Exacerbate (v.)

- to make worse or worsen The hot sun exacerbated his skin condition

Abrogate, Terminate (v.)-

to end, to repeal, do away with: a law, an agreement The storm abrogated their plans.

Truncate (v.)

- to shorten by or reduce in size by cutting off The tree was truncated by the violent storm

Convoluted (adj.), Convolution (n.)

complicated, complex and hard to follow Her arguments became increasingly convoluted and more tangential.

Synergy (n.), Synergistic (adj.)

)- interaction when combined has a total effect greater than the sum of the individuals; happy cooperation The synergy between the boss and his employees is remarkable

Ersatz (adj.

an inferior or unconventional substitute Never having a real family, he had collected an ersatz one: a delightful collection of synergistic folks whom he loved.8-

Inexorable, Ineluctable (adj.)

- inevitable or bound to happen Their antithetical values caused their friendship to come to a meandering but ineluctable end

Desultory (adj.)

wandering; aimless A river can have a desultory path. His desultory approach to homework had a pejorative result.

Quotidian (adj.)

everyday events, ordinary School attendance is quotidian.

Sanctimonious (adj.

too “holier than thou”, used with a person and certainly negative; originally a negative term involving religion but has expanded to any area where someone acts “holier than thou”, morally superior. Sanctimony (n.)- the act of acting sanctimonious, affected or hypocritical holiness

9. Pontificate (v.)

- what a sanctimonious person can do, he pontificates about his ideas, to express ideas in a way considered annoying and pompous He acts like a “pontiff” or “preachy.”1

Inure (v.)

)- to become accustomed to (usually something unpleasant) She is finally inured to the homework load at Nardin.